Once Upon a Wolf

Chapter 39

CHAPTER 39

"Men are all the same!" I yelled out to Poppy, feeling pissed off as hell. "Werewolf, human... what's the damn difference!"

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Poppy asked, unrolling her sleeping bag on the leafy ground.

Pulling on tights I grabbed from my bag, I shook my head. I couldn't exactly tell her I kissed Maddox. My head tore with confusion. It felt like whiplash as my brain and chest overwhelmed with emotion.

Did we really kiss?

And touch?

And caress?

Did it really happen?

That's how bizarre and exhilarating it was, yet completely frightening. His scent remained on my skin like a fruity eruption. My mouth still reacting from his gentle bite on my bottom lip. His tongue still caressing mine. My flesh burning where his hands touched, wishing he had gone further — deeper.

But something deeper laid between us, I couldn't place my finger quite on it.

"Hey, Zoey," Alice jogged over to Poppy and me, with her arms rubbing her shoulders against the cool breeze. It was funny, I almost forgot I couldn't feel the cold anymore. "What's going on?" she asked. "You came hot and angry out of the entrance of that rocky hill?" she pointed out to the cave that was now blanketed in darkness.

Poppy scrunched her eyes. "That's the emerald caves. You've been there this whole time?" she asked, surprised.

I nodded. "Yeah, where did you think I was?"

She popped up her ginger brows. "I just thought you were with Alice?" she shrugged. "Nobody usually wanders into the caves. The pack leaves it for Maddox. He enjoys the space and prefers to be alone in it."

I blinked. "What?" I gritted my teeth. "Don't you think you should've divulged that teeny-tiny important information to me before I made a fool of myself?"

Poppy shrugged her shoulders. "You the one that ran away like a rabid wolf biting yourself." She chuckled lightly, darting her hands to cover her mouth from blurting out a laugh.

I let out a long and broody sigh with a roll of my eyes.

"Wait?" Poppy scrunched her eyes. "Were you in the caves at the same time Maddox was?"

I flashed Poppy a hesitant look. "Maybe," I mumbled.

Poppy gasped. "And he allowed you to stay?"

Instantly I flung my arms up in defence. "Who cares? It doesn't matter," I muttered. "Whatever. Men suck!" I plopped my ass on a nearby rock.

"Tell me about it," Alice grumbled while pursing her lips.

"You see, even Brett sucks," I chirped.

Poppy side-eyed me suspiciously for a hot second and finally shook her head. "I kept you some barbequed meat in the paper plate over there. You missed out on the hunt. They caught deer."

"I'm gonna call it a night." Alice yawned. "Talk to you tomorrow, Zoey."

"Nighty night, Alice." I pulled over a light jersey over my head and glanced at the meat on the plate.

I grimaced. No longer having an appetite and my wolf agreed. She was more miserable about Maddox's kiss, or lack of it.

"I'll think I'll pass supper tonight, sorry," I murmured and unrolled my sleeping bag next to Poppy's. Almost all the pack members were asleep with a few males who lingered around the campfire, laughing and talking and wolfing down the rest of the meat on the long skewer.