Lucy’s eyes widened, and then she shook her head. “See, this is why playing hostess isn’t always ideal. We hardly got to talk last time.” She pursed her lips a moment, pondering. “So…to start us off, I’m human. You know only one to three percent of lupines are female?”
How had shenotknown that? But Claire didn’t either. Aaron’s description of the wolf pack,every adult male, made sense now. Ember had assumed wolves came in pairs and his focus on the guys was simply…him being a guy. She shook her head. Tried to figure out how it applied to Quinn’s life here. “I seriously thought all y’all were wolves.”
“Nope. Though they’re a higher percentage at the moment. Still quite a few single men around here, as you’ve seen.”
Her smile held pages of subtext. As heat surged into Ember’s face, Lucy’s smile grew.
“I…”
“Mmhm,” Lucy said, as if Ember had completed her statement. “Wolf mates are always human.”
“Mates?”
“I’m married to Jeremy, but marriage to a wolf involves a few layers thatwifedoesn’t cover.”
“Lucy,” Quinn said, drawing himself up from his sprawled posture, “Aaron fought a bear.”
Lucy stared at him, then looked toward the hallway where Aaron and Zane had gone. “He said it was nothing serious.”
“It’s not, because wolf strength.”
“I understand that, Quinn, but I’d still categorize it as a serious fight.”
“Only serious for the bear.” He was grinning, but when Lucy failed to smile back, he faltered. “It didn’t hurt him much, just got a claw in his leg.”
“Which ought to prove to you that wolf strength isn’t the same thing as invincibility.”
Quinn’s mouth drew down, and he hunched into the chair. Lucy crossed to stand in front of him and set a hand on his shoulder.
“You’re right, sweetie. Your kind is stronger than any other in the world, and it’s right to enjoy that. I’m proud of Jeremy, who he is, and that includes his strength. I love being his mate more than anything.”
Quinn’s head lifted as he listened.
“But sometimes you pups get it into your head that nothing can touch you, and I’ve seen that go really badly. I’m just asking you not to be flippant about this stuff, okay?”
“Okay.” He pushed to his feet. “I’m going out in the yard for a while.”
“That’s fine,” Lucy said. “Do you mind if Zane joins you later?”
“I don’t mind.” Quinn pushed open the sliding-glass door and escaped onto the deck, and Lucy sighed.
“I hate to puncture that hero-worship bubble of his. He’s completely in awe of Aaron, but I guess I don’t have to tell you that.”
“No,” Ember said.
“It’s not that I want to petrify him; I’ve seen for myself he’s a high-stress kid when things around him aren’t harmonious.”
“No, thank you for telling him straight. Coming from an outsider, it might not have sunk in, and anyway, I—I don’t have the knowledge yet.”
“It’s a lot to learn at first.” Lucy drew a long breath and again looked toward the hallway. “Did Aaron have to walk home alone? Bleeding?”
“He’d gone out by himself to range the woods for a while. Apparently the bear was mad, charged at him.”
“About ten years ago one of the older pups went camping on his own a few miles north of our land, and he got badly hurt. We still don’t know how. When our searchers found him… He’d bled to death while trying to hike home.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you. I know it’s not the same situation, but it made me remember.” She seemed to draw herself back to the room, the present. She smiled. “Anyway. Any questions you have, I’m happy to answer. I’ve been with Jeremy for eight years, and before him I dated a vampire for fifteen months. So I’m decently informed on all things apex.”
