“Tara? Bridale?”
She repeats the name slower, as if that’s supposed to help, and my own frustration mounts as I start to cough.
“I don’t know who that is,” I choke out. “But I’m not fucking anyone else.”
Strictly speaking, I’m not even fucking Iris.
“That’s not what I heard,” she sasses.
“Yeah? I heard if I stare at you for too long, my dick will fall off. So, fuck what you heard.”
Her gaze drops to the floor, and her expression hardens as she holds up her phone.
On the screen is a picture of a young wolf and me. She is reaching up on her toes, mouth inches from mine as we stand in a dark alleyway, somewhere off of Valorath Rd.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
“That’s not what it looks like,” I say.
Iris’s face twists into a look of pure disgust.
“That’s the best you can come up with? Are you kidding me? What are you going to say next? It wasn’t me?” She shakes her head as she starts pacing again. “Gods, I could strangle you.”
I finger the dampener closing in around my neck.
“I think you might be.”
“Excuse me?” She whirls.
“Nothing.” I cringe as I try to swallow. “Can you sit down? Your pacing isn’t helping.”
“No,” she snaps. “I don’t want to sit down. And I don’t want to see your stupid face ever again.”
The veins in my throat start to swell as she snatches up her bag, and I rush to head her off, blocking the doorway.
“No,” I rasp. “Sit down.”
Her eyes are wide as she cocks her head.
“Who are you talking to?” she shouts.
Fuck, she looks so good when she’s angry. I think I’m going to pass out.
“I’m talking to you!” I shout back. “You don’t get to come in here yelling and leave without giving me a chance to explain myself. Now, sit your ass down!”Before you kill me.
She frowns, face fuming so hot I can almost see the steam rising from her forehead. But it’s been a couple of days since she last fed, and she doesn’t have the energy she usually does. So instead of clawing her way through me as she normally would, she sighs, dropping her bag by the door and taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
Her legs cross as she leans back on her hands, and when I crouch down in front of her, she looks anywhere but at me.
“Here,” I say, passing her my phone.
I have the message thread with my new friend pulled up, and her eyes widen as she reads.
“Oh, my gods. Elliot, that’s-that’s…how?—”
Her hands start to shake, and I pocket the phone to keep her from staring at it too long.
“I will explain everything, alright. But I promise you, there’s no one else. Not her, not anyone. If you don’t believe me, we can ask Kitty or Dame. They’ll tell you. The only scent on me is yours. Okay?”
