Page 81 of Unforgivable

I smile at the fire in her eyes. Goddess, I love this little squirt. "Then, when I met Rhet and Thjis, I moved out here. Got my head screwed on straight."

"Mostly," Thjis coughs.

I throw a smirk at him. "They really hate Bear. They think we're fucking each other."

Lyri chokes, her face bright in color. Helpless giggles emerge from her mouth. "That's fine with me," she manages to say.

"Well, we're not," I murmur. Thjis winks at me, and I smirk. Wolves aren't necessarily against same-sex relationships, but I'm not having a dick shoved up my ass, and Thjis definitely wouldn't go for bottoming.

"You two act like lovers," Rhet points out, leaning back.

"They are handsy with each other," Lyri muses, a devious twinkle in her eyes as she and Rhet commiserate at our expense.

"Aww, baby, that's mean. We're brothers who show a little extra love for each other," Thjis is grinning madly.

"During the wintertime, Thjis' belly fucking grows, and he needs some help reaching-"

A huge dishtowel gets flung at my head. I duck, and it hits the window with a wet smack.

"Missed me."

The bread roll smacks me right in the face.

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Lyri

I'm still laughing as Thjis carries me outside.

The rumble of a car engine cuts my giggles short. My she-wolf is instantly focused on the curving dirt road. Who is coming here now? Part of me hopes that it's Ezra's family. I kind of want to give them a piece of my mind. I don't have to bite my tongue anymore. I'm nulla venia already. What do I have to lose?

When Mari steps out of the SUV, I just want to scream. Today is not the day for this. When Inuit and Sarj leap out, Rhet and Ezra move to grab the pups as though Mari is diseased. Thjis puts me down and gently pushes me behind him.

I narrow my eyes. Her dark hair is done in twin French braids threaded with golden ribbon. It's adorable and just slightly reminiscent of the quirky Mari I remember growing up with.

"You've missed the barbeque," she exclaims in a pretty, pretty princess voice. It's not her real voice. Bitch.

"I informed your father-by-mating that Lyri wasn't feeling well," Rhet says coldly.

"Well," she stiffens up her shoulders, confrontationally, "you're expected to make an appearance. Luna Jessi wants the rumors about her to stop," Mari indicates me with an indolent wave of her hand.

"I'll bring my female to town when I damn well please, little pup."

Mari glares his way, but she's too submissive to tell an alpha-male where to stuff his insults. Her brown eyes glint with anger, but she just huffs and crosses her arms, but not without tossing one last barb my way.

"I spoke with Cloe. She and Daan are going to Mark each other soon."

I refuse to react. I'm not sure how I feel. Numb, I guess. I've moved on, right? There's no reason why Daan can't Mark Cloe. In fact, it might be better for me. It was bound to happen eventually. His not Marking her was just one more way I was silently encouraged to keep fighting for him. It's only another tie that binds me to Daan that should be gone as if it never existed.

The driver's side door opens, and I gasp in shock.

Liam.

"What the fuck are you doing near my brothers?" Ezra snaps.

I look at Ezra. Inuit chimes in, "your mom insisted that we go to the barbeque," he shoots me a glance as if he's worried about how I'll react. I can only imagine that Ezra's parents disapprove of my presence here at Genom. "He volunteered to bring us home." Inuit's eyes dart to Ezra. The look they share is full of meaning. "Then, this one decides to ride along." He glares at Mari before giving Ezra another look... again with significance.

I edge away from Liam. I can't help it, the uneasiness my wolf feels around a male we were friends with. We trusted him. He knew us from when we were pups together. He even knew that I was rejected, if not by who, but he still turned up when I was Shamed under the Moon.

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