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Chapter twenty-six
“…Completely irresponsible of you to go into a public place while you are knowingly in heat.”
Enzo was going on an hour of scolding while the rest of us sat on the couch like a bunch of naughty schoolchildren.
The haze of the heat lifted after two days, though after the first one I spent most of my time across the hall in my own apartment with Wiz.
He reassured me up and down that he was all right with the events that had taken place, but everything still felt tender, as if we needed to wait on pins and needles to talk about it as a group.
And that time was now.
I sat between Wiz and Artie on the couch, trying not to squirm as Wiz played with my fingers and Artie’s hand slid along the line of my spine.
How was anyone supposed to get a scolding like this?
Enzo must have picked up on my distraction through the bond that I was still having trouble blocking and he frowned at us.
“Artem,” he said sharply, using Artie’s full name. “Stop feeling her up and focus.”
Artie’s hand jerked away from my back as if it had burned him. “Enzo, love, you know I didn’t mean to go into heat at the Complex.”
“And using shoddy, expired suppressants was supposed to accomplish that?” Enzo shot back, arms crossed over his chest.
There was a pause before Artie answered with less energy than before. ‘Well… yes.”
“I think—” Leith finally cut in and I watched from my peripheral as he sat forward on the couch. “That we should move on from what happened and to what our plan is going to be.”
I couldn’t look at him. Not full on at least. Embarrassment over losing complete control in front of him still filled me.
My first real memories coming out of the rut had been in the tiled shower of Artie’s bathroom while he gently washed my body under the warm water.
It wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before, and yet it felt more vulnerable than anything I’d ever shown him when we were together four years ago.
“Isn’t that obvious? She’ll move in here with us,” Enzo said as if it was a done deal.
I wasn’t necessarily opposed to it, but because he wasn’t even asking my opinion I felt my spine straighten obstinately. “I like my apartment. Besides, there isn’t much extra room for Wiz too.”
Even though I couldn’t feel Wiz’s emotions the same way I felt the rest, I knew he was happy with my words by the way he squeezed my fingers.
Enzo turned to Wiz. “And you want to be a part of this pack?”
“I already told you I do.”
“Do you like Artie? In a romantic way?”
There was a pause as Wiz glanced over at Artie, and Artie, feeling his gaze, turned to face him fully.
They may not have been bonded, but they both shook their heads at the same time. “No,” they said in unison.
“But I’m fine with him being around,” Artie reached across me. “Bros?”
Hearing that word come out in his proper British accent nearly made me laugh as the two shook hands.
“Bros,” Wiz agreed gravely and they grinned at each other.
Enzo, however, didn’t seem amused and I was about to make his mood turn even more sour. “I’m going to stay in my apartment until things settle… all of this happened so quickly that my head is still spinning with it.”
“Pack members should live in the same house. It’s traditional,” he pointed out, the tendon in his jaw tensing with irritation.
