Page 27 of The Fanged One

"I promise. Besides, you are all coming with us, so she'll have plenty of people who care about her well-being around her," Fenris replied, and really hoped it was a promise he could keep. "We aren't going into battle. We just need to find my father."

"Very well. Welcome to the family," Tor said, and he and Arne exchanged grins. "We won't tell Linnea, but you're in for an interesting time with the mating urges. Trust us."

Fenris huffed out a laugh. "Try not to gloat too hard about it."

"We aren't agreeing to that," Arne said.

Linnea's laughter had them all going quiet as she and the other women came back over to the couches. She set a glass down in front of Fenris. "Should I be worried that you guys are getting along right now?"

"Not at all," Tor said with a wide smile. "I think we all understand each other perfectly well, little sister."

"Just boy chit chat," Arne added with a little wave of his hand. "You know, guy stuff."

Linnea rolled her eyes. "Men. If you decide to fight it out, do it outside. Don't upset Von because we need him."

"I won't do anything to upset Von. I like him," Fenris replied honestly.

Von, who had been crossing back from the bar with a fresh decanter in one hand, paused beside Fenris to tickle him under the ear. "I like you too, darling."

Linnea batted Von's hand away. "Stop that."

"I'm being friendly."

"You are being annoying."

"I'm being friendly and annoying. Multitasking. Excellent for the brain."

Von dropped into his throne, cackling at her glare, and Linnea sat down beside Fenris again. The hem of her dress had ridden up a fraction, but she didn't seem to notice. Fenris noticed. The wolf in him noticed harder. The man bit his tongue and turned away to drain the contents of his glass. The wolf in him didn't stop preening.

Mine, the wolf said softly. Ours.

Stop. We haven't claimed her. We have barely touched her.

I know, the wolf said petulantly.

Fenris had thought that finding his father would be the hardest part of all this. Watching Linnea laugh brightly over some joke Layla had told her, he knew just how wrong he had been. At this rate, not claiming her was going to kill him long before Ragnarök had the chance.

14

Linnea stood under the shower, trying to wash the night off and heat up her cold bones. She poured a palmful of shampoo into her hand and worked out the smell of perfume, sweat, and alcohol from her hair that Ritual had left in it.

After getting Von to agree to help them, they had another round of drinks before heading home. It had been a long couple of days with too many emotions. It made Linnea want her small house on the edge of the woods, where there was nothing but the winter wind and the occasional wolf howl to break the silence.

It also didn't have a god-sized problem for her to try to unravel.

Linnea could still smell Fenris on her skin, feel the press of his hand at the small of her back and the heat of his palm at the curve of her hip. The bite of his teeth on her lower lip…

Stop, she snapped at her wolf, who was making a small smug sound that wasn't helping anything.

Make me, her wolf replied. I liked it and so did you.

Linnea ignored it, finished washing her hair, and got out. She took the time to blow-dry it because going to sleep with it wet always gave her a headache. It was a pain, but she had enough headaches right now.

Linnea dragged on her soft flannel pants and a T-shirt, her body complaining that they hadn't had enough sleep. She needed to climb into bed and not move for eight hours.

She was going to have to talk to Fenris sooner or later about what had happened between them in the club, but she didn't know where to start, and she was too damn tired to think straight. It was probably a heat-of-the-moment thing anyway, and she was reading too much into it.

She expected everyone to be in bed when she got out of the bathroom, but instead, she found Fenris sitting in wolf form in the doorway of her bedroom. His head turned toward her, ears flicking forward, his mismatched eyes catching the lamp glow.