Page 38 of Wolf Heart

Aspen fries up a few of the eggs. We eat at the table using a broken spoon and he a knife to scrape up the cooked goodness.

“What about the others?” I ask between bites.

“Let them sleep.” He pushes back from the table taking our empty dishes to the sink. “I’ll make them the rest of the eggs when they wake.”

“Need any help cleaning up?”

“Nah.” He scrubs at the rusty pan and doesn’t look at me.

I want to ask him about last night. About our kiss, but I can’t get involved with him. Michael is my fated mate until I figure out a way to convince my wolf that he was a total ass to us. Though, I have a bit of comfort knowing I'm not the only one struggling with this. Michael's wolf claimed mine and he'll be pining for me too, no matter what his human side wants. How the idea that someone is struggling as I am gives me comfort. Or maybe I'm just twisted.

My mind shifts to Aspen, who hasn't done anything wrong. Yet, last night was a mistake. All the craziness from our encounter with the lost ones made me reckless and I got caught up in the moment. It was a mistake. An accident that won’t happen again.

We can't be together, even if I wanted to, without fixing my wolf and breaking the fated mate bond between me and Michael. There's a reason why our wolves chose each other, but usually the human side isn't at odds.

Leaving Aspen in the kitchen, I tiptoe back to the bedroom, but the idea of trying to go back to sleep doesn’t appeal to me. I wipe my hands down my jeans. Dried blood is crusted on my nails and I swallow down the revulsion that crawls up my throat.

I need a shower and backtrack to the small bathroom in the hallway. It’s empty. I flip the faucet all the way on. The old plumbing of the house creaks and groans as brownish water sputters out of the faucet. There’s a slight metallic scent, but nothing horrible.

The shower curtain is cheap, dirty, and ripped near the seam.

I peel out of my clothes and step inside the shower, pulling the curtain behind me. The freezing water hisses out of the narrow pipe and trickles down my skin. I don’t see any soap in the shower, but I need it to get the dried blood off me.

Using my fingers, I scrub my hands and then my face and body until I’m numb. My teeth chatter and I can’t stop them.

I turn the faucet off and squeeze all the water out of my hair. A shadow flicked behind the plastic shower curtain and I still.

“That you, Raven?” Dex’s voice asks. “You jerking off in there?”

Before I can answer, Dex whips the shower curtain back and I gasp.

“Juniper?”

I lunge for the curtain, yanking it around my body.

“What are you doing out of bed?” He reaches down and picks up my torn clothes.

“I-I had to get cleaned up.” I hold my hand out. “Give me my clothes back.”

“One condition.” He smiles with a twinkle in his emerald eyes that has my breath hitching.

I roll my eyes, trying to appear like I don’t care about his games, but my heart is racing in my chest. “That’s blackmail.”

“Nope. It’s opportunistic. But hey, if you don’t want your clothes,” he says moving to the door with a shrug, “I’ll throw them out for you—”

"No!” I’m wet, cold, naked and I can’t chase after him. The bastard.

“Look,” he strolls over to me, “I’m not asking for a make-out session like you did with Aspen.”

My cheeks flame like they’re on fire.

“Just a quick kiss.”

“Why?” I square my shoulders, keeping the shower curtain between us.

“Never kissed a witch before.” He tucks my clothes under his arm. “Some Roamies say it brings good luck.”

“And some say a curse,” I whisper.

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