I swore I heardgoddamn mutt, but I wasn’t sure.
“You busy now? I can call you back later.” I put my phone on speaker to free my hands. Someone had stepped on the blackberry bush, and two branches were bent wildly. Rude. Itook off my elastic band and tied it around the branches to keep them up.
“No, no, I’m free,” he said. “My roommates are out. I’ll just make some snacks while I wait.” His tone was light, and the smile on my face grew. I never experienced boredom with Rudolph. It was like having a remote psychologist-slash-personal-jester. Plus, the fact that he had his own mate didn’t make me feel guilty about talking to another guy for so long. With my insane commitments and maniacal workload, I never even thought of asking Rudolph to meet up in person. Plus, his pack was an hour away.
“How come you didn’t go out with your friends?”
“Didn’t feel like it.”
“Because you found your mate and the one-night stands are over?” I teased.
“Yeah,” he deadpanned.
I paused. “But where is she? How come you never spend time with her?”
“She has to study. Big exam coming up. I was about to ask her to meet…” He trailed off, then exclaimed loudly, startling me a bit, “SO! Did ya go to that party last night?”
My stomach clenched at the thought of last night. Before I could decide what to answer, however, I heard a husky curse and a ruckus in the background. It sounded like pans and plates colliding.Onsomeone.
I chuckled, glancing at the screen for a second. I pictured Rudolph covered in pots and pans, wearing a colander for a hat.
“Are you alright there, Rudy?”
“Yeah,” he hissed like the cat he wasn’t. “My fucking roommates never clean up their shit.”
“What are you planning to cook?”
“Steak. And chicken.”
I made a face. “What? Do you mix them?”
“Listen, I mix different types of meat when I can’t decide what to eat, and right now, I don’t want to decide. I’m starving.” He lowered his voice as if he were referring to something else.
“And the vegetables?” I asked, more to change the subject than anything else.
“What about them?” he countered casually.
“Well, first, you should eat four different kinds every day to stay healthy.”
“That stat is probably for humans, not werewolves, Bunny Doc.” He chuckled while I rolled my eyes. His words reminded me of my dad whenever I tried to add more greens to his red meat diet. Eggs were the closest thing in his diet to veggies.
Besides, there was some truth in what Rudy stated. Not enough werewolves studied science, so much of our data was based on human statistics and research.
“But if you die from scurvy, your mate might have to find someone else!”
It was meant to be a joke, but the reindeer didn’t laugh.
“Are you still there?” I asked after a moment, watching Zeus trotting closer with a fat moth clutched in his mouth and a satisfied expression on his furry face.
“It’ll take more than some stupid green leaves to kill me,” he growled. Did he know vegetables could be other colors, too? “But before I die, I’ll make sure to fuck her so hard she won’t be able to mate with anyone else. For the rest of her life.”
“The exaggeration! And it’s not just about sex, Rudy.”
“No, you’re right. I’ll dip her in a pool of my scent for so long that my scent will replace hers.” This time, he snarled louder.
Yikes, he was clearly quite possessive of his mate.
Poor girl.
