"What's the deal with the two of you?"
Wren shrugged. "She thinks I'm a freak. I think she's a bitch. Nicolette doesn't believe our races should mix and she hates me for being a mongrel."
"She accepts me."
"I'm a little different from you."
Fang snorted. "No offense, Wren, you're a little different from everyone."
Marvin came running up the stairs with a banana. He leapt onto Wren's shoulder and chattered at Fang, pointing the banana at him like a gun. That spoke for itself. They both were whacked.
"Why do you stay here?"
Wren took the banana from Marvin so that he could peel it for the primate. "The same reason you do."
"And that is?"
Wren glanced toward the stairs. "She's the only person or animal I've ever met who truly is kind. I don't have any family and when I was brought here, I didn't trust anyone. I still don't. Except for her."
Aimee. He didn't say her name because he didn't have to. She was the only one Wren ever really spoke with.
"You love her?"
"As a sister and a friend. I'd die to protect her." Wren stepped closer to him and lowered his voice. "I've seen how you two look at each other and it scares me."
"Why?"
"Because even though it's frowned on, it's accepted for Katagaria to be with Arcadian. But for the species to blend . . . take it from someone who was crossbred, you don't want to go there. And if not for her, then think if the Fates are cold enough to give you children. The hatred of others drove my mother mad and in the end she hated me for it."
"We're not mates, Wren. You know as well as I do that we have no control over that."
"Of course you do. If you don't sleep together, you don't mate. That you control." He broke off a piece of banana and gave it to Marvin. "Trust me, wolf. Stay away from her for both your sakes." Wren left him and headed toward his room.
It was a warning he didn't really need.
Fang returned to his room while those words rang in his ears. The problem was, he wasn't getting hard for any other woman. It already felt like the Fates had mated them. . . .
What am I going to do?
He pulled up shortly as he saw a shadow in the corner.
It moved forward into the light to show him the last person he expected to see.
Thorn.
Fang moved forward into the room, making sure to show Thorn no sign of his hostility. "What are you doing here?"
Thorn leaned nonchalantly against the desk. He crossed his arms over his chest while he kept a probing stare trained on Fang. "Just checking in with you. Wanted to see if the demon was winning and if we needed to kill you because of it."
"Nice to see you again too. I see time away hasn't made you any more charming."
"Oh, I can be charming. I just choose not to. People start to think you like them, then when you stab them in the back, they take it so personally. Really pisses me off."
Fang sat on the bed and tugged his biker boots off. "Do that a lot, do you?"
"Boy, don't make me smite you." He crossed one long leg over the other.
Fang tossed his boots aside and laughed. "Just how old are you again?"