Chapter 7
With the hounds fresh on my mind, I leaped up and sucked in a gasp of air. Then, I shook my head, knowing that Ruffles wouldn’t get herself into any real trouble without warning me first. Every time she used to take off in the woods when we lived with Mom, she would always meow at me while staring at the woods, as if to say, I’m leaving.
Either she was taking a good catnap or she had eaten one too many chips this morning and was nursing the best hangover of her entire life.
Nonetheless, I hurried down the hall to her open bedroom door and peered inside, just to make sure. But Ruffles wasn’t lying on the bed, hiding in the closet, or lounging under the bed frame. She was nowhere to be found.
What if Ruffles had gotten out, hadn’t warned me, and was now battling a hound deep in the forest? Though she had always been careful, Ares had brought out her wild side. Ever since we’d met him, she’d been acting more adventurous.
“You open the window for her?” Ares, who stood behind me with his plate and a huge doofus-like smile, said.
Last night, I’d cracked the glass open just a few inches because she kept meowing at me, but now, it was at least open six inches, and the screen was pushed out just enough for Ruffles to squeeze her fluffy gray body through.
I muttered under my breath and hurried to the window, gazing down at the two-story jump that Ruffles could have made. After sighing under my breath, I threw a hand over my face. “She’s been getting wild ever since she met you.”
Ares scarfed down another bite of the pancake. “Are you saying I’m—”
“Don’t even start.” I paced in front of him, thinking that the hounds would have killed her by now. Even with her wild self, she never left without warning me. Not once. I rubbed my sweaty palms together. “Do you think she got far? Will she be back? She doesn’t just leave without telling me.”
Placing his plate on the mattress—on the damn mattress, where it could tip over and spill easily—Ares looked under the bed, where she usually kept her blue hat. “Looks like she was off on a mission. Put her hat on by herself and left.”
Though my lips curled into a half-smile, I shoved his shoulder. “This is not the time for your jokes. That’s Mars’s job. You should be angry that she left and help me go find her.”
Ares arched a thick brown brow. “I can be lighthearted. I have to be the big, bad alpha for you all the fuckin’ time?” The words came out harsh, but then he smirked at me and shrugged his shoulders. “Remember how you want me to act, Kitten. I’ll do nothing less.”
I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath, calming slightly. At least,
Ruffles had had a plan when she left. She wouldn’t go anywhere that she hadn’t been before or anywhere that she considered dangerous. Hell, she’d warned us away from the cave.
Ares rested his chin on my shoulder and clutched me tightly, claws digging into my flesh. “If she’s not back by tonight, we can go look for her. But … everyone in our pack already knows who she is. They’ll return her if they think she’s lost.”
“Everyone already knows who Ruffles is … but not me?” I asked, crossing my arms and tapping my foot.
Ares and Ruffles went out so much together that it was as if Ruffles was his damn mate sometimes.
“Of course, they know who you are. The Luna Ceremony is to introduce you officially.” He roughly grasped my jaw in his hand and pulled me closer to him. “There are far too many warriors in this pack who’d die to take you away from me. When they see my mark on your neck during the Luna Ceremony, they’ll know not to even think about touching what’s mine. And if they do, my teeth will be in their fucking necks as I rip out their throats.”
Pressing my thighs together, I sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm my wolf.
Exhibit A as to why Ares was the biggest tease.
After a few moments, he shrugged. “Ruffles, on the other hand, can be a ho.”
I nearly snorted and handed him back his pancakes, so they wouldn’t tip over on the bed if he decided to push me onto it and break his promise of waiting until the Luna Ceremony to fuck me again. “If she’s not back by five, then we’re going to go look for her. But now”—I placed my hands on his sweaty chest and pushed him out of the room—“we have an alpha meeting to attend.”
Unable to defeat thousands upon thousands of hounds ourselves, Ares had called a meeting with fourteen of the strongest packs in the region. It had been short notice, but this issue was bigger than us. We needed other warriors and packs on our side for this problem. Hell, we probably needed a god or two on our side to conquer those soulless monstrosities.