Page 31 of Wolfgang

Eric cleared his throat. “I need a shower.”

“Across the hall from where you’ve been resting. Everything is fully stocked.”

“Except I don’t have any clothes.” Eric gestured down to the robe he’d rather tragically placed over his boxer briefs. Wolfe had ended up tossing the shirt Eric had worn to the massage parlor—there had been an awful amount of dried blood on the collar.

Wolfe gestured in the direction of the stairs. “You’ll find an assortment of clothing in your size, in the dresser.”

“Creepy.” The scowl was back again.

Wolfe inclined his chin in agreement, pressing his lips together to stop the smile that wanted to come out. Itwascreepy, perhaps. But his attention to detail was coming in handy now, wasn’t it? He decided it best not to say so, however.

He watched Eric leave the kitchen in a huff, wondered how many hours either of their beasts would actually allow this separation. Half of Eric’s scheduled shift, perhaps? Less than that?

In the meantime, Wolfe needed something to soothe this new agitation from agreeing to this ridiculous farce. He dug his phone out of the pocket, dialing Tobias’s number once he heard the telltale sound of the shower going.

“Wolfe.” Tobias’s grating voice greeted him in a whine. “I’m already on my way back. I got the message, okay? We’ll leave you alone.”

“Yes. I heard little Soren gave you quite a scare. Let me just give you a message of my own.”

“I already got it, okay?” Tobias hissed, seeming to think he was in a position to direct this conversation.

Poor, misguided Tobias.

“You had children when you were turned, did you not?” Wolfe tugged the book of samples closer, flipping through them again with a discerning eye. He wanted to get the green just right.

There was a long, tense pause on the other end of the line. “Wh-What?”

“Children who had children of their own,” Wolfe mused. The upper left tile wasalmostwhat he wanted, but it was a touch too light for his purposes. “You have quite a line of descendants at this point, Tobias. A fact you’ve been careful to keep hidden from the den.”

“I— How did you…?”

“So.” Wolfe marked the tile anyway, just for comparison purposes. “If you ever come near this den again—if you threaten my new home, perhaps, or if you or your den mates try to siphon off any of Johann’s funds coming my way… Let’s just say there will not be a single trace of your genetic material left on this earth. Do you understand me, Tobias?”

Tobias’s fear was deliciously palpable, even through the phone. “Yes, Wolfe.”

“Good. Carry on with your travels.”

Wolfe hung up. He took a deep breath. There, that was better, wasn’t it? Nothing like threatening the extinction of an entire line of descendants to soothe the savage beast within.

Want our mate.Want him close.

Wolfe shut the book of samples and threw it across the room.

eleven

Eric

Ericdoveintothedictation room, slamming the door behind him.

He just needed a minute. One fucking minute, and maybe then his hands would stop trembling. He glanced at the clock on the wall, taking deep, shaky breaths. He’d made it five whole hours of his shift. Five hours where it had taken everything in him to focus on his patients the way he needed to. But that was fine. He could do seven more, right? Eight if he included the charting he was miles behind on and the report he would need to give to the oncoming doctor. Just eight measly, miserable hours.

Fuck.Fuck.

Starting out, he’d been worried the issue would be the blood—that he’d be distracted by it, maybe have to fight from nibbling on his own patients. But it turned out that wasn’t the problem. The problem was wanting to run out the door and head right back into the arms of the asshole who’d caused all this.

He’d thought it would be better than this. He’d thought maybe some distance would help shake the hold the psycho vampire seemed to have on him, dim that restless need the beast inside him was crawling with. But it was only worse, somehow. He felt itchy and hot and irritable. And his hands would not stopshaking.

He clenched them into fists to stop the tremors, only for his phone to ring in the next second.

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