Page 140 of Shifter Situations

26

Sloane

Monday, June 8th

Morning

I’d laid my eyes on the outside of their apartment building so many times in the last two years that it was blowing my mind.

They’d been right. There.

Two sidewalks and three lanes of traffic had separated us at least three days a week.

The door to the vintage brick building chimed as Vaughn opened the right side, ushering me in with his hand on the small of my back.

The woman at the reception desk ogled my mates, not that I could blame her. Her eyes trailed over each one, pausing to take York in before her gaze zeroed in on the hand at my back.

“Mr. Winter? You and your friends have quite a bit of mail. We haven’t seen you in weeks.”

“He’s been busy,” Stone drawled. “He’s still busy.”

When I paid closer attention to her features, I began to wonder if she was a human. I didn’t like prying into anyone’s mind, but if I dropped my own walls... that wasn’t exactly breaking my moral code.

Her thoughts were loud, so fucking loud I didn’t understand how Novak wasn’t hearing them. I listened for a moment, wanting to snort at her fascination with the roommates situation. She had no idea that they weren’t human.

But her thoughts grew hungry, and I didn’t like that.

“I don’t think they’re interested, Wanda,” I whispered, leaning over the top of the high desk.

“But I am. Who does your nails? Can I see them?”

“There are too many cameras in this building,” Briggs hissed at me. “You can’t have her fucking fingers. Don’t ask.”

Novak snorted.

The woman furrowed her brows, clearing her throat as she held her hand out for me to see. “My name isn’t Wanda. It’s Lori.”

To get a rise out of my wolf, I pulled Lori’s fingers closer to my face. “Your hands are beautiful. What kind of lotion do you use? I have some fingers in my collection at home that are in desperate need of—”

I squealed as Briggs scooped me up, tossing me over his shoulder. He stomped all the way past the elevators as I cackled. I propped my elbows on his back to hold my head up, watching the receptionist register what I’d said. All the color faded from her face as I waved my fingers at her.

He slammed the door to the stairwell open and began climbing before the rest of my mates had entered.

“What did you say to her?” my mage asked, the door closing loudly behind him.

“You heard me. Isn’t that why I’m being manhandling right now?”

Novak smirked at me. “We told her that we’d just sprung our girlfriend from the psychiatric ward, and we only had a couple of minutes to stop by and grab some clothes before we ran away.”

Briggs stopped, twisting his upper body to look down the stairs. “You did not say that.”

“I tried to get him to tell her that we were in danger. The safeword is asparagus. Send help.” I caught a glimpse of York’s right shoulder lift in a shrug.

Palmer chuckled. “What did ye really say?”

“I hope it was something good,” Briggs mused, turning back as he continued his climb. “I am not explaining to that woman why our escapee girlfriend has a collection of fingers.”

“Novak did tell her that,” Vaughn admitted, grinning as he sorted through their mail, his icy eyes glancing up at me as they danced with amusement.