Page 42 of Wolves Always Bite

Ashreached forJeremy’shand, butJeremypulled away and started softly singing the opening line ofBonJovi’s“YouGiveLoveaBadName.”

Ashrolled his eyes. “Thatsong doesn’t make sense in this situation.”

Jeremygaped, clearly offended. “It’sabout betrayal.”

“Betweenlovers,”Ashargued.

Dillongrowled.

“There, there, big guy.”Ashpatted his hellhound on the hand absently. “We’refriends not lovers.”Hefrowned atJeremyagain. “Whichis why that song doesn’t work.”

“Well,Willow, excuse me for not knowing the perfect song about how my best friend was a magical fucking being and never told me.”Jeremycrossed his arms over his chest.

Ashsmiled. “Holyhellfire,I’vemissed you.”

Jeremy’smouth quirked. “Ofcourse you did.I’mamazing.”

“AndifI’mWillow, who are you?Xander?”

“Noway.I’min training to beGilesorWesley.”

Ashlaughed. “You’retotallyXander.”

“Fine.Hewas loyal and awesome.Ican work with that.”Jeremylifted his shoulders in a casual shrug. “Sodoes that makeAdrianOz?Hewas one of my faves.”Hiseyes widened. “IguessI’vealways had a thing for werewolves, now thatIthink about it.”

Ihad no idea what they were talking about, butIdidn’t likeJeremythinking about any other werewolf but me.

Ash’seyes softened and his mouth twisted in whatIcould only describe as an apologetic grimace as he stretched his hand towardJeremyon the table. “I’msorry, okay.Itried a million times to tell you andIdidn’t know how.”

Jeremyhuffed.

“Iam happy you know now.”

Jeremywaved his hand through the air and leaned close toAsh. “You’reforgiven.MostlybecauseI’vehad a crazy day.Ijust found out about all this today andIneed myBFF.Youdon’t know how many timesIwanted to call you…”

Themen hugged.Andjust like that,Jeremyseemed to have forgiven his friend.Ididn’t think it was that easy, but no one questioned the quick turnabout.

Givenhow protectiveI’dbeen feeling about the little human all day,Iwas surprised not to feel jealous.Thehellhound wasn’t bothered by his boyfriend touching another man either.Mywolf recognized these people as allies already.Andthat was just one more strange thing to add to all the other strange things that had happened.Beforetoday,Iwould have told you my team were the only alliesIwanted or needed.Imight have been wrong about that.

“Whathappened?”Ashasked when the hug ended.

“Ina minute,”Jeremysaid. “FirstIneed to know something.DidAdriansay your boyfriend is a hellhound?”

“Yes.”

“Areyou sure he isn’t a werebear?”

“I’msure.”Ashsnorted. “Ithought you weren’t using the term werebear anymore.”

“Ithought it’d be easy to switch from werebear to shifter in my head, but it isn’t.”Jeremystared at the hellhound until the guy squirmed.Thenhe let out a huff of disappointment and shook his head.

“Canyou tell me what happened now?”Ashasked.

Jeremylaunched into a retelling of everything that had happened.Ash’seyes got wider and wider as the story went on.And, admittedly,Jeremywas an excellent storyteller.Ifhe wrote the way he spoke, he’d be hugely successful.Bythe end, little sparks were flying fromAsh’sfingertips and smoke was curling fromDillon’snose.

“Spellsand curses,Jeremy, you could have been killed.Whatwere you thinking taking a job with someone like that goblin?Andgoing up against a harpy too?”AshpulledJeremyinto a tight hug again.Hedidn’t let go for several long minutes.

“Well,Ididn’t know she was a goblin,”Jeremysaid whenAshfinally released him.Jeremycrossed his arms and glared atAsh. “Someonedidn’t tell me they existed.”