Page 20 of Blood
“Fuck!” I screech as something small bolts across the floor in front of us, scrambling to pull my feet onto the couch. “Is that a mouse?”
“Goddammit. How did that get in here?” Wolf rises from the couch.
“What is it?”
“It’s a chipmunk. Probably looking for food.” He moves toward the tiny rodent. The chipmunk is huddled against a wall, but it takes one look at the giant coming toward it and sprints away, scrabbling across the room to hide in a corner.
Wolf follows, stalking his tiny prey.
He looks so serious. I let out a giggle, and Wolf glares at me.
“This isn’t funny.”
This makes me laugh even harder. It’s fucking hilarious, this massive man chasing a tiny woodland creature around his living room, and it’s making me forget the fucked-up situation we’re in here. Forget me getting control. This chipmunk is the one with the upper hand now.
The chipmunk makes a break for it, darting across the room and under a bookshelf. Wolf turns so fast he almost falls over as the chipmunk runs right across his path.
“Dammit! Get over here, you little fucker.” Wolf follows the chipmunk, then drops to the ground and peers under the bookshelf at the little stowaway. He sticks his hand underneath, trying to grab our tiny home invader.
“Um, Wolf, you might not want to—”
“Aaahhh!” He yanks back his hand. “The fucker bit me! Get back here, you little asshole. I’m going to skin you alive. Then I’m getting a shotgun and coming for your entire little rodent family. Breaking in here will be the last thing you do.”
This is what breaks the dam and now I’m laughing so hard I’m crying. The chipmunk is dashing around in a panic. Wolf is stomping around, waving his wounded finger in the air and threatening the chipmunk.
Finally, he herds it toward the door. He opens it with a keypad to the side of the door before ushering it outside. Huh. So that’s the secret.
I’m still laughing when he drops back on the couch with a heavy sigh.
“It’s not fucking funny, Everleigh.” He gives me an aggrieved grimace, but the whole chipmunk debacle has shown me another side of Wolf. It’s softer. Protective, in a way.
“It is too! You, chasing that little thing around, and—” A thought occurs to me, and my laughter dies. Oh no.
Wolf tilts his head. “What is it?”
This could be bad. “What if—what if it laid eggs in here?” I whisper. There could be a whole chipmunk infestation.
Wolf stares at me, then bursts into laughter of his own. “It didn’t. I promise.” He can barely get the words out.
I get the distinct sense that he’s now laughing at me and not at the chipmunk. I scowl. “What’s so funny about that? It could happen.”
It takes him another minute to stop laughing. He wipes his eyes. “Fuck, I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time, baby.”
I still don’t get why it’s so goddamn funny.
“Chipmunks are mammals, princess. Like dogs. Do you think dogs lay eggs, too?” He dissolves into uproarious laughter again.
Oh.
16
Wolf
Thatlittlefuckergotmy finger good. It’s still sore, hours later. I glare at the tiny red bite mark.
Everleigh stands next to me at the mirror. “Can I, um…”
I look at her in surprise. Her hands are held out, reaching for mine. She doesn’t wait for an answer as she gently takes my hand and places it under the running water, then washes the bite gently with soap. Once it’s rinsed, she turns off the bathroom sink and pats my hand dry with a towel.
