She shook her head, refusing to admit to such an adolescent reaction. They were all adults. All the women here had seen a naked man before.
Her wolf refused to be pacified. Not our man.
Mal’s eyes narrowed. “You’re mad?”
She shook her head. “Can we go in the back?”
“You think I’d let the guys see you like this?” he growled. “You’re mine. No fucking way.”
She stared up at him, relieved.
“I’m a possessive son of a bitch. It’s who I am.” He frowned. “It won’t change.”
“I don’t mind.” She stood on tiptoe to kiss him, keeping her own insecurities to herself. She followed him into the house, crouching behind him as they made their way to their room. “Shower?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Faster we eat, faster we get to fu—”
“Mal.” She cut him off, instantly on fire for him.
He grinned. “You like it when I talk dirty, Olivia?”
She stared at him, then nodded. “I guess I do.”
He pressed his eyes shut. “You’re killing me.”
She giggled, tugging on the clothes she’d left in the yard hours earlier. “Hurry.”
He watched her, holding the door open once she was dressed. “After you.”
“You need clothes,” she pointed out, waiting outside their room just long enough to get dressed—before she tugged him toward the kitchen.
Anders and Dante were dishing out a massive pot roast, the conversation centering around the latest litter of wolf pups she and Ellen had found next to a downed motion detector on the far side of the refuge.
“Storm knocked it out,” Dante said. “I’ll go fix it tomorrow.”
“Not tonight?” Mal asked, glancing at him, then Olivia.
“You want me to go tonight?” Dante asked. “Can you pass the rolls, Olivia?”
“Yes,” Mal answered.
Maybe it was Tess’s instant tensing? Or a sound she’d made? Whatever the reason, Olivia was startled by the furious expression on Tess’s face. There was no sign of the fragile victim Olivia had come to accept. No, this woman was full of fury. And then it was gone. In a span of seconds, Tess’s face went slack again, her eyes glazing over once more.
“Rolls?” Dante asked.
She turned to the table, risking another glance at Tess. She stared vacantly ahead, poking the food on her plate. Maybe she’d imagined the change. But her wolf disagreed, Ellen’s advice repeating. “Trust your instincts.”
“How many pups were in the litter?” Hollis asked.
“Four,” Ellen answered. “Olivia found the den. Her wolf is quite capable.”
Hollis sent Mal a look.
Mal scowled back.
“You are displeased?” Ellen’s voice was sharp, making Olivia wince. She’d understood Mal’s reticence to accept the woman into the pack when they thought she was an Other. But she wasn’t. And even though neither of them knew who she belonged to or where she came from, Ellen had done nothing to make Mal distrust her. Today, she’d given Olivia a sense of camaraderie with her wolf, something she was beyond grateful for.
“Olivia’s had a lot to deal with.” Mal shrugged. “It’s been less than a month—I don’t see the need to push her.” Her heart ached at his words. She couldn