Page 43 of Wild Wolf

“I’m pretty sure I threw up on Declan several times last night.”

“You missed,” I said. “My bathroom floor has seen better days, but I cleaned it.”

“Hey, he can clean. Dibs.” Amber yawned and snuggled into my rocking chair. “Shush.”

Desmond gave Amber another shake, clucking his tongue at her. “We’re about ready to go, Amber. You need to get changed, then you can go back to sleep in whichever vehicle you want for the trip, all right? Nicolina will help, because you’re so tired you don’t know which end is up at this point. But since you didn’t start throwing up right away, you’re over the worst of it. You’ll be fine. Richard is going to make sure there’s a big lunch for you, too.”

“Hotpot?”

“Declan? Up for making Amber hotpot tonight?” Desmond asked.

I chuckled at the thought of a bunch of meat-hungry wolves devouring hotpot and fighting over the broths. “I don’t mind if we can get the ingredients from your friends, but I’ll have to hit some stores in town for extra pots. If I can get some cast iron ones, we can do a fire pit style for fun. If we’re anywhere near a kitchen, I can do it with ease.”

Desmond got to his feet and battled Amber for custody of my blanket. “Richard, make sure they know Amber wants hotpot. Amber, let go. You can take his blanket with you, but you need to get up and get dressed.”

It took several minutes of arguing, cajoling, and coaxing the woman to get off my rocking chair, but she staggered in the general direction of my bedroom with Nicolina trailing behind her. Five minutes later, Amber came out dressed in my pajamas, yawning every other breath. Richard, armed with the leftover rice and curry, intercepted the woman, guided her to my rocking chair, and made sure she ate while keeping a close eye on her.

To my amusement, she growled and slapped Richard’s hands when he tried to take the empty plate, refusing to let it go until she’d licked it clean.

“We’ll bring your wolf with us,” Desmond announced, and he picked up Petra’s leash from where it’d gotten tossed near the door. “Petra, heel.”

My wolf spent a long moment glaring at Desmond before she heaved a sigh, got up from her cozy spot near the fireplace, and sat at his side. He clipped the leash to her collar and praised her, giving her a brief scratch behind her ears.

“I’m not sure we should be treating a wild animal like a regular dog,” I admitted. “I mean, I’m being hypocritical because that’s exactly what I’ve been doing, but I don’t know if we should all start doing it?”

Desmond shrugged. “She’s been with humans so long now she doesn’t really know how to be a wolf anymore. I wouldn’t trust her with Normals, but among Fenerec? I think she’ll be fine. She’ll figure out her place in the pack. There’s no reason she can’t hunt with us, too. If she works well with us, we can work with other wolf rescues, the ones that can’t be released directly into the wild. Or at least we can release them into our territory and make sure they’re fed and don’t wander.”

“Are you going to walk out under your own steam or am I carrying you?” Richard asked.

His question earned a growl from Amber, who lurched to her feet and headed for my door without any shoes on. I waited until she was about to step out onto my porch before hooking an arm under her knees, unbalancing her, and picking her up. “I don’t feel like picking gravel and rock shards out of your feet. Put some shoes on or be carried.”

Inside my cabin, Nicolina giggled, and she came out carrying Amber’s shoes, which she crammed onto the woman’s feet. “Just put her in your truck and call it a kidnapping. Amber would love to be kidnapped if you’re the one doing the kidnapping. Just promise her brownies once you’ve taken her to a secondary location.”

Amber sighed, lifting one of her feet to regard her shoe, which hadn’t been put on her foot properly. “It shames me to admit the promise of brownies gives me pause.”

“An entire batch, just for you,” I promised.

“But it’s not a kidnapping if I go with you willingly, and with an entire batch of brownies on the line, I’m a willing participant. Now I can’t mock Nicolina anymore over being seduced with cookies.” Amber shrugged and wiggled in an attempt to make herself more comfortable, and she still glared at her shoe. When Nicolina pretended not to notice, Amber relinquished her hold on my blanket, setting it in her lap before snapping her fingers. “I look like I snapped an ankle with my shoe like that. If you’re going to make me wear my shoes, at least put them on right.”

“He won’t set you down while you might snap an ankle because your shoe is like that. It’s part of my master plan.”

Amber raised a brow. “You have a plan?”

“How rude. I have a plan.” Nicolina grabbed Amber’s shoe, pulled it off her foot, and picked her way across the gravel in the direction of the vehicles parked behind my truck. “And now my plan involves you not having a shoe, so you’re just going to have to cope with being a damsel. I have the power now.”

“You have my shoe. That is not power. And I’m not a damsel!”

“She who has the shoes doesn’t need to be carried. She without shoes is a damsel.”

“Damsels get brownies,” I said, adjusting my hold on Amber and heading for my truck. “If she doesn’t give your shoe back, I’ll give you two batches of different types of brownies. Open the door so I don’t drop you.”

She did, and once certain I wouldn’t bang her into the door, I eased her inside, making sure my blanket didn’t fall to the ground.

Amber nodded. “I can accept this if I’m getting brownies. It’s not being a damsel. I’m not distressed. I’m being paid in brownies.”

“There you go. That’s looking on the bright side. Nicolina might have your shoe, but you get her brownies.”

“You bastard!” Nicolina flung Amber’s shoe in my direction, and I caught it, chuckled, and put it on the woman’s foot properly. “You weren’t supposed to catch it.”