Page 40 of Untamed Instincts

“Your bestie called me two hours before I got off work, having some kind of tizzy meltdown about you being involved with dangerous men and letting a biker gang deflower you.”

That part Noah wished to god he could’ve skipped over, but his mate had leaned across the bed and grabbed the phone from him.

The bastard had the nerve to give Noah an air kiss after the word “deflowering.”

“Harris demanded I come over. Which I did, but he wasn’t there, and his front door was open. I get that we live in a small town, but have a talk with your boy about at least closing the damn thing. And about having one of his meltdowns all over me. It was not fun.”

Noah gagged. Gross. It was also the part he’d stopped the recording so he could play it for Quinton.

“Anyway, I’ve tried to call him several times, but he hasn’t answered. Oh, and by the way, I stopped by Mom’s to talk with Dickhead, seeing if maybe he knows anything about the situation you’re involved in.”

Noah tried to snatch his phone back, scared of what Layne might say. Lord only knew what would come out of his brother’s mouth, and Noah didn’t want the guy embarrassing him.

But Quinton held the phone above his head like a flipping toddler. When Noah scrambled across the bed, Quinton jumped up, the phone still in the air, the sheet gone.

Along with Noah’s ability to concentrate.

“Are you completely out of your goddamn mind, bro?” Layne shouted through the speaker on the phone, snapping Noah out of his dick daze. “Really, bro? Loan sharks? I’m beating your ass as soon as I mount a rescue operation to get you away from those bikers, bro! Jesus. We said to lose your virginity, not your fucking mind,” he snarled.

And so did Quinton.

Anytime Layne repeatedly used “bro,” he was beyond pissed off.

“You better call me,” he went on with his never-ending voicemail, which Noah wished had ended ten minutes ago or had never been sent to begin with. “And have a damn good excuse why you’re with those guys. I swear, if they passed you around—”

Noah launched off the bed toward his mate, desperate to get the phone from Quinton. But all he’d managed to do was get smashed against his mate’s body when Quinton caught him around the waist.

“—Jack’s asshole buddies to kill their asses.” Layne finally hung up.

“So glad to see not even Midnight Falls escapes judging someone before they get to know them,” Quinton snarled as he set Noah on his feet, belatedly handing over his phone.

“Only a handful,” Noah argued.

“Only humans,” Quinton fired back too rapidly for it not to be the truth.

“Well…” Noah crossed his arms, glaring at his mate. “Glad to know you have an issue or two with humans. By the way, hi, I’m Noah, your human mate.”

“But it’s okay for Harris to have an opinion about men he has never even met? My sons and our close friends?” Quinton argued. “If I remember correctly, it was those same friends who dropped everything and showed up to protect you while they got you back to me. Not Harris or Layne. My people.”

“How is it my fault they’re narrow-minded kumquats?” Noah retorted. “I can’t control what they think, Quinton, no more than you can control how our family and friends think.”

Quinton opened his mouth then frowned. “You can’t win an argument by taking my side,” he said, as if he was genuinely confused Noah had outwitted him.

But that wasn’t what he’d done. Noah had simply spoken the truth. He was mated to Quinton, so his sons were now Noah’s, as were their friends.

“Do you hear how you sound?” He walked over to his bag and rummaged through it, using the moment to set aside his hurt. He couldn’t control what his brother or best friend thought when it came to men like Quinton and the people around him.

When Noah had first spotted Quinton in the bar, he’d thought the same thing. Biker. Only because his mate had been wearing a leather and looked like one.

But Noah had still talked to the guy, had played Quinton’s silly, but fun high-stakes game of get-to-know-you. Noah really liked Killian and Ryker, and he assumed he would like Hyett when he finally had the chance to get to know the youngest brother.

He didn’t believe in prejudging anyone. But whether people admitted it or not, everyone had done it at one point in their life.

Appearances were the first thing someone noticed. That didn’t make them a bad person for prejudging. It gave them room to grow. If they refused, it was their loss on meeting new and amazing people like Noah had.

“Sweetheart.” Quinton crouched next to him, placing his hand on the small of Noah’s back. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been alive for over three centuries, and that’s an exceptionally long time to deal with…” He sighed. “You’re right. You can’t control what someone else thinks, and I’m sorry for taking out my grievances on you. I don’t care if you’re human, babe. Hyett’s mate is human, and Wesley is a wonderful man, just like you.”

“Something isn’t right with Harris.” Noah grabbed the same pair of socks three times, only to toss them aside just to grab them again.

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