Page 12 of My Pucking Life

Leera approaches me. “Roman, honey, don't you think we should stay out of their business?” She looks around to our family.

I tilt my head to the side in mock contemplation before smiling at her and replying, “Nope,” making sure to pop the “P" for a dramatic effect. “If they're going to treat their mate this way, who happens to be my little sister, then no. When they've buttoned up whatever their problem is, I'll consider it.”

Leera shakes her head at me but doesn't push it further.

“You really don't have to do that. I can handle myself just fine. I have been for almost seven hundred years,” Runa scolds me, also crossing her arms over her chest.

Again, I tilt my head back and forth as if weighing my thoughts. “While that may be the case, it never would have happened. I would have taken care of you, and that's what I'm going to do now. Those idiots will figure it out. They always do. But I'm not letting you deal with their bullshit in the meantime.”

At that, Eris does stomp out of the room, grumbling all the way. Dolos is hot on his heels but does stop to look me in the eye. “He's got some shit he needs to work through,” he vaguely explains before turning to Runa. “Roman's not wrong, you deserve the world, and I'll make sure you get it.” He takes her hand and plants a soft kiss on her knuckles before taking off after his brother.

“Well…this is fun!” Khaos says to everyone and no one in particular.

“Has anyone else found their mate that I should know about?” I ask in jest as I scrub my hand down my face.

Benny approaches and wraps his arms around my shoulder, “Nah, Boss, I'm still all yours,” and we all break into laughter, even Runa.

“Hey, are you okay?” Leera asks her, and my sister nods. “Yeah, it's…it's just been a lot.”

Leera soothes her and begins to lead her towards our room. “I can only imagine. Did you know that I didn't even know I was a werewolf…”

I can hear their voices trailing off, and I hope those two become friends. It would seem that was everyone's cue that we’ve discussed everything we needed to for the time being. Everyone rises and heads in different directions, leaving Khaos and me in the living room.

Thankful that Matilda left it out, I make my way to the whiskey for a much larger glass.

“Don't you have practice later?” he laughs.

I hold the decanter in the air towards him, silently asking if he'd like some himself, and he nods.

I fill the glasses and return with them and plop back down onto the couch after handing Khaos his. “Yeah, I do, but I'll never get through it if I put everyone through a wall,” I grumble, taking a generous gulp of the smooth Zabellan whiskey.

Khaos does the same and shakes his head. “Everything went from routine to complicated real fucking quick, didn't it?”

I don't even answer him. He knows. I raise my glass, and he brings his to meet mine, clinking them together.

9

The last few weeks have gone by in a comfortable and only slightly chaotic sort of monotony, all of us settling back into our routines. Sure, the world still feels like it's on fire as long as Roman's father and his counterparts walk free, but we can't put our entire lives on hold while we do what we can.

By we, I mean the men, mostly Slate. I don't know how that man can even see with the amount of time his face spends staring at a laptop or other electronic device.

He still hasn't found anything that leads us to where Avram is hiding out, and we can't exactly storm Zabella and take on the King's advisor without all the evidence, lost princess or not.

So, I've been getting all my schoolwork done between hockey games and practices. Most of the boring academic stuff is already completed for the semester, so I get to spend the majority of my time on my photojournalism assignments.

Nearly all of my assignments have featured the Predators, but we did have one recently that allowed me to choose a zookeeper to shadow at the Cleveland Zoo. Naturally, I requested the wolves, which turned out to be a group of six Mexican gray wolves. I got to feed them, clean up after them, and photograph them, of course.

My favorite part was the way they looked at me. They didn't lower their heads and watch me, like they did with the keepers. They kept their heads up, eyes locked on mine, with the occasional tilt to their head like they were trying to figure me out. My wolf perked up and was all excited over the change in scenery, and it was almost a struggle to convince her that we couldn't just shift and make new friends. I settled with letting a little of her energy out when one of the wolves was making eye contact with me again. I was surprised when she yipped at me, and her tail began to wag. The keepers were in awe that after that the wolves were following me around, and they even let me pet them. I decided that I would have to bring the guys to visit them one day as well.

Khaos had to return to his hockey team in Augusta since the season was still in full swing. He had slipped into our family surprisingly well for being Roman's lifelong rival. I think a lot of that comes from actually taking the time to understand each other without their fathers hanging over their shoulders.

Runa and I have become good friends, and when Zoey stayed over last weekend, the three of us were inseparable. It's hard keeping secrets from Zoey about everything going on in my life, so I'm glad I have another girl I can talk to, other than Miss Tilly, of course.

Tonight, the guys have a big home game against the Kansas City Warriors. I guess this is their next biggest division rival, after Khaos' team, of course. They're neck-and-neck in points; even though it's only December, the teams are already laser-focused on getting that home rink advantage in the playoffs. Well, most of the teams are laser-focused. It's not that the Predators aren't; it's just hard with everything we have going on. I've been trying to convince them to try and enjoy the game they loved so much before I came along, but it's still a work in progress.

I also finally talked Runa into joining me for the game tonight. Between the twins and the giant crowds, she’s managed to avoid going so far. But I told her I'd be there with her the whole time, along with our guard, because I still can't go anywhere alone. After the interaction at the game with Khaos, I'm thankful for the extra layer of protection.

The new guard Roman has on standby is a large and terrifyingly beautiful woman that goes by Fran. Not Franny, not Francine, not Frankie, just Fran. I know because I asked. She doesn't really talk or smile or do anything but watch. Everything. Which again I appreciate, but she's so intimidating. I'm pretty sure she could bench press Benny, which would be really fun to watch. I'm glad I'll have Runa with me tonight so I can talk to someone who talks back.

---