The Hunt (By Kiss and Claw #2) - Melissa Haag Page 0,81

home. Dinner might end in an orgy, again, with both of us there.

Adira: Since you already have plans with your mother, I can arrange for another night.

Mom: Nonsense, Adira. Eliana and I will be delighted to dine with you. I look forward to tomorrow night.

Mom immediately sent me a separate message.

Mom: Call me.

Since I hadn’t yet reached the parking lot, I did as she asked and grinned when she answered with a joy-filled laugh.

“Baby, you are as intelligent as you are beautiful.” Her words cut out twice with silence. “She’s already trying to call me.”

“Don’t answer. Let her sweat.”

She chuckled.

“Oh, I plan to. Now tell me, how did dinner go? Did you create the trouble you’d hoped?”

“She brought two frost giants to dinner again. Brothers, but not twins. The younger one started touching himself when he saw me. The older one was more composed until I ordered him to kneel. He was rubbing himself against me just before Mr. and Mrs. Quill started making out and Adira disappeared.”

Mom was quiet for a long moment.

“Baby, I’m so sorry. I know that wasn’t what you wanted.”

“But it’s what I needed to do to prove my point. No one likes to be made to do things they don’t want to do.” I sighed. “Since Adira’s already asking for another dinner, everything I did was for nothing.”

A tear slipped down my cheek, and I quickly wiped it away as I reached the parking lot. A sniffle echoed over the phone.

“I know you don’t want me to kill her, but if she keeps hurting you, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

I smiled slightly.

“Thank you for understanding, Mom. Knowing that you support me makes it easier to deal with her. I better go. Give Dad a hug for me.”

“I will. We love you, baby.”

I walked in the relative silence for a moment then sent Fenris a text.

Me: I’m walking in the woods. Am I heading to Blueleaf or one of the other pack villages?

Fenris: Do me a favor and ditch the jacket.

I snorted and looked around the trees.

“I’ll freeze without the jacket. If you want your hug, claim it now before I’m a popsicle.” I held my arms out wide and wiggled my fingers.

He came out of nowhere, crashing into me like a wave against the shore and carrying me a distance with the momentum even as I squealed and held on tight. His deep inhale and tight hold were comforting more than inciting.

“Why do you smell like tears?” he murmured next to my ear.

I shivered lightly but didn’t let go.

“Because I was crying.”

“Are you going to tell me why?” His hand drifted down the back of my jacket, a comforting stroke that had me leaning my head against his chest.

“Probably, but not tonight. I want to hear how things are going here.”

“I’m in the woods, holding you. How do you think things are going?”

“That bad?” I pulled back to look up at him. Moonlight glinted through the barren trees and reflected off his eyes. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Any chance you’d be willing to make out with me in front of the whole pack?”

He looked so miserable that I wished I could say yes.

“We both know that’s not going to help you get out of tonight’s run. When does it start?”

A sudden grin lit his face.

“It already did.”

My gaze dipped to the shirt he was wearing.

“I thought pack runs happened in the fur.”

“They do.”

I opened my mouth to ask another question, but a shout cut me off.

“Found him!”

True frustration crept into Fenris’s gaze. He darted in to lick the tip of my nose then bolted from my arms a second before a wolf dove in front of me. It landed in the snow with a thump and looked up at me, a snarl pulling back its lips.

That dark thing inside of me bristled at the display of impudence, and my vision sharpened. Another wolf darted in, shifting into a lithe form at the same time as the girl on the ground.

So much delightful nudity.

Jenna’s eyes widened at the sight of mine, and she quickly spun around to face the other girl, who surged to her feet.

“You have no business on pack territory, succubus.”

Jenna stepped forward, her hands raised.

“She’s with me, Beth. She’s a friend.”

My fingers, inches from stroking Jenna’s hair, curled into a fist, which I dropped to my side.

“Your friend was just hugging Fenris. No wonder he’s still unclaimed. Aubrey was the only one with claws in your pack. That