Page 4 of Tangled Hearts

I tried to be amicable. He huffed, walking inside the house, staying in his wolf form. Once I locked the door, he laid against it, lying his head down and closing his eyes. I immediately walked to the kitchen and spotted Oria and Soren in the living room talking amongst themselves so low that I couldn't hear what they were saying.

It had been a while since we had all eaten, so I quickly grabbed things out of the freezer and a couple of canned beans. Maxton was a big guy, so I thought he would probably eat most of this. I got working on chicken burritos, defrosting and frying the chicken quickly.

“Can I help?” Oria’s voice stilled me.

I looked over my shoulder. “Um… I’m almost done.”

Very eloquent, Ryder.

“But if you want, you can cut up some lettuce,” I said, and her entire face lit up.

“I can cut.” She smiled coming into the kitchen.

I grabbed her a cutting board, knife and a head of lettuce. We worked in comfortable silence as we stole glances at each other. I laid out five big tortillas and made the burritos while she watched me. After I put the skillet down, we locked eyes and every nerve ending in my body felt like it was electrified.

Mine.

My wolf was on the edge of taking over so we could take her upstairs. My abdomen clenched in arousal as I thought of all the dirty ways I could make her say my name. Brand her so everyone knew who she belonged to.

A growl broke our spell. I looked over at Maxton who was backed up in the corner with Soren right in front of him. He was making Maxton feel uneasy and I suspected he stayed in animal form to keep from talking.

“Just shift because you owe us some fucking answers,” Soren snarled.

Maxton growled.

“Fine, we will do it the hard way,” Soren snapped, reaching for him when he shifted into an enormous lion that made me stop from going towards them.

“By shifting, you’re only admitting your guilt,” Soren growled.

I took a deep breath, wishing my friend didn’t have to have such a big head that always got him in trouble.

“Soren, don’t push it,” I clipped.

“He owes us some fucking answers.” Soren glanced back at us like I was an idiot for not demanding them.

“Sor.” Oria’s soft voice broke through the tension.

He looked at her with an annoyed expression, but it immediately went away.

“Look, I know you are worried about Loki, I mean, Maxton, but I don’t think we have to worry,” she said, walking up to him. “I trust him. He’s looked out for me for a very long time and I have a feeling that he isn’t here to harm me or any of us.”

Soren looked at me and then back at his mate. “I don’t trust him and the moment we let our guard down is the moment we could lose everything. I’m not taking any chances, Blondie.”

He grabbed Oria and a burrito before he raced upstairs, leaving me with Maxton.

“Come on, let’s eat and we can get some sleep before Gray gets back,” I said, grabbing my food, but he didn’t move.

He shifted into a wolf before laying back down, closing his eyes and I didn’t have the energy to find out what the hell was wrong with him.

The sound of the fridge opening made me wake up abruptly.

“Gray?” I mumbled, looking around, but only found Maxton completely naked peering into the fridge.

“No, the other vampire hasn’t returned,” he said, glancing back at me.

Usually, nudity didn’t bother me, but seeing this dude naked was going to give me a complex. I rolled off the sofa and headed into a room to look for some sweats for him. I was thinking we were the same size in the waist, but they might fit him a little short since I wasn’t as tall as he was.

I grabbed the first pair in the drawer, throwing them at him as he took out the burritos. He caught them and put them on quickly. They did look a little short, but they would have to do.

---