I yip at him, then sniff the air when I catch a scent that’s been gone for months. A very specific blend of sunshine and fresh laundry. What Felix smelled like when he was alive.
“Dude, could you not?” Felix grunts when I start sniffing the ground near him. “I get you can’t talk and I know I’m a ghost, but let’s pretend we still believe in personal space.”
I sneeze. His scent and the leaking magic mixing together making my nose itch.
“Not so funny when it’s you, is it?” Callie mocks. I’m guessing she’s referencing the sneeze when I first scented her.
She sits down on the couch and pats the cushion next to her. “Okay, let’s leave Felix alone. Come here, and I’ll scratch behind your ears again. You seemed to like that.”
“Don’t think he’s the only one,” Felix mutters, but Callie doesn’t hear him.
I leap up onto the couch and settle myself over her lap, my head resting on my front paws.
Callie grunts under my initial weight, but doesn’t push me off or ask me to move. Instead, she does as promised and scratches behind my ears, down my neck, shoulders and back.
I release a relaxed sigh, content and enjoying the feel of her fingers buried in my fur. Some TV show I don’t recognize is on the television, but the other benefit of being in wolf form; I don’t have to pretend to pay attention. I can just lay here and no one thinks to check if the wolf is watching.
Mildred and Kaleb return downstairs, arms filled with blankets and pillows that they drop haphazardly on the floor. Callie’s aunt snorts when she sees me, but wisely doesn’t ask me to move, and Kaleb settles himself on the floor next to Felix.
Shortly thereafter, Donovan and Nolan return, both smelling of blood and the effects of vampire bites, but otherwise fine. Nolan once again has a more healthy cast to his skin and seems far more relaxed. They both chuckle when they see Callie half buried beneath me.
Nolan squeezes himself on the other side of Callie, his arm going around her, and her head rests against his shoulder. Both of their legs are up on the short part of the L on the couch.
Donovan eyeballs the small space I’m not occupying on the other side of the couch, and thinks better of it, grabbing some pillows and lying down long ways on the floor.
Normally, a wolf would feel anxious being away from the pack, but the pack hasn’t felt like home for years. Not since my mother left. No, my real pack-- my real family, is in this room, and with all my family safe and happy in one place, I let myself drift off into a light doze.
Chapter 18
Donovan
“Good morning, everyone,” Mildred sings as she glides into the living room, sounding like goddamn Mary Poppins.
Groaning, I crack one eye open and immediately close it when I’m blinded by the sunlight pouring through all the windows in this damn house.Curtains. Seriously. Get a set-- or fifty.
Nolan grumbles a few sounds that I’m pretty sure don’t count as actual words, and then leans further into my shoulder and side, my arm already outstretched under the pillow Callie was using last night. If there’s a warm body anywhere near him when he falls asleep, he’s suction cupped to them come morning. Which makes me wonder where the hell Callie is, since last I saw her, she was asleep between us.
“Dude,” I grunt, shoving Nolan with my left hand. “Get up. I can’t feel my arm.”
He rolls over, muttering, “Five more minutes.”
Now that I’m more awake, I try opening my eyes again.Shit that burns.
“No, now.” I shove Nolan off me, his head smacking onto the floor. “I gotta piss.”
“The fuck, man?” Nolan growls, sitting up with one hand to the side of his head. “You could’ve said that the first time.”
Nolan’s wearing the same clothes that he was the night before, only taking his shoes and socks off, and has a glare that shows vampires aren’t only smooth, charming assholes. They also have pissed off predators inside.Fucker is less of a morning person than I am.
“Get up next time,” I reply, sitting up.
Sharp pins and needles sensations shoot down my arm, as I roll my shoulder and flex my hand to get the blood moving. I get to my feet, my back sore from sleeping on the hardwood floor, and grab my t-shirt off the couch. Sniffing the shirt, I get whiffs of beer and the perfume of the girl who was all over me last night. She smelled like a beach vacation stuffed into a bottle. Too sweet for me, but she was hot.What the hell was her name? Rebecca? Victoria? Whatever.The shirt is serviceable, so I throw it on.
Clanking sounds of pots and pans come from the kitchen, and looking over as I head for the hallway, I find Kaleb pulling out cast iron from the lower cabinets, while Mildred is digging through the fridge.Kiss ass.
Connor’s sitting at the table drinking his coffee, looking a hell of a lot calmer than last night. I wonder if there’s something more to wolf shifters once being guardians for the Volkov family, because he looked ready to rip the arm off of anyone that would try to take Callie from him.
I head down the hall past the office, where there’s a second bathroom near the laundry room. It’s small with only a sink and a toilet, which is a pain when you’re 6’ 3” and well over 200lbs, and I have to fight around the door to close it behind me.
