Page 24 of The Wolf Professor

He cocked an eyebrow to hide the fact that he was close to blushing. “Half decent?”

“Three-quarters decent. I guess I should get going. There’s a sale at the Motham Mall.” She slid her butt off the stool. “Do you need anything? A new laptop maybe?”

“With an electronic diary?”

Her lips twitched. “Yeah, dare to live a little.”

“No thank you. My trusted laptop is only three years old, and I won’t be giving up my leather-bound diary anytime soon.”

“Okay, suit yourself.” Yep, she definitely thought he was a dinosaur. “See you later, Max,” she said, tossing back her curls as she headed for the door, leaving him with the peculiar desire to go to the Motham Mall sales, an event he usually avoided like the proverbial plague.

CHAPTER 10

Tod’s party was in full swing when Charlie arrived.

An array of different species had spilled into the small front yard, and music boomed from speakers on the scrappy patch of lawn. Tod’s new place was in a street mostly inhabited by students and low-income earners by the look of the peeling paintwork and broken-down fences. It was close to the Wastelands, but she guessed that made it affordable. Besides, it was getting trendy nowadays to rent in the more edgy suburbs of Motham.

Craning her neck as she walked inside, she caught sight of Simone, sinewy and glamorous in a sequined dress that accentuated the shimmer of her scales. Charlie smiled when she saw a big brawny centaur at her friend’s side. Things were moving forward, finally.

She felt happy for Simone, but had to ignore her own small stab of envy.

A moment later, Tod was wending through the crowd, holding out a bottle of wine and a glass, which he filled and handed her. He looked handsome in a patterned shirt and snug black jeans, but the spark was definitely not there anymore.

“Hi Tod, happy birthday.” She smiled, handing him the present she’d bought this morning at the sales. A special high-beam torch for when he went caving, his hobby.

“Wow, thanks,” he said, unwrapping it. His expression suggested he read far more meaning into the gift than she’d intended. “This is fantastic.”

“Just thought it would be useful, you know, for caving.”

“I’ve got a trip planned into the mountains past Twill. This will do the job perfectly.”

His eyes panned down her body. “You look amazing. Love that dress—very retro.”

“Thank you, I made it myself. But hey, maybe I should mingle and let you get on with greeting your guests.”

Tod looked disappointed, but luckily another orc, one Charlie recognized from college days, tugged at his arm, and Charlie slipped away to get a drink.

She found Gina in the kitchen, draped over a goat girl with blue hair spiked around her pert little horns, piercings all around her ears, and one in her nose. She reminded Charlie of Taryn, part of the young hip crowd that were everywhere in Motham these days. They frequented all the trendiest pubs and clubs, and kept the concert scene pumping.

Taryn had been right. Looked like the time was ripe for the ruts to go mainstream.

As if on cue, Gina said, “Guess what? Quinn has agreed to partner up with me at the Winter Solstice Rut.”

“So you’re definitely going?”

“Bought my ticket online this morning. Why don’t you come, babe? Invite your sexy wolf boss.”

“As if!” Charlie scoffed.

“It’s not for another four weeks. You’ll have finished working for him by then, right? A quick bang to round it all off sounds good to me.”

Charlie rolled her eyes and sipped her wine.

“Go on, dare you to invite him.” Gina giggled.

“No, no, and no.” Charlie slugged a bigger mouthful of wine, just to wash away any thought of asking Max to go to the Solstice Rut with her. Gods, imagine his face. He’d be absolutely horrified.

Still, as the evening wore on and everybody around her seemed to be making out, Charlie felt woefully like a spare vulva at an orgy.

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