Page 2 of Ravaged Wolf
“It’ll just take a second. Come on,” Brynn wheedles and pops a hip, trying to look cute, but from the scowl on Seth’s face as he jogs over, he’s not impressed. Cadoc favors Brynn, though, so that means she ranks. Unless Seth’s got a good reason to tell her no, he’s going to humor her, even though he’s the future pack beta, and his folks live only two floors down from the penthouse.
“What?” he grunts when he gets over to us, but before he even speaks, a foul stench smacks me in the face. I yank my shirt up over my nose like we used to do in primary school when a scavenger farted in class. He reeks worse than gas, worse than the port-a-potties over by the site where they’re building the new Research and Technology Center. What’s wrong with him?
This can’t be what they talk about when they say that when you recognize your mate, other males start smelling a little musky until you seal the bond. There is nothing littleabout this musk. But then why are Brynn and Teagan gawking at me and not the source of the world’s muskiest musk that ever musked?
They can’t smell it. Because they’re not going into heat.
Shit.
Teagan slowly drops her jaw, chomps her gum twice for emphasis, and says, “No. Freaking. Way.”
She glances from me over to Trevor and back again. I wish the asphalt would crack open and swallow me. I can’t do this right now.
Seth scowls, confused. “What do you want?”
“That’s all we needed.” Brynn waves him away. He doesn’t waste time figuring out what’s going on. With an irritated shake of his head, he continues with his business. As soon as he’s gone, I can breathe through my nose again.
“Oh, Izzy, I amso sorry,” Brynn says. She doesn’t sound sorry.
“Your mate is TrevorFloyd?” Teagan says Floyd like it’s a bad word.
“Don’t tell anyone,” I hiss, as much good as it’ll do. As soon as Brynn gets on her phone, everyone is going to know, starting with her mother.
I can’t let my mom find out from Aunt Catrin. Mom stewed for a week straight when Aunt Catrin found out what my first rotation was going to be before we got the official letter. If Mom hears about my mating from Aunt Catrin, she’ll never get over it. She’s never going to get over it anyway, but I don’t need it to be worse.
“I’ve got to get to my internship,” I say, and even though I know it won’t do any good, I stare them both down and try to instill some wolf in my voice. “Keep this between us, okay? Please?”
They both nod, but butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths. They walk toward campus, and before they get tenfeet away, they’ve already got their heads together, whispering.
I make my way to my car, a few rows back from where Cadoc’s inner circle parks, and misery bears down on me like a lead weight. I’m eighteen, but I still have to do my rotations in Marketing and Product Development. I can’t have a pup yet.
I thought I was going to be one of the lucky females who finishes her entire post-grad program before going into her first heat. I know most females balance their internships with pregnancy and newborns, but I also have no idea on earth how they do it.
You have to look your best at the High Rise every day, and even if I shower in the evening, it takes me an hour to do my hair and makeup in the morning, and if I have to get a pup ready for the on-site nursery, I’d have to get up at, what, five in the morning?
I can’t do that.
I touch my belly. I can’t grow a pup in there. I’ve got organs. Where would they even go? All of a sudden, my mind cannot fathom the physiology.
I’m standing by my car door, key in my hand, staring bug-eyed at the lock in a blind panic, when a scent like brown gravy, peppery and rich with sage and thyme, fills my nose. I’m not hungry—I lost my appetite last week at the salad bar—and it’s a weird smell in the middle of a parking lot, but it’s nice. Warm and homey. My wolf sits straight up. She loves it. The knot in my chest loosens.
“Do you want a ride to work?” Trevor asks. His voice is low, but also smooth and rich. Like his gravy scent.
I whirl, and he’s right there, maybe three feet away. He’s not crowding me, but I still retreat, shrinking back against the car door.
“W-What?” I say at the exact second my keys slip from my numb fingers. “Oh.”
Before I can act, he ducks forward, plucks them from the asphalt, backs away immediately, and holds them out to me, dangling them from the picture keychain of my parents and me in front of the statue of the Great Alpha Broderick Moore on undergrad commencement day.
My arm shakes as I hold out my hand. He drops my keys into my palm and takes another step back.
My lungs inflate again. Brown gravy. My wolf licks her chops.
“I guess you’ve got a ride,” he says, the corner of his mouth quirking. He shoves his hands back in his pockets and slumps his shoulders like he’s trying not to loom over me. I’m average height, but he’s at least a foot taller.
“This is my car.” I put my hand on it, an excuse to steady myself. My knees are wobbling.
“It’s nice.”
