Page 13 of The Wolves At My Sides

“No. I guess it’s never too soon. Not with a response like this, but--- No, I’m not on birth control. I’ve never needed to be.”

“A top then?” He asked and my blush deepened.

My heart pounded in my ears and my tongue wouldn’t form the words I wanted it to. I never really discussed my life or lack of love life with anyone. There was no one who ever cared to hear the details.

“Too soon forthatquestion?” Irwin asked, still blushing.

“No. I ---” I started, but couldn’t finish. “You’d think I was a fucking teenager with the way I react to this shit.”

“I should’ve left these questions for Marcus to ask. He’s better at it than me.”

“No, it’s a me thing. I --- I never needed birth control,” I said again, hoping Irwin would read between the lines.

“That could mean a lot of things,” Irwin said.

“Well, it means the most obvious,” I said, trying not to snap as everything inside me coiled into tight knots.

“Oh!” Irwin’s eyes lit up with recognition and I wished I could turn invisible.

Inside me, my wolf’s tail still wagged, and he wanted to howl to the world. It was hard to think straight when our emotions were such a juxtaposition.

“Like I said, I avoided people. Even coming here was out of sorts for me. I just wanted --- I want to tell their story. They deserve peace.”

“You deserve peace too,” Irwin said.

“Well, most people don’t get what they deserve,” I shrugged.

Irwin met my gaze and I looked away. I wanted to let him, but I also wanted to push him out. What would he say when he figured out, I really was just an awkward anti-social wolf?

“But everyone should have what they need,” he said.

“What is it you think I need?” I blinked at him, trying to make the question sound innocent.

That was difficult, because my wolf thought he knew exactly what I needed: Irwin and Marcus naked and alone with me. I blushed harder just at the thought and gulped down the last of my glass of water.

“Time, to start with,” Irwin said. “Time to figure it all out. Time to work through your parents’ stories. Time to adjust to being here.”

“I’ve had plenty of time,” I shrug.

“Do you want to be here?” He asked, circling back around to that.

“I do,” I nodded.

Chapter Nine

Marcus

I stood in the bathroom after my shower listening to Irwin talk to Fen over our mating link. I did my best not to analyze Fen, but so many things stood out right away. There was no turning off the therapist in me. Knowledge didn’t go away, because I had a true-mate response to him. If anything, it all flooded into my mind because I wanted to help him. Irwin and I knew Fen had trauma before he arrived in Heartville. Everyone who wrote into Irwin about telling a story had some sort of trauma. That’s why I wanted to meet with him before Irwin after all.

“He just needs a place where he can feel like he belongs,”my fox chimed into my thoughts.

“I want to take him to the Sanctuary.”

“We could. I don’t know that he’d feel any better there and I don’t know who Cade would complain to all the time or who our clients would---”

“I get it. Our life is here now. Our mate’s life is here now.”

“Both of our mates are here now,”my fox said.

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