Page 78 of Wolf Cursed
“Okay, can we have just one conversation at a time?” I asked.
At the same time, he said, “Kai,” while I said, “I get to see your house?”
He shot me a look. “Baby girl.”
I bit my lip.
“I’ve never been to a friend’s house before,” I explained.
His eyes widened. “What kind of sheltered, toxically conservative life did you lead?”
“The kind where I refused to bring people home to my alcoholic-paranoid father and was too afraid to leave him to go anywhere else.”
I waited for some snarky-yet-endearing comment like maybe how my lack of social skills finally made sense. But Isaac didn’t say a word as he pulled into a roughly paved driveway that led up to a gray, two-story house masked by shade trees.
In fact, there were trees everywhere. Woods encroached along the back and sides, offering direct access to secluded forest. Perfect for a family of wolf shifters. To the right of the house, a detached garage sat open with a partly disassembled motorcycle set up inside. Idrissa sat bent over in front of the bike, a white bandanna covering her fiery red hair.
Isaac parked and got out, coming around to meet me as I climbed out of the Mustang. He grabbed me and pulled me into a hug.
“What’s this for?” I asked against his broad shoulder.
“For being my friend,” he said, pulling away and planting a kiss directly on my mouth.
“Whoa, this isn’t that kind of training session,” Idrissa said, and Isaac turned his grin on her as she walked over from the garage, a dirty rag in hand.
“You’re just jealous that I kissed her first,” Isaac teased.
Idrissa shot him a look then me. “So, you two huh?”
“What? No, Isaac was just… It was a friendship kiss,” I said firmly with a pointed look at Isaac. The way his eyes danced in amusement said he knew it had been nothing more, but he clearly wanted to rile Idrissa.
“Ugh. Don’t piss her off right before she has to teach me to fight,” I told him.
“Ohh, whoops, good point,” he said, wincing.
Idrissa rolled her eyes. “Come on, you two. Let’s go get some water and towels.” She eyed me. “You’re going to need it.”
I had no idea what that meant and was pretty sure I didn’t want to find out either. But I followed her and Isaac into the house and was greeted by the smell of bacon lingering in the air and the yapping shriek of what looked like a possible rodent.
“What the hell.” I jumped back as a blur of tan fur ran at me.
Yapping barks nearly drowned out Isaac’s voice as he exclaimed, “Galileo!”
Before the animal could attack my ankle, Isaac scooped the rodent into his arms and snuggled it close.
I blinked, relieved to realize he was not, in fact, snuggling a rat.
“Is that a dog?” I asked.
Isaac looked offended as he said, “Of course it’s a dog. This is Galileo. Galileo, meet Ash.” He held the dog high so they were eye to eye and said with authority, “She’s a friend, not food.”
Idrissa didn’t even laugh, which made the whole thing even weirder.
“Should I be worried?” I asked.
Isaac held the dog out so I could pet it, which I only did from a place of good manners. The dog tried to bite my hand, so I jerked it back.
“No,” Isaac said. “I mean, don’t come over without one of us here, though. He’s kind of protective of his space.”
