Knife realized Dawg wasn’t going to let it go, and it was on the tip of his tongue to tell him she’s just a fuckbuddy, but he wasn’t sure he could say it without it coming across as alie. Wolves can scent lies, and they all knew how to hide their scent, but he wasn’t sure he could pull it off with that specific answer.
So he figured out what he could say that was the truth. “It can’t be serious with her, but the sex is damned good.” He straightened and met Dawg’s gaze. “We both know it can’t turn into anything. It’s just fun sex. No secrets. No details.”
Gonzo and Dawg both looked at him.
He realized they needed more, so he added, “Our fucking kinks match up, and I don’t often find a woman who’ll let me hang her like a meat carcass and leave her there for hours.”
Dawg seemed to accept that, and he went back to sorting meat into the freezer he was filling, but Gonzo stayed quiet.
Knife went back to stacking, but knew his three-month-plan wasn’t going to work.
Because if she was still under his skin after he’dchangedtwice, ten more weren’t going to get rid of the scent, either. That wasn’t just a physical connection. It meant they were connected at the soul level.
Chapter 33
Tuesday’s grandmother’s birthday party was held on pack lands, since so many people wanted to come.
Not just family, but nearly the whole damned pack.
Her mom had been in town since the full moon run, but even her dad showed up for the party.
She was hanging out with cousins when she scented her dad, and went running to hug him when she saw him walking toward them with her mom, who’d probably just picked him up from the airport.
Her mom touched her, leaned in to sniff, and gave her an odd look, which Tuesday opted to ignore. Her cousins had already asked what was up with the non-pack wolf, but she’d been able to easily get them off the topic without them even realizing she had.
Her mom wasn’t going to fall for that though.
“I’m so glad you could come,” she told her dad. “The table is loaded down with food, c’mon and I’ll show you what’s good.”
“Tuesday Marie,” her mother said from behind them, and her dad lifted his brows at her, as if to ask ‘what have you done?’
She turned to look at her mother, who had her hands on her hips.
“I scent a wolf on you. No, notonyou, he’s buried in deep. Something you want to tell us?”
She stared at her mom, trying to figure out what to tell her, and her mom added, “Not pack. Lone wolf.”
“I know.”
Another ten seconds, and her mom asked, “I don’t have to ask if it’s serious, the scent tells me it is, so I guess my question is why it’s a secret.”
Tuesday wanted to argue it wasn’t serious, but she knew it would come off as a lie because she was remembering the strain of that last hellacious pose while he fed her steak from his fingers.
“It’s complicated, and I can’t explain something I don’t actually understand.”
“Is he married?”
“No!” It came out angry because her mother should know her better than that. But she immediately realized her mother was trying to figure out why she was keeping someone obviously under her skin such a secret.
“No. He isn’t married, isn’t a serial killer, and I trust him completely, but… it’s complicated, Mom, and I’d really rather not have this conversation right here, right now.”
Her mother accepted that, but her father said, “No idea what your mom is scenting, but you know I’m always here if you need me.”
“I do know that,” she told him. “And it means the world to me, but this is just something I have to figure out.”
For whatever reason, no one else mentioned the mystery wolf for hours.
Until she was talking to Willow later, and Silas came up, sniffed toward her, and said, “Oh, so it’s you.”
