Page 105 of Feral Werewolves

“No,” I said. They were always doing that, the two of them. We’d go through some weird, harrowing ordeal and they’d be fucking like rabbits immediately afterward. I needed, you know, time.

“Yeah, okay.” He kissed me, though, and sent me off.

I would have talked to him. I needed to talk to him. Everything was fucked right now, and I didn’t know which way was up or where we went from here. But I was too exhausted at that point to talk to him.

“Kestrel’s in a room at the top of the stairs,” he told me. “I told Clementine two of us would be there if she needs us.”

“You found her.”

“Obviously,” he said. “I would have come down and told you if she was missing or something.”

Would he, though?

But I had figured she was all right. I’d figured she needed some time, some space. Hell, I wouldn’t blame her if she left. No reason for her not to cross right back over that wall and go back to her life. This, out here, it could not be worth it to her. I sure as fuck wasn’t going to be the jerk who tried to convince her that she should stay or that she should let us comfort her or anything like that.

Obviously, though, I didn’t want her to leave.

I remembered earlier in the day, when I’d been convinced we could all run off together, but when I’d told her our plan—that we’d all go further into the wilderness and start over?

She hadn’t reacted with words, but I’d sensed it in the way she got tense.

Her answer to that was no.

She was probably leaving.

Sure, when she got free from here, after being gang raped,she was freaked out. Sure she slept on my chest, in my arms, for hours, because she hadn’t known what else to do. But now, she had to see us for what we were. Her captors. Just as dangerous to her as any other wolf.

Mated to us or not, she was a victim out here.

“Right, okay,” I said to Paladin. “Well, I guess I’ll go up there then.”

“Get some sleep,” he said. “There’s a big bean bag chair that’s big this way.” He gestured out long ways. “I slept on it. It’s a decent bed.” He considered me. “You’re taller than me, but…”

I was a lot bigger than Paladin in general. Bigger shoulders, bigger hands, just… bigger.

But I was tired as all fuck. I could sleep on a bean bag chair. Whatever.

I trudged up the stairs, yawning.

She was standing in the hallway when I got up there.

“Clementine,” I said, stunned.

“Hey,” she said. “Kestrel’s asleep. I didn’t know where you and Paladin were. I was thinking about going looking for you guys.”

“We were switching off the watch,” I said. “We put Red and Griff in separate rooms down there.”

“What about their mates?”

“Oh, the mates opted to stay with them,” I said. That made zero sense to me, though.

“Okay,” she said, nodding.

“You got a place to curl up and sleep?” I said.

“Yeah,” she said.

“Okay, good. Just relax, okay? Get some rest. Is this the room?” I pointed. “I’ll be in here on the bean bag chair, and if you need anything—”

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