AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A hungry look gleamed in his eye. “Can’t wait, Blondie!”
“In the library with a butcher knife.”
Remmus’ attention snapped back to her where it’d wandered to Riaz once more. “I’ve annoyed you already?”
Ava offered him a blank look. “By the pool with a candlestick.”
“As much as I enjoy a good murder—” Riaz leveled a chastising look at Ava, “—we can reconnect when on the St. Louis facility tomorrow. Ava, good luck in La Crosse.”
“Aye aye, Cap-i-tan.” Remmus gave the alpha a mocking salute. “I’ll bid you adieu.”
He cocked his head to look at Ava with an expectant expression, but she said nothing else. His ravishing grin was her reward. Stalking out of the gym to change her clothes without a backwards glance, she stomped all the way to her quarters, wondering why the Raeth got under her skin so much … and why she happened to like him there.
***
Twenty minutes and a quick shower later, Ava sought out Remmus.
It had been more than a decade since she’d been to the La Crosse den, and she had thoroughly enjoyed it the last time she was there. Sagan, the pack’s alpha, had been turned into a werewolf around the same time she had. Though he had always been more dominant than she, they’d been two of the more mischievous wolves in Aidan’s pack.
Time had changed them, and they rarely saw each other anymore, but she still adored the other werewolf.
As predicted, Remmus was in the great hall. To her surprise, he was chatting with Gwennie, one of the pack’s human members. Her perfectly white hair was piled in a loose bun, but it was her smile that caught Ava’s attention.
Between them, a game of chess was half played, and Ava could tell from here that Remmus was losing. Far more of his white pieces were beside the board than on it.
“Gwennie was just telling me about her ice cream shop downtown,” Remmus said without looking up in greeting. “I’ve promised to buy at least five cones while I’m here.”
“Quite a promise,” Ava replied.
Gwennie said, “He also told me that you’ve been baking. When was I going to benefit from your stress-induced hobby?”
“Soon, I promise.” She turned her attention to Remmus. “We’d better get going. Gwennie, I’ll drop off some cupcakes the next time I make them. Maybe a few truffles while I’m at it.”
As Remmus got up from the table, he placed a reverent kiss on Gwennie’s outstretched hand. “‘Til we meet again, my fair lady.”
She offered him a ravishing smile as they pulled away, walking toward a quieter corner of the vast space. He caught Ava’s eye. “Stress-induced, huh?”
“Don’t read into it.”
He smirked. “I'm ready whenever you are, Blondie.”
Familiar fear rose up and threatened to suffocate her. To camouflage the tremble in her hands, she wrung them together. “How do we do this?”
“Have you been to Sagan’s den recently?” he asked.
“Within the last decade or so, yes.”
“Do you know if anything has changed with the exterior since then?”
Ava shrugged, attempting to feign nonchalance when her heart was thudding. “Doubtful. He’d remodeled recently when I was there last. Why does that matter?”
“The last time I teleported into a den unannounced, I surprised an alpha and his beta,” Remmus said warily. For once, there was no humor coloring his voice. “Given that the alphas are a bit edgy at the moment—”
“—You’d prefer not to be attacked?” she finished.
He chuckled. “Precisely.”
“I can’t say I blame you.”
