I groaned quietly as I crossed the apartment. Nico’s paws were nearly silent behind me, but I could feel him following me.
When I reached for the doorknob, he gave a quiet rumble.
I froze.
And looked over at him.
He carefully grabbed my pants between his teeth, pulled them off the back of the couch, and brought them to me.
I eyed him as I accepted the fabric.
“You want me to wear pants?”
“Of course we want you to wear pants!” Jade exclaimed on the other end of the call.
I hadn’t hung up the phone.
Oops.
“Just checking,” I lied.
It only took me a moment to pull them on. After my ass was covered, I hung up the phone and opened the door.
Jade and Stella stood outside. Jade’s forehead was creased, and her eyes were narrow. Her long, brown hair was tied up in a messy bun and her tan skin looked greasy—probably thanks to the sunscreen I could smell on her.
Stella looked slightly amused, like usual. She’d french-braided her dark blonde hair back. She was also shiny with sunscreen, and just as tan as Jade. Unlike me, they were out hiking together every chance they got.
It now seemed safe to assume they had been together when I texted Jade about the wolf thing.
It was a good thing Stella was pretty laid-back, or she would totally think I was insane.
Or on drugs.
Considering Jade already believed that, it actually wouldn’t be a stretch for Stella to agree.
“For the record, I think pants are overrated,” I blurted, as Jade stepped past me into my apartment.
“You’re totally high. Where did you get the—what the fuck?” Jade barked the last bit, stepping back suddenly. She nearly crashed into Stella, but Stella dodged at the last second.
“You went looking for a werewolf and brought back a wolf?” Stella asked, her eyebrows high in her forehead. Whatever amusement she’d had on her face was completely gone.
“It’s a dog,” I said weakly.
“That’snota dog,” Jade said bluntly.
“Sure it is.” I waved toward him. “Sit, Nico.”
He was still staring at me—but he did sit.
Slowly.
Almost sarcastically.
“The guy I met at the grocery store talked me into going to a dog shelter with him. Werewolves are a joke in Moon Ridge because someone started breeding wolf dogs a decade ago and now there are too many of them,” I explained. “Nico was just too… cute.” I waved toward the wolf.
Neither of my friends looked like they were buying my story.
I wasn’t sure I would’ve bought the bullshit either, so I could hardly fault them for that.
