ties, dice, paper clips, someone’s nail polish, screws, and a shit ton of nickels. She must be into the color silver.
Apparently, she’s also into Luca, the shifter dude who tried to cut off my collar in his mechanic’s shop. They just spent a week holed up together while she went through her heatwave. Gross.
“We need to murder someone?” she asks with a laugh as she settles onto her bed on the opposite end of the room as mine and watches the show with me.
“Yep,” I deadpan.
She blinks from me to the screen and back again. “Oh. Okay, cool.”
I frown at her. Cool? Hmm. Maybe I like her more than I thought.
“So…who’s looking for you?” she asks.
Kaazu and the other troupers for sure, and probably some head hunters too. Who knows who Kaazu has contacted while he’s searching for me. “Assholes,” I answer.
She talks a little about who she’s running from, while nervously biting on her lip, and I feel myself grow defensive on her behalf. Whether it’s an asshole master or asshole alpha, it makes no difference. It’s clear she’s been held under a thumb for too long.
“Are you running from the assholes who put the collar on your neck?”
I get up from the bed, because I see where this is heading, and I can’t do it. I’m already neck-deep with Addie, and I’m getting way too attached to a certain enforcer.
The more connections I make, the harder it’ll be to leave.
“Look, Reese, it’s nothing personal, but I don’t do heart-to-heart talks. I’m not staying here and becoming a new member of the offbeat odd-balls.”
Without letting her reply, I leave the room, heading downstairs for a glass of water, hoping that will help put some distance between me and this pack that keeps trying to weave me into their threads. I know it’s a bitch move, but it’s for her own good. Mine too.
But one look over the railing shows that the downstairs area is full of people, so I turn right back around, deciding to take a shower instead. There’s no threat of accidentally getting attached to people while I’m soaping up my armpits.
After locking the door and stripping down, I take a long shower, indulging in the hot water. Long showers were few and far between in the troupe. Kaazu usually only rented a single motel room for us, and even that was rare, and most of us still had to sleep in the RVs. We were always forced to take turns sharing the bathroom. Needless to say, hot water was a commodity just as much as privacy.
After finishing up, I get dressed in a simple gray t-shirt and leggings, and snag someone’s hair dryer from the cabinet to dry my wet locks. Satisfied, I leave the bathroom to head back into my room, hoping that Reese abandoned me to go hang out with Luca instead.
But when I make it down the hall, I hear voices and see that the bedroom door is open. With a sigh, I walk in to find Reese, Addie, and all three of her coyote mates inside.
“Why the hell are you in my room?” I ask, crossing my arms in front of me.
Lafe backs away from Addie where she’s sitting on my bed, and he looks at me warily, like I’m going to jump up and attack him. I have to stifle a smirk. This male is entirely too much fun to fuck with.
My nose wrinkles when the pungent scent of combined arousal seems to hover around Addie and her mates. If any of them tried to do the nasty in here, I will kick their asses.
“Don’t you have a moon to yip at?” I ask the coyotes.
Lafe’s mouth turns down, like he thinks I’m serious. “Well...it’s daytime. So...no.”
I roll my eyes and lift my arms to pull back my hair, causing Lafe to flinch back at my sudden movement. I snort. “A little jumpy there, aren’t ya?” I tease.
“You tend to attack me whenever I’m around,” he points out.
I shrug, finishing tying back my straight hair. He’s not wrong. “You tend to annoy me.”
Addie’s lips twitch. “Play nice, Jetta.”
Herrick makes fun of Lafe some more, while Lafe ignores him and starts to heckle me about what animal I shift into. His burning curiosity just makes me want to not tell him even more. I’m cruel like that. Also, my animal wants to fuck with him just as much as I do. So really, I’m doing him a favor by keeping her inside.