Page 48 of Wolf Bound

Both Forrester and Penn tried to save me multiple times, but these older wolves are absolutely relentless in finding out everything. They also don’t seem to understand when something is uncomfortable to talk about.

Forrester leans into me, his lips brushing the shell of my ear and sending shivers down my spine. “Drayton needs us back at the house for something. Penn is going to let his mom know that we need to leave.”

I nod in response, my brain practically shutting down with how close he is. My most distant and confusing mate is whispering in my ear. Ho boy, I shouldn’t be turned on right now, in this room of random wolves after just sleeping with Penn, but here we are.

“Mom, we need to head out. The alpha needs us back at the house.” Penn stands up and takes my hand to pull me up beside him.

“It was nice meeting all of you,” I say with a polite wave. The four older wolves all stand up, but I stay firmly planted between Penn and Forrester. They both keep a hand on me, blocking anyone from touching me as we make our way to the door.

When we get out of the living room and to the front door, the guys move out of the way so I can say goodbye to Helen. She immediately pulls me into a tight hug.

“Helen, that lasagna was absolutely amazing. I’m going to be dreaming about it. Thank you so much for having us,” I murmur to her as she hugs me tightly against her.

“Oh darling, I will make it for you whenever you want. You just let me know when and I’ll have a fresh one whipped up for you in a jiffy,” Helen assures me, rubbing my arms as she pulls away. “It was so good to have you over again. I know the others also loved getting to know what an amazing woman you are.”

Heat creeps up my face, turning my normally pale skin pink with embarrassment. It was really good meeting more of the pack tonight, but the way they fawned over me made me feel like such an outsider. It was very unlike meeting Alaric’s team who went in with jokes like we were old friends.

Penn and Forrester said that it was more of a generational difference in the wolves. The wolves with Alaric were all younger and tend to be more friendly in a subtle, comforting way. However, when it comes to the older wolves, like Helen’s friends, they tend to be more aggressive with getting to know you. I didn’t want to be rude, but all the questions and intense staring as I answered have me feeling extremely flustered even now as we’re leaving.

Thank god Drayton asked us to come back to the house early, I don’t think I could handle any more of the interrogation in there. Note to myself, kiss Drayton for the interruption in the night.

“Bunch of old crazy bats interrogated our poor mate,” Penn grumbles as he pulls me into his side. Forrester stands against the door with his arms crossed over his chest, looking like he would rather be anywhere but here.

“Oh, Penn. They didn’t mean anything by it. They just wanted to get to know Talia,” Helen explains, but when her eyes land on me, her smile turns downwards. “Oh. I am so sorry, Talia. I didn’t realize how much they were imposing on you. I’ll have a talk with them.”

“That’s okay,” I mumble, ducking my head in embarrassment. “I do understand the curiosity. It’s just a little, um, uncomfortable after a while.”

“I’m so sorry, again. I will speak with them, you run off to the alpha now before he comes barging in here looking for the three of you,” Helen says with a wink, steering us out the door.

We wave our goodbyes and start the walk back to the house. We’re all quiet for the first couple minutes, lost in our own thoughts and the calmness of the night air. The trees sway softly in the cool breeze and I lift my head to feel it brush against my face.

Despite being attacked in this very forest just days ago, there’s a feeling of peace and security within the trees. The land andpack were so resilient and are already healing and growing stronger than they were before. The magic of it touches my soul, calling to my own magic in a beautiful song of strength.

Forrester’s voice draws me out of my thoughts. “Did Drayton give you any details about this meeting?”

“Not much,” Penn replies with a shrug. “I’m guessing he’s keeping the details as vague as possible in case someone else saw the text come in. That makes me think it’s an internal pack matter or something he isn’t ready for the pack to know yet.”

Forr nods his head, his dark hair falling across his forehead and ruffling in the wind. A slight caress touches my left hand, the same side Forrester is walking on. My eyes glance down at his pinky, brushing lightly against my own as we walk. Without warning, he hooks his pinky around mine and stays there.

Penn grabs my hand on the other side and we walk the rest of the way to the house in silence. Walking between the two of them makes my whole body feel warm and fuzzy.

Forrester has been slowly closing the distance between us since our fight and heart to heart. Considering he could barely look at me once upon a time, the fact he is holding pinky fingers with me feels monumental.

The house has all the lights on when we approach. Drayton and Alaric stand on the porch talking quietly to one another. Drayton looks up at me as we get close, a soft smile playing on his lips. It's the kind of smile he only ever has for me and it makes my heart beat a million miles a minute when I see it.

“There's my girl,” Alaric calls out before Drayton can say anything.

“Our girl,” Penn throws back with a playful scowl. His hand tightens on mine, making me laugh and squeeze his hand back.

“Same shit, different pile.” Alaric waves a hand in the air then jumps over the side of the porch and scoops me into his arms. Forrester let's go of my one hand with a silent scowl, but Pennkeeps my right hand firmly in his. My arm is suspended between the three of us which makes moving up the stairs uncomfortable at best. Neither one of them is willing to budge so we manage it.

Drayton is shaking his head in exasperation when we make it up the stairs.

“Both of you let our mate go. We need to talk and you're both dragging her along like a prized toy. Enough,” he commands. When they both let go of me, Drayton pulls me under his arm and kisses the top of my head. “Hello, gorgeous.”

“Hi. I missed you.”

“And I missed you,” Dray whispers and brushes his nose against my cheek. “You look beautiful tonight.”

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