“Why’d she go ambling through the woods?” Andy asked with a furrowed brow.
“I have no idea, but it doesn’t matter. We got her.”
“But what if it was heading to a meetup area?” Andy trained his gaze on Devon. “A newbie walking through the woods without food doesn’t make sense. Maybe we should go back there and check it out.”
“There was nothing there,” Yasmine said petulantly.
“How do you know?” Andy’s eyebrows rose. “Was there a gateway to the Realm around there? Maybe she was meeting her maker. Maybe… I mean, who knows. Taking her out without more info was shortsighted, bro. Er, Yasmine.”
Yasmine shrugged, her golden locks tumbling off her shoulder and to her back. “I don’t know—Macy suggested it, and I went along with it. It was just the one vamp.”
“I’ll check into it tomorrow,” Devon said as he rubbed his eyes. He couldn’t focus on any of this right now. His mind was buzzing.
“I’m going to go freshen up,” Yasmine said in a beautiful pout. She eased up from her seat, her breasts popping out and her body curving just right.
Devon looked away. “Tonight was a mess,” he admitted. Yasmine crossed the room and disappeared down the hall. “I had to take him out in the middle of the classroom. Had I been thinking, I would’ve gotten Charity out of there before I did it. I’m faster now. More experienced. Taking one of them out, even without shifting, is no problem.”
“Number one, that’s pretty sweet, bro! No one your age can do that. That’s why you made alpha so young, see? Number two, you can’t beat yourself up for what happened. Sometimes you gotta react. That vamp needed to be taken down, and I hate to say it, but Charity probably needed that lesson. Especially with an elder sniffing around.”
They sat in silence for a moment, reflecting.
“You don’t seem like you’re in the mood for…shenanigans,” Andy said quietly, picking up his slice of pizza.
Devon glanced in the direction Yasmine had gone. “I thought I’d give in to her so she’d stop affecting me. I made those plans before all the crap went down with the vamp.”
“Ah. Sex it away.” Andy shook his head. “I don’t think that works with girls as hot as Yasmine. She’s still going to be hot in the morning.”
Devon shrugged. “It never lasts. I always lose interest by the morning.”
“How is that possible?” Andy asked.
Devon shrugged again. “Don’t know. I think a girl is so hot I can barely keep my eyes off her, and then we bang and… I don’t know. The magic wears off, I guess. The question has been answered—I’ve seen behind the curtain and the thrill is gone. The messed-up thing is that it happens the same way even if I’ve spent weeks dating the girl. Even if I think I really like her. I’m probably going to end up like the Fonz from Happy Days.”
“You mean an old guy in a leather jacket hanging out with younger kids? That’s weird, yo. You need to stay off late night reruns.”
“I mean alone with nothing but constant one- or two-night stands.”
“Oh. Well, at least you can get laid, I guess. Silver lining.”
Devon snorted, closing his eyes. He stayed quiet as Andy finished his pizza.
“All right, bro,” Andy said. Was that disapproval in his voice, or was Devon imagining it? “I’m going to head.”
“All right, man. Good work.”
Devon watched Andy leave the room with a sense of foreboding. A moment later, he heard, “Ready?”
Yasmine turned the corner, her plump lips curved upward in a seductive smile. Once near, she bent to run a hand along his shoulder.
Not able to hide a sigh, he stood and motioned her toward the hall. The sway of her hips held no interest for him. Instead, his thoughts strayed to Charity.
She was probably curled up in her bed, terrified of the darkness caressing her windows. Reliving the night’s horror in vivid detail. What might’ve happened would be constantly jabbing at her. Agonizing her.
He’d been there once. So had Andy. Many shifters had.
Guilt ate away at him. He hadn’t been fair to her. She would have no idea that his anger had stemmed from fear rather than judgment or contempt.
Slowing, allowing Yasmine to slip by him, he stood outside of Charity’s room, his gaze rooted to the light under her door.
He really should go in to her. He should give her the comfort she needed. New pack members got a year or two to get used to this life. To train and hone their body and mind. Charity had been at it for less than a week. She’d been chased, seduced, propositioned, and attacked. And the things she’d seen… It wasn’t fair to make her go through this alone.
“Coming?”
Yasmine was already sprawled out on his bed, completely nude and perfect in every way. She trailed a hand down between her breasts, over her stomach, and then over a parted thigh.