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Goddammit. That shouldn’t have stung like it did. So I said, “How’s Dale?” knowing full well the nasty curl that crawled along my words.
His eyes flashed orange. “Dale’s fine. I didn’t know you cared so much about his well-being.”
I grinned at him. “What can I say? I’m a nice guy. Can’t wait to meet him. Thinking about telling him about your hairy time of the month?”
His jaw tightened.
I stared back.
“I wish I’d thought to bring popcorn,” I heard Chris mutter.
“This is better than those Real Housewives shows that I absolutely do not watch or have recorded on my DVR,” Rico whispered back.
“I thought you said those were there because of Bambi?” Tanner asked.
“They are. That’s exactly why they’re there. Not because I watch them by myself ever.”
“I need to get a girlfriend,” Chris said with a sigh. “I’m tired of seeing naked people I don’t want to have sex with.”
“That sounds like too much work,” Tanner said.
“That’s because you’re aro. You don’t want a girlfriend.”
“Maybe you should just learn to be happy with yourself. Being aromantic doesn’t have anything to do with that.”
“Shut the fuck up, Tanner. You’re making me feel bad.”
“Humans are so weird,” Kelly muttered.
“True that,” Carter said. “Hey, question. Why are you staring at Robbie like you can’t decide if he’s a large bug or if you want to rub against him?”
Kelly growled at his brother and stomped inside, the door slamming shut behind him.
“I’m having such a wonderful time,” Carter said to no one in particular.
“Michelle’s getting online,” Robbie said, shoving his phone back in his pocket. “She’s not very happy. Just so you know.”
Ox shook his head. “Not my problem. Robbie. Mark. Gordo. With Joe and me. Carter, run these idiots through their drills.”
“What!”
“Why!”
“What the hell did we do?”
Ox glared at them.
Rico rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Alfa says jump, we say how high. Got it. I think I liked it more when you weren’t all grr. Bastardo.”
I followed Ox and Joe into the house as Carter gleefully began to b
ark orders at the others, who grumbled. I felt Mark watching me before he muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t quite make out and made his way inside.
Kelly was in the large kitchen, frowning at the pots and pans on the stove, looking as if he was trying to figure out what his mother had been up to before the Omega had breached the wards. Elizabeth and Jessie were nowhere in sight. The old pipes groaned in the walls. They must have had the Omega in one of the bathrooms, trying to get her cleaned up.
Ox opened the door that led to his and Joe’s office. I hesitated at the doorway as I always did before I entered, flashes of a long-ago life punching me in the gut. My father burning his magic into my skin, Abel’s eyes bright as they shone down on me. Abel sitting across from me at his desk, telling me my mother was dead and that my father had killed her. Thomas sitting in the same place saying they were leaving and I was staying here because I was human. Thomas asking me for help. Joe dividing the pack, breaking Ox’s heart even further. This place carried with it an angry history, one that I still hadn’t come to terms with.
“Okay?” Mark asked from behind me.
