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“Oh, there’s that one too. But that one didn’t show up as often as this one. They’re sort of contradictory when it comes to wolves. They never discouraged me from getting to know pups from the pack, but—”

“Hold up. A wolf’s children are calledpups?”

He was serious. Just because he’d never met one in person before visiting her town… “How do you not know this?”

“HowwouldI know this?”

“Let’s see. Pretty sure the entire world knows the normal body temperature of a vampire is sixty-eight degrees. Pretty sure the entire world knows that vampires sleep approximately eight hours a week. Pretty sure the entire world knows that vampires stop outwardly aging around thirty years old, that we can hold our breath for hours—”

“Okay. Okay.” He tightened his arm around her, and his thumb drew circles on her forearm. “Sorry. I did it again.”

“It’s not right, Ryker. They shouldn’t be ignored the way they are. It’s that or they’re misjudged so badly, I can’t… I’ve heard things in town that frosted my blood. One of the worst haters in town is Willow’s dad. Remember Willow?”

“Willow who loves your art? Ezra’s wife?”

Mate, but close enough for now. “Same Willow. Her father says horrible, gross things about his own son-in-law. My parents aren’t like him, but they’re… I don’t know how to describe it evenafter all these years. Talking about wolves makes them tense up, and my dad’s eyes go gray every single time.”

“Maybe they’re like Tai, sensitive to scents.”

Leslie shook her head. “If it were that, a wolf would have to be in the room to bother them. You saw all it takes is the mention of one.”

“True. Hmm.” Of course, now he was on the puzzle like a kitten on catnip.

“It’s like they’re threatened by the simplethoughtof wolves despite the fact they live only miles from a whole pack.”

“But y’all never had a run-in with them, as far as you know? Maybe it happened when you were a kid, and you don’t remember.”

Maybe. But… “If they really think the pack is dangerous, they should have warned me off or something. It doesn’t make sense. They weren’t consistent.”

“Have you asked them about it?”

“…careless questions.”

Leslie jolted up on the couch at the sudden memory of Mom’s voice. A shiver passed through her body. Ryker moved with her, kept his hand at her back. “Hey. Leslie. What is it?”

“No,” she said. “I don’t ask them. I don’t ask careless questions.”

“Why would this question be careless?”

“I don’t know.” What was wrong with her? She was on the verge of tears for no reason at all.

“Okay.”

Ryker’s arms came around her, and she nestled against him, pressed her cheek to his solid chest. He stroked her hair, and for a few long minutes, they were quiet.

“I have no idea what just happened,” she finally whispered into his shirt.

“I don’t think itjusthappened. I think it happened a long time ago.”

“And I was remembering…it, whatever it is?”

“Mmhm. Your family’s got a history with wolves, Leslie. Not Ezra’s family, probably, but some of them.”

“If that’s true, then…then I hate it.”

“I don’t know how else to explain what I saw tonight, especially how your dad’s eyes changed.”

“Don’t try to explain it then,” she said, and her fingers curled into his shirt.