Iris may not be Crescent, but she’s as good as. Rosewater too.
“I take it you called Dred?” he asks.
“Yeah.”
Having a mind weaver on call was my idea. After one too many fights ended in a bloody mess during our second year, it was too risky to have no backup plan. Dame was against the whole idea. Said it seemed shady. But now every time we have to call Dred, he says the same thing.
“Thank you,” he mutters, a little more begrudging than usual.
I shrug and chalk it up to lack of sleep and wrangling first-years all night.
“They find the body?” I ask.
Dame nods.
“In the grove. Just inside Crescent territory.”
On sovereign land. As I intended.
“Good, they’ll have to go through the council for the inquisition. That should slow them a little.”
He nods in agreement, and I step away from the door, ready to sleep for the next fourteen hours.
But Dame’s not finished yet. There’s one more thing he has to get out.
“So…you and Iris…”
There’s a healthy skepticism in his voice, and a bit more than he’s probably aiming for written on his face.
Dame isn’t a very good liar. You can always see what he’s thinking as soon as it crosses his mind. I suspect it’s a family trait because Kitty is the same way. Ever since we were kids. It’s the reason they always look so shiny and new, despite being two of the most lethal wolves in this house.
Typically, being a shitty liar would be an occupational hazard for an alpha. But lucky for Dame, I wasn’t even shiny and new the day I was born. So I do the lying for him.
“Yep,” I answer.
His skepticism turns to confusion.
“I thought your family couldn’t…” He frowns, dropping his voice. “I thought you couldn’t feel anything.”
Dame and I have known each other for a long time. The Broussards and the Crosses even longer. So it’s no secret among us that the Cross line is cursed. But we aren’t in the habit of sharing the specifics. Even now, I can hear my mother’s voice whispering to hold my tongue. I abide out of habit.
“I can’t,” I say. “But that’s never stopped a Cross from reproducing.”
Damien nods, but I can tell this answer only confuses him more.
Casual sex isn’t really his forte. He probably thinks everyone fucking in this house is in love.
“Don’t worry about it,” I say, patting him on the shoulder.
He shrugs me off.
“I wasn’t going to. But you’ll have to claim her formally if you want her covered by the treaty.”
He says that as if it’s supposed to scare me. But it won’t.
A few words in exchange for the protection of the Crescent pack? Seems like a small price to pay if you ask me.
Besides, I’ll never mate anyway. What difference does it make who I claim?
