Page 51 of Ravenous

Joy screamed and stumbled backward, landing on her ass.

“It’s okay. It’s me.” I lunged forward and lifted her to stand, pulling her roughly against my body. She was shaking and sweaty and breathing hard.

In my periphery, I saw my pack wolves slinking away to give us privacy. “I won’t hurt you.”

Joy gaped up at me and then, like the time she had giggled in the middle of her tears, she laughed. “Wes?” Her smile was broad, like this was some funny coincidence meeting out here on the mountain with me buck naked, having just changed forms.

“You’re… you’re not scared?”

“Ofyou?” She laughed some more, throwing her arms around me. “Why would I be scared of you?”

Remy wrapped her little arms around Joy’s waist from the back.

“Um, you know. Because of the wolf thing?” I ruffled Remy’s hair, then stepped back to hoist her into my arms, so I knew she was safe.

Joy included her in our little circle and started laughing for real. “You’re a wolf.”

Laughter seemed to be her default when she needed to get emotions out of her body. Laughter or sex. She definitely didn’t prefer crying, but I’d help her with that. I wanted her to feel safe expressing all her emotions, even the sadder ones.

She’d have excess adrenaline in her body later, and I could definitely fuck it out of her again. For now, though, I’d hold her. Holdbothmy girls.

“Daddy’s a wolf!” Remy cried proudly. Then she turned to me, clapped her little hands against my cheeks. “I wanted to run with you tonight, Daddy.”

“Yeah, baby, that was a problem.” Shifters were used to seeing each other naked, so Remy didn’t notice the state of my undress. “You can’t shift yet. Not until you hit puberty when you’re bigger. A lot bigger. Until then, you have to stay back with the humans on the full moon runs. You know this.”

She sighed. “But I wanted toseethe wolves.”

I glanced up at Joy. I had so much to explain to her. “Well, we didn’t show you tonight because Joy didn’t know we were wolves. Remember how we’ve talked about it being a secret?”

“But Joy’s one of us,” Remy insisted, nodding her head. Her hair was snarled, and her face had dirt smudges on it.

For some reason, that made my eyes smart. I looked at my beautiful mate, wrapping my arm tighter about her waist. “She is. At least I hope she will be.”

Joy had tears in her eyes, too. “I don’t know what that means.” She was laughing again. “Are you asking if you can turn me into a wolf or something?”

It was my turn to laugh–a foreign sound that rocketed from my throat and surprised me.

That made Joy giggle more. And Remy.

I shook my head. “No, honey. I just want you to be my mate. Keep our pack secret. Carry my scent.”

“Um…okay.” There was still laughter in Joy’s voice.

I wasn’t sure she was taking this seriously or understood what she was getting herself into, but I’d explain it all when we were back home. Right now I needed to get my two females out of this gully and off the mountain.

As if to punctuate that thought, Remy whined, “I wanna go home.”

“Climb on my back, baby, and I’ll take my girls home.” I said before I dropped to all fours and shifted into wolf form. Remy was on my back and Joy followed along beside me as I took the direct way back to the ranch house. And then we’d go home.

23

JOY

Wes was a wolf.Agiantblackwolf.

A WOLF.

A wolf with green eyes that glinted in the moonlight. I’d seen those green wolf eyes showing through before but never, ever imagined the secret he carried.

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