97

97
ChapterForty-SevenIgrab a
towel before walking out the back. Andrei, Mateo, and Ezra are standing in the
backyard talking away as I make my way over to them with the towel draped over
my arm. Moments later, we hear rustling in the forest, and Andrei instinctively
turns before jogging off toward the tree line on the right-hand side. Halfway
across the long backyard, Angie's wolf steps out of the trees, looking around
nervously before seeing Andrei walk toward her. Her wolf seems cautious of him
before stopping like she is paralyzed on the spot."Is she going
to run off?" I wonder out loud to Ezra when her wolf sniffs the air before
racing towards him. Her wolf tackles him, but he seems to be expecting that as
he grabs her. I rush over with the towel, knowing Angie will want it so she can
shift back. Her wolf is all but mauling Andrei, licking his face, and jumping
all over him as he sits on the ground with her thrashing in his arms."Alia, I want
to meet your human," he tells her wolf, who is excitedly attacking him.Her wolf is not
listening to him, but he doesn’t seem to mind as he keeps pushing her face
away, trying to get her to shift back. "Little wolf, your human. Shift for
me,” he commands her wolf, and she whines, but I can tell he isn't commanding
her to hurt her because I barely feel his aura, and she doesn't look pained. He
is just getting her wolf's attention. I hand the towel to Andrei before hearing
bones snap as Alia finally listens to him. Andrei wraps the towel around Angie,
pulling her onto his lap."I am so sorry
about her," Angie apologizes, clearly mortified over her wolf.I wander off back to
my mates, giving them space. It would be awkward to meet your mate naked in
front of others."Well, that's
one way to get rid of Angie," Mateo muses, slapping Ezra's shoulder, who
chuckles."If she wants
to go with him," Ezra corrects, making coffee.Marge is making
sandwiches, and I swear she is like a ghost. You never hear her come in or hear
her leave, she suddenly pops up out of nowhere. "I will make extras since
we now have two extra guests," Marge offers, and Ezra gives her a nod. “Thank
you, Marge.”The next week passes by in a blur, Andrei stays
here most days, so he can be with Angie until she decides to go back with him.
Every day we have been trying to get me to shift, and I am over it, nothing we
try to do works, and I am frustrated with the constant arguing with everyone,
and just want to be left alone.Ezra has been
distant and has barely said two words to anyone and has been running pack runs
most nights instead of returning home, which would always end up with Mateo and
me arguing with him for working too much. It has been two days since I last saw
him, though Mateo did find him passed out on the border when he went looking
for him yesterday, only to be ordered to go home. Mateo also won’t let me leave
to go get him, said I was too hot-headed right now and not to cause an
argument.We also heard word
back from our scouts that they noticed trucks coming to and from Jackson’s
pack. Supplies are being brought into town instead of him sending his men out
to get them. Which leads us to one conclusion: he knows our packs are watching
his, which was no surprise, he should have expected it, but it has left Ezra on
edge, wondering why he hasn’t let a single pack member leave the town.Andrei also offered
to let go of my father and return him, but I told him to keep him for the time
being. I am tired of all the lies, and I'm not going to trust anyone until what
is left of my family decides to start telling the truth.Over the last few
days, Mathias also translated the scrolls, and it is exactly what Andrei told
us, which is a relief because as excited as I am about having a new family
member, it is hard to trust him. So knowing he is telling the truth gives me a
sense of relief that not everyone is out to get me, but still I will only trust
him as far as I can throw him, he said so himself not to trust anyone but my
mates, and I am doing exactly that.“I am leaving and
heading home today,” Andrei announces, making me open my eyes to look at him
where we sit on the grass. I find this meditating crap pointless, but he
insists every goddamn day that we do it.“Is Angie going back
with you?” I ask, and a slow smile spreads across his lips, he does it every
time someone mentions her name.“Yes, I will be
picking her up in an hour, but I wanted to let you know I am leaving. That's
why I stayed last night, I was hoping to let Ezra know, but once again he isn’t
home.”I sigh at the
reminder. “It's fine, she can leave. I will tell him if he ever comes home,” I
grumble.“So you are happy if
we call it off early today?”I chuckle at his
eagerness to see Angie. “Yes, go get your mate,” I tell him, getting up off the
