ragged. No shirt, no shoes, ratty sweatpants that had obviously seen better days, and a look of fresh terror gleaming in his eyes, was enough to make Thad wonder what the hell John did to him and where they found him.
“I brought you some juice and vitamins. I heard John bit you, and figured you’ve probably already had a horrible enough day without adding weakness or headache from blood loss on top of it,” he said, holding out the glass and a small handful of mixed vitamins. “Do you need to borrow some clothes or something? I didn’t see any luggage.”
Ashi slowly moved out of the corner, standing to his full height to see how he measured up to Thad. Disappointingly, he was a few inches shorter. Back home that wouldn’t have made any difference at all. Being conscious of his height only added more discomfort to his current situation.
“Thanks,” he said, taking the juice and the vitamins. He downed them in a few gulps and found his sense of taste had also been dulled. “I think I can get my clothes back. Just have to convince the cub downstairs to get them. If she’ll agree to that.” He frowned. He’d only brought two changes of clothes.
He should probably say something about the room. “I’m sorry about this,” he said, gesturing vaguely. “I wasn’t expecting to stay for any length of time. At all.”
Thad took the glass back when Ashi was done with it.
“Hey, no worries, man. Sorry if me and Sebastian were being unsociable tonight. We weren’t expecting to have to move all our stuff around. He’ll probably mellow out by tomorrow.”
Thad leaned against the door frame, looking around the sparsely furnished room. He’d taken all his posters and a bit of the furniture, leaving it emptier and less inviting than usual. No doubt Alec would send someone to help Ashi fix it up within the next couple days.
“What’s your name? Where’d you come from?” he asked, curious. Was he calling Analie a cub? Why? To Thad, he looked human enough, so he couldn’t quite understand why he’d refer to Analie that way. Unless there was another person Thad didn’t know about here, too. “Are you any relation to that girl downstairs with Mouse, or are you talking about someone else?”
Ashi realized he was rubbing his neck again. He dropped his hand. “Huh? Oh, uh, no problem, having a stranger move into your territory is always unpleasant. And yeah, Analie and I are both Goliaths. There was a—a thing... and....” Ashi shook his head, clenching his jaw. “It was stupid. She got herself into this. Shouldn’t have risked my neck for a weak low-rank like her.”
Thad wasn’t sure what a Goliath was, but he could guess. As a matter of course, he wasn’t supposed to fool around or mingle with the young Were downstairs, and neither was Sebastian. Royce’s orders. So why was a different Were being moved right into his old room?
Though abruptly wary, realizing what Ashi must be, Thad figured he couldn’t be that dangerous or Royce and John would never have let him into the building. Regardless, this was a werewolf. A somewhat angry and disgruntled one. Who seemed to be a bit of a jerk, judging by his feelings on Analie’s situation.
And it was right in front of him. Sharing his apartment.
Joy.
“Listen, uh… it’s getting late. I’m going to hit the sack, I’ve got work in the morning. If you want to watch any movies, just make sure you put them back when you’re done. And help yourself to anything in the fridge. If there’s something you want, write it on the list on the counter. Everything is ordered on Thursdays and delivered Friday.”
With that, he started beating his retreat, hoping Ashi would stay the hell away from him.
Ashi nodded. “Thanks.”
As soon as Thad was gone, he grabbed the blanket off one of the two beds and wrapped it around himself. He crammed himself into the closet, shut the door, and dropped his forehead onto his knees.
Chapter 10
Wesley was not having a good time.
He didn’t have a headache. He couldn’t, really. Not anymore. But he felt like he should have one.
John had been ungodly chipper last night when he’d come in and started yammering about the new blood in the building. Free game, he’d said. He wouldn’t shut up about it.
He also said that Wesley would need to be extra vigilant in today’s watch since the new bird might try to fly after John took