throat and tried to think of something to say to answer the lady’s question and not announce that he had yet to be claimed. This was like a lamb announcing to a pack of wolves, “Yeah, if I try to run all my legs dislocate.”
When did he stop thinking of himself as a wolf?
“Ah. That’s right, knew I heard someone going off about new blood in the house. John, was it?”
“John and Ken haven’t shut up about it,” Clarisse muttered, her gaze shifting off the TV to focus on Ashi again at the change in his pulse at the mention of John’s name.
“So what are ye doing here?”
Ashi rubbed his neck. “John wanted to bite me. Again. I think. He got distracted, so I, uh... looked for a place to... hang out. For a while.”
'I got scared and wanted to hide.'
Lisa laughed.
“Leave him alone,” Clarisse said.
“Aye, that one is a right piece of work,” Lisa said, shaking her head, still laughing. She gestured to Ashi to get up, heading over to one of the chairs and settling into it. “John’s a bit of a prig, no doubt. Low blow, biting but not claiming.”
Ashi came out of the corner, balanced slightly forward on the balls of his feet, ready to bolt if need be.
“I’m not really sure how this ‘claiming’ thing works. I don’t like getting bitten, but I don’t even how to go about getting ‘claimed’ so John doesn’t bite me anymore.”
“Easy enough,” Lisa said, her cherry lips curving in a sly smile. “If someone wants you, they’ll seal the deal with a bite. It leaves a little something behind. We can… I don’t know. Smell it. Feel it, once someone’s been bit. It’s rude to nip someone else’s property, so we leave off.”
“There’s a connection between the donor and the host, so most everyone will leave ye alone. Except your host, o’ course,” Clarisse said, tucking her sock-covered feet under her as she twisted on the couch to a more comfortable position to watch Ashi.
“Right. Tough bit o’ luck, not liking being bit.”
Ashi rubbed his neck. “Well, I mean, it felt good to be bitten, but I don’t like being bitten. It’s supposed to hurt. That’s what I was told, anyway.”
Lisa laughed again. “Who told you that nonsense? We’d never get laid if it hurt.”
Clarissa shot her a look. Ashi just frowned. “The deputy of my pack told me that. I’m a Were. This is the first time I’ve had to deal with vampires.”
Lisa arched a brow, at a loss for words.
Clarisse, still not feeling particularly warm toward the Were after his harsh words from a few weeks before, glowered at Ashi. “What are you doing here, then? Why not go back tae your pack?”
Ashi worded his response carefully. “I’m paying off a debt along with a packmate. Otherwise I would be home with my pack.”
Lisa nodded. Clarisse didn’t look convinced.
* * *
Wes had gone back to his post as front door guard after dropping John in his own bed. He’d seen how Mouse looked when she fled past. She was undoubtedly mentally beating herself into knots over something or other.
It certainly wasn’t John. Mouse had often looked like she longed to tear his head off and introduce it to his ass. Maybe that she’d gotten so violent?
That jogged something. She’d been abused. Tortured by Max. She always had a thing for championing the helpless, the hurt, the sick—anyone who couldn’t help themselves. She also had a difficult time coming to grips with what she was, and was often reluctant to take on new donors without agonizing for months over the process. She couldn’t handle rejection to save her life, which, considering her nature, was truly a pity.
So what had happened? She’d gone haywire right in front of Christoph. Who’d already been terrorized by John.
Which meant Christoph had probably flipped out when Mouse tried to help him.
No wonder she was upset. Rubbing a hand over his face after that brilliant leap of deductive reasoning, Wes cursed under his breath and heaved himself to his feet.
In a few minutes, he was back upstairs, and pounding on the door to the bathroom. “Christoph, it’s Wesley. I need to talk to you.”
Christoph was nowhere near ready to stop boiling himself alive, but he turned off the water, toweled himself dry, and was back in his pants and shirt in a minute. Being an on-call warrior for Goliath made you figure out how to get ready fast.
He opened the bathroom door and stepped