Reese (Pack of Misfits #2) - Raven Kennedy Page 0,74

jeans.”

“Oh God,” I groan and put my head in my hands. Does my rat know no bounds?

“At least she has good taste in t-shirts,” Lafe says.

I look down at my Ducking Hell shirt and smile at the dozen ducks squatting around a bonfire. “I like them.”

“Don’t encourage him,” Addie tells me. “He keeps going through my closet and replacing all my stuff with duck shit.”

I can’t contain my laugh.

“So,” Penn says. “I hear that you and Luca are the ones who stunk up our mate cabin.”

“And put a couple holes in the wall…” Herrick adds.

The blood drains from my face. “Shit.”

Lafe grins. “Yeah, you and Luca pretty much saturated our mate cabin we’ve been building with your heatwave and rut stench. We’re still airing it out.”

“I’m so sorry,” I say, ready to just die of embarrassment. I totally forgot to clean the mate cabin.

“Don’t worry,” Addie says, patting me on the hand. “We aren’t moving into the mate cabin any time soon.”

“Yes, we are,” Herrick growls.

“Hmm, we’ll see,” she shoots back, her eyes glinting mischievously.

“Alright, stubborn duck, come on. Let’s go for a swim,” Penn tells her, getting up.

Addie hops to her feet. “Yes! Last one in’s a rotten duck egg!”

Lafe frowns at her retreating form. “I thought you said duck eggs don’t go rotten?”

Her laugh filters through the air.

Herrick grunts. “Fuck, do we have to get in the water?”

“Poor Herrick,” she calls, walking backwards as she makes a mocking pout. “Guess you can stay up here on the sand, while I’m out there with Penn and Lafe. In my bikini. Wet. Exhilarated. Probably bobbing up and down a lot and making my boo—”

“I’m coming,” he says, getting to his feet.

She laughs and darts away, and all three of the coyote shifters pursue her with a predatory gleam.

I chuckle and shake my head. “I don’t know how she handles three mates.”

“Are you a one-mate kind of female?” Luca asks.

“Definitely.”

He smirks. “Good. Because I don’t share.”

My heart skips over its feet and face plants on the ground. Magic macaroni, is he saying what I think he’s saying? I know we like each other, but mates?

My thoughts are racing around in a jumbled mess. “Umm…”

Luca chuckles at the flabbergasted look on my face, and then he’s on his feet, pulling me up with him. “Come on, Mousey. I want to introduce you to my animal.”

I nearly jump in giddiness. “Ooh yes!” I beam. I’ve been dying to find out what he is, but I didn’t want to straight out ask him, in case he was private about it. But the fact that he’s offering to show me means he trusts me.

“Are you a bear? No, wait...a lion?” I guess, my lips pursing in thought. “Or wait...maybe a seal. Or a seagull?”

His eyebrows pull together. “You think I’m a damn pelican?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. It seemed like a good guess at the time.”

“I’m way better than a pelican, Mousey.”

“And I’m way more majestic than a mouse, Luca,” I shoot back.

He chuckles. “Fair enough.”

I walk along the shore with him, close enough that the frothy waves lick at our steps. The sand is packed down, brindled in color as iron and sand mix together. We walk in silence for a bit, just enjoying the view as we get further and further away from the people on the beach. We get around a rocky outcrop, doing a little bit of a climb, but then we find ourselves in a private little beach with no one else around.

He stops and runs a hand through his black hair. It’s all tousled and sexy, and it reminds me of when I’ve had my own fingers running through it, yanking and stroking through the strands.

“Can I ask you a question?” I blurt.

“Shoot.”

“Why do you like me? You shouldn’t want anything to do with me. I jumped you as soon as I turned human. I could’ve bitten and claimed you. That didn’t freak you out?”

“Surprisingly...no.”

“That...makes no sense.”

Luca grabs my hands. “I liked that your rat chose me. That you chose me.”

My heartbeat kicks up in tempo at his admission. “I thought you were going to hate me.”

“Ah, Mousey,” he says, tipping my face up with a finger hooked beneath my chin. “Even if you had mated me, I wouldn’t have hated you.”

“But why? I heard what Susie said. You don’t like long-term commitment.”

“I don’t like long-term commitment with her. She resents that.”

“My rat still wants to mate you,” I admit. “I thought it would fade after my heatwave, but