48
“See, Chica, they like. My boys, they know sexy when they see it. I think it’s a massive improvement to wearing Cole’s cast offs.” Meadow walks around me, her own final appraisal as though she didn’t spend minutes upstairs admiring her handy work and then sashays away again, grinning to herself. She’s congratulating herself on her awesome skills.
“Who likes what?” Colton seems to appear out of thin air while I was too distracted to pick up on him, and I spin, in both surprise, and instant nervousness, realizing I didn’t get any time to prepare myself for him walking in. I’m just standing here halfway into the room like some awkward kid who’s been asked to model the ugly jumper her grandmother knitted for Christmas.
Our eyes lock as he hits me with that megawatt cute boy smile, a hint of dimples, and a reminder how gorgeous Colton is when he relaxes and let’s his charms shine. That’s before breaking contact to let his gaze slide down my outfit and back again. I can tell by the raised brow expression he likes what he sees, and that smile turns into a full-on dimple enhanced swoon worthy, sexy smile, with an accompanying twinkle in his eye that melts me to my core. It does weird things to my insides, and my butterflies rise up and set my skin alight with a smoldering fire.
Well, I’ll be damned. I thought naked was good.
His mental message has me blush insanely, heat consuming my face, his voice dripping with heightened lust, but it’s short lived when I catch him side glancing Carmen and he seems to instantly put his tongue away. Pulling back his reaction and yanking on that serious persona once more. It’s like he got scolded and I wonder if she mind linked him and gave him what for. In her head they’re still ‘trying to work things out’, even if I know otherwise.
“My father gave me a schedule of where all the packs, teams and such are to report at dawn. We meet in the mess at first light. Our subs are convening on the west river, the old basketball court, and we’ll be in charge of continuing training with the pack members already learning combat …. and of course, Lorey.”
Straight into leader mode, pushing that spark between us aside as responsibility kicks in. I don’t know who gasps louder, out of literally everyone in the room. Even I take that last word or two in with a little inhale of ‘what?’
“She’s training with us? Has she ever done any sort of hand to hand or weapons training in her life? We might kill her by mistake!” It’s the previous silent member that I never got a good look at and he steps forward now. Appearing from behind the bar area and I flinch when I catch sight of his face.
He’s older than Colton for sure, a little greying of his hair at the temples and he has one completely white eyeball that suggests he’s partially blind. The other so dark brown in comparison that you can’t help but react when you see it. A raggedy awful looking scar running from cheek to forehead and passing right through, so deep you can tell he was wounded pretty badly whenever this happened and it’s literally the first thing you see.
I try not to stare but it is so very rare to see a wolf with any kind of scars. We selfheal, miraculously, and instantly most of the time, and only one kind of wound will ever leave a mark like that on a healthy wolf. Silver dipped in wolfsbane. I heard they used it against our kind in the wars with some success, although it killed most.
If it doesn’t kill you, then it leaves you forever marked as he is, by creating an infection inside of you and poisoning the site around it. It eats into your body and flesh and makes you so very sick that healing won’t cure the mess, you have to heal like a human. I don’t recall ever seeing him, but I guess with damage like, that he wouldn’t want to be seen outside much.
Wolves are very high ego and any kind of failure in battle makes them act weird and live in shame. We’re all about that. I mean, it’s literally affected my entire existence.
“Where else would she train? She’s safer with me and I’m safer being the one to teach her to fight. This thing is real, and no one has more experience than the combat teams, of which we are one.” Colton has an edge to his tone; his gaze flickers my way and I catch Carmen, out of the corner of my eye, throwing him a full on pathetic and woeful look. Aiming to manipulate him, with what I assume used to be a tried and tested method when he was with her. Tears come out to play, and I try and ignore her. Colton’s jaw muscle twitches and he glances away from her, back at his pack, somewhat unimpressed. A frown creasing his forehead and his eyes cloud over a little in glowy amber.
“Radar, I think it’s the best plan and we as a unit can bring her up to speed and teach her how to sync with us… to become one fluid machine, with an extra set of teeth. Our pack lost numbers with Karly and Ebony both being with pup and out of action.” Meadow throws me an encouraging warm smile as she backs up Colton’s, bringing my attention to the fact there’s more to this sub pack normally, bringing femme numbers to almost match the males. She starts subtly growling at her mate when he opens his mouth to say something and he shuts it just as quickly.
I blink back at the scarred wolf and click; his name must be Radar. Weird for a name, and I assume it’s a nickname, something to do with whatever gift he has. I do know some wolves possess ability to feel things coming from afar and have insight to certain things in the way a real radar pulse would. I wonder if it’s what he can do, although maybe not, if the vampire attack was unforeseen.
“And if she’s useless and slows us down… what then?” Carmen butts in nastily, abandoning her pitiful act bitchily because he didn’t bite and instead pushes between us to get in the middle of the conversation. Putting herself between Colton and I and nudges closer to him in a bid to mark her territory. Colton steps sideways away from her and turns and walks to the bar, pulling out a bottle of water from a concealed fridge and takes a slow drink without reacting to her in any way.
“Why would she be? We’re good teachers, we’ve taught many of our kind and started them in their training, besides, didn’t you see the chaos in the house or were you too busy being blinded by your own seething hatred?” Meadow doesn’t hold back, her words dripping with venom, coming at her from across the room where she’s been standing back to admire her handywork, and Colton sighs loudly. He turns, perches his butt against the edge of the bar, and it’s only now I notice the dark circles under his eyes and the unusually pale pallor of exhaustion.
“Can you two stop, for just …. an hour… I swear, this shit gives me a headache.” lackluster too and I wonder what exactly went down with his meeting with his father. His usual shine is missing.
“She started it!” Carmen blurts out, like a juvenile tattle telling, and it makes me frown at her with a subtle shake of my head. Mature she is not. She’s following Colton once more, across the room as he pushes off and heads for a couch, but he sees her coming and crosses away to perch on the arm of the opposite one, where the twins are sprawled out with cans of beer. She looks annoyed instantly. at the fact she can’t sit anywhere near him and it irritates me endlessly that she’s chasing him around. It’s obvious to all of us he wants her to leave him alone.
“She has a name, and no… I think your skanky Puta booty always starts shit. When are you going to stop trailing his ass and sit down? You’re being pathetic.” Meadow lets out a frustrated ‘arghh’ noise under her breath when carmen ceases to edge closer to him, mirroring my sentiments exactly. She walks over and yanks Carmen by the arm harshly, pushing her into a nearby chair aggressively, so Carmen stumbles backwards ungracefully and butt thuds, then throws a commanding pointer finger in her face. One of her talons only millimeters from the end of piercing Carmen’s nose.
“Now sit!! … Like a good little puppy, or I might have to spank you.” Meadow is throwing attitude and with a tone and glare like hers, I wouldn’t argue. Carmen’s face turns puce with outrage, her eyes darting wildly to Colton to overrule his second in command and chastise her for talking to her that way, manhandling her, but Colton inhales again, sighing heavily and goes back to his previous position of sipping on his bottle of water. Carmen really does look like she may self-implode and make Meadow’s and my day after all.
