Page 73 of Ravaged Wolf
I flush. Nia’s grin widens.
“Oh, now we’re getting to the good stuff.” She crosses her legs, propping the heel of one combat boot on the toe of the other. “It’s been working until…?”
I glance over to Drona’s daughters. They’re still dead to the world.
I never had female friends like on TV, not the type you could confide in. There was no way I would talk to Brynn or Teagan about anything really private. That would be handing them ammunition.
I’m pretty sure Nia isn’t like that. In general, people here aren’t like the people in Moon Lake. They aren’t competing all the time, trying to one up each other, forming alliances and stabbing backs. I guess when you know you’ll get what you need, regardless of rank, other people aren’t your enemy.
I already broke down in front of her that first day, and we chat about all kinds of things when she drops by the apothecary to see what I’m doing, and, I suspect, to take a break from busting people’s balls, which seems to be her job.
I guess if you can decide to stop being a hermit and become a healer and go on a mission to another pack, you can decide to make a real friend.
“Until Trevor. I want to, you know,bemates.”
“And he doesn’t?” She raises an incredulous, pierced eyebrow.
“He wants it. But he’s scared. And traumatized. And I’m scared and traumatized, too, but he’sstuck. Sowe’restuck. And it’s totally possible that we’ll finally get to third base or home plate or whatever, and we’ll both freak out, and then we’ll just have to face facts and give up and be alone forever, even though neither of us want that.” We haven’t said that to each other in words, but I know. I can feel him now, in my chest. The bond isn’t just there. It’s getting strong.
“Which is third base?” Nia asks.
“Oh. Uh. Mouth stuff? Or below the waist stuff?”
“Well, if anal is home plate, wouldn’t third base be penis in vagina?”
“Home plate isnotanal.”
“What is it then? Like a threesome?” Nia’s gold-banded tiger eyes twinkle. She’s teasing me.
I roll my eyes. My mother would slap my face if she saw me, but the females here do it all the time, and no one gets offended. I kind of love it.
“Well, that’s a real pickle, eh?” Nia flashes a sympathetic smile.
“I don’t want him to do something he’s not ready for, but like, what if he’sneverready? And I don’t evenknowifI’mready.”
Nia glances over at Pritchard’s snoring wolf, and her smile fades. “I wasn’t ready when Pritchard and I mated. I was sixteen. I did not want to be attached by a mystical umbilical cord to some dumbass slacker for the rest of my natural life.” Her eyes soften. “I was so mean to him. It wasn’t his fault, but he was happy about it, and that made me so freaking mad. He didn’t get it—he was justincapableof understanding how I felt—and that made me even madder.”
“Are you still mad?”
She seems to really consider my question. “No? It’s different here. Moon Lake felt like jail, so Pritchard kind of felt like my cell mate or something, and that just wasn’t going to work for me. Now…I do what I want. People listen to me. So it doesn’t feel like that anymore.”
“So you’re together?” If Nia’s around, Pritchard is never far away, but they don’t seemtogetherper se.
“It’s complicated.” Nia’s tough mask slips for a second, and she looks younger. Uncertain. “Once something gets all fucked up, it’s hard to fix it, you know?”
“Yeah.” I do. I really do.
“I mean, sex isn’t the problem, though. That never has been. He doesn’t look like it, but Pritchard can lay some pipe.” She gazes fondly over at his sleeping wolf.
He’s still splayed on his back, his hind legs kind of hovering in the air an inch or two off the ground, his ears folded over his eyes and his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth. Sara has his tail clutched in her fist, using it as a wubby as she sucks her thumb.
I would literally never have guessed.
“How do you, uh, make it happen, then?” I ask. “If you want to do it, but it’s, uh, complicated?” She probably never has that problem. Females complain about males wanting it too much, not about them always going to check on the trashcan raccoons whenever things start to get really good.
“Like how do I let him know I’m in the mood?” she asks.
I nod and stir. I’ve totally lost track of how much longer I have.