ground. I am relieved, my ass is going numb, and I am getting nowhere. I have
zero energy.After saying goodbye
to Mateo and Marge, Andrei leaves. Going to the fridge, I grab a bottle of
water out.Mateo comes in, his
hands cupping my hips. “I like your brother, but damn, it is good having the
house back to ourselves,” Mateo says, and I agree. Maybe Ezra will come home
now that Andrei has left, but I doubt it because every time we try to mindlink
him, he shoves us back out.“He will be home
when he gets home, stop stressing about him,” Mateo scolds.“I know, but it
still pisses me off. He can at least tell us why he won't come home,” I
complain. “Do you know if he has at least let Maddox out since?” I ask, worried
because he has refused the last two times I asked him to, and I haven't even
been able to contact Maddox since Ezra locked him away.“Not sure, but I
don’t think so,” Mateo answers as I put my now half-empty water bottle in the
fridge.Time ticks by, and it's ten at night before I know
it, once more my mate is missing. “Kat, just come to bed, he is fine. You would
know if he wasn’t,” Mateo nudges from his position in bed. I glare at him. How
can he say everything was fine when Ezra hasn’t been home for three days now?And the only thing
we get through the bond is silence from him blocking us out, it is really
grinding my gears that he continues to ignore us.“Babe, bed, come on,
it's late, and I have to be up early. So please get in bed, woman,” Mateo
whines.“I just don’t get
what is up with him, he tells me not to run away from shit, and that’s exactly
what he is doing. He is a hypocrite,” I snap at Mateo.“Argh, just get in
the bed, please. My eyeballs are like sandpaper.”“Then go to sleep, I
am not asking you to stay awake with me,” I snap back at his whiny ass. Mateo
growls at me before tossing the blanket back. I step away from him as he
approaches, glaring at him. He goes to grab me, but I pull my hand back. “Fine,
I will get in the bed,” I concede, stomping over to it. I flop onto the bed,
and he sighs, running a hand down his face before climbing back into bed
himself. He jerks me toward him, pulling the blankets up.I stare around the
room, too wired to sleep when Mateo’s fingers force my eyelids shut. I slap his
hand away. “To sleep, eyes must be closed,” Mateo lectures.I roll my eyes and
exhale. “I’m not tired.”“Well, I am, and
your eyes are like a beacon, so close them. It is like sleeping with a lamp
on,” Mateo mumbles, pressing his face in between my shoulder blades. I blink,
fighting sleep, waiting for Ezra, but Mateo is right. The roof lighting up from
the glow of my eyes is pretty annoying, like someone turning a light on and off
every time I blink. Strangely enough, I notice the angrier I get, the brighter
they burn, so eventually, I succumb, giving in and trying to sleep even though
the bed once again is empty on Ezra’s side.Waking up the next morning, Mateo rolls me toward
him. “Morning,” he mumbles, pressing his lips to mine.“I thought you had
to do something this morning,” I object when his lips travel down my jaw to my
neck.“Already done it,
been awake for a while,” he chuckles against my neck before nipping at it with
his canines. His hand palms my breast through my thin cotton shirt, and he
pushes his knee between my legs, forcing them apart and moving between them,
his erection pressing against my thigh.“Where is Ezra?’ I
ask him, but he shrugs, too preoccupied, trying to shove my shirt up before
peeling it off me.Mateo’s hot mouth
moves to my breast as he latches onto my nipple. I run my fingers through his
hair, and he growls softly before I hear the tearing of my cotton shorts.“Oi, I liked those!”
I object, but he ignores me, and I sigh. His lips move lower before he
disappears under the blanket, his teeth graze my hip before his warm breath
fans my insides.“Do you think he
knows what Maddox did?” I ask him before his tongue licks a line straight to my
clit before sucking it in his mouth. I moan softly, bucking my hips against his
face, his hands grip my thighs, pulling my legs farther apart as arousal surges
through me. His tongue licks and sucks on me relentlessly, and I cry out when
he shoves a finger inside me.“Maybe that’s why he
isn’t coming home?” Mateo stops and pulls away, pulling the blanket back.“You want to stop
and talk?” I gasp. “I can multitask, and I didn’t say stop,” I scold him,
shoving his head back down between my legs.He growls, but
resumes, making me chuckle and moan at him in equal parts. I open my mouth to
bring something else up when he pulls away to mock-glare at me. “I am two
seconds away from gagging you,” he threatens.“Fine, fine, I will
stop talking,” I agree before tugging him back up towards me. He smiles,
bringing his lips to mine.