Page 67 of Vicious Wolf Mate

As a kid, it had all been so exciting, a grand adventure. Going to visit Daddy’s secret underground complex. I used to tiptoe down the halls, envisioning myself as some sort of secret agent on a world-saving mission.

Back then I thought Insignys, and my father, were the good guys.

Thinking of Mace, and all the other shifters in the world, stuck with a literal ticking time bomb implanted in their heads, I shudder.

Although ironically, kid-me had one thing right. Iwilldo whatever it takes to complete my mission.

47

MACE

The three of us head towards the sewers. Once we go underneath the manhole, we collectively hold our breaths. I prepare myself to wet my feet in the most disgusting liquid I’ll come across. However, to my greatest relief, I step on cement.

I breathe out. “Oh thank God. There’s a platform.”

“I thought this would be more gross,” Gnash says.

Drario gags. “Well, the smell isn’t all too great. I can feel it deep in my nostrils.”

“We should hurry. I don’t want the smell to stick on my clothes.”

I take out the map and scan through it. We start walking to our destination. The sewers are nothing special. Just what you’d typically expect: dark, long, and smelly.

No one says anything. Our eyes go from the end of the tunnel, then back to the map. I don’t know if this atmosphere is awkward or just dense with determination. Ganesh and Drario haven’t snapped at each other. I’ll take it as a good sign.

The pipes leak. The sewage flows next to us, sometimes making weird and bubbly sounds. Now and then we step closer to the wall, just in case one of us slips.

“What’s going on with you and Mckenna?” Gnash asks.

“Why are you suddenly asking that?”

He turns to Drario. “I know you’ve seen them too.”

The latter shrugs. “Could be anything. I don’t know, not my business.”

“So you want us to pretend we haven’t seen your interactions? What about back in the car before we crashed?”

I sigh. “We told you then and there we weren’t flirting. Besides, you even said ‘If you fuck back there I’m throwing you out’.”

“I was making a joke. You even followed along.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. There’s nothing between us.”

Gnash catches up next to me.

“Really? Nothing at all?”

I roll my eyes. “Alright,maybewe had a hookup or two.”

He shakes his head. “No, no, no, no. Stop fucking around and just tell me. I’m not stupid or blind, Mace.”

“I wish you’d be a little,” I mumble.

“Hey!”

We keep walking at the same pace. I feel Gnash staring a hole through my skin. I didn’t want to say anything until this whole thing blows over. What if I really don’t see her again?

I stop walking. “I think…she’s my mate.”

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