Page 21 of Stealthy as a Wolf

Burke shrugged off his brother’s hold and took a threatening step toward me. No doubt if the collar hadn’t been clamped around his neck, I would have found myself facing down a pissed off tiger.

“Those collars are tamper-proof. The moment anyone touches them or tries to shift, thousands of volts of electricity knock them unconscious.” A snarl curled his lips when he came to a stop in front of me. He crossed his arms, his scowl deepening into a massive glower.

You’d have thought that being naked would make him less intimidating, make him look foolish, but nope.

For some reason, it was the opposite.

The condemnation in his eyes pissed me off. I plunked my hands on my hips and lifted my chin, my wolf pushing under my skin, wanting to get free and prove to this asshat who was in charge.

And it wasn’t him.

“So instead of being a normal human and asking me how I was able to remove his collar, you came out here, accusing me of being the evil villain.” I shook my head and shrugged. “To what end? Kill you? No wait, if I wanted you dead, I would’ve just left you in the back of the van and let them do the job for me.”

Burke’s expression darkened, clearly not appreciating my logic. He leaned in closer, looming over me, obviously not believing a word I said. “Then why don’t you tell me how you removed the collar.”

I lifted my eyebrows, then snorted and plopped down on the couch. I rested my arms along the back and crossed my legs, watching Burke’s blue eyes turn stormy. “Why should I bother? You’ve obviously already made up your mind.”

I turned away, lifting my nose in the air, then wiggled my fingers and waved them away. “Why don’t you just go? I’m sure you’ll get so far wearing those collars. I’ll take my chances on my own.”

My wolf chuffed in agreement, turning her tail up in my head and giving the big douche her back. There was a moment of silence, then a shuffle of feet. A second later, Boone sat down at the edge of the coffee table, where I couldn’t avoid looking at him.

Still miffed, I sniffed and peered at him out of the corner of my eye, unable to avoid lusting after his still naked body.

Did they really like airing out their junk in the open?

Was it truly that freeing, or where they just closet nudists?

“If you want to get answers from her, then cover up.” A second later, a pillow flew across the room, smacking him right in the goods.

Boone gave anoomph, and his smirk turned into a frown, clearly exasperated with the rest of the men. Then he reluctantly clutched the pillow in front of his junk. Once he was covered, his face softened and he leaned forward, turning on the charm. “Forgive my brother. Once he gets an idea in his noggin, he can be bullheaded. While my cat is easygoing, his has all the charm of a porcupine.”

Even though I knew what he was doing, my resistance weakened when my wolf shot me an image of her swiveling her ears and looking at him over my shoulder. I sighed and crossed my arms, tired of the game. “Just tell me what you want.”

“I don’t believe you want to harm us, but I’ve got to know.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “How did you get the collar off?”

As much as I wanted to tell them to fuck off, I was drawn to these men. While I wasn’t ready to forgive Burke, I really didn’t want anything bad to happen to them. I reached up and tugged down the neckline of my shirt, turning away to avoid seeing their reactions. “I know how to remove the collar because I’m intimately familiar with them.”

The silence in the room stretched out for so long that I released my shirt and looked directly at Burke, hating to feel so vulnerable in front of the ass. While most of my electrical burns had healed over the years, light silvery scars still decorated my skin. The lines encircling my neck looked delicate, the scars resembling vines as they trailed down my shoulders and across my collarbones. It would look almost beautiful if I didn’t know the ugliness that lurked underneath.

“I grew up in a commune that catered to prey animals. When it was time for my reveal, everyone expected me to be the same, only something went horribly wrong.” I wiped my hand over my mouth, but there was no way to get rid of the bad aftertaste of the whole experience, even all these years later. “I remember the meadow, remember seeing a dozen or so animals waiting. It was almost pretty…until a wolf howled in the distance.

“The animals scattered, and a massive wolf bounded into view not a minute later.” I looked away from the guys, not wanting to see their pity. “When I tried to run, the wolf tackled me to the ground. I woke up to pain, and my family looking at me in fear.”

“Maggie…why do you think anything went wrong?” Grady’s voice was gentle. He crouched down next to the couch and captured my hand. “I’ve seen hundreds of reveals. The meadow is a place where you and your animal choose each other.”

I narrowed my eyes at his condescending tone, then turned sideways and pulled down my shirt. “Do animals usually mark their humans as well?”

Roughly healed claw marks marred my shoulder blade, the wound nearly the size of my hand. My wolf whined in my head and scraped her rough tongue along the side of my face in apology.

Grady frowned, dropping back on his haunches. “No, you’re right—that’s not normal.”

When he didn’t look at me in disgust, the knot in my stomach unclenched. “My wolf is a powerful alpha. She was just marking her claim. Thankfully, I’m just as stubborn, and we’ve come to a truce over the years, but the people at the commune didn’t understand. The leaders didn’t appreciate that I was stronger than them, that my words were law.”

“What does this have to do with the collars?” Burke barely got the words out before Matty walked past him, smacking his shoulder so hard that it nearly knocked him off his feet.

The cat took a seat next to me, close enough that his leg brushed against mine. “Ignore the ass. Please continue.”

I leaned against him slightly, taking comfort from his warmth. He ran his fingers over the back of my hand, his strokes calming. “Fine, but if he interrupts again, I’m done.”

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