Wolf Fur Hire(38)

“No. The idea is to get the right combination of viruses in the right order that his body can handle, and when he is okay enough to stay even, I’ll wean him off. If I can get the right combination of viruses for Link, I can improve the serums and eventually cure the McCall curse for all his living lineage. If the douche-buckets don’t go on killing sprees first.” She swung her attention to Link. “I mean, frankly, I don’t even want to cure your family because most of them went after Elyse. And they’re thieves and users, the lot of them. No offense.”

Link set his fork on his empty plate with a tink, then leaned back and slid his hand over Nicole’s thigh. “None taken. I was there when the McCalls stole from countless people who were just trying to survive. I heard them brag about brutalizing women and cheer each other on when they went on a manhunt.” His voice dipped lower. “I was there when they hunted Elyse. I don’t harbor any affection for the McCalls. Most of them turn terrible before the insanity even hits.”

“Because the pack went rotten,” Tobias murmured, leaning over his half-eaten breakfast. “You did yourself a huge favor the day you broke away from them. You’d be in the ground long before now if you’d stayed.”

“So, Clayton…” Nicole murmured, watching her mate’s face to gauge his reaction.

“Yeah, that kind of blew my mind.”

“I’ve hated him for so long,” Tobias admitted, “and now I feel like I’m on unstable ground. I mean, he was still a shit dad, and I still want to rip his intestines out through his mouth hole for what he did to Vera, but in some sick way, I kind of get it. He had to put his best friend down after his mate left him.” Tobias lifted his gaze to Link. “I can’t even imagine if Vera left me and then I had to put you down. Maybe I’d do the same messed up stuff to keep a promise to you.”

“Aw, bromance,” Vera said, looking mushy. “You two should bro-hug.”

Tobias growled out a very human-sounding noise, and Vera laughed. “Can’t growl at me, McBeefcake. Your bear is sound asleep.”

Link huffed a laugh and shook his head, then cleared the empty dishes to the sink. And while he rinsed them, Nicole helped Vera put everything away as Tobias pulled out a map and spread it out over the kitchen table.

After Tobias and Link had decided the best way to caribou territory and they’d packed enough supplies for a two-day hunt into the back of the sled behind Link’s snow machine, Nicole said her goodbyes and thank-yous to the two people who already felt like dear friends.

Nicole was nervous about the first hunt away from the cabin. Hardware Jack had taught her about rifles, and Link had worked with her on her aim relentlessly, but until now, she’d only taken birds and snared rabbits alongside her mate. Everything else had come from the grocery store or Link’s meat cache from his cabin. But she should be a part of this. She’d grown up thinking that red meat just came from a grocery store, but it didn’t. There was a process to getting it from the animal to the table, and she wanted to learn about respectfully and legally taking an animal. She’d taken her hunter safety course in Mission and even bought herself a hunting license, but a part of her had never really believed she would use a single tag. However, now when she thought about it, it was almost laughable that she’d expected to live out in the Alaskan wilderness and not learn this essential part of life here. Plus, she was mated to a werewolf, and unless she wanted to become some coddled, kept woman, she needed to learn to keep up.#p#分页标题#e#

As she adjusted her goggles and thick winter hat and pulled the green scarf tighter around her face, she suddenly realized that not a single Silver had asked or even stared at her birthmark. She’d forgotten about it completely for the first time in her life.

“Link?”

He ripped the motor and twisted around in his seat in front of her as the exhaust from the snow machine surrounded them. “Yeah? Here, let me help. You’ll get frostbite if your cheeks are exposed.” He pulled her scarf higher to cover everything up to her goggles.

“Did you tell the Silvers about my birthmark?”

“No. Why would I? You’re beautiful.”

Heat crept into her cheeks at his unexpected compliment. “Well, they didn’t ask about it.”

Link frowned and slid a pair of sunglasses over his sparking eyes. “Why would they? It’s just a mark. Elyse has a big scar down her face, and no one cares about that either. The Silver brothers are covered in marks from enforcer jobs and from fighting other bears. I have scars from wolf fights and friggin’ Vera the Chompy Fox. Who cares about perfection? It’s the imperfections that give you character out here.” He kissed her over the scarf until she giggled, and then he pulled her arms around his waist and hit the handlebar throttle.