Page 81 of In the Mouth of the Wolf

The room fell silent. My chest heaved in anger, and then Cam looked up and shrugged. “Lesbians?”

Archer groaned and Elias and Nolan just shook their heads in disappointment.

His brows furrowed, and he huffed. “No, hear me out. Female omegas are only magnets to males, right? Lesbian alphas and betas aren’t going to be drawn to her the same way. They won’t be jealous. Nolan, have Megan take Marlowe to Shifting Sapphic next weekend.”

My mouth hung open in shock. I didn’t know whether Cam was an idiot, a genius, offensive, progressive, a combination thereof, or something else entirely.

“Megan isn’t gay,” Nolan said flatly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Cam rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I know, but Marlowe shouldn’t go to a bar alone, and we’re not allowed inside. A female family member is safest, and Ivy’s off the table because she’s like, thirteen months pregnant or some shit.”

“There isn’t enough research on the effects of omega pheromones on homosexual shifters,” Archer replied. “You know as well as I do that exclusive same-sex relationships were deeply frowned upon in shifter culture until recently. For all we know, Marlowe could elicit the same reaction from a gay alpha female as she does from a straight alpha male.”

I picked up my plate and served myself a slice of lasagna and some salad, then grabbed a whole bottle of wine. “Alright, I’ll just go eat in my nest alone while the big, strong alphas discuss my future, then punch each other. Good night.”

They let me go without a fight.

At least they let me go the best they could. Every ten minutes or so, I could hear one of them pause at my door, listening to make sure I wasn’t too upset.

To be honest, I was too numb to feel much of anything. I needed time to process everything that had happened, but it felt like every time I started to feel better, some fresh new hell would reveal itself to me.

The heavy meal and wine combined with my seventh rewatch ofThe Officelulled me into a comfortable daze, and soon enough, I fell asleep. Alone.

My wolf stirred.

I hadn’t felt her since the last time I had shifted, but now she was awake – restless and nervous. There was something driving me into setting her free that evening, and I couldn’t resist the call any longer. I shed my clothes and left my room.

The house was quiet and dark, my pack having retired for the night. I needed to be careful as I tiptoed down the hallway and stairs. My shifter senses had sharpened tremendously in the past week, so I knew how well we could hear even the tiniest creak from the floorboards.

I made my way to the back door, sliding it open and biting my tongue to keep from gasping as a blast of frigid air hit my nude body, covering my skin in goosebumps. It was snowing again, and I could feel the whine from my wolf, desperate to roll around in the soft, pillowy drifts that had accumulated in Cam’s backyard.

When I had shifted before, it had just happened. There had been no stopping or controlling it, so I wasn’t entirely sure if I was doing any of this right. I closed my eyes, imagining a gate in my mind. I slowly unlocked the latch and opened it, letting her through.

37

THE TAWNY WOLF

The crisp wind blowing through the small opening beckoned me, but the sudden smell of an approaching male from behind sent a growl through me, and I turned around.

A human – the one I had seen before, the one who smelled good – had found me.

“Easy, California, I’m not going to hurt you,” he cooed. “I just wanted to see what was going on. You’re not going to run away again, are you?”

I chuffed. The human part of me called this home, and her body was too weak to survive without my fur. I would return when it was time to relinquish my control.

“Good, just checking. Are you going far?”

I turned back to the darkness, taking a step out into the night. I just wanted to be outside. I leapt into the snow, shaking and snapping at the falling snowflakes. I was made for the cold; I was made for the trees and the streams.

The human male stood in the doorway, the temperature not bothering him like it did my human. He simply watched, and I decided to let him for now. Something stirred in him, something I almost recognized...

My human was angry at him, I could feel, but she trusted him. So I would too.

He was her pack. Where was mine? I knew they must be around somewhere. I paused my game and howled, begging them to join me. I wanted to chase and be chased.

The human stepped outside slowly, and I trotted over. Company was company, I supposed. At least until my pack arrived.

“Beautiful,” he whispered.

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