Page 74 of Bound

“Would it be okay if we asked you some questions? About Red?” he asks, looking nervous. When nobody responds, he quickly adds, “Of course you can say no, it’s just everyone is curious, and the rumor mill is going crazy.”

“What do you want to know?” Maddox asks as his hand comes out to stroke down my lower back.

“Is it true she was a rogue? You found her in the forest?”

“I wouldn’t call her a rogue, but yes, we found her injured in the forest.”

“Is it true she can’t shift?” Jenn asks with a sudden burst of courage.

Maddox nods once. “For now.”

“How are your kids?” Hunter asks, thankfully changing the topic away from me as he motions with his head toward where a group of young wolf pups is running around and playing.

“Oh, you know,” Lacey says with a sigh, “they’re good, but driving us crazy.” I see the way she smiles as she looks at them playing, her eyes filled with fondness.

I turn to watch the kids. There are six of them, all in wolf form, running around through the clearing‌ where some smaller trees are scattered throughout. Behind them is the forest, the same one that runs along the back of our pack house.

As if they notice our attention on them, the six little wolf pups suddenly come running our way. I tense up, unsure what to expect from them, and Maddox and Chase hold me a little firmer, reminding me they’re here with me.

The pups slow as they approach, and when they seem tosmell the alphas, they immediately sit and wait, their tails wagging eagerly.

“You got some good kids here,” Hunter says in amusement at the line of little wolves who seem far too interested in me.

Chase leans over and whispers in my ear, “I think they want you to play with them.”

I stare at them with unease. I’ve never seen such young wolves before, and I have no idea how to play with them. I wouldn’t want to hurt them.

“It might help you relax to be around them,” Maddox adds quietly, even though every wolf around here can hear him with their heightened senses.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Gage adds from behind me.

As I watch the pups’ tails wag excitedly every time I glance at them and I start to feel the urge to play with someone smaller than me for once.

I give Maddox’s hand a lick and Chase laughs as he tells them, “That was a yes.”

“Okay kids, listen up. This ‌is Red, she’s new to the pack, and very important to us, so play nicely, understand?” Maddox says with the slightest bit of his alpha command. All six of the pups let out a single bark.

“Be gentle with her, okay? She’s never played with rambunctious pups like you before,” Jenn adds before glancing at Maddox, who gives her a nod, telling her she is correct. “Do you all understand?” They all yip together. “Okay, go on back to playing. She’ll join you in a minute.” The six of them turn and dash away, seeming to pick right back up where they left off in their game.

Chase starts to pull off his shirt as he tells them, “Hunter and I will join her.” I instantly start to feel better, knowing my twins will be there with me.

They strip and shift so fast I don’t even get the chance to see their bodies or be jealous that anyone else does. Hunter starts to nudge me toward the wolf pups as Chase playfully nips my ear before running into the group. I take off after him and quickly realize he’s making up his own game, but nobody seems to care as they chase him or get chased by him.

I join in and soon enough, the twins and I are chasing all the others. Internally, I laugh at the little kids' antics of trying to gang up on one of the twins, or hiding behind a tree and jumping out at us. I even help them pin Chase down at one point. And even though I’m positive he let us do it, the kids love it.

Soon, I forget all my worries and just let myself have fun, knowing my pack is watching my back.

Eventually, Maddox calls us over to eat some food. Someone found us a picnic blanket, large enough for the six of us to sit on, and placed it under a large oak tree. I lie down in the shade between Bain and Gage as the twins shift and redress. Burgers, sausages, and chips sit in the middle of the blanket, and I take the offered pieces from Bain and Gage as the twins make small talk with Trevor, Max, and their mates.

Lacey and Trevor are on a blanket in front of us with their three kids, two girls and a boy, and Jenn and Max are beside them with their three boys. They all seem pretty happy, which makes me wonder if this pack isn’t as bad as I thought.

I didn’t care for Maddox’s uncle as the alpha, and he doesn't seem to either; however, he hadn’t done anything outright bad or wrong, as far as I knew. And besides Juliet, nobody else had been mean, and even she isn’t that bad. I just don’t like the way she spoke to my pack.

But I’m still glad we’re leaving. Even if this pack is perfect, someone knows I’m here and is coming for me.

I shift a little closer to Bain, pressing my body against hisleg, and he rests his hand on my back. I glance at the forest and shiver. Is Blaze out there right now? Watching and waiting? Who even is he? One of the guards? I didn’t know the doctor’s first name, but the note didn’t sound like something he’d say.

Bain’s hand tightens a fraction on my back, and I lift my head to see where he’s looking. Two men I recognize from sitting with Alpha Kane when we arrived walk toward us.