Looking To Belong (A Runt's Story)

Chapter 38

Tiffany eyed up my companion at the supper table before turning to Will.

"So," she said. "If I told you that Ruby had grabbed Jade by the scruff of her neck and dragged her off, what would you say?"

Will continued to calmly butter his dinner bun. "If you are referring to the event earlier today, then I would tell her thank you."

Nathan looked surprised. "How can you be so calm when someone grabs your mate by the scruff of her neck?"

He was honestly curious, whereas Tiffany was still attempting to get revenge. I let Will feel their emotions through the mate link so he wouldn't make an incorrect assumption about Nathan. Ruby lacked this knowledge, and I could feel her bristling at his innocent question as she sat beside me.

Will grinned at him while replying, "Oh, in the beginning before she was marked, I probably would have flipped. It is a bit different now. For one, Jade doesn't mind it too much. Two, it got her out of the reach of my sister - something that you will appreciate one day. Three, Jade can't really defend herself, so Ruby's intervention was welcome."

Nathan nodded slowly, still not quite understanding. Tiffany glanced at Ruby before turning back to Will.

"Are you sure this is Ruby?" she asked. "This is not the Ruby that was here when I left to fetch Nathan."

I snickered; many people were equally confused lately. Most were quite bewildered by the changes in the formerly fierce and aloof black wolf. She had gotten much better at hiding the tell-tale hints of her elite fighting abilities. She was also finding this laidback lifestyle to be more enjoyable and entertaining.

She was no longer the die-hard fighter obsessed with patrols and training; instead, she now spent no more time than the average wolf on the training field. Much to Will's amusement, she had arranged her free time so that she could accompany me into the forest five days of the week. Regardless of what I was hunting for, she came along with me.

In truth, she was overly eager to learn any rogue secrets or skills I could show her. Since she was normally the only one accompanying me, she more or less had my undivided attention, so she was learning quickly.

Her intense focus was present beneath the surface, but she didn't show it anymore. Much to her own amazement, the first time she had smelled a truffle on patrol, she had felt such a surge of pride that she had been beside herself as she picked up that subtle scent. She could now pick up my scent if she crossed it, but I could go places she couldn't, and I still lost her easily enough. Much to her chagrin.

Will shrugged as he responded to Tiffany's words, "As far as we can tell, it is still Ruby. Jade was teasing me that she was driving Ruby completely crazy, but at this point, I think Ruby has made a few round trips to that destination."

Ruby turned to glare at him over my head while Will smirked at her, knowing he was egging her on. I sighed and put a hand on each of their arms as if separating them as I told both of them, "Alright children, settle down and get along."

They both gave me a disbelieving look, incredulous that I would attempt to intervene when I was powerless to stop them. I felt a jolt of recognition from Nathan and glanced over at him.

He was blinking in surprise. "You mentioned that you were a rogue for a while, did you ever meet a man named Jisk? That was one of his favorite quotes, and he said it almost the exact same way you just did."

I grinned in pleasant surprise. "Was it that obvious? Yes. I knew him, and that is where I picked it up from."

Will's interest was piqued as he recognized the name. He looked at Nathan with interest. "What do you know about Jisk?"

With a shrug, Nathan replied, "I only met him a couple of times. Pretty fierce looking guy, although he seemed pretty laid back. One hell of a fighter too. He is one of the rogues that hunts the unlawful rogues. Ummm... Has a nasty grudge against Alpha commands, he never did explain it, but it is the reason he refuses to join another pack. If two people started trying to rile each other up, he would say exactly what Jade just did." He turned to me. "How did you meet him?"

I grinned at that memory. "He had stuck his head into a small cave to investigate it and didn't notice me behind him. When I yipped, he jumped and banged his head. The most amusing part was that he blamed the cave roof as opposed to me."

Nathan shook his head. "There is no way you could have gotten close enough to that guy undetected to startle him."

"I wasn't full grown," I said, "so I was pretty tiny. He had heard me, but thought that I was a rabbit. It didn't occur to him that a runt would be in no man's land. How did you meet him?"

Nathan looked dubious, but accepted it. "He stumbled across our camp a few times and stayed for a few hours to gossip."

Ruby was listening attentively. I was pretty sure that she would be tracking down Nathan for other stories from when he had been a rogue. That was going to drive Tiffany to distraction since Ruby was unmated.

Right on cue, Ruby started asking him for other stories he had. I leaned against Will and simply listened to the two talk. He wrapped his arm around me as he listened to stories from a world he had never known.