“Nice place.”
Midriff runs his hands along one of my shelves and pulls a book out, turning it upside down and staring at it.
“You read?” he asks, and I stare at him.
“Don’t you?”
“Nah.”
He tosses the book onto the couch, and Doc Martens pushes me down the hallway toward the bedroom. When we enter, I see the sheets are still rumpled from Arbor, his mess still lingering on the fabric.
I want to text him to see where he went, to make sure he’s safe.
“Smells like sex in here.”
I say nothing, just rub at my throbbing temples, and he shoves me slightly to get me moving.
“Go on. Get changed and then make us something to eat. You don’t want to see a hangry werewolf.”
I pull on some pants and a shirt that were lying on the floor before moving back into the kitchen, followed closely by Doc Martens. As if they think I’d run and leave my house to them. They’d destroy it in no time. I know what they’ve been doing to the places they’ve broken into. I’m not letting them do that to mine.
I see Mustache at the fridge, staring inside. “Told you. He’s got lots of good food. You better not fuck with us and not use a recipe. I want something fancy, like a casserole.”
I stare at them deadpan. “I’ll cook once I can call my omega.”
“Pfft, he doesn’t want to hear from you. He ran out of here with his tail between his very skinny, pale legs after he knocked you out.”
My mind whirls at that. Knocked me out? There’s no fucking way he could have done that. But I do feel weird, that bittertaste in my mouth from the snaproot and a slight grogginess that won’t go away.
“That’s the deal. Or no food.”
They grumble, speaking in that dialect I can’t understand, before Mustache nods.
“Fine. You have two minutes.”
I swipe my phone off the kitchen table and call Arbor. He answers almost immediately.
“Shit, Glenn. Are you okay?”
I let out a breath, happy to hear his voice.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just wanted to see where you went.”
He’s silent for a moment, and something inside of me sinks. “I—well, I left.”
“Yeah, that’s what they told me.”
“The Howlers?”
“Yeah.”
I hear him swallow and then curse under his breath. “Oh gods, I shouldn’t have left you there, but they were coming so fast, and I didn’t…I didn’t want to get caught up in it.”
Logically, I can understand that. I really can. As an omega in heat, you never know what will happen with a pack of alphas, but still… He could have at least waited or called someone. Done anything, really.
“Ask him what he used on your head to make you fall asleep,” midriff says, and I glance over at him. I have no idea what the fuck he’s talking about. Except maybe I do. A flicker of something slides through my mind, the press of a cool stone against my temple, the soft apology he whispered in my ear.
“Shit—” Arbor begins, obviously having heard what they said.
