Page 10 of Midnight Whispers
“I’m a wolf shifter.”
“I’d say that’s bullshit, but I saw your eyes.”
“You’re on pack land.” Cass opened the trunk and grabbed the can. He left the trunk open because he’d have to put the can back inside after emptying it into Riley’s gas tank.
“That’s what the dispatcher said. I thought he meant wolves. Like the animal version. Or are you the animal version too?”
“Sort of. I won’t hurt you.” Cass carried the can to Riley’s car.
“I can do it myself.”
“Your hands look frozen.” Purple and red blotches covered them.
Riley sighed. “Yeah.” He followed Cass and watched him as he poured gas into his tank. “I know you’re not going to hurt me. No way would my dad hire you if you were a danger to people.”
“Why’d you run out of gas?”
“Why are your eyes all scary?”
Cass met his gaze. “That’s complicated. And I asked you first.”
“I ran out of money.” Riley gestured to Cass’s face. “Do you always look like that? Your eyes, I mean.”
“Not always.” Cass liked Riley’s curiosity. He seemed as if Cass had put him at ease, or he was starting to. “So, you’re too proud to ask Iven or Griff for help. Is that it?”
Riley flipped him off again by way of an answer. “How do humans not know about you? If you have a pack, that means there are other people like you, right?”
“Fortune Falls is home to one of the biggest packs in the area.”
“Now tell me the complicated reason why your eyes are like that. Do you have normal teeth too? Or are your teeth always like that?”
“Okay, Mr. Million Questions. I’ll answer them all another time. When you’re not freezing to death and you’re ready to hear my answers.” Cass took off his gloves and handed them to Riley. “Put those on.”
“Thanks.” They were too big for Riley’s hands, but he moaned a little at the warmth. “I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t ready to hear it.”
That moan went straight to Cass’s cock. It was at that moment he knew he had to figure something out because he was going to mate with Iven’s kid, whether or not Iven liked it. It just wouldn’t happen right away.
Riley might have thought he was ready to hear Cass’s answer, but he wasn’t. Instead of furthering the conversation, Cass changed the subject. “How old are you?”
“Why is that relevant to you helping me with my situation?” They definitely wouldn’t bond right away. Not when Riley had no frame of reference for what it meant.
“It isn’t.”
“How old are you?”
“Forty-two.”
“I heard your back hurts when you get older. Is that true?” Riley smirked.
Cass chuckled. “Little shit.”
“I’m twenty-four.” It was the first time Riley let his guard down. It made him seem more innocent, if that was possible. And more like the kid Iven described. Cass could practically seethe boulder of stress on Riley’s back. Or pieces of it. Maybe some of it flaked off after his mother died, but he didn’t know how to let go of all of it yet.
It made Cass want to wrap Riley in a hug and not let go until the rest of the rock fell away.
After Cass finished with the gas container, he took it to the trunk. Riley followed him. “Would you like to warm up in my vehicle for a minute before you go back into your cold one?”
Riley nodded. “Thank you.”
