“Izzie!” Jack said, putting a little temper behind her name.
“I’m sleeping!” she said indignantly. “I would have stayed sleeping if Niko didn’t wake us up.”
“Izzie,” Bonnie said, a warning behind her tone.
“Yes, ma’am,” Izzie said, finally quieting down.
Niko stalked back out into the formal living room and stood there for a few seconds, looking over at the females sleeping there — or pretending to sleep after his interaction with Jack. He paced back and forth a few times before the same female that told him Maeve was gone sat up and looked at him.
“Do you know where they are?” he asked pitifully.
“Not exactly. But they left with the girl with the dark blonde hair. I don’t know her name. She said she had a house with plenty of room and Maeve said she and Griffin would like to stay with her, so they went.”
“Gotta be Alison,” Niko said.
“I don’t know. But I do know that she made the rice. It was really good. I enjoyed it.”
“Alison,” Niko said, jogging toward the front door. “Thank you,” he called over his shoulder as he rushed out of the house.
“You think Maeve really wants him to know where she is?” another of the females asked.
“I don’t know. But I know he won’t let any of us sleep until he finds her, and I know there’s security everywhere, and the girl who owns the house is one of their Pride and knows how to call for help if need be. Besides, Maeve can hold her own. She could give him what for if he pushes her too far.”
“True,” the other female said.
~~~
Niko arrived at Alison’s house as the sun was rising. It was starting to warm up already, which indicated the day would be a scorcher. He moved silently up on the porch, peeking through the windows, but wasn’t able to see anything but the stairs leading to the second floor, and a darkened dining room. Still on the porch, tiptoeing to the opposite side of the house, he peered in through the sheer curtains, blowing gently against the window itself from what must have been the air conditioner. He thought he saw movement on the sofa while the television flickered in the background in the still darkened room. Adjusting his angle several times, he was finally able to decipher what he was seeing. A female, on her back, her arms around a male who laid on top of her, his back arching as he… “Oh, hell no!” Niko bellowed, leaving the scene playing out in front of him to charge the front door, pounding on it and kicking it as he yelled her name over and over again. “Maaaaeeeeevvvvvvvve! Maeve! Open this fucking door right now!”
He never stopped knocking, but neither did anyone open the door.
“You motherfucker! Stop touching her! Get the fuck off my female right now you horny fucker!” Niko yelled. “I’m’a kick your ass in about two fucking seconds if you don’t get off my woman!” he threatened, still yelling at the top of his lungs as he started to throw himself, full-bodied against the front door.
Without warning the door opened wide, and Niko, right in the middle of hurling his body against it for the fifth time, went flying right into the foyer, landing on the bottom four stairs with a crash.
~~~
Alison made soft little grunting noises as she stretched her body and opened her eyes. She sniffed a few times and looked down at the surface she was lying on. Her brows bunched up as she tried to figure out what she was seeing. A chest, clothed in a tight-fitted teeshirt. It was definitely a person.
“’Morning,” Feral said, his hands resting at the small of her back.
Recognizing his voice, and remembering falling asleep next to him, she raised her gaze to his as her cheeks pinked a bit from embarrassment. “’I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”
“You were tired. I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to fall asleep next to me.”
“Or on you. You didn’t have to lie here all night with me on you. You could have just woken me up and left.”
“Never. Best night of my life,” Feral said.
She kind of looked at him, not understanding fully. “I don’t think clearly in the morning. I am not a first thing in the morning kind of communicator.”
He grinned as he gently pushed a strand of her hair off her face. “Best night of my life because I spent it holding you.”
“Oh,” she said, looking away from him shyly.
“You didn’t fall asleep on me, you were just leaning on my shoulder. I stretched you out on top of me so we’d both fit on the sofa. I was sleeping as deeply as you in just a few minutes. It was no hardship, at all.”
“I should get up…” she put her hands on the sofa on either side of him and started to lift herself off of him.
