Page 7 of Marked By Feral Monsters
Nico furrows his brow then pretends to shrug it off, like it doesn't bother him. "He just wants me to stay here for a bit. I don't know why. Whatever, I'll hit the floors later."
I look over at Teddy, lifting my brows in question. He wears a similar expression, teeth gritting like he's arguing with his wolf. He shakes his head briefly, answering my unspoken question. His wolf wants him at this table too.
Keely and Braden wander over momentarily distracting me.
"There's my favorite pack," Braden coos, leaning his ass right on the table between Knox and Teddy. His pixie-like frame fits perfectly in the small space between the oversized werewolves in human form.
"There's my favorite kinky set of fae twins. How are you, darlings?" Nico flirts, forgetting all about his wolf's strange behavior.
Keely snuggles in between me and Arlo, resting one hand on each of our shoulders. She smells like raspberries; her brother smells like blackberries. Sweet and tart. My wolf comes to the surface to give her a sniff, then retreats.
None of us has ever been with the twins, but they've become good acquaintances. This room might be packed with monsters, but outside of the playhouse, once we all spread out in the city, the monster population feels small, so we tend to stick together.
"We're great, as always. We've got an orc back in the private Mountain Room getting ready for us. Said he had some surprise, and told us to wait ten minutes, so we're just killing time."
"What the fuck does that entail?" Knox grumbles. Like everything else that comes out of his mouth, he sounds like an asshole.
Braden, used to his antics, and since he likes to fuck with Knox, slaps his shoulder. "Are you judging poor Ukey? I don't know what it entails, but he's putting in effort to woo us, and I, for one, am flattered. When's the last time you wooed a woman, hmm? Bet you never thought of sending the employees below deck some flowers. Especially for taking that anaconda between your legs." Braden bounces his eyebrows, making Knox shift uncomfortably.
"I pay them.Well. That's enough."
"Is it?"
Before Knox can bite Braden's head off, Teddy pipes in. "I've always wondered. Since you two are, you know… Do you ever…?" Teddy smirks, eyes sparkling with mischief. He acts more and more like Nico every day, those two spend entirely too much time together.
"Are you asking if we fuck?" Keely snorts.
Teddy and Nico nod, looking back and forth between the twins with way too much curiosity.
"You two are idiots. Of course we don't fuck. But we were born of the same womb; we're two sides of the same coin. I go north, she goes south. Or vice versa. We make an excellent team. You'd know that if you ever…" Braden leans onto the table, clasping Teddy's chin in his hands. He sticks out his tongue and licks the tip of Teddy's nose.
Teddy blushes something fierce. Everyone laughs, and when I turn my head, my wolf catches an intoxicating scent. I close my eyes and breathe it in, but it's gone just as quickly. Surprised by the sudden longing threatening to swallow me, I look around for the source and find Braden eyeing me curiously.
"Sorry, it's not you," I blurt.
He waves me off. "It's okay. A boy can dream. What was it anyway?"
"I don't know…" Probably nothing. But Braden, since we've talked about it before, knows how much scents mean to weres. "Maybe nothing."
"But maybe something?"
I don't respond because I don't know. It was less than a moment, gone now, but still poking me like a glacial shard.
"Alright, we've gotta go. Ukey's probably ready for us." Keely comes to a stand, giving me and Alro each a side hug.
"I hope his surprise involves snacks. I'm hungry." Braden rubs his stomach.
Keely ignores her brother, turning to me before they leave. "Take it easy on my girl, yeah? That's why we came over here, I forgot to mention."
"What girl?" I ask.
"She's new. And a total sweetheart. A little shy, but we gave her some pointers before she went downstairs."
"Dammit, Keely," Knox snarls. We're not supposed to know who's below. It's part of the point of the lower deck. But now I keep picturing some meek girl who doesn't know what the fuck she's doing.
I huff, and Keely's brows pop up in surprise. "Don't be like that!" She slaps my shoulder. "I promise she'll take good care of you. There's one thing I can say about her, my girl is efficient. You should have seen her study the employee handbook and monster profile pamphlet. Like she was studying for the fucking LSAT."
"A bit neurotic, but we adore her all the same. Anyway, be good kids!" Braden taps Knox on the top of the head, who reaches out to slap him away, but the twins are already gracefully floating through the crowds toward the private rooms in the back.
