Page 13 of Wolf Lost

They had to get linens out of the closet, because the room wasn’t made up with anything but a fancy comforter and matching pillows.

“We haven’t messed with the parts of the house we don’t live in yet,” Ash said bashfully, focused on the fitted sheet instead of looking at Sawyer.

Sawyer looked at the bed, then at Ash, confused for a second before something dawned on him. “You guys didn’t do any of this decorating. You bought the house like this.”

Ash blushed bright and ducked his head. “Like I said.”

“It’s pretty awesome. Must have cost a fortune.”

Instead of responding, Ash glanced both ways, like he was afraid someone was listening in. “I don’t know how much it cost. Dez didn’t say. I’m sure Gavin checked, but I’m scared to know.”

Sawyer looked around. “Dez is... rich?”

Ash bit his lip. “Yeah. Is that, um, important? Because it’s not to Dez. I don’t think he even wanted the money. Just, you know, he has it, so he’s using it to pay for what we need.” He lowered his voice. “I think it really bugs Gavin. He feels like he’s failing to take care of us, like he’s the alpha so he’s failing his pack.”

“But you’re all alphas.”

“But like we said, he’s the alpha.” Ash tossed the pillows to him and tugged the comforter off the bare mattress. “Always has been, even when he was human. He’s the guy, you know? We all followed him, and not just because he was our CO.”

“CO? Oh, like commander.” What Sawyer knew about the military wouldn’t fill a thimble, but at least he could try not to make an ass of himself.

With a little flourish, Ash snapped out the fitted sheet as he nodded. “Something like that, yeah. But um, if you’re only—”

Sawyer put his hands up. “Before you say anything else, no, I don’t care. I grew up in a house with six rooms total, and I liked it fine.”

“Except for not having enough bathrooms.”

“Oh, seriously, that was the worst,” Sawyer agreed, rolling his eyes skyward. “Especially when we had pack gatherings in the backyard.”

Ash winced. “Yeah, been there. We were practically communal when people came over, and one time I found two of my cousins making out in my bed.”

“The bunk bed?”

Ash nodded, face screwed up in disgust at the memory. “I made my brothers take the bottom bunk after that.”

Sawyer tossed one of the pillows back to Ash, and they finished making the bed with, dare he say it, military precision. He wondered if that whole “bouncing a quarter off the sheets” thing was true. Still, he didn’t need to advertise that he didn’t know the first thing about the military. Best to preserve the illusion that he wasn’t a clueless kid.

“If you need anything in the night,” Ash said when they finished, “you know where the kitchen and bathroom are, and we’re all within shouting distance. Not sure if I’m closer or Dez is, but it doesn’t matter.”

Sawyer answered with a nod, running a hand through his hair. “Really, Ash, thanks for this. I don’t know where I’d be right now—”

“Let’s not worry about that. We’ve got your back. As long as you want.” He waved from the hall as he closed the door to give Sawyer some privacy. As much privacy as a guy could get in a house of werewolves who could smell and hear his every move, anyway.

The lights were voice activated, because that wasn’t bizarre at all. Sawyer climbed into bed and looked up at the light fixture. “Computer, green bedroom lights off, please.”

The lights dimmed and flipped off. Sawyer continued staring at the fixture for a moment before shaking his head. He turned onto his side, closed his eyes, and sleep took him almost immediately.

* * *

He wasn’tsure why the sound woke him, but he came to consciousness suddenly and completely. For a fraction of a second, his heart tripped in hope that Dez was sneaking into his room, but that was ridiculous. The alpha wouldn’t do that, and if he would, he wasn’t the man Sawyer thought he was.

Besides, this noise was coming from the door that opened onto a front terrace. An outside door.

He strained his ears and made out two extra heartbeats. Two flickering pack bonds. The betas who were following him. Apparently one of them knew how to pick locks, because a moment later there was a loud click, tumblers turning, and the door opened.

Sawyer sat up in bed and turned to look at them. They froze for a second, caught by surprise, but it wasn’t as though slim, untrained Sawyer could fight his way through two beta enforcers.

One of them stood by the door while the other, the one he didn’t know, came at him. In that moment, he had very few choices. Let them drag him off, which wasn’t an option at all. Fight, and lose. Or kick up a ruckus and hope that the Kismet pack were light sleepers. They were ex-military—it was normal for them to sleep lightly, right?

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