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Tessa had moved her plate to the foot of the table and had seated Meara next to him in her place He sry with hi more than he should toward Tessa and that Meara had to remind him of his duty to their pack, but most of all to their kind Yet, he couldn’t help but ad ," Cara said, as the tension escalated in the dining roo outside "Won’t they make a cute couple?"
Meara choked on her water Tessa avoided looking at Hunter and cut up her sausage
"She just said that so she could get in to see Hunter at the hospital" Rourke glowered at Cara "Why are you here anyway?"
"To bring the hospital release forms for Hunter So what do we do after dinner? Do you have any board games? Cards? Anyone want to play strip poker?"
"After we finish here, I need a ith Ashton, and then we’re all going to bed We’ve had quite a day of it And we’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow," Hunter said
"Can I be in on this little adventure?" Cara asked
"You can keep Tessa co to do"
"Can I go, too?" Ashton asked, looking chagrined
Cara patted his ar to Bethany’s place? They’ve removed the police locks, and I have a key if you need one," Tessa said
"Yeah, we’ll need a key"
Tessa’s eyes filled with tears and Hunter couldn’t tell if she was happy he was still looking into this situation for her brother, or orried they wouldn’t discover who really murdered Bethany
Meara cleared her throat and patted Hunter’s hand "And if you see those three guys I hile you’re at it, don’t kill thethose guys’ heads together for stealing an alpha leader’s sister right out from under his nose They had to be soht his sister would have had better sense He was surprised neither Ashton nor Rourke showed any interest in her But ood reason
After dinner, Cara and Meara helped Tessa with the dishes Rourke and Ashton ith Hunter to get another load of firewood in case the electricity went out again The as gusting higher and the waves were growingstore for firewood
"Re is for life? That’s soht be a hard concept for you to understand since you’ve always been huarou way"
Rourke grabbed an armload of wood "What about Tessa?"
"She’s different" Hunter didn’t want to have to defend his actions to a subordinate wolf and wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been that Rourke was Tessa’s friend and was sincerely concerned about her well-being
"You s don’t count" Rourke headed back up the hill
"Das matter We’re both adults We had consensual sex and that’s all there is to it As a lupus garou we can’t have sex with another lupus garou unless we accept the female as a permanent mate Humans don’t live by the same rules, as well you know And I’ve already explained to her our relationship can’t be permanent"
"So if ant to party with a woed up the slope with an armload of timber behind Hunter
"Yeah, so that o all the ith her, you’re mated-- for life"
Rourke chuckled "What if she forces herself on hi, the punishment for the perpetrator is death Unless the victim chooses to accept the perpetrator as his or her arous or laws"
Wide-eyed, both Rourke and Ashton stared at hi the two of you all the rules" Hunter gave Ashton a sympathetic look "If you don’t want Cara for a hed out loud "She doesn’t look like she readily accepts taking no for an answer Thank god she latched onto Ashton and not me"
When Hunter opened the back door, he heard Cara say, "If you want hi, but he wished he kneho she had been talking to and who "he" referred to
"Ashton, do so with that dead duck" Hunterroo"
Then he walked into the living roo, ladies Let’s get some sleep"
"Is he always this bossy?" Tessa rose fro hiet you so past Hunter, Tessa headed down the hall
Cara hopped up froot he’d rees on the run, and Tessa was sure to wonder how co so fast as soon as she saw his naked torso when they went to bed "Yeah, let’s go to the bathroo an arave Hunter a scornful look He was definitely in the doghouse, but he didn’t knohy He closed the bathrooes in a drawer "You’re going to have to turn her"