Free Elder: Reckless Desires (Norseton Wolves #6) by Holley Trent

this to me again in plain language, so when my wife asks me why I’m kicking his ass, I can be specific,” Adam said to the guy.
    Nixon rolled his eyes. “Come on, Adam. There wasn’t anything to be done about my leg, and I figured if I told you—”
    “That I’d do what ? Tell you not to come? Even after Anton damn near lost his eye? I didn’t put him out, so why would you think I’d tell you good riddance because you went and fucked up your leg?”
    “Because that’s what wolves do. Cull the sick, injured, and old.” And those assholes are calling me Elder.
    “I’m sure some wolves eat their young, too, but we don’t do that here, either.” Adam turned to the prosthetist, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned against the counter. “Lay it out for me. How much will replacing the prosthesis cost the pack?”
    “Now wait one—”
    “ Shh .”
    Alpha said shush, so Nixon shushed. Begrudgingly . He didn’t expect the pack to pony up funds to cover his medical bills. He’d never spread that burden around to anyone else.
    Dr. Just-Call-Me-Terrence shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about the cost. If he’s in the pack and working for the Afótama, Queen Tess or her grandmother, Muriel, would insist on covering the expense.”
    “Assuming I get hired.” Nixon leaned back on his elbows on the exam table and cut a look toward Adam.
    Adam ground his teeth some more. “I certainly plan on putting you through your paces, but don’t assume that just because you can’t keep up with Anton or Vic in a mile run that you’re automatically disqualified for what I brought you here to do.”
    “I can hardly walk a damned block without cringing.”
    “New prosthesis should help with that,” Just-Call-Me-Terrence said. “And physical therapy, of course. I’m sure Bettina would love to get her hands on a wolf.”
    The nurse, who had her back turned and was typing some exam info into the computer, scoffed quietly and muttered, “I bet she would.”
    Adam chuckled. “Unless she’s looking to get her hands on him solely for therapeutic purposes, she’s gonna have to do her giggling and groping with someone else.”
    The nurse stopped typing and turned her head toward Adam. “Mated off already? He hasn’t even been here a week.”
    Nixon flopped back onto the hard-ass table and fixed his gaze on the drop ceiling.
    He hadn’t had a choice but to be upfront with Adam and Anton about his intentions to pursue Esther, but they were already acting like them getting together was a sure thing. It wasn’t . There was the strong possibility that Esther wouldn’t want a broken wolf as a mate, and also? Her smell made him sick to his stomach. Mated women’s scents were so strong and repellant, there was no wonder extramarital affairs were out of the question for a lady, unless the woman’s lover was non-wolf and couldn’t smell her.
    Nixon had always hated that women had gotten saddled with that evolutionary quirk. They walked around reeking of their husbands, but wolf men could put their dicks into pretty much whoever would spread their legs. Didn’t seem fair to him.
    But, he was going to try. If she let him get close enough, he was going to bite her, if only to cover up that foul hormonal taint with his own.
    “Lil likes the idea, and she’s usually right about stuff,” Adam said after a minute.
    “I thought you were the pack matchmaker,” the nurse said with a laugh. She turned back to the computer and resumed her typing.
    “Usually, the wolves I get to work with have never been attached, and our goddess takes a special interest in them. This is a unique situation.”
    “Unique enough for your goddess to have an opinion?” Terrence asked.
    Nixon raised his head in time to see Adam rub his chin. “Maybe.”
    Oh hell.
    “Wanna share that opinion?” Nixon asked.
    “Nah. I’ll let you squirm. You wanna keep secrets? So will I.”
    “That’s hardly the same thing. I didn’t tell you about my leg.