“I don’t know. It’s been a couple of months since our wolves have run together,” I said. “Maybe I’ll do that later.” I glanced at the clock. My twelve hours of freedom were slipping away from me.
“Oh, yes. Today is your birthday.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you look forward to this day as much as I do.” His confusion confused me. “It’s the day your dad died. The day all this bullshit between our packs started. The worst day of my life.”
“The day you were born was the worst day of your life. How morbidly poetic.”
I laughed again. “Yeah, sorry for the over-dramatization. I just don’t like to celebrate this day, but Stella loves making a big deal of these things. I had been enjoying some alone time without work, without pack crap, but then the douchebag broke in.”
“Speaking of, I need to get him back to the house. I’ll leave you to your last few hours of freedom.”
He rose to his feet but didn’t leave. Instead, he took my hand and pulled me against him, watching me as he lowered his lips to mine, then closing his eyes only when I didn’t protest. I let my eyes close, and my arms wrap around his neck.
“Happy birthday, Red,” he whispered against my lips.
“Yeah, thanks.” He was halfway to the door when it hit me. “Hold on. Are you going to question him now?”
“Yes.”
“I want to be there.”
“No.”
“He broke into my house to attack me.”
“I will tell you everything he says, but I’d prefer you not witness it.”
I opened my mouth to argue but his meaning sunk in. “Oh, I get it. You know violence doesn’t bother me, right? It’s kind of the theme of my life.”
“That’s good to know. The answer is still no.” He closed the distance between us again. “You’re going to have to trust me.”
Henry made a strange cooing noise that pulled our attention to him. He made the noise again while looking to Liam then to me.
“I think he’s saying you can trust me.”
“Yeah, I got that.” I glared at the bird. He just settled back down to sleep. “Fine but call me the instant you’re done. I want to know everything you find out.”
“How about this? I’ll take you home from your celebration tonight and tell you everything when we get back. Or better yet, I can pick you up beforehand.”
“Stella invited you?”
“She did.” His voice was low. “Does that upset you?”
“No. It would have yesterday, but not today.” I stepped away from him. “Be back here at six thirty.”
“Yes, ma’am.”