“What’s to be embarrassed about? She’s your mate. You could do the horizontal bop in front of the pack and no one would be embarrassed. Except Keith. He’d be embarrassed because he thinks he’s got the biggest dick in the pack and if you…”
TJ’s voice faded away as he dug into their food supplies for the coffee.
Keil sent up a prayer that Robyn wouldn’t freak out when she found herself in his arms. He didn’t want to move backward in their relationship. He sensed that today was going to be a big day. A day of big revelations. A day of—
“Ahhh.” Keil slammed his mouth shut and reached down to grab Robyn’s wrist. She’d slipped her leg off his cock when she started to wake, which was sad but understandable. But then she’d followed it by running her fingers over the hard length of him and finished by cupping his balls.
“You okay, Keil?” TJ wandered back with a worried expression on his face.
“Just fine. Um, leg cramp. Get the coffee.”
“Yes, master. Right away, master.”
Keil looked at Robyn who smiled at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes that he hadn’t seen the day before.
She mouthed the words back to him, “Leg cramp,” and squeezed. Her face was flushed but she was still smiling, and when she leaned up to kiss him, he thought he must have died and gone to heaven.
Whatever was happening, please don’t let it stop.
Unfortunately after brushing her lips over his she pushed herself up, trailing her fingers over his torso in a maddening way before slipping from under the sleeping bag to go dress in her corner.
As he forced himself to ignore her, Keil watched TJ get out three cups and put on a big pan of ham steaks. A clothed Robyn came back into his line of vision and his brother stopped her.
“Good morning, Robyn. How do you say that in sign?”
Robyn paused. She flipped him a thumbs up, and placing her left hand by her right elbow, she lifted her right hand in an arc.
TJ copied her. “Oh, cool, like the sun rising. Hey, Keil, look,” and TJ signed good morning to him.
A chuckle from Robyn made them both turn and regard her with amazement.
“You can laugh?” TJ asked.
Her smile fell away and Keil swore inside. She wrote a fast note and disappeared out the door. He checked to make sure she was just headed for the outhouse before reading the message.
I’m deaf, not mute. Lost hearing as a child. Virus. I have an ugly voice. Two sugars, please.
TJ gave a soft whistle. “Man, oh man, is she going to be a handful. I’m glad she’s your mate and not mine. Did you two fuck—?”
Keil hit him. Not hard enough to do permanent damage but hard enough to make his eyes register the shock of it. After picking himself up off the floor, TJ carefully exposed his neck to his brother.
“You will use that brain of yours to remember to be polite when you speak to and of my mate. Understood?” Keil drawled the words as he poured the coffee and prepared Robyn’s cup for her. “Even though it’s none of your damn business if you were thinking straight you’d already know the answer. Use your bloody nose. No, we have not mated yet. Yet for some insane reason she let me kiss her and hold her, and while I’m pleased to report that yes, she’s officially my mate, I have no idea why she doesn’t seem to know a thing about wolves.”
He sat at the table. “So I don’t want you making any stupid remarks until we figure this out. Got it?”
TJ shrugged. “I’ll behave. I figure it might be kinda freaky to be told something like ‘Hey, didn’t you know you’re a werewolf and, oh, by the way, you’re my mate. Oh, and there’s going to be a challenge to the death next weekend for the leadership of our pack and I’m one of the headliners for the match.’ I think telling it all upfront might be the easiest way.” He turned back and flipped the ham. “Besides, there’s nowhere for her to run while we’re here. Gives you two time to work it out.”
For the second time in as many days, the door behind them slammed open and Robyn charged in, her face red and her eyes blazing. She glared back forth between the two of them, her nostrils flaring slightly.
For not knowing she was a wolf, she had the evil-eye thing down pretty good, Keil thought as a shiver ran down his spine. He watched TJ struggle to keep his feet.
She surprised them by speaking. Her voice was gravelly and harsh but very powerful. Keil had heard a few Alphas over the years and she ranked up there with the best of them.
“Who is my mate?”
Like a flash TJ pointed to Keil. “Crap, has she got my number. I hope she doesn’t tell me to go jump off a bridge or something because I—”
Robyn stormed up and grabbed the pad of paper. Keil read over her shoulder as she wrote.
If you don’t want to be overheard don’t talk where a lip reader can see you.
Werewolf?
Mate.
Challenge. To death.
What the HELL are you talking about?
She pulled away from the table but stopped to add, Where is my coffee? And it had better be strong.
Chapter 4
It took three hours, two pads of paper and fourteen fried ham-and-egg sandwiches. Keil thought that on the whole it went pretty well, especially since he’d managed to not skin TJ alive during the interrogation.
Robyn stood stiff and angry at first, looking ready to throw her coffee cup at them if they made one wrong move.
“Come, sit down and we’ll explain everything.” Keil pulled back a chair for her and she sat warily, shifting to keep both of them in her sight.
“Sorry, bro, guess my mouth got us both in trouble this time.” TJ lightly touched Keil’s arm in apology. A sudden rumble of the floorboards made them both swing to look at Robyn as she stomped her feet and glared at them. She pointed to the chairs and wrote rapidly, breaking the pencil lead as she underlined her final word.
I will talk this out with you. Sit down and don’t you dare speak again when I can’t see you. Ass.
Keil held out a reassuring hand and sat, motioning for TJ to join them. “I understand. We’ll answer your questions. What do you want to know?”
Robyn found another pencil and opened to a new page. Don’t think because I went a little crazy last night and let you touch me you can jerk me around this morning. You’re insane, right? Escaped from some home?
“No, Robyn, it’s true. We’re able to turn into wolves.”
Prove it. She leaned back in her chair and stared at them mockingly.
The two men exchanged glances.
What? You need a full moon?
Both men dropped their heads into their hands for a moment. Bloody fairy tales. Finally Keil looked up to see Robyn’s very confused expression.
“No. We don’t need a full moon. We also don’t bite people to turn them into werewolves. You either have the genes or you don’t. Sorry, that’s one of those tall tales that drives us crazy. We’ll have to, umm, take off our clothes to change.” Keil watched Robyn’s face turn white. A blush rose to colour her cheeks and her eyes brightened with the mischief he’d seen earlier in the morning. Good, maybe this wouldn’t take too much damage control.
She flipped the pad across the table. A private strip show? Goodie. Even if you don’t turn into anything the morning isn’t a complete write-off.
Keil laughed and turned to TJ.
“You should be the one, Keil, she’s gonna see you naked the most often.”
Keil glared at his brother.
“What? You still having problems with that boner? Man, now I really think you should shift. It would serve you right for hauling me along on your retreat instead of letting me go hang out at Klondyke Kate’s with the rest of the pack.”