Page 87 of A Pack for the Wedding
"That wasyou guys?" I stare at them. "The howling? That was—how did you even—"
"Right?" Maren cuts in, voice still shrill. "We wereconvinced. I was ready to call a ranger. Those did not sound human."
"The howling was my idea," Arthur announces, pushing off the wall with pride. "We rehearsed in the car, on the way here."
"Ben really projected his inner alpha," Mason says. His hand is still over his nose, voice muffled by his palm, and yet somehow the deadpan delivery is fully intact.
The leftover laughter in my chest abruptly dies, because I see a thin, bright line of blood trickling down the side of his hand.
"Oh my God, Mason—" I step toward him. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Let me see."
He drops his hand. His nose is red but shakes his head. "It's fine."
"It isnotfine. I hit you in the face."
"Alcohol's a great painkiller." He touches the bridge of his nose gingerly, testing it. Rolls his jaw once. "Honestly, past the initial shock? Can't feel a thing."
A wave of leftover adrenaline surges through me with nowhere to go, and before I can think about it, I smack Mason on the shoulder. "Don'tsneak up on peoplein the dark!"
He absorbs it without moving. Looks at my hand on his shoulder, then at me, a flicker of amusement in his expression.
"How did you even getin?" I ask, turning to the group.
"Side door was unlocked when we got here," Knox shrugs. "We scoped the cabin out while you were in the jacuzzi. Arthur andMason positioned in the tree line for the howling. Ben and I came in through the side."
"I also located the breaker panel," Knox adds, "in case we needed to kill the lights for dramatic effect."
"He really wanted to use it," Arthur calls from behind us.
"I said it was anoption."
Maren finally lowers her hands from her chest. "Okay, hold on. Back up. You drove two hours, walked through the woods drunk, and orchestrated a multi-part wolf prankjustto scare us?"
Ben slings his arm around Harper's shoulders. "No, I did it because I wanted to surprise my future wife." He squeezes Harper against his side. "And these three came along for moral support."
"I sure hope you didn't drive updrunk." Harper pulls back.
"No! No no no. We actually rented a small cabin not even five minutes down the road. We were stone sober for the drive. We got here, unpacked, had dinner, hadseveraldrinks, andthenwalked through the woods to say hi." He ticks the sequence off on his fingers like he's presenting evidence. "Completely responsible. Chronologically."
"Walking through the woods drunk isn't responsible," Harper says, but the corner of her mouth is twitching.
"It's nature, babe. People have been walking through the woods drunk since the invention of alcohol. It's heritage." He wraps both arms around her from behind, pulling her flush against his chest and dropping his chin onto her shoulder. Just like that, every ounce of fight leaves Harper's body.
Arthur drops onto the couch, sprawling out with one leg draped over the armrest. "But fear not," he says. "We come bearing gifts. Well, one gift. For tomorrow. And it floats."
As someone who recently watchedIt, I find that really ominous.
***
"She's beautiful," Knox whispers.
"Sheis a boat," I say.
"Don't talk about her like that," he replies.
Knox aboard, barefoot, crouched over the engine with one hand braced on the gunwale of the deck boat. With a sun-faded bimini top, it's seen better decades, but it fits all of us, and Knox is treating it like a spacecraft that requires preflight checks.
Knox turns the key. The engine coughs, turns over, settles into a low rattle. He adjusts something I can't see, nods once to himself.
