Page 90 of Untamed

"Thanks, Ash," I mutter, refusing to let the embarrassment take over and let me blush like a female.

"No prob," he snickers, his deft fingers pulling the chain away from my waist so that the metal snips can do their job. "I can't believe she snuck up on you. How many wolves can say they pulled one over on the great Inuit, Alphason of RustClaw?" he chortles, his body shaking in silent laughter that only worries me because his fingers are shaking.

"Be careful," I warn him, pitching my voice low so that my beautiful mate doesn't wake up.

"There we go," Asher finally announces. With a sigh of relief from both of us, the chain falls to the carpet with a soft tinkling of bells. "You still look like shit, by the way."

"Haven't slept much lately."

"Just catnaps?" Asher loses his composure at his lousy joke and starts to laugh.

"Shut up," I snap, "you'll wake her up."

"Your kitty-cat? Isn't that what you told me Sarj calls her?"

Asher's laughter cuts off when my fist meets his gut. "Shut up," I growl. "No one calls her any cute nicknames, got it?"

"Got it," Asher wheezes. He takes his good, sweet time to recover, even though the punch was nothing more than a little tap. Finally, with drama oozing from his pores, he straightens and gives me a look. "I have the FeraxMaw wolves waiting. Do you want me to let them stew while she rests?" he glances at my mate with a soft expression.

"Eyes," I growl lowly. Asher turns back to me, rolling said 'eyes' at me. "Wait twenty minutes. She'll wake up. She's like clockwork that way," I say softly.

"How so?" he murmurs. We move away from the office, hovering in the doorway to not disturb her. I don't like the pallor in her skin even while she sleeps peacefully. But, nothing is worse than the stark look of betrayal in those golden eyes when she looked at me. Fuck me for forgetting something so important. I suck for that. No excuses.

"She just... wakes up, reassesses where she is and what is happening, then falls back to sleep. It must happen once every hour." It's the main reason why I haven't slept right lately. My mate... she’s a wild creature. I can't organize her into the contained, disciplined order that I put everything else into.

"Nightmares?" Asher asks me sympathetically.

"I don't think so," I murmur. "I think that's part of who she is. She's alert, always ready. Wild."

Not for the first time, I wonder about her life before me. One day she'll tell me all about it. Maybe. Just one more thing about my mate that I can't control, this need to hear her voice, my imagination running rampant with curiosity.

"The FeraxMaw wolves?" Asher prods me.

"Yeah, let's have a chat."

I walk into the conference room attached to my office. It used to be the formal dining room when Jax lived here with his family, but all the wolves who live in the house now just use the eat-in kitchen. We re-purposed this space for a conference room, and the butler's pantry is my office.

"Hello," Asher moves towards the FeraxMaw wolves with a sweet grin on his face. Hiding my smirk, I saunter after him.

All four wolves cringe away from me. I examine them closely. Job's arms are healing nicely. They have a bit of color in their cheeks, so I know they aren't starving themselves. I look over the other two males. Both young, too young to be interrogated, but apparently, when I ordered Caryn and Job to the ranch, these two pups were inconsolably hysterical, so we put them back together.

"Caryn, Job," I greet them in a low voice. "I never got to meet the pups."

I can see the urge in Caryn to protect the two young wolves. Both pups blink up at me with identical light brown eyes. Brothers, maybe fraternal twins. I inhale. They smell similar under the scent of Bea's beef stew. The roundness in their cheeks and the brightness of their eyes tell me that the pups have been coddled by the Elders while 'imprisoned' in the cells.

I look back at Caryn and Job. Wary eyes meet mine, but they're not terrified of me anymore. Do I not seem as on-edge as I did before? Or is my pack treating them so well they think I'm a nice alpha?

I snap my teeth in Job's face and am rewarded when he flinches and bows his head, cringing away from me.

"Our last chat was short," I tell him nicely. "I was in a bad mood."

"Y-yes, Alpha," he stammers. "I mean, I mean… no, Alpha?" he finishes weakly.

"I have a problem, Job. You see, a female is missing from my pack. Her name is Elna. Ring any bells?" I tap his forehead ungently, banging his head against the high back of the chair he's tied to.

"E-Elna? N-no," he immediately protests. I crouch down to level my face with his, eyes inches apart. He can't meet my gaze, but deep inside, I can sense his wolf, belly up, shaking in fear and intimidation. Job's practically pissing himself in fear.

He's also not lying.

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