Page 74 of Accidental Blood Lust
“I didn’t want to ruin Cas’s clothes in the dirt.”
“I’m not complaining.” I make a show of sweeping my eyes over his nearly naked body, appreciating his lean muscles and the dusting of freckles that make random shapes in different places, like tiny constellations all over his skin. Eventually, I’m going to map every one with my tongue, learn every inch of his body the way Jareth already knows it, and memorize all the spots that make him gasp and squirm.
I can hear Jareth inside his cottage, his quiet humming just barely audible over the sound of running water filling the bath and his clothes rustling as he strips out of them. There’s a contented note in his scent wafting through one of his open windows, and it’s more satisfying than a hundred orgasms.
My mates are happy. My mates are safe. I breathe out slowly, then I get down on my knees in the dirt and start carefully pulling any weeds that have started to creep into the garden, tossing dandelions into one pile because Jareth has mentioned before that they’re useful for healing and medicinal potions, and making a separate pile for the less useful intruders.
Loch joins me, not at all shy about sinking his fingers into the dirt to get at the roots.
“So, how’d you end up working for Auri?” he asks conversationally.
I chuckle under my breath. The fated mate bond really is strange. Loch and I hardly know anything about each other, but I would literally tear out my heart and present it to him if he asked. That’s okay though; there’s plenty of time to get to know all the details that matter, and even the ones that don’t.
“Honestly, I signed the contract with him because I thought it was my best shot at getting over Jareth and giving him the space to get over me. My pack—the one I grew up with, anyway—lives on the other side of the forest, and I didn’t trust myself not to give in to the temptation he was offering.”
“Pack’s a big deal to wolf shifters though, right? Or have I just read too many werewolf fanfics?”
I sputter a laugh. “Don’t tell me you’ve read those over-the-top horny stories with full-moon orgies.”
He shrugs and shoots me a coy smile. That’s a yes. I chuckle again.
“Don’t break my heart and tell me none of that’s real.”
“Fifty-fifty,” I say. “There are two types of wolf shifter packs—family packs and chosen packs. Family packs obviously aren’t having orgies.”
“They were your family? I just realized that you’ve never mentioned your parents at all.”
“No, actually, they were more of an adopted family, but the pack as a whole was a family. Whoever my parents were, they dropped me off on that pack’s doorstep when I was only a few weeks old, and I haven’t heard from them since. I’m grateful that they left me with a wolf pack, at least. It would have been rough as hell growing up in human foster care, not knowing what I was.”
Loch nods sympathetically and leans over to brush a kiss to my cheek.
“So, is it normal to leave a family pack, then?” he asks.
“Yeah, eventually everyone grows up and goes their own way, starts their own pack for the most part. They’ll always be my family, but…” I shrug. It’s hard to explain to non-wolves how it feels. I’ll always have loyalty and love for them, I would die for any member of the pack that raised me, but they aren’tmypack anymore.
I glance over at Loch again, squinting in the sunlight, tugging on a particularly stubborn weed, and I smile. I have a new pack now.
JARETH
I standby the open window, letting the warm breeze dry the droplets of water on my skin and watching Roman and Loch tend to my garden. It feels strange to let someone else care for my plants, but I trust them to be careful and only put good energy into my babies.
Loch says something I can’t hear from here, and Roman throws his head back and lets out a booming laugh, then reaches over and smears his dirty hand over Loch’s cheek, leaving a streak of soil. Loch retaliates by throwing a handful of loose soilback at him, and it turns into a playful tussle that ends with a kiss.
Emotion wells in my throat and I try to swallow it down but fail miserably. It bubbles up anyway and bursts out of my lips as a choked bastardization of a laugh and a sob. They both freeze instantly, and in a blink, they’re rushing across the garden to my window.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Roman asks before they even reach me.
Loch gets to me first with his super speed. He’s a blur for a moment, and then he’s right in front of me, cupping my cheek and brushing something damp off my skin with his thumb. Oh, I’m crying.
I wave my hand dismissively and laugh, feeling another unexpected rush of tears.
“I’m happy.” I reach up and wipe the wetness off my cheek with the back of my hand. “I always thought ‘crying happy tears’ was one of those poetic exaggerations, but I saw you two together in my garden and I just…” I shake my head and a few more tears fall. “I guess I’ve never been so happy it made me cry before.”
They take turns kissing the tears off my cheeks until I finally pull myself together.
“If you guys are just about finished with the garden, you probably need to clean up a bit before we go out anywhere.” I smear the dirt on Loch’s cheek a little more with my fingertips to show him what a mess he is.
“You go ahead, Loch. I’ll just finish up and then I’ll be right in to rinse off real quick.”
