Riley looked down at the phone and scowled at what he found. “Hello, Wolfe,” he greeted grudgingly.
The face staring back at him remained impassive, with its thin lips and perfectly coiffed hair. Riley could only see from the neck up, but he already knew its owner was wearing a ridiculously garish suit to top it all off.
“If it isn’t young Riley,” Wolfe drawled, amusement lacing his tone. “Covered in dirt. And…is that purple eye shadow?”
Riley was only covered in dirt because the voice inside him had been furious they’d left their mate back at his home instead of throwing him over their shoulder and retreating to their lair with him forevermore. Hunting little innocent woodland creatures had helped calm the asshole down.
Riley made a face at his moms—Really, you’re going to make me talk tohim?—but they only smiled beatifically back at him.
Ugh. Wolfgang.
He was a vampire Riley’s moms had turned years and years ago, at the psychopath’s own request. He was a cold, unfeeling asshole except when it came to his human mate, Eric, who was actually pretty decent as far as middle-aged dudes went. Eric was also the one who’d caught Riley when he’d been a scared child running from his vampire maker, terrified of getting captured again and equally afraid to get close to any humans. And then it had been Wolfe who’d brought Riley’s moms in to adopt him, and together they’d all given Riley a fighting chance at survival.
So Riley should probably be grateful to Wolfe for saving his life or whatever, but it was hard to overcome the instinctual annoyance, especially since Riley’s moms liked to tease that they were brothers.
They werenotbrothers.
“Your mothers have been apprising me of the situation,” Wolfe told him.
Riley’s scowl only deepened. If his moms were contacting Wolfe for backup, that meant they were worried Riley was going to lose control.
“If you do drain him dry,” Wolfe continued, his tone almost conversational now, “make sure you’re somewhere private. Secure.”
Riley flung himself onto the couch on the opposite corner from his moms, giving Wolfe his harshest glare. “I’m not going to drain him. Just becauseyoulost control when you found your mate doesn’t mean I’m going to do the same.”
“I didn’t lose control,” Wolfe countered coolly. “Eric simply happens to be immensely irresistible.”
Um, no, he wasn’t. Eric was just a normal, decent-looking dude. Plus, he was like, forty or something.
“Where is Eric?” Riley asked, narrowing his eyes. “I’d rather be talking to him.”
Wolfe pursed his lips. “Otherwise occupied.” He cocked his head, his gaze darting every which way like he was trying to read something on Riley’s face.
Riley went carefully blank, refusing to give anything away. Wolfe would have to make do with admiring Riley’s awesome makeover.
“You’ve been given a gift from fate,” Wolfe said after a long moment. “A person of your own, someone to covet and care for. Is your human correct in his assessment? Are you too young to manage it?”
Riley resisted the urge to crack the phone in his hands, but it was a close call. “I’mnot.”
“We’ll see, won’t we?”
Riley had reached his limit. He hung up the call, tossing the phone onto the couch cushion. If his moms really wanted to talk to this jerk, they could call him back after Riley left.
When he looked over to the women in question, both their faces were the picture of concerned sympathy. Riley let out a sigh and closed his eyes before thunking his head against the back of the couch. “He wants to befriends. Seth does.”
“Well, those are great strides,” Mama Daphne said, and Riley could picture her encouraging smile. “Only a few weeks ago, you were strangers.”
Riley wrinkled his nose. It didn’t feel likegreat strides. It felt like a roadblock.
“How oldishe, anyway?” Mama Sybil asked.
“Twenty-six.”
“Psh,” she scoffed. “A pittance of an age difference. He’ll be over it in no time.”
“I thought he was younger, anyway,” Mama Daphne said brightly. “He doesn’t look a day over twenty-two.”
Riley whipped his head off the couch in an instant, leaning forward and narrowing his eyes in accusation. “When did you see him?”
