Page 34 of Chased

Madison watched them laughing together. Where she came from, she’d seen lots of unhappy Renard matings, and some reasonably happy lapin matings. But she’d never seen a mated couple look at each other the way Switch and Breanna looked at each other. It gave her a pang right in the middle of her chest.

Breanna said to Switch, “I would love to be your lunch date, but Madison needs to come too. She hasn’t been to the mess hall yet, and I’m not going to send her into that den of wolves all by herself on her first day.”

“No problem,” Switch said amiably. “Although, if she can beat even one of the Sanchez cousins into submission, I’d back her against any of those guys.”

“Hear that?” Madison said. “I already have a rep.”

The mess hall was full of wolf soldiers, loud and chaotic and a little overwhelming. Boomer was there, and when he told Breanna that Madison was coming to the Wild Wolf Lake watch party on Saturday, she immediately seconded the invitation.

Madison was also introduced to Boomer’s brother. Who was apparently called… Boomer’s brother.

“Doesn’t he have a name?” she whispered to Breanna as they walked away.

“I guess he must, but no one knows what it is.”

Wow. Okay. “So what does Boomer call him?”

“Bro.”

So not helpful. Madison had a sudden thought. “What’s Boomer’s real name?”

Breanna stopped walking, looking startled. “I never thought about it. I’m not sure anybody knows that either.”

“Well, somebody must. Otherwise, how do they get paid?”

“Yeesh. I have no idea.”

Madison started giggling. She couldn’t help it. “This is a very weird place.”

“Tell me about it.”

Madison also met Michelangela Connors. Mikey was exuberant and friendly and badass as fuck, all at the same time.

Her long curly blond hair was casually tied back, and even though it was still chilly outside, she wore only a khaki tank top with her camo pants and combat boots. It showed off her defined muscles, as well as the three-inch scar where her neck met her shoulder on the left side.

She had a combat knife strapped to her leg, but she didn’t even need it to emphasize the badass. Like a lot of the guys, she looked like she could kill you with her bare hands. And would, if you pissed her off.

But the smile she gave Madison was friendly, with a touch of mischief. “Hey. Welcome to the Ridge. I hope the Sanchez cousins didn’t terrorize you.”

Obviously everyone had heard about yesterday. “They didn’t mean to,” Madison said automatically.

Breanna laughed. Mikey said to her, “I do not know what you see in those guys. They’re dicks.”

Breanna explained to Madison, “Mikey had a bad experience with the Hounds when she first got here.”

Mikey said indignantly, “They slapped me around and threatened to torture me!”

Madison gave a little gasp.

Breanna said, “Only because you poisoned Dobe. You know Dobe saved Sanchez’s life. Sanchez took it personally when you almost killed him.”

“I didn’t mean to poison him,” Mikey said sulkily. “And anyway, I thought he was an evil child abductor. I gave him the antidote when I found out he wasn’t. Sanchez needs to quit holding grudges.”

Madison hadn’t known Sanchez long, but she had the feeling that wasn’t ever going to happen.

After lunch Mikey took her to meet with Gunn, the alpha, who was serious and intense and reiterated what she’d already been told, about the types of missions they did and the importance of keeping them secret.

As if she had anyone to tell.