He was still freaking staring at me.
“That was the first part of the walk. Driving to the pet store,” I finally said.
“The last thing you should do while you’re high is drive, Abby.” Jade sighed. “Get in my car. Bring the wolf. I’ll take you.”
“I’mnothigh,” I protested.
Stella patted my arm as if in condolences. “She’s pretty convinced. I’d just get in the car. Try not to let the wolf attack any of us on the way.”
“He’s a dog!”
“Whatever you say.” Stella waved me out in front of her, and I reluctantly went.
Nico fell into step beside me, apparently not minding at all that we were basically being herded.
When Stella draped my purse over my shoulder on the way out, I thanked her with a quiet sigh.
I had no idea how I was going to convince them that I wasn’t high.
four
NICO
My wolf playedalong while Abigail and her friends picked out a collar with the name of their university on it—and a fucking bow. He didn’t so much as grumble when they attached a leash to it and walked around the campus for hours.
He sat at her feet while they had dinner together, joined by a few other women who seemed like they were all friends. He only growled once, when a guy bumped into her as he walked past.
He was typically calm, but with the woman he wanted as his mate?
The bastard was impressively controlled.
Particularly considering the extreme levels of overpossessiveness I’d witnessed from other hunting male wolves.
Things got dicey at dinner, when a group of male college students came over to talk to the women—clearly flirting—but between my wolf’s low growl and the women’s skill at shutting them down, they were gone as quickly as they’d arrived.
I was honestly surprised how well the women put an end to the flirting.
Then again, I’d picked up on the fact that all of them were young, female college professors at the university in town. They were participating in some sort of pilot program that tested out the impact of hiring younger-than-average professors.
They were all nervous about messing with the program after the drama with the creative writing professor they’d been friends with.
My wolf growled at two more men during the walk back to Abigail’s apartment, which wasn’t great.
Luckily, she had convinced her friends that she wasn’t on drugs, so they let her walk back alone with him. They also seemed to believe for the most part that he was trained after spending the day with him, so they’d relaxed slightly on that.
“Cool it,” she grumbled at him the second time, swatting his head lightly.
He took the opportunity to nuzzle her hand.
She gave him a reluctant smile. “It’s too bad Cucumber’s in there. You’d make a good pet.”
He snorted, nipping at her hand lightly before nudging her to keep going.
The asshole he’d growled at was still watching her. The wolf was probably itching to snap his teeth at the guy rather than herd his mate back toward her apartment.
Ourmate.
Mymate.
