Page 42 of Homecoming

“Yeah, and what? Oz, what the hell are we supposed to do with thestinkin’thing? It’s for the best. It’ll only suffer out there.”

“I can’t believe you said that in front of him.C’monBud, let’s get out of here.”

“Mister Digby!” Helena tuts and wags her finger at him. “Would it really hurt so much to let him keep it? You know how clingy he is.”

Digby looks at Noah as he and QT cradle not only a crying Luka but also the kitten.

“She’s right,” Noah sighs. “He’s insecure after everything that happened. Maybe a pet would be good for him and once I finish the cabin, I’ll keep it there. Don’t worry, I’ll talk to Darius about it.”

“Look, I said it because I don’t need any more problems—not today.” Digby looks down at his phone as it vibrates in his hand. “Oh geez, that’s just great,” he sighs, “now we’regettin’spun up. QT put thatfreakin’cat down. Wehave to go. Hell, could this day possibly get anyfuckin’worse?”

Theforestisthickand dark, the morning sun barely able to penetrate the dense canopy, and Kat keeps herself hidden in the thickest part of the foliage watching as the gathered pack of six wolf women stand naked at the edge of the clearing, laughing and giggling in delight.

The feral girls sense they’re being watched and hearing Kat’s stern growls, they quickly shiftandin a mixture of fur and flippant snarls, the wolves scurry away through the undergrowth.

Kat takes a deep breath as she steps towards the source of their amusement. “You know, you really shouldn’t encourage them.” She grins, biting against her bottom lip as she watches a shirtless Noah sawing a log. A fine layer of sweat defines his muscles and makes his tattoos glisten in the light.

The grassy clearing is filled by a large square of wood formed to make the foundation of the cabinandlifting another huge log, Noah drops it in place. Kat can’t help but notice the way his chest tightens as the muscles strain and flex with the weight of the wood.

“Who am I encouraging?” he hitches his brow.

“Oh, don’t pretend you didn’t notice they were there. All that damn giggling and growling, youhadto know. And anyway, I saw you smiling when you teased them by taking your shirt off.”

“Maybe, I like them watching me work.” With a wry grin filling his face,Noah picks up the axe and strikes it cleanly into the side of another large log.

“You like it?” Kat frowns. “You like those girls looking at you?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Oh…” he stopsandresting the axe on his shoulder, looks up with a huge smile. “I do believe Katrina Morgan is jealous.”

“I’m not jealous. Why would I need to be jealous?” She steps closer, and taking the axe from his hand, she wraps her arms around his waist. “I already have you—they don’t.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that. You do have me.” He kisses her passionately. “Now, can I have my axe back because I have work to do?”

Kat hands him the large, weighted tool and sits herself on the grass. “Carry on. I’ll just watch you chop logs from here,” she smiles with a smoldering glint in her eye.

“Kat, don’t say it like that, as if it’s turning you on.”

“But what if it is turning me on? You know, I could film you chopping wood and put it on the internet. There’s a whole slew of videos on there—shirtless guys chopping logs and I think you’d be a huge hit.”

“Well, I don’t want anyone else watching me chop wood…. except you.” With that, he swings the axe high over this head and brings it down, splitting the log cleanly in two.

“My, oh my… what strong arms you have,” Kat smiles. “Oh, that reminds me, I have a little something for you. It’s just for fun—a joke.” She grins as she hands him the parcel she brought with her.

“What is it?” He frowns as he pulls at the string and unwraps the brown paper.

“Open it and you’ll see.” Kat smiles, watching as Noah pulls from the package what appears to be a bundle of deep red velvet fabric. “I thought we might learn about role-play—the last section in your book.”

“My father’s book? Oh, okay. Now I’m intrigued.” He shakes out what is essentially a large red hooded robe. “Am I supposed to wear this?”

“Uh-huh.” Kat stands up, places the garment around his shoulders, and fastens the clasp at the front of his thick-set neck. “It’s a cloak… to keep out the cold.”

“But I’m not cold. I’m hot when I’m chopping logs.”

“Okay, so take it off—with the rest of your clothes,” she grins teasingly. “I thought maybe once the cabin is built, we could play big bad wolf.”

“Ohh… oh, now I see. You want to pretend to belittlered riding hood, like in the story?”

“Yeah, except you can be red and I’ll be the big bad wolf.”

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