Page 56 of Wild Wolf

“Aww, are you worried about me?” I teased.

“Always. Which is in part because I’m hopelessly in love with you and in part because you see danger and just stride right on up to it. You’re hazardous, Rosalie.”

“You wouldn’t want me any other way,” I replied, giving him a taunting smile.

Sin lifted Crow-thing from his shoulder, placing him gently on Ethan’s and petting his head before kissing it. I swear the bird crooned at him and Ethan glanced at it uncertainly.

“Er, what am I supposed to do with him?” Ethan asked.

“He’ll have a plate of fried worms for breakfast followed by some Fae-chewed mealy bugs, If you could get right on that, Ethy-pie.” Sin clapped him on the cheek. “Chew the mealy bugs slowly so he doesn’t choke on them, and can you let him feed from your mouth too. It’ll remind him of his nesting days, thanks. Byeee.”

“What?” Ethan barked, but Sin led me out the door and snapped it shut behind us so Ethan’s confused cries were more muffled.

“So where are we going?” Sin asked, grabbing my hand and swinging our arms between us as we started the descent down the porch steps. “To the beach? Or a fair? Or an opticians? Oh I love a good squinty at the bottom line and a rage row when the scrangly bitch with the pointer stick tells me I’m wrong and it’s a W, not a penis-”

I opened my mouth to reply to that but the visual image he had just given me had a snort of laughter falling from me instead.

“We’re going to see Jerome so that he can help us locate Vard,” I explained, tugging him so that he followed me down the long drive.

“Right…right. Because Vard can see the future and you want to find out whether or not you and me will be mated too or if I’ll forever be the third wheel, only able to make myself feel better by loudly fucking you when I know Cain is near enough to listen so that I can console myself with the fact that there is a lower position in your pack than mine-”

“What? Sin, no – we need to find Vard because he has Roary’s Lion.”

“Oh.”

I rolled my eyes at him, jerking my chin towards the huge barn where the Oscuras kept our cars and leading the way towards it.

Sin pouted as he followed me and I sighed.

“I’ve told you clearly enough that I want you, Sin. Why do you keep falling back on this nonsense and making out like you’re not good enough for me?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s that the moon doesn’t like me. She hasn’t given me a sparkly moon mark and I can’t help but think it’s because of all the times I’ve looked her dead in the eye while taking an outdoor piss. It was disrespectful and she’s getting her revenge now.”

“The moon sees everything that takes place at night and you taking a piss has got to be the least of the depravity she’s witnessed. Hell, you were an assassin – don’t tell me you never killed anyone while she was watching.”

“Of course I did. But she liked that, the saucy minx. All the blood and screaming and death got her going, just like it did you. It was the pissing that pissed her off. I know it.”

I paused with my hand on the door to the barn, the magical wards tingling against my palm as they recognised me, parting to let me in. “The moon doesn’t hold grudges, Sin,” I said.

“Except against Cain,” he pointed out. “She gave him that curse which is gonna make him die a death bleeding out of his asshole and she won’t break it.”

I pursed my lips. The idea of that fate for Cain was a whole lot less enjoyable than it had once been and I flicked a glance up in the direction of the moon in question over that but I couldn’t spot her lingering in the morning sky and she clearly had her reasons for maintaining that curse upon him anyway. Who was I to question her?

“And yet you’re curse-free,” I said, brushing my fingers up Sin’s forearm. “So drop the little lost boy bullshit and stop comparing yourself to Ethan and Roary. What you and I have is ours alone, Sin. And I’m not giving you up or playing favourites, am I?”

“No,” he exhaled and I tiptoed up to brush a kiss against his lips before opening the door to the barn and leading him inside.

“Ho-ly cow on a cornflake,” Sin cooed as he took in the cars all lined up within the huge space, our family garage pretty impressive on first look.

There was…well, yeah it was awesome. I grinned as I watched Sin dive into the space, touching all the vehicles from the gleaming sports cars to the SUVs, convertibles, ATVs, dirt bikes, super bikes, the small battalion of electric scooters which Dante had surprised the pups with last Christmas, the pair of monster trucks which honestly caused more chaos than they were worth, to the twenty-three golf buggies, most of which bore evidence of being used as battering rams when they were being raced across the valley en-mass.

“You have a fluffin’ helicopter,” Sin called from within the depths of the barn and I weaved between the cars to find him grinning up at it.

“Yeah, there are a couple of light aircraft and gliders too – my uncle Fabio got his pilot’s licence a few years back so that he could chase Dante through the sky. We however need to take something which will draw less attention.” I beckoned for Sin to follow me and led him towards the front of the barn where a set of huge doors stood and most of the more practical vehicles were lined up and he booed as I selected a pickup for our chariot.

“We can play with the fun ones another time, Sin. We need to be incognito at the moment, remember? Also, the FIB are watching the roads out of the estate in hopes of catching some of us – so I need you to shift and drive while I hide in the footwell.”

“Drive?” he asked, moving around the truck and slowly climbing in behind the wheel. “Yes. Drive a vehicle. Like an everyday Sam.”

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