Chapter 2 #2
"The bathroom is through there if you want to clean up." Flint gestured at a closed door to the right.
"Oh, right. Sorry." Ezra rolled out from underneath him and flinched as muscles he hadn't known he had made themselves known.
He hurried into the bathroom and closed and locked the door behind him.
It was old but clean, and he took a shuddering breath as he took it in.
Would he stay here or would Flint have him live in another room?
Back home, he lived alone in the smallest, coldest hut.
Many of the others lived together, but no one wanted to live with him.
He cleaned up the best he could while trying not to think about what he was doing.
Why hadn't he brought his clothes with him inside?
Now he'd have to walk out of there naked waist down in his ripped shirt.
The fabric hung in a flap by his shoulder, and his hair was a mess.
He didn't dare take the time to rebraid the two thin braids at his temple.
Flint hadn't harmed him, but if he took too long, he might.
He opened the door only to find the room empty. Where had he gone? He hurried over to his clothes still in a pile on the floor and got his underwear and jeans on before the door opened and Flint and the massive man who had stood next to him when Ezra had arrived entered.
Ezra's face flamed, and he kept his gaze locked on the floor as he put his socks and shoes on.
"Are you ready?"
Ezra nodded without meeting Flint's gaze. What was he to be ready for?
"Let's head out then. The sooner we can get them to leave the better."
Shixyll and Jiprix. Ezra mentally recoiled.
He couldn't go out there. He sent Flint a pleading look, but he was busy looking at his phone.
The other man was watching him, though. He quickly looked away.
Was it rude to look at someone in werewolf culture?
He didn't know if they were werewolves. He believed Flint turned into a wolf.
Shixyll talked about wolves, dogs, and mutts often enough.
Did it mean they were all wolves or could a clan be made up of different species?
Flint went out the door, but the other man lingered. "Rourke." He spoke in a low voice.
Flint backed until he was blocking the doorway. "What?"
Rourke? Wasn't his name Flint?
"Maybe you should exit together."
"Right. Ezra, come along."
Ezra more or less tripped himself in his haste to move to whatever-the-man-he-was-bonded-to-was-named's side.
They walked the same distance they'd gone to get to the room, but when Ezra came face-to-face with the front door, he took a stumbling step back and bumped into the man behind him.
He shrieked and propelled himself forward only to almost collide with the door.
"Jesus." Flint or whatever grabbed his arm. "Calm down. No one's gonna eat you."
No, it was far worse. He was going to walk out there with Flint's bite on his shoulder, and everyone would know his cock had been in his ass mere minutes ago. Jiprix, who was the only one who'd ever had a kind word for him, would be disgusted. Maybe he already was.
"Wait." The other guy spoke. "Is there a reason you don't want to go out there?"
Ezra turned to stare at him. Of course there was. The man flashed teeth, and Ezra instantly averted his gaze. Eye contact must be considered rude.
"Will they attack us?"
"Who?" Ezra spoke to the floor.
"The queen witch. Is this some kind of set-up? Will we walk out there and be ambushed?"
Ezra shook his head. He might not know what the clan's plans were, but right now they were too weak. They'd lost several people in the last battle, and they'd drained all their familiars and other power sources. It would take some time to build it all up again.
A hand grabbed his chin and tilted his face until Flint could look into his eyes. "Will there be an attack?" Magic unlike any he'd ever sensed before was forced upon him, it clung to the words, and it demanded an answer from him.
"They're too weak right now."
Flint widened his eyes and glanced at the other man. Ezra didn't know what it meant, but he had the feeling they were communicating. He didn't think shifters were telepathic, but he couldn't be sure.
"Let's get it over with then."
Right. It was humiliating for him too, which most likely was Shixyll's intent. To shame him in front of his pack.
Flint opened the door and ushered Ezra outside. There were a few snickers among the shifters, and Ezra wished the ground would open underneath his feet and swallow him. His face burned as he tucked his chin against his chest.
The sound of a car door opening sounded, and Ezra folded into himself, hunching his shoulders to make him as invisible as possible.
"Is it done?" Shixyll's voice was bored, and it made Ezra's eyes burn. She didn't care. He'd known. Had always known, but this might be the last time he ever saw her, and she was...bored.
Flint grabbed his arm and turned him around, showing off the bite on his shoulder.
"Jiprix, get his bag."
Something thudded on the ground a few seconds later.
"So the debt is paid?"
"There was no debt. An alliance is formed."
Shixyll snorted, and Flint's hold on Ezra's arm tightened.
"We're leaving."
Ezra turned to look at her, his face still aflame with embarrassment, but he wanted to see his mother one last time.
She didn't look at him. Jiprix stepped closer.
He gave Flint a small nod then handed Ezra two spiraled braid rings.
Ezra accepted them with a shaky hand. He wasn't allowed more than two braids, and he didn't have many braid cuffs.
They were a sign of respect; it was an honor to be gifted some.
But Jiprix was giving them to him because he'd allowed Flint to bed and bite him.
Nevertheless, he curled his fingers around them.
Then the sound of Shixyll closing the car door behind her reached him, and he looked in her direction.
She was fiddling with something in her lap, not paying him any attention at all.
He let out a shaky breath and looked at Jiprix one last time.
He gave him a ghost of a smile and headed for the car.
Everyone remained where they were until the car no longer could be seen.
"All done." Flint spoke to the crowd. "We'll meet in the office in five minutes." Then he bent and grabbed Ezra's bag off the ground. "Come on." This time he spoke lower, so Ezra assumed he was talking to him.
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