Claimed (Werewolf boyxboy)

Chapter 20

JAX

Not even gonna lie, I was feeling pretty damn good.

My date with Corey had been a perfect disaster, a mirror reflection of what our relationship was at its core.

Looking back on last night, I quickly realized how stupid I was to have been so nervous about it. The borderline panic attack I had was so damn embarrassing, just thinking about it made me ripe with the desire to hurl my guts all over the cushy rug that I currently sat on.

"Ooo, I've got a good one! Would you rather have toes for nipples or nipples for toes?"

Everyone in the upstairs common room shot Tyrus a somewhat dumbfounded look as they contemplated his question. The man was grinning proudly as if he'd just discovered the cure to cancer, unreactive to all of the confused expressions cast in his direction as he sat on the carpet to the right of me with Daffodil's tiny body curled tightly around his entire left arm.

"Is that seriously your question?" Balked Osias, who also lounged on the carpet along with everyone else. My best friend had one, muscular arm resting up on the seat of the couch behind him and the other curled tightly around the waist of his mate, Berlin, who sat comfortably in his lap.

"Don't be rude, Osi. You had your turn, now it's his." Berlin scolded through closed teeth, smacking his mate's chest gently as 'punishment' before turning back to his brother with a big, toothy smile as he began to explain himself.

"...I mean, I've always wondered what I would choose. Like, toes are really useful for picking up things but would they be just as useful on your chest? But then again, what if you wanted to go to the beach, would everyone see your nipple toes or could you just hide them in the sand? Man, it keeps me up at night sometimes." Tyrus continued, his expression twisting into one of genuine contemplation and free hand going to scratch at the back of his neck.

The room was silent for a long moment as everyone continued to stare, lost for words as to how to respond to the male's abnormal thought processes.

Well, everyone except for Daffodil, who was - as always - in his own little world as he clung to Tyrus's arm and smiled so brightly that it was obvious that there was not a single thought behind those giant ass, alien lookin' eyes.

"Nipples for toes." Responded Benji after a few beats, pink hair fluttering as he nodded finitely and settling further into the dark cave of Tank's chest, "I value my nipples way too much. Plus, I could just like... wear socks all the time and nobody would even notice."

"Yeah. Benji's nipples are much too valuable to me." Tank added a second later, grinning a wide, cheshire cat smile that made him look even more dangerous than he already did. The large warrior attempted to inconspicuously slip his hand up Benji's shirt at the same time, but was easily intercepted by Benji's anticipatory hand which grabbed his wrist in a tight grip.

"Not here!" Benji whispered, although the entire room could totally fuckin' hear them.

"Ooookay, let's move on, people." Brook, one of Berlin's friends, encouraged as she sat next to her own mate and pack patroller, Jay. Her kind gaze swiveled over to me and my eyes widened slightly, caught off guard by the attention. "Let's see what Ortiz has up his sleeve."

All of a sudden, the urge to gag overwhelmed me.

Not because everyone was waiting for me to take my turn in the game, staring as if I were a specimen under a microscope. No, I felt sick because of... of that.

That name.

Ortiz.

Whenever I looked into the mirror, Ortiz was all that I would ever see staring back at me. That scared little boy only being called by his family name, cowering in a filthy corner and protecting his head at all costs like he'd been taught in that one self-defense lesson at school.