I tapped her nose and walked by. “Some men have clean skin and are dirty on the inside. Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

Her voice called out from a distance. “You don’t even read!”

I almost ran into Ben as he was hurrying up the stairs.

“Watch it,” he growled, brushing past me and stalking down the hall.

I spun on my heel, having noticed the fresh bruises and cuts on his face. I marched after him.

“Naya, where are you going?” Lexi asked.

I reached a door next to Lynn’s room and knocked. I jiggled the handle and walked right in.

“Who the hell invited you?” he snarled.

Not Ben’s usual charming self, and maybe that’s what sent alarm up my spine. “Where’s Wheeler?”

“How the hell should I know?” He peeled off his shirt and began to loosen his shorts. “You want to watch? Is that what you’re into?” Ben approached me and grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me close.

“Let go of me,” I snapped. I backed up a step and shoved his arm away.

“Naya, what’s gotten into you?” Lexi asked from the doorway. “Ben? Who the hell did that to your face?”

He lightly pushed me toward the door. “Get out so I can shift. Both of you.”

The door slammed and Lexi huffed. “Asshole.”

“Wheeler left to get Ben. They were supposed to come home together.”

“He’s probably downstairs.”

After we searched the lower level of the house, I overheard Lexi in the back office with Austin.

“Where the hell is he?” Austin said in a raised voice. “Goddammit.”

“I don’t know!”

“Did you ask Ben?”

Austin suddenly burst into sight and cut through the living room. “Ben, get your ass down here!” he shouted.

We heard a wolf barking upstairs.

“I’ll get him,” Lexi said reluctantly.

A minute later, Lexi came downstairs, gripping a brown wolf by the scruff of his neck. The wolf wagged his tail and dropped to the floor in front of Austin, showing him his belly.

“Please don’t make him shift,” Lexi urged. “I don’t want to see all that.” She waved her hand in disgust at the wolf’s belly.

Austin leaned forward and let his alpha power saturate his voice. “Shift.”

Like liquid magic, the wolf transformed into human flesh. Ben was on his back naked, and Lexi whirled around and gaped at me. “No matter how many times that happens, I’m sorry, I can’t get used to it. Nudity is no big deal, they say. Well, maybe I just have a tiny problem when I have to see a man’s penis other than my mate’s in my living room!”

I chuckled and patted her shoulder. “Don’t feel bad. I think it’s mostly a wolf thing. Packs grow up in tight quarters, so they get used to all the shifting. I’m indifferent either way.”

“You work in a strip club; of course you don’t care about nudity.”

“Ladies…” Austin gave us a cold stare.