Finally, I told myself to man up because I was almost twenty-three fucking years old and I’d fought monsters (once) and I trained with wolves (many times). And it was just Joe.
Who apparently I wanted to do stuff to. With. Around.
That did nothing to calm my heart rate.
It felt like I was walking to my death with every step I took to cross the way to the Bennett house.
I could hear them all out back. Probably getting ready to eat. Laughter. Talking. Shouting.
And then the conversation just died.
Even before I could get around the side of the house.
“Is that Ox?” I heard Mark ask. He sounded worried.
There was a crash and multiple pairs of feet running.
They rounded the corner and just stopped.
“Where is it?” Mark demanded.
“Are we under attack?” Thomas asked, ready to wolf out. His eyes went red.
“Ox?” Carter asked. “Dude. Seriously. Your heart, man. You sound terrified.”
“Hey, guys,” I said. I learned early on that you shouldn’t run from a wolf when they were about to shift. Sets off instincts. I wanted to run so bad.
Because Joe was standing at the front. He’d changed. White shorts. Green shirt that hid nothing. He was barefoot too. And his feet were sexy as all hell.
“Uh,” I said. “Hey, guys.”
“Why do I feel like this is a thing I should be getting,” Kelly said.
Joe’s nose wrinkled. “What’s that smell?”
So, of course, all the Bennett men started sniffing the air. It wasn’t funny. At all.
Carter took a step toward me. “Dude. Ox. What the hell. What did you bathe in?”
“Nothing,” I said, sounding defensive, even as I took a step back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Ox,” Joe said with a frown. “Are you okay?”
And I couldn’t even look at him when I said, “I’m fine. Everything’s fine.”
“That… was a lie,” Kelly said.
Joe took a step toward me. I took another step back.
“Did something happen today?” Thomas asked.
I wanted to say, I may have started picturing your underage son naked, but I didn’t know if that was something someone could say to an Alpha werewolf.
So I said, “Nothing happened. I just wanted to… smell. Different?”
The Bennett men stared at me. I stared sort of over their shoulders.
Joe said, “Ox.”