Page 13 of Wolf's Whisper

"No, I need to say this... I can't believe I didn't even feel your wolf," Ashleigh muttered, a pained look appearing in her eyes as she realised she was this close to attacking her own mate.

I grimly chuckled. "Having your wolf locked up for twenty-one years will do that to one."

A sad smile made its way to her lips as her fingers briefly touched my cheek again. "You were born in the West," she stated.

"I was," I confirmed, my skin heating up underneath the light touch of her fingertips.

"I’m sorry."

"Don't be... I've never known anything else. Until a couple of days ago, I didn't even know there were wolves out there who can shift without the..." I slammed my mouth shut as I wondered if I could reveal the existence of the Winter Stone. Mate or no mate, she was still a stranger to me.

"...Who can shift without the Wolf's Relic," she finished my sentence, her eyes never leaving mine.

"The Wolf's Relic?"

"Or as you like to call it, your precious Winter Stone."

I cocked my head to the side. "You know about that?"

"Everyone knows about that."

I raised my eyebrows. I always thought our Winter Stone was a relatively well-kept secret.

"Let's not talk about that now. I think we have much, much more interesting things we can discuss," Ashleigh huskily whispered, her lips so close to mine, I could almost taste the wild strawberries.

Just a little bit closer...

"Ashleigh! Don't scare the poor girl away on our first night!" A loud voice suddenly called from across the campsite. Disappointed, we broke apart as I angrily stared at the culprit. Danny. Grr, I'd get her back for this.

I turned back to Ashleigh, but the moment had passed. She threw me an odd look, grazed her soft fingers over my cheek once more and turned on her heels. I admired the swing of her hips as she made her way back to her brother, who seemed utterly confused by the tent frame.

Instead of kissing my mate, I'd just settle for observing her every move. She pointed at a branch and gave instructions to a completely clueless Aspen. That boy couldn't set up a tent if his life depended on it.

With every passing moment, I could see Ashleigh's frustration grow as Aspen's efforts seemed to make their frame less and less sturdy. At last, with a sigh, the frame gave in as their whole tent sank to the ground.

"Oh-oooh..." I heard Aspen gasp as he slowly backed away from a fuming Ashleigh.

“You’re so dead," Ashleigh growled, her body tensing right before she launched at him. He dropped the furs that had been wrapped around his waist and with his manhood out and about, he sprinted away from his sister.

It truly was an odd sight. One naked man running through the snowy trees followed by a mad woman chasing him with a stick.

I glanced at the rest of the group, who seemed to be done setting up camp. They had all gathered back around the fire, but they seemed unfazed. Danny was giggling as Darren was probably whispering sweet nothings in her ear, Regan didn't even blink at the unusual spectacle and JP was still as nervous as when he arrived.

I approached them with my arms stretched out in astonishment. "Really? None of you is going to comment on that?" I blurted as I pointed towards a giggling, dancing Aspen and an utterly offended Ashleigh who was shouting all sorts of profanities at him.

JP glanced up from behind his glasses and shrugged. "L-L-Looks like a regular thing to me."

Darren looked up, snorted at the sight and went straight back to whispering in Danny's ear, who frankly wouldn't even have noticed if a Yeti appeared in front of her.

"Regan? Any thoughts on the matter?" I sarcastically asked, wondering what kind of people I had found myself in the midst of. If this wasn't weird, I didn't know what was.

Regan adjusted his seat and added. "Ash and Aspen always get into fights. This one doesn't even crack their top five of craziness."

I pulled up an eyebrow. "Really? So what other things have they done?"

"T-T-The time Ashleigh burned off his eyebrows was p-pretty funny."

The tall man nodded. "Or when Aspen tied Ash's hair to a tree in her sleep."

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