Page 120 of In the Mouth of the Wolf

He cautiously climbed into the mess of blankets and pillows, still leaving about six inches of space between us. “Is this good?” he asked.

I muted the TV and turned to face him. “If you’re not okay touching me right now, or touching in general, just let me know. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Oh, no, it’s not that, it’s just…” He scratched his cheek nervously. “You just didn’t seem too happy at the office when I…”

“Ah,” I replied, remembering how I had pushed him off me. “I just don’t like strangers touching me without permission. But you’re not a stranger, and I am giving you permission.”

He lifted his eyebrows. “Are you sure?”

I scooted closer to him. “May I?”

“Uh, yes?”

I lifted his arm and put it over my shoulder, nestling into his side. His eucalyptus and lemon scent enveloped me, and I must have released a wave of my own perfume because I heard him breathe in deeply. The tension left his muscles, and he began to purr.

“Oh wow, that’s the first time I’ve ever done that,” he chuckled.

I put my hand on his chest to feel the vibrations. “Yes, it’s adorable.”

He pinched my side and I yelped, turning the TV back on and settling into his nook. I’d already seen this movie before, but it was fun to listen to Julian’s commentary. He was surprisingly into it.

“Wait, she’s gonna lose the bakery unless she sells how many cookies by Christmas?”

“Five thousand.”

“Dang, and there’s only like, thirteen people in that town. She’s so screwed.”

His fingers ran along my skin absentmindedly, and his warmth, combined with the dark, quiet peace of my dad’s house, lulled me into a deep sleep.

Iwas gloriously entangled with Julian on one side, Archer on the other, and Elias at my feet, when the smell of food finally roused me from my slumber. It was still dark outside, but Nolan was making something that smelled amazing.

Cam was also awake, drinking a beer at the dining table.

Once I extracted all my limbs from the pile of alphas, I headed over to Cam, sliding onto his lap and resting my head on his shoulder. “How’s the house?”

He growled. “A fucking crime scene until Moon knows when.” Then he took a sip of his drink and kissed me on the top of my head. “How are you?”

“Compartmentalizing hard, as usual. You sure the cops don’t need to talk to me and Julian, too?”

He shook his head. “Nah, we’ll take care of it. But speaking of…” he threw his head back towards the rest of the pack and grinned. “I knew he’d be a good fit.”

Nolan set a plate with several grilled cheeses on the table in front of us. “Yeah, he’s great at punching out vampyrs. But let’s not forget our other enemy can burn people alive with magic.”

Archer had told me what happened, and I still couldn’t believe it. This unknown shifter, the one who wanted to take me, was more powerful than we had even imagined.

“Magic.” Nolan reiterated, leaning on the table. “Magic, Cam. Cam, he has…”

“If you say magic one more time…”

Nolan stopped and looked him dead in the eye. “How are we supposed to defend against that? How is that even real?”

My momentary happiness over our victory rose with the steam of the hot sandwiches, evaporating into the night’s cold air.

Cam grabbed one and dropped it unceremoniously on his plate. “One thing at a time. Let’s just deal with my house and bonding Julian first.”

He took one of the cut halves and was about to eat it when I let out a small whine, giving him my biggest puppy dog eyes. He chuckled and lowered it to my mouth so I could have it instead. I took a large bite, smiling as I chewed.

Then he grabbed my chin, inspecting a crumb of bread on the corner of my lips. He licked it off, his cock quickly hardening beneath me.

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