Page 80 of Feral Werewolves
Red.
I knew it, justknewit, somehow.
“Baby, what did I say about strays?” he said to Noah.
Noah shrugged. “Um, I seem to remember a conversation that went something like, ‘Anything you want, Noah, whatever you want, I’ll pull down the damned moon if you want it.’ You remember that one?”
Red smirked. He looked me over. “Fuck you, Noah,” he said, but it was affectionate.
“Yeah, I mean, I remember a lot of that, too.” Noah was coy.
“You turn into Madge on me, though…” Red groaned, flopping back on the bed.
“I want to let her stay in the room next door,” said Noah. “And to let her take a shower and stuff. I told you about her, anyway. She’s Clementine. She’s cool.”
“Paladin’s,” said Red to the ceiling.
“Oh, my God, who is this Paladin person?” said Noah. “What kind of name is Paladin, anyway? It’s like from King Arthur or some shit.”
“Did you find out about casualties?” said Red.
“It’s bad, but I told you this whole thing was stupid,” said Noah. “I told you—”
“How bad?”
“Ten dead,” said Noah. “And maybe only five on the other side killed. If it comes down to it, Griff told you that wolves fighting for mates wasn’t going to be easy, and you—”
“I do not need a lecture this morning,” said Red, but he didn’t sound angry, just sort of exhausted. “One of them wasn’t Paladin, I take it.”
“No,” said Noah. “No, Paladin and his pack are all just missing. They ran off, let their mate go.” He eyed me. “So, that’s you. Huh.”
My mates were alive. Wow, I hadn’t eventhoughtabout their safety or their fates, but I hadn’t been in any position to do anything other than get through the next moment and the next. I was relieved, but that didn’t feel like anything either,I realized. This fortress thing, it was making me all blunted, wasn’t it? I couldn’t feel any emotions at all.
Red vaulted up off the bed. “Okay, then, thank you for finding that out for me.” He shrugged into a shirt and then squinted at the floor, yawning.
Noah fished a pair of jeans off the floor and held them out.
Red took them. “Thank you, baby.” He stepped into the jeans and buttoned and zipped them. “Uh, I’m going to be busy, like, all day.”
“So, Clementine?”
“Do whatever you want,” said Red. “I mean, you always do.” He huffed, scratching his red beard, and then leaned in to kiss Noah before leaving the room and shutting the door in his wake.
Then, I was alone with Noah, who looked at me with wide, worried eyes.
I just stood there. I was reeling.
Noah ran a hand through his hair and started muttering to himself. It mostly sounded like swear words.
“You’re Red’s mate?” I said in a tiny voice. “Red has a mate?”
Noah shrugged. “It’s not like I planned this. And trust me, neither did he. And… oh, holy fuck, he’s so toxic. He’s just the definition of the wrong kind of man, wrong in all the wrong ways, but he’s so fucking goddamned sexy, and I…” Noah went back to muttering swear words.
I hugged myself.
Noah turned to me, lifting a finger. “Shower. You need a shower.”
I licked my lips.
