He gave her a deliberate, feline smile. “You can try.”
Her elbow jabbed into his ribs, his found her side in return, and within seconds they were grappling like they hadn’t since they were children. Across the yard, the cats watched, expressions morphing between scandalized and confused. A wolf was sitting down, blatantly staring at them.
Leon ignored them all, because something unfamiliar was bubbling up inside him. The promise that the future would be different.
Chapter Thirty-five
KARL
After leaving Matt, Karl went to find Colby, who was exactly where he should be at that time of day. Karl hadn’t expected anything else from him.
Colby’s face lit up when he saw him, only for a small frown to replace his smile as Karl closed the distance between them. He’d caught the unevenness in Karl’s gait that Karl was trying to hide.
“Good to have you back,” he said, then hesitated. “You okay?”
“More or less.” Karl leaned against the sun-warmed wall of the barn, watching the yard while they waited for the shift change. Leon was under the big tree with Luna, heads close, deep in conversation. Each time Karl looked at him, something thrummed deep inside, heat coiling low in his gut while his wolf murmured in the back of his mind.Mine.
He dragged his attention back to Colby, patiently waiting and obviously unwilling to let Karl get away without answeringproperly. Well, that was interesting—perhaps having to assume control in Karl’s absence had been good for his confidence.
“Hurt my leg a few days ago,” Karl said. “It’s fine, just complaining about the run home.”
Home. He wasn’t sure he’d called the ranch, the pack, that before. It sounded good. “What’ve I missed?”
Colby shook his head. “Nothing major. Matt was planning to send someone after you if you weren’t back today. I’d lined up Tom and Christian with Ava. They’ve been working together, learning how each other thinks.”
“Good,” Karl said. “If you still want to test-run a cat-wolf combo, there’s a stash box along the riverbank that we didn’t get to put away.” His gaze flicked back again to Leon. Any excuse. “See if Leon’s okay with it first. He might not want one of his cats off-site while Luna’s here.”
“I’ve actually been integrating them into our patrols,” Colby said.
“Yeah?” Karl looked at him, surprised. He probably should have done that himself, but he’d been so tied up in his mistrust of cats in general and Leon in particular, he’d sooner have wrestled an angry skunk.
Colby shifted self-consciously. “I mean, I’m not sure how well it’s going. Half the time they wander off. Or climb trees.”
Karl snorted a laugh. “Yeah, they do that. Listen, I’m gonna get clean. Matt’ll call everyone in soon for a briefing, once he’s talked to Jesse.”
Colby just nodded, not pressing.
“You did good,” Karl said, and meant it. Then he pushed off the wall and started toward—damn. His cabin would still be full of cats.
Jason and Riley’s bunkhouse it was. He could get a shower there and finally put on clothes that actually fit.
* **
He felt better after a shower, the warm water easing the ache in his leg. His hair, though—that was a tangled mess. He snorted as he realized he’d been spending way too much time with Leon for that thought even to cross his mind. It was just, it hadn’t been combed in a while, and he ended up using some of Riley’s expensive-looking conditioner to try and smooth the way for the comb. He knew it was Riley’s rather than Jason’s because the guy still appeared each morning looking as if he’d strolled out of a Ralph Lauren ad, even if his plans for the day were sitting alone at a desk, working on his book. It was nice stuff, making his hair look kind of glossy, and it smelled like coconut, only better.
As he looked in the mirror, he took a moment. He usually did the necessary ablutions, dragged on some clothes, and went about his day. But something—and he wasn’t sure if it was a slight edge of nerves or just pride—made him want to look like someone Leon would want.
Leon had somehow managed to make even those borrowed sweats when being held prisoner look good. But when he was in his own clothes, tight enough to accentuate every single part of the lean, graceful body underneath, he looked amazing. Not quite in a Riley way—more anI just stepped out of the nearest clubway. And God, it did things to Karl’s breathing.
It had done so when he still detested the ground Leon walked on, if he were going to be painfully honest.
Among the clothes he’d stashed here, when he’d given up his bunkhouse to the cats, was a brown lambswool sweater. He didn’t wear it often, because it was kind of tight-fitting. It’d been a Christmas present from Bryce, that year Bryce had decided the entire pack needed some kind of makeover. He’d given up on that byDecember twenty-seventh, after they all showed up to breakfast in matching novelty Christmas PJs from the gas station, deadpan and daring him to say a word.
Karl usually preferred clothes that were a little more utilitarian, but as he smoothed it over his body, watching the way it made him look, he kind of thought it was the sort of thing Leon might wear. Except Leon wouldn’t be wearing soft, worn-in jeans with it—his pants would be way more flattering. Still, it was the best Karl could do.
LEON
Leon spotted him instantly in the trees, sitting with his back against a trunk and looking down the long, sloping field to the house. His brown sweater, soft and clingy, caught the late light like it was made to be touched.
