considered the cream of the crop, therefore everyone wants its children? And isn’t he normally very good at those things?” The sly smirk that appeared on his face did nothing for my pulse.
Oh shit, he’s actually flirting now? “I’m sure. We should put you on the market. Is there a Tinder for werewolves, or do you all just howl at the moon then roll in the dirt until both of you are ready to go home? And when we finally get you a date, just remember not to hump her leg. You didn’t grow up in the modern era, but women don’t really appreciate it.”
“Are you sure? Have you seen how modern humans dance?” He kept smirking. “I’m sure I’ll fit right in.”
That broke me. I started laughing, and he joined in. “Ok, you have a point,” I said, unable to stop laughing. I turned away, covering my face. “Is that how you picked up Carey’s mom?”
He stopped and groaned. “Carey’s mother was a mistake. I was tired, lonely, and she was pretty. She knew what I was, who I was. Nine months later, she brought me a gift and left, saying she couldn’t be the wife of a werewolf, no matter how…fun I was in private. She wouldn’t be seen in public with me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. That’s rough.”
“It’s life as one of my kind. She gave me Carey thinking our little girl would end up a werewolf, but she’s human. I’m always looking over my shoulder in case her mother comes back for her, but so far we’ve been in the clear.”
“This isn’t going to help if her mother finds out,” I said gently. “You know that, right?”
“I do,” he agreed. “She didn’t give up her parental rights either, and I’ve been…too kind to have the lawyers take them away from her. I want Carey to have a chance at a relationship with her mother.” He dropped what he was holding. “I’m done here. You can get a shirt on.”
“Thanks.” I had stopped noticing the sting thanks to the conversation and grabbed my new clean shirt, throwing it on just as Shamus walked in, finally, with a bowl of hot water and bandages.
“Took you long enough,” Heath said with a bite.
“You two were having a conversation that I didn’t want to interrupt,” Shamus said quickly. “The cat gets fidgety when there’s a lot of werewolves around.”
“I thought I stopped being so obvious,” I mumbled. Damn right I was fidgety with multiple wolves around. Any werecat with even a shred of self-preservation was fidgety around a lot of wolves. A shred was really all I had left, but it was enough.
“All right…” Heath looked between Shamus and I, then sighed. “Pants. Off.”
“Excuse me? Change that please.”
“Please remove your jeans so that I can bandage your thigh,” he rephrased.
“Better,” I muttered, unbuttoning my jeans. “This really isn’t necessary.”
“It is,” he said softly. “You can go, Shamus.”
I stood up for Heath so he could work easier, and hopefully faster. What I hadn’t considered with that was the fact that he was kneeling in front of me, with my pants down.
Modern woman sensibilities and all, I was uncomfortable. He didn’t seem worried at all and I couldn’t catch anything in his scent that would betray him. My scent, however, was probably giving him all sorts of wonderful information.
He’s a wolf. I barely know him. He’s only down there for medical reasons. I’ve done it to other people. There’s nothing attractive or sexual about this.
“Done,” he announced, standing back up.
I swiftly pulled up my jeans and grabbed a jacket. As I started walking for the door, he chuckled again. “You know, I didn’t understand how a woman like you lived so alone for all these years, but it’s pretty clear now. You aren’t good with people.”
“I used to be,” I said quickly, turning back to him. “But no one has seen me without pants since I was Changed.” And that person had been Hasan, so there was nothing sexual about it, or even potentially sexual.
“I can tell,” he murmured, still doing that annoying thing called chuckling. Who ever thought chuckling men were sexy? They weren’t. I wanted to strangle the one in the room with me.
“Are you always like this with women, or am I just a shiny new toy you can tease?” I crossed my arms, not going through the door and blocking his way out.
“I find myself enjoying this,” he admitted. “You’re so skittish because I’m a wolf, but really, there’s a