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“So your demon doesn’t want to keep her?” Leo cut in, settling at the picnic table. “Is that what you’re saying? Because if so, I call bullshit.”
“As do I,” said Gideon.
Tucker raised a hand. “Same here.”
The others nodded their agreement.
Teague inwardly sighed. In truth, his beast had every intention of keeping her, regardless of what Teague’s own wishes might be. It felt that he’d be stupid to let her go.
To be honest, he could easily envision having something real with her . . . though he wasn’t exactly sure what ‘real’ would entail. He stopped himself from exploring the idea too deeply because he had no clue where Larkin was mentally at.
There was a possibility that she wouldn’t want to take a chance on a guy who’d never committed to a woman before; that she wouldn’t feel she could trust that he’d stick around—much like her brothers didn’t. Well, it was worth considering, since she’d found it difficult to believe he’d keep up fake dating her for five months.
“What was her reaction to the new brand?” asked Slade, sitting on the bottom step of his wagon.
Knowing that the male would be referring to the horse’s head, seeing as Slade would have no idea about the barcode on her ass—which she’d ranted about for fifteen minutes straight earlier, and it had been a glorious sight—Teague replied, “She wasn’t happy about it, though she claimed she wouldn’t have cared if it wasn’t on her face.”
That she’d complained had bugged his beast. It wanted her to wear its mark with pride, no matter where said mark was located. But it had been placated by the fact that her demon had branded Teague again.
He now sported what looked like rake marks on his back—rake marks from the talons of a harpy eagle. And he found that he liked them. Liked that her demon was so boldly proprietary.
“But even though she ain’t happy about it, she isn’t walking away from you,” Slade pointed out. “She has to know that facial brands aren’t done casually, but she still spent the day with you. She’s still coming to watch my fight later. And she’s still probably going to end up in your bed tonight. That says she isn’t alarmed or put-off by the brand.”
“Which is a real good sign,” added Gideon. “Her demon can’t much care either, or you’d be missing a limb or something at this point.”
Tucker dipped his chin. “That entity would not hesitate to work over anyone who even remotely irritated it.”
Not sure it was a good thing that hope had firmly planted itself in his gut, Teague flapped his arms and asked, “Why are we having this conversation?”
“Because it’s making you uncomfortable,” said Leo.
Gideon shrugged. “Because I’m bored.”
“Because I like to watch you grind your teeth,” added Archer.
Clenching his jaw, Teague gave his head a quick shake.
“I still say you should keep her,” Gideon told him, his lips hiking up. “She’s loyal, she’s good for you, and she fits with us well.”
“Yeah, you should definitely hold onto her, T,” Archer advised. “But only if she’s not going to ask you to join her lair or move into her place.”
Gideon gave the male a hard look. “Hey, that’s selfish.”
“What is?” asked Archer, appearing bewildered.
“Expecting him to remain with us if he’d be happier being part of her lair and setting up house with her. You want him to be happy, right?”
Archer blinked. “Not particularly, no.”
Gideon elbowed him hard.
“What?” demanded Archer, lifting his shoulders. “I have other things to concern myself with. Very important things that take up much of my time and attention.”
“Name one thing. One. That isn’t related to mushrooms,” Gideon hurried to add.
His gaze turning inward, Archer opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Teague sighed again, raising his hands, palms out. “Just to note, I have no intention of becoming part of any lair at any point in time, or of moving out of our camp.”
Archer smiled. “That’s all I wanted to hear.”
“If you change your mind, Teague, the rest of us will understand.” Gideon took in every face. “Right?”
People exchanged looks, twisted their mouths, averted their gazes, or forced a cough.
“Right?” pushed Gideon.
Leo scratched his cheek. “I would try to understand. How’s that?”
“Yeah, we’d give it our best shot,” said Slade, to which the others dipped their chin.
Gideon gaped, shaking his head. “You’re all awful. Just awful.”
“Dude, that’s harsh,” upheld Tucker. “We just don’t want to have to—” He abruptly cut off as the dogs’ heads snapped up.
Barron let out a cautioning growl as the hounds then all got to their feet. The fur on their backs rising, they stared at the trees far up ahead of them and bared their teeth. Moments later, a distinctive squawk of warning came from a raven—a warning that they had company.
Falling silent, Teague and his clan went very still. They all exchanged looks, and he felt a grin tug at his mouth as anticipation quickly began to buzz through his veins and electrify the air of the camp.
