Total pages in book: 254
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
And maybe it did a little more than tickle.
Fortunately, Wolf Henri moved his face, touching his nose to my ear very gently at the same time one of those massive paws nudged my leg.
I reached up, still surprised at him instigating this, and stroked my hand over his shoulder, sneaking my fingers in as deep as I could, not able to reach his undercoat, and followed that up by scratching a spot on his ear that none of the wolves I’d met before had ever complained about having touched. A low rumble worked through his throat, so, so close to my face.
He smelled good even like this.
I scratched him and scratched him, until Duncan jumped onto my legs and almost licked my eyeball, and I cracked up too hard to do anything else. “Okay, okay,” I laughed, opening my eyes to find that all the adults were back in their human bodies. Duncan dropped onto my feet, his pink tongue hanging out of his mouth. He was so happy.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him happier.
“I’m so glad you had fun,” I told him, feeling so right, like all my worries and insecurities over this huge step had been worth it for this moment. For this reaction from him.
“We’re going inside for a snack,” Henri called out. “You coming?” he asked over his shoulder, with a human Randall next to him.
“Sure,” I answered.
Did they not sense the gnomes? Maybe I’d wait and bring it up to Henri in private later.
I gave Duncan a kiss on the top of his forehead before freezing. I touched my mouth and nothing colorful came off. It wasn’t blood, just sweat… I thought. I sniffed my fingers; they didn’t smell like pee….
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Agnes take off, catching up to Henri and Randall, then continuing on ahead to the clubhouse. We followed the group inside, but instead of going to the kitchen, everyone headed to the living room. Three charcuterie boards of meats were already on the table waiting—pepperoni, salami, carved chicken, and more pieces of meat that I couldn’t totally distinguish. Who had brought it, I had no idea, but no one acted like it was out of the ordinary.
For once in my life, I wasn’t hungry—I could thank the gnomes for that—so I hung back as the pups rushed over, devouring the food that Ani handed out while they sat; unlike the adults, they hadn’t changed back to human form. Less than ten minutes later, three full puppies were piled together on the hardwood floor, passed out and full.
I snorted at the same time Ani did. “So freaking cute.”
Pascal, the biggest of the three, was in the middle. I could already see Duncan’s mouth beginning to open, his signature move before his chainsaw snoring took over. Agnes had her back lined up to Pascal’s, and my donut was tucked up to the other boy’s chest. I took my phone out and took about ten pictures.
Gratitude I could barely handle made me so happy… so thankful that we’d found this place. That Duncan had not one but about a dozen other puppies who were so good to him, despite their age differences. I loved each and every one of them.
“You want something to drink?” Randall asked just as two ringtones went off.
Both Henri and Pascal’s dad pulled their phones out. The other man didn’t hesitate to answer his, but Henri stared at his screen for a moment before walking out of the room, turning left to go toward the front of the house with a barked, “Blackrock.” I’d learned already that was how he answered when someone from work was calling. If it was someone from the ranch, he answered with his first name.
By the time both men had left the room, Randall was holding up two different bottles. “We’ve got beer.”
I eyed the pile of puppies on the floor and pointed at his left hand. He popped the lid and held it out with his friendly, but not too friendly, smile. He’d never asked again about smelling me, and I hadn’t brought it up either. Randall was very, very nice, but it hadn’t escaped me how fine of a line he walked with me. Unlike Ani and the puppies who were very handsy and touched me all the time, he kept his hands to himself, and his body at a solid three feet away almost constantly.
I’d marked him off my imaginary list of potential mates already because of it.
I eyed the silent blond man sprawled on one of the couches, legs extended out in front of him, as I took the bottle from Randall. I’d purposely been ignoring him. He had his own bottle already in hand, and like before, he wasn’t being discreet about the way his gaze followed me across the room.