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

the ladies work. I’m sure you can get back out to the bookstore before the owner needs to leave to get her monthly touchup.”
    “I’d like to see the mansion.” She gripped her purse against her side, stood, and notched some of that long, dark hair behind her ear.
    Taking a step closer, Nixon saw a bit of sparkle near her temples. Wasn’t tinsel, though. She’d managed to earn some gray even if her older brother hadn’t, and judging by her aunt’s still-black tresses, Nixon was guessing the premature sprouting probably wasn’t genetic.
    Well, duh. I’d probably be stressed as hell, too. Being kicked out of a pack is probably easier than staying in certain ones.
    He pressed a hand to her back and, turning his head to take a deep breath, got her moving. If he concentrated on breathing clean air that didn’t smell like a dead man’s bite, he wouldn’t think about the ache below his left knee.
    “Did they clear you to work?” she asked, then cringed. “Never mind. I mean, I guess they did, or you wouldn’t be going to the mansion.”
    “Yeah. I can work. And you can ask me anything you want. I happen to believe the vast majority of questions aren’t stupid ones.”
    They stepped down the curb, crossed the street, and started across the town square.
    Her gaze was mostly on the ground in front of her, but occasionally she looked up at the parked cars lining either side of Main Street, or at the sounds of loud talking and laughter coming from the sidewalks.
    He was sick of seeing her act that way.
    “Pick your chin up, honey. No one’s gonna get mad that you’re actually watching where you’re going.”
    “I think you’re forgetting what looking at people straight-on invites.”
    “I haven’t forgotten, but seeing as how I own a dick, I’m probably looking at things from a different perspective.”
    “You’re right. No one’s going to rough you up for being tart or disrespectful because you happened to be looking forward.”
    “No one’s gonna do that here, anyway.” Adam gestured across the street at the edge of the town square and let Esther cross in front of him. “I know that’s going to take some time for you to get used to, but I ask you to just trust me. Being treated like a human being shouldn’t be such an unusual concept. I know wolf culture, though, so I can’t really fault you for not expecting decency. Lil was a mess when we left, too.”
    “I don’t remember her being rattled in the slightest bit.”
    “She did a good job of holding everything together around you kids. Honestly, being expelled from the pack was a relief in some ways.”
    “I know that feeling,” Esther said quietly.
    Just inside the entryway of the executive mansion, the pack’s resident loner wolf—Darius—looked up from behind the security desk and waved the trio on through the metal detectors.
    Naturally, they went off.
    Darius shook his head, and then muttered, “Ignore them.”
    “Lora around?” Adam asked.
    “Yes, sir.” Darius slid a clipboard over and flipped up a page. “She should be in her office right now. I’ll call up and let her know you’re coming.”
    “’Preciate it. See you at dinner.”
    Adam guided Nixon and Esther toward the staircase and, flitting his gaze toward Nixon, grimaced.
    “I’ll be all right,” Nixon said. He wasn’t as fast on stairs as he used to be, but nobody really expected a forty-one-year-old ex-oil rig roughneck to be light on his feet.
    He brought up the rear, concentrating on stair treads and not on Esther’s pert derriere as she ascended in front of him. At least, for the most part.
    “Lora handles most of the operations business here,” Adam said. “She manages the hiring and HR issues so Queen Tess can worry about other shit.”
    “What all does an Afótama queen do?” Nixon asked.
    “That’s complicated. Suffice it to say that she does what needs to be done.”
    “That’s some nice werewolf obfuscation.” Esther mounted the top step