Page 14 of The Wolves At My Sides

I let out a deep breath and headed into the bedroom to get dressed. I caught a glimpse of myself pulling my shirt over my head. My second claiming gland was clearly visible now and the sloshing around under my skin was impossible to ignore.

I ran my thoughts through everything I knew about Fen, but that only made my fox more anxious. I couldn’t kill the man who traumatized him. The others had done that already. I couldn’t shake the feeling that thinking about him so much was cheating on Irwin either.

“Alpha, I already told you not to think like that,”Irwin cut into my thoughts over our mating link.

“Well, my brain isn’t obedient,”I tried to joke.

“I’ll spank it later, but please come out here. I miss you and I think I’m fucking this up. Every question I ask seems to be the wrong question.”

“Ask about his hobbies or what he does for fun,”I suggested.

“I will but get out here.”

“I’m on my way mate,”I said and gave myself a good mental shake.

To survive as a shifter, you had to be adaptable. I wanted to pull out my phone and call my sire, but I already knew what he’d say. He’d say we needed to love everyone we could and do our best.

“I guess I don’t really have a lot of hobbies,” Fen said as I walked back into the kitchen. “I worked a couple jobs all the time. Didn’t need the money really, but it was something to do. I just didn’t want to sit home all day thinking.”

“Everyone has things they like to do,” Irwin said.

“Maybe working was my hobby,” Fen shrugged.

“Did you like your jobs?” I asked.

“Not really. People suck for the most part.”

“Do you like music?” I asked.

“Not really. It makes it hard to hear other people coming,” he said, and my heart sank into my stomach.

Our new mate didn’t feel safe anywhere.

“Same thing for shows and movies?” I asked and he nodded.

“What about reading? You read my book,” Irwin said.

“I read occasionally if I come across something good,” Fen nodded.

Irwin opened his mouth to speak, but I spoke first.

“How about you ask us something. We don’t want this to feel like an interrogation,” I chuckled, and slid into a chair at the table.

“Do you guys like Heartville?” Fen asked.

“I do,” Irwin said. “It’s quiet for the most part.”

“I came because I was needed, but I’ve found all the full timers to be friendly. There’s good hunting and everyone watches out for everyone else,” I said.

“Are people nosy?” He asked.

“What do you mean nosy?” I asked him.

“Are they going to want to know everything about my life? That’s why I avoid conversations in general. People want to ask where you’re from and what your parents do and ---”

“Some folks might ask, but that doesn’t mean you have to answer them,” Irwin said.

“But don’t you think it’s weird that’s what people want to talk about? Where you’re from, what your parents do, what you do to make money. It’s strange. It’s like they have a list to tick off so they can judge you,” Fen said.

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