Page 76 of His Three Wolves
Linc took a long swig of his own coffee.“Yes.I’ll let the A-Team know we need a full background check on the ex.Ell?”
“I’ll tell Vi.She’s not going to like this.”
Dom put a hand on my knee.“No one likes this.”
Smith took another apple slice.“We’re sure they didn’t come into town together though?”
Dom leaned forward.“Couldn’t have.I found the dead wolf when we found Marcus.”He frowned.“I wonder how she’s doing, you know?”
I stopped halfway through a pre-peeled mandarin orange.“Who?Vi?”
Dom snorted and looked at me.“No.Vi can take care of herself.When we found you… The dead wolf was a male, and I guess his mate tried to get me to help him.”
My mouth fell open.“You can talk to real wolves?Really?”
“No, Little Red.We can’t.But they’re smart.They know what we are.They stay out of our way, but I guess she was desperate, so she…came up to me.Then she showed me.”He shrugged.“I can understand that.Wanting to do anything for your mate.”
He wasn’t joking.He looked like he was actually feeling for that wolf, who couldn’t change but always was what he could be at will.
“Wolves—I mean, the real ones.They live in packs too, right?”
I brushed his shoulder, and he looked at me as if I’d given him a huge teddy bear at a fun fair.
“They do.I guess she’ll be fine.”
Smith, who’d been watching us, cleared his throat.“Boss, I’d like to take a look around if that’s okay with you?Just around the territory, and maybe where you ran into the hunters.”
Linc nodded.“They were across the river.”
Smith cocked his head.“Wolf territory.”
Linc turned his coffee cup in his hand.“That’s right.Try not to disturb them too much.”
“Will do.”Smith finished his coffee and got to his feet.“I’ll be on my way, then.Marcus, nice to meet you.”
He looked all fun again when he gave me a mock salute, and then Linc walked him to the door.
That left me with Ell and Dom.
“Looks like the picnic really would’ve been a good idea,” Ell said.
Dom sagged in his chair.“I liked the idea of getting Marcus wet a lot more.”
I cleared my throat, hyperaware that I’d already made it through more than half of my plate.“Look, hiking really makes you hungry.No, wait, nature does that.Isn’t that what everyone says?Or is it fresh air?”
Ell ran a hand over my back.That felt nice.“I’m not judging you, Marcus.Hey, we’ll still have that party.You don’t mind staying in, do you?”
My parties had never been about staying in.Grabbing a few cocktails with a few people and staying out till three in the morning was more like it, but clearly, such bacchanals were not an option out here in the wild.
But after seeing Steven again, the idea of just doing something quiet with these three was…kind of nice.The worst that could happen was that someone slapped my ass, and that just meant I’d get more chai latte.
“No, that’s fine.Let’s do it.”
Dom clapped his hands.“I knowexactlyhow we’ll celebrate.”
I heard Linc groan back in the living room.Ominous.
Ell cleared his throat.“Marcus, please remember that you do not need to partake, and you can put a stop to it whenever you want.”
