I was a little too embarrassed to ask what he meant about going into heat. That scared the crap out of me and I panicked my way right into Austin’s bedroom where Maizy was fast asleep.
Denver sat in a corner chair with his legs stretched out, playing a handheld videogame in the dark.
I flipped on a small light, took off her buckled shoes, and set them on the floor. Then I removed her tights and folded them up.
“You should let her sleep,” Denver suggested without lifting his eyes.
“This girl can sleep through an apocalypse,” I said with a laugh in my voice.
What I really wanted to do was look her over and make sure she wasn’t hurt. After a few turns of her legs and arms, she made a complaining moan and I covered her up with the blanket.
“Thank God,” I whispered. My mom was still missing, and while that wasn’t okay, I could deal with it better than the thought of this little girl getting hurt.
The door opened behind me. “He’s gone,” Austin said in a hushed voice. “I offered him the reward and he turned it down.”
“The fuck?” Denver said. “Ten large and he turned up his nose?”
Austin shrugged.
“Ah, shit. You didn’t,” Denver grumbled, tossing his videogame on the other side of the bed. He didn’t look so handsome when he was pissed off. The scar on his temple turned a little pink and his lip did a funny curl. “Are you a bag of nuts?”
“What’s going on?” I asked, turning around.
Denver replied in a low voice. “He paid him with a favor, to be collected at a later date. Am I right? Dammit, Austin, you know how that shit can backfire on your ass.”
“Watch the baby, Denver. We’re going to bed.”
We? I thought.
“I’m staying here,” I insisted. Who did he think he was, ordering me around?
“No, Lexi. She needs to sleep and you… you’re worked up.”
“So?”
He stepped closer. “Do you really want your baby sister to be in the same room with a new wolf who doesn’t know any of us and is amped up on adrenaline? Are you ready to take on that responsibility if she gets injured?”
Point taken.
“Maizy doesn’t know Denver.”
“But I do. That’s my brother and I trust him with my life. Until we know what’s going on, I want someone watching the window at all times while she sleeps. You don’t have to worry,” he said in a smooth voice. “No one’s taking her again, not on my watch.”
I kissed her cheek and followed Austin into the hall.
“Are those your brothers?” I asked, staring into the living room on the left.
He took my hand and gently laced his fingers around my wrist. “Later. We’re going to bed.”
We? There was a whole lot of “we” going on in his sentences these days.
“Aren’t you afraid of my wolf?” I wondered aloud.
Austin led me to a room across the hall and closed the door behind us. “I’m not afraid of anything, Ladybug. Not a damn thing.”
Tucked in the left corner was a small bed with black covers and pillowcases. Concert posters were tacked all over the snow-white walls and I knew by Pink Floyd hanging behind the bed that we were in Jericho’s room. An oversized black beanbag chair sat on the floor with a leather jacket casually draped across it. To the right, a plain wooden dresser against the wall had been covered with loose change, guitar picks, cigarettes, and a box of ribbed condoms.
“We shouldn’t sleep in here,” I said apprehensively, staring at a bubbling red lava lamp beside the twin bed.
