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Happiness and uncertainty warred within me at his declaration.
Sure, he seemed to have decided that he wanted to be with me, but how long would that last? How long did I have until he decided that his pack was going to come first again? How long until he realized he hated running water and having a roof over his head, and decided to go back out to the forest?
That uncertainty kept my trust for him at bay, even though my feelings of attachment were growing.
There was nothing I could do about those bastardly feelings, though.
We said goodbye to Axel’s Gram and Grandpa a few minutes later, and as we went, she called out, “Remind that feral pack of yours that they’re always welcome for dinner!”
He waved in response, maneuvering me toward the checkout.
FIFTEEN
“Your grandparents seem nice,”I told him, as we climbed into the truck.
“They are.” He lifted the middle console up, and gestured for me to scoot closer.
I lifted an eyebrow at him.
He reached across the seat, grabbed my thigh, and dragged me to the middle.
I gave him a dry look. “You wanted to sit next to me?”
“Yup.” His hand landed on my thigh and squeezed it roughly.
He pulled away from the store, leaving his gigantic palm on my thigh. Every minute or so, he squeezed it, his chest rumbling a bit every time.
Honestly, it turned me on.
I didn’t act on that, though. It wasn’t like we could get naked together.
I had heard about people working around the flames, getting themselves off together or using toys on each other, while they moved through the process and fell in love or whatever.
But Axel had been extremely against me touching myself, so… he probably wouldn’t be into that shit.
“Why are you guys called the Feral Pack?” I asked him, hoping that a subject change would distract me.
“It started as an insult. We moved to the forest and worked through our shit, developing trust with our wolves. People talked poorly about us, until a fight broke out in a restaurant a little over three years ago. Fights break out all the damn time, in Moon Ridge. Most people’s wolves take over the moment there’s a sign of danger, and everything escalates really damn quickly. Nico, my pack’s alpha, was there for a family thing.”
He continued, “Everyone in the restaurant shifted, except Nico. He remained calm and in his human form, and deescalated the situation rapidly. Everyone was stunned. Word travelled fast, and people started coming to our pack’s land, asking us to teach them to control their wolves like that. We did it for free at first, but no one took it seriously. When we started to charge, they actually tried. The town has transformed since then, and we almost constantly have a pack or two staying with us for lessons. Some even come from other towns, across the country.”
“Damn.” I whistled. “So I’m a huge disappointment because I have no wolf for you to practice your mad taming skills on.”
He snorted. “No. Wolves make everything more complicated. It’s part of life, and I’ve figured that shit out, but not having to factor yours into everything happening between us is actually a relief for me. I’m sure my wolf feels a loss, though. He’ll still want you to run with him, and play with him in your wolf form. They’re like big, extremely intelligent dogs.”
“I’ve never had a dog.”
“Well, you do now.” He squeezed my thigh again. “He’s still processing everything right now, but he’s not the laid-back type.”
“Well, he did bite me on thethroat. Can’t say I’m doubting his possessiveness.”
Axel chuckled as we pulled up to the townhouse, and parked in the garage. “Your phone is in the glovebox, by the way. Iris gave it to me yesterday before we left the bar.”
“Oh.” I pulled it out and checked for messages. Iris had texted me a few times, telling me to be safe, wishing me luck, and then requesting updates a few times.
I shot her a quick message, saying I was fine and Axel wanted to take a shot at being real mates, so I was hanging out that day.
There was another message, this one from my boss. He told me to let him know when I’d figured things out with Axel and was ready to come back to work, and that if I was up for it, sooner was better than later.
