Page 53 of Fixer
“On my wedding night?”
“I wouldn’t mind.I know how little time you get to wolf out with other wolves.”
“Not a chance.”Shawn slanted a flat stare at me.“You’re going for a long run, right?Like, really long?”
“Heck,” I drawled.“We might not come back till dawn.”
“Yep,” Wade said.“Don’t need to hear my little brother having sex.”
“Same, brother, same.”Shawn ran a hand over Zay’s chest, and Zay shivered.Shawn added, “Don’t let us keep you, then.”
I laughed.“We’ll get caught up tomorrow night.Run with you then, if you like.”When I stood, Wade did too.“Congratulations,” I told the guys.“Give us ten minutes before you rip each other’s clothes off.”
“Five,” Shawn said, tweaking Zay’s nipple through his shirt.“Shift fast.”
We made it out of clothes, into fur, and out the back door before the newlyweds took kissing to the next level.I trotted across the lawn toward the trees, smelling the remnants of cider and ham and cake.Wade paced at my shoulder, sniffing the air too.Stars shone overhead, and the three-quarter moon was bright enough to make travel easy.
I nudged Wade and turned for the hills, finding the path Shawn had shown us that led to the nearest ridge.Up there, we threaded between the trees, sticking to where the underbrush grew thick and lush with spring growth.A few miles into the park, we found a clearing on a hilltop.The light breeze brought the scents of deer and rabbit, bird and mouse, but no humans.
In a sheltered depression lined with moss, I stopped, lay down, and shifted.Wade followed suit, and stretched out beside me, gloriously naked.“A bit chilly for this, don’t you think?”
“Come here and I’ll keep you warm.”I pushed to sitting and opened my arms.
He sat in front of me between my legs, his back to my chest, and I wrapped my arms around him.“Mm,” he said.“I like this.”
“Me too.”I kissed his temple.“Did you mean what you said, about not wanting a wedding or a bond?”
“Yeah.Why, do you?”
“Not really.”Although when I considered the nearness of the Chicago wolves, and the usefulness of a bond that would let me find Wade, no matter where they took him, I was tempted.
“Yeah, I can hear you worrying and plotting from here.”Wade leaned harder on my shoulder.
“Well, it could be a good precaution.We don’tneeda bond between us, but I like the hidden advantage.”
“You meet with Rick once a month for his training.Do you think he could sense if we’d bonded?”
That was a very good question.“Probably not.It’s hard for anyone outside your own pack to know.With luck, he might just assume we’d finally figured out who was Alpha.”
Wade tilted his head so our gazes met, and we said, “Not it,” in unison.Wade continued, “You think Rick has any suspicion about us?”
“I’m trying damned hard to make sure he doesn’t.”We met for his lessons at the new office I leased in downtown Darville.Wade made sure to stay away, and I showered intensively before I got anywhere near Rick.Wade and I had never had sex in the office, no matter the temptation.We should’ve been safe, but Rick had sharp intuition for a wet-behind-the-ears kid.“If he does, he hasn’t said anything to his Alpha.”The Alpha would’ve been on us like white on rice if he’d had any clue.
“You don’t think Rick’s gay, do you?”
“I can’t tell.If he is, he’s given me zero indications but he also never asks me about women or dating.When we’re together, he’s all business.Another reason not to rock the boat.”
Wade sighed and slumped comfortably in my arms.“I don’t need to rock anything.Your PI business is going okay, right?”
Surviving, anyhow.I had a ways to go before I’d be bringing in the income I had in Chicago, but by now, I could pay for my apartment next to Wade’s with the hidden connecting door, and afford food, gas, film, and office rent, so no complaints.
“And my carvings are selling.”
“I keep telling you to raise your prices.”Wade’s stuff was becoming popular enough that he sometimes sold out at the craft shows.I’d encouraged him to branch into bigger, more artistic pieces and he’d sold a couple.
“Yeah.I might do that.”
“He listened to me!Hallelujah, will wonders never cease?”
