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“Why would I? He protected her.” Leo frowns down at her. “Right?”
“Yep.” She digs her nails into my good thigh as if that will shut me up.
I fill Leo in on everything, hitting the particulars that I know she left out. Wolf has no fucks to give about the way he handled Denver and told me all about it after my shower.
“I punched him.” My gaze drops to my knuckles.
“What?” she snaps.
“He laughed and begged me to hit him again.”
“Please, tell me you didn’t.”
“I didn’t.”
Leo calmly sets his empty container aside and scrubs a hand over his mouth.
“You thought I didn’t need to know this.” He slides off the worktable and rests his fingers in his front pockets. “Why? Because you don’t trust me?”
“I handled it.” She lifts her chin.
“By yourself.”
“I came here afterward, and you were a dick.”
“I’m always a dick, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re a team. All four of us. When one of us fucks up, we tell the others and work through it. Together.”
Her chin lowers a fraction, and her nose twitches. “Right.”
“No more keeping secrets. That means no more omissions.”
She nods. Blows out a breath. “Okay. Yeah. I agree.”
“About damn time,” I mutter.
“In that case, I should tell you…” She rubs a hand on her thigh. “Denver asked me if I’ve bled.”
I exchange a look with Leo. It takes us a second. A second of panic as we imagine her bleeding from some unknown wound. Then I see the realization harden his eyes at the same time I come up to speed.
“He asked you about your period?” Leo goes ramrod straight, his gaze searching hers. “You haven’t, have you? I would know.” He stares at her tummy, his expression fraught. “You can’t hide that.”
“Simmer down, psycho.” She clasps his hand, running a thumb along his blanched knuckles. “I’m not pregnant. I haven’t had a period since I’ve been here. Stress messes with that.”
“And poor nutrition,” I growl.
She ignores me. “If I get my period, everyone will know. But I may not, and I think we should let Denver think whatever he wants.”
“New plan.” Leo pivots and paces through the workshop. “You will not leave my side.”
“Or mine.” I stiffen.
He huffs. “Or Kody’s. You’ll be with him or me at all times. No more one-on-ones with Wolf.”
“You can’t isolate him.” She looks between us. “You guys, I’m worried about him.”
“I know. Me, too.” Leo pinches the bridge of his nose. “We’ll keep him close, keep our eyes on him. But you will not go anywhere without Kody or me. Understood?”
“Got it.”
“I’m going to build a door.”
“For what?” I jerk at the sudden change of topic.
“For the supply room in the basement.” She sits up beside me. “We’re going to lock up the monster. Put him in an inescapable cage.”
My mind races at the suggestion, objecting every angle and outcome. Leo agreed to this? After what happened to his mother?
He meets my eyes, his features relaxed. Decided.
“If we do that,” I say slowly, “he won’t cooperate. He’ll kill…” I stretch an arm across her lap, yanking her against my side. “If we ever let him out, if we need him, he’ll be more of a threat to her than he is now.”
“You won’t let him hurt me.” She caresses my hand. “You’ll never let him near me again.”
She brings my fingers to her lips and kisses them. Christ, that sensation. That warm, soft sensation like flames in the hearth and silk around my cock.
“No, we won’t,” Leo says, snapping my attention to him. “As for the other problem, I’m going hunting tomorrow.”
“Hunting for what?” I shake my head. “There’s nothing out there but—”
“Wolves.” He flashes a grin that’s half-predatory and one-hundred-percent insane.
62
Frankie
—
After returning to the bedroom and arguing late into the night, Leo and Kody fall asleep without coming to an agreement.
I listened to them, learned a lot, and can see both sides.
They’ve never hunted a wolf for food. Denver always told them it can’t be done.
Getting close enough to one to kill it is dangerous. I can vouch for that firsthand. But killing one without being overtaken by its pack? I don’t want to think about that.
The biggest threat, however, is the extreme conditions intrinsic to the arctic winter climate.
The animals around here either migrate or hibernate. The few that stay through winter have adapted and evolved to resist the brutal cold.
Humans aren’t built for travel across the tundra. We don’t have feathery feet that serve as snowshoes like the ptarmigan. We’re not covered in fur like wolves and bears or insulated with blubber like the seals on the coast. Moose have long, thin legs that help them walk through snow, but even they migrate.
Only the wolves remain and the critters they prey on.
And us.
Five hungry humans who have no business living this far north.
