Wolf's Call (Wolves Next Door #2) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,50

outside, I was the nice guy and he was the abrasive one, but under that shallow facade, we were more alike than most realized.

But I wanted to try, and the easiest way to do that was thanks to Karen. "Pax and I will start walking you home from the office."

"Or picking you up," Pax said. "Supposed to snow next week, and I don't want to take you to the doctor for another busted knee."

Lane opened his mouth, but I saw Seth shake his head, stopping the man before he could speak. I'd have to thank him later, because Elena's attention was all on me. I was pretty sure she'd missed that little exchange.

"What about when I'm at work?" she asked. "I'm trying to help lighten Ashley's load, and that means doing a few of these walk-throughs. She was teaching me how to do a move-in check when all of this happened, and I don't want this job because of who I'm sleeping with!"

"You got this job because you're easy to talk to," I assured her. "You've kept it because you're good at it. Even when it's crazy in there, or when someone's an asshole, you're still nice, and that looks professional. You have the job here because you're good at it." I shook my head. "And that has nothing to do with us. Ian has no control over the office. It's all Ashley and Henry, and they would fire you if you weren't amazing. I promise."

"But," Pax said, "I'm usually able to get away during the day. If you have something outside the office, just text me for a ride. I'll come help."

"That's not really what I want," she told us. "I want to be able to do this on my own."

From the corner of my eye, I watched Pax deflate. She hadn't meant that as a denial, but I was pretty sure it was what he'd heard. I knew because her words hit me a little too hard. We'd both screwed up. We'd been idiots, and convincing Elena that we were actually the men she thought we were was going to take a little bit of time and effort. The kind that required sucking up our pride, and that wasn't an easy thing for a beta to do.

"I know you want to be independent," I promised. "We're just offering to help."

"Ian's talking to Patrick," Lane told us. "Right now. He's making it clear that this can't keep happening, so it won't be forever, Elena."

"But maybe you can tolerate all of us helping until it's over?" I asked. "I mean, you'd do the same for us, right?"

She hit me with one of those amazingly sweet smiles of hers. "Yeah, I guess I would." Then she turned her attention back on Pax. "So, ok. If I have to leave the office, I'll let one of you know."

"And you can tell us what chores need to be done before Gabby gets home," Pax offered. "You've got four men willing to pamper you. Use us, mistress."

A devious little smirk touched her lips. "Well, I happen to have some laundry..."

And then Pax's smile matched hers. "Later. Let's start with real chores. How about dinner? Seth, get your mate a pillow."

"That's what Lane's for," Seth said, "but I'll grab a blanket and a movie."

"And I'm cooking dinner," I decided. "Pax, you can put out the dishes."

"Can do," Pax agreed, and together, we all proved to our mate that we were worth the hassle she was having to deal with.

CHAPTER 15

That night and the next, the guys went out of their way to be sweet. It was almost like Pax and Trent were trying to make up for pulling back recently, although they didn't need to. Now that I knew it was only because they'd been worried about making things worse with Karen, I understood. She was psycho, they felt like it was their fault, and I was the one Karen wanted to pay for her perceived insult.

But Pax and Trent were still on board with this whole multiple boyfriend thing we had going on. They were still into me. At least, I thought they were. As crazy as it was, the idea of losing them hurt. Even when I tried to tell myself that I'd still have Lane, Ian, and Seth, I still hated it. Clearly, I was the greedy kind, because I honestly liked them all. Maybe too much.

I was starting to rely on these guys. I looked forward to seeing them more than