Page 27 of Wolf's Whisper

A loud laugh echoed through the cave. I slowly turned around, rather disturbed, as I started at an unusual sight. Regan could laugh? His face knew how to do that?

"Him? Twenty-six? He wishes," Regan chuckled, as this was apparently the funniest thing that had been said the entire time I had been with them.

Darren threw a little rock against Regan's head, but it just bounced off of him like a pebble against a mountain. I don't even know he felt it.

"I’m twenty-six," Darren proudly said, as he puffed up his chest.

Another snort was heard.

"Twenty-six? More like twenty-five," Aspen joined in, his eyes bright in amusement as apparently Darren's age was a running joke between all of them.

The shaggy boy grumbled. "Twenty-five and three-quarters."

I patted him on his arm. "Don't feel bad, I’m only twenty-one. The grandmas and grandpas are just jealous," I grinned.

As the group collectively groaned in disagreement, another voice quipped in.

"Wait, you’re only twenty-one?" Ashleigh cut in, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"Yup. Something wrong with that?"

The blue-eyed beauty shook her head, her curls shaking with her. "No, not at all... Just... Surprised."

"Wait, how old did you think I was?" I asked, a smirk appearing on my lips. Two could play this game.

"I dunno..." she muttered, but I could just tell from her facial expression that she was shocked.

"Ashleighhhh?"

This time it was Aspen who threw a little twig at his sister. "Yes, tell her Ashleigh, what did you think?" he added, his face oddly smug.

I cocked my head to the side as I wordlessly asked her with my eyes. She glared back at me for a second, before her gaze softened and the frown disappeared from her forehead.

"I don't know, maybe twenty-four," she admitted, her voice strained.

"So why is twenty-one such a big deal?" There wasn't much of a difference with twenty-four. Wait, how old was Ashleigh? And Aspen? Well, obviously they were the same age, they were twins. "Wait, how old are you two?"

"Thirty-one!" Aspen happily chirped as he puffed up his chest as well. "But even if I do say so myself, I’m looking mighty fine for my age."

Thirty-one? A wave of shock and nausea washed over me. Both my mates were ten years older than me? Ashleigh, my beautiful Ashleigh, was almost as old as my oldest brother?

"What?" I softly uttered, still not sure how I was supposed to react to that.

I felt my hands grow clammy as sweat threatened to break through my forehead. They had both cuddled up to me. I had even been fanning over Aspen's muscled chest. Hell, I had almost kissed Ashleigh.

Thirty-one? Jeez... How could that even be? Weren't people of that age supposed to be grown-up and serious? And not chase your naked brother and spank him with a pine tree serious?

A soft hand landed on my upper thigh. And even though my wolf purred from Ashleigh's touch, a little shiver ran through my body. And not the good kind. Ten years?

Ashleigh threw the same stick back at her brother, hitting him square between the eyes. "Shut up, jackass. We are only twenty-seven and our birthdays have already passed. He is just yanking your chain."

As if my body suddenly became pounds lighter, I felt the oxygen return to my lungs. Fucking Aspen, why would he do that to me? Cheeky bastard. I quickly counted the years in my head, calculating that their birthday had already passed and I would turn twenty-two at the end of the year. So that made them only five years older than me. Not ten.

Ooof...

As if Danny had noticed the turmoil inside me, she shook her head in disappointment at the cheeky wolf and gave me one of her kindest smiles. "You shouldn't take anything he says too seriously, Akira. He doesn't know when to stop."

"No, it's fine..." I murmured, my heart still pounding in my ears. As much as I felt drawn to Ashleigh, I wasn't sure if I would ever be okay with such an age difference.

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