Two Scents' Worth: A Wolf Rampant spinoff serial (Bloodling Serial Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

cool?"
    Victor seemed absurdly concerned that I might now decide he wasn't worth my time and leave him friendless, proof positive that he was indeed as lonely as I'd at first assumed him to be. What the human didn't realize was that I'd long ago decided he was part of my clan. I'd yet to drop a pack mate due to sheer stupidity and I didn't intend to start now.
    Especially not when Victor had come through with such an eloquent defense at the eleventh hour.
    "Of course," I agreed. "And I could hire you on as a part-time consultant if it would get your parents off your back." Because now that I'd won the signing bonus that would let me put a down payment on my opening move against the Chief, I could afford to be magnanimous.
    "That would be awesome!" Victor began, then turned red again as Chase and Wade stepped out of the elevator and into his line of vision.
    My fellow shifters were fully dressed now, Chase in my discarded suit since I'd donned his jeans and t-shirt this morning in my hurry to win the wager. Meanwhile, Wade had clearly embraced his self-determined role of lackey, as evidenced by the suitcase and laptop bag he was carting along in the beta's wake.
    They looked perfectly normal, in other words. But the waves of agonizing discomfort rolling off Victor proved that my pack mates' previous appearance hadn't been forgotten.
    From across the room, my milk brother met my gaze, one eyebrow raised. Need space? he asked without words. I shook my head subtly. Might was well get these introductions over with now rather than later.
    "This is Chase and Wade," I offered, pointing at each pack mate in turn. Then, telling the shifters what they already knew, I finished the human-style introductions. "And this is Victor."
    "Some of my best friends are gay," the latter blurted out in what could only be termed a Freudian non sequitur. I noticed that the expanding blood vessels in his face had managed to color even the tops of his ears, and I couldn't resist waiting a moment as I pondered how far the blush would extend before my cyber buddy fainted dead away.
    Chase rolled his eyes at my subtle form of torture. "None of us are gay," he said, taking pity on the human. "We were just coding really late last night and must have fallen into bed in a strange way. You didn't interrupt anything."
    The explanation left something to be desired, but I didn't particularly care what Victor thought of my sexuality. As long as he didn't realize we were werewolves and run screaming into the night, we were good.
    Well, that wasn't quite true. I enjoyed our chats via write-message and wanted to make sure Victor didn't bow out of my life in the wake of our first physical meeting. So I offered him a chance to get to know my clan in a situation that wouldn't leave any of us blushing.
    "We've still got a few hours left before we have to head home," I spoke up, then paused. Mentally paging through favorite activities that were both shifter and human friendly, I settled at last on the only viable alternative. "Wanna join us in a game of paint ball?"
    Victor's face opened into a guileless grin. "Hell yeah!" He punched me on the shoulder and I returned the gesture, being careful not to damage the tender human. Then I led the trio out into the city to track down some colored explosives.
    There was nothing like a good hunt to welcome a new pack mate into the clan.
     
     

Chapter 8
    The sweet flavor of Terra filled my nostrils as I hid in plain view behind a display of pineapples. The pack princess was even more appealing than she'd appeared on first sighting, but I noticed now that her wolf was strangely silent. Otherwise, she surely would have smelled me as I tracked her through the supermarket aisles.
    My initial urge had been to walk up to the young woman, introduce myself, and invite her to come back with me to our new clan home. Our pack could use more shifters of the female variety, and I could definitely use a heavier dose of Terra in my life.
    But