Live Free or Die Complete Series Boxed Set: Age Of Madness - A Kurtherian Gambit Series Hayley Lawson (ebook reader play store .TXT) 📖

Ryder was kind of missing him. She thought it would be good to have a wolf in the fight against Afana, but after what Leandro had told her last night she knew it was more complicated than that.

Leandro sighed heavily. “To be honest, I’m not sure.”

Ryder didn’t envy him his concerns. If Leandro did change into Fluffy, then he risked being stuck that way forever. She couldn’t imagine having that hanging over her.

“Why do you think you’re finding it harder to change back to Leandro after being Fluffy?” She knew her calling him Fluffy annoyed him, but it also lightened the conversation a little.

Leandro rolled his eyes.

Ryder grinned. “You know that you roll your eyes when you’re Fluffy, too?”

“I do?”

“Yes! You did it to me when I fell into the hole when we first met Carter,” Ryder reminded him.

“Did I really? I was thinking it, but I didn’t know I actually did it. How could you not see the hole?”

Ryder snorted. “Because I wasn’t expecting a group of mountain kids to ambush me. That hole was no fun. I bet I looked like a fool with my head sticking out.”

“You really did.”

They both sighed.

“Fun times,” Leandro remarked.

Ryder recognized a diversion when she saw one. “Less stalling. Why do you think it’s taking longer?” Leandro shrugged. “It’s weird. It’s like the more time I spend as a wolf, the more I become one.”

“I get it. I spent my whole life pretending to be a man. After a time you forget who you really are, but one thing I’ve learned from leading a double life is that the true you never dies.” Ryder placed her hand over Leandro’s heart. “You’re always in there. What’s on the outside doesn’t matter. It’s who you are on the inside that counts.”

Leandro smiled at Ryder. “You sound like Pops.”

“What, an old vampire?” Ryder winked.

“Well, yeah.” Leandro laughed. “No way.”

“Oh, and imagine if you met a lady-wolf and you two have puppies! You could get me one of those purses from the abandoned mall and I could carry one of the puppies around with me.” Ryder grinned. She’d wanted one of the puppy bags since she’d seen the photo in the magazine. If Leandro had puppies, she’d have a reason to have one.

Leandro shook his head in despair. “You’ve only been out of the bunker for a few days, and you’ve already bought into having crap you don’t need. I’ll take you to the abandoned mall one day, and you will be in your element. You and Tightwad have a lot in common.”

Ryder frowned. “In what way?” She liked his colorful sweaters, but they were totally opposite to her style of clothing—which was ready for a fight at any time. Yes, they shared the fact that water turned to alcohol in their bodies, but what else?

“He’s a hoarder.”

“A what?”

“Tightwad is like a crow. If he sees something shiny or interesting, he collects it. You should see his house.”

“I’d like to. It sounds cool.”

“It would be, except his house is smaller than my room, and every part of the floor is covered with stuff. Because of that, his chairs have been moved outside since he has no more room inside.”

“Where does he sleep?”

“On top of his junk.”

Ryder made a face. “That sounds uncomfortable.”

“Not so cool now?”

Massimo was right. It was beautiful in the fields which surrounded Pinewood. There was a cool breeze in the air that made the heat bearable. It was early, but Ryder knew that soon the sun would be at its fullest and it would be much hotter. She hoped the cool breeze would stay.

The fields were green and lush, with long grass as far as the eye could see. “So we’re going to Koda’s house next, what’s his special skill?” Ryder asked.

“Koda? He’s a great tracker and a total badass.” Leandro flashed his teeth as he smiled. They were bright white and well-kept.

I hope Terrier is keeping his teeth clean. Ryder laughed. As if.

“What’s so funny?” Leandro asked.

“Your teeth.”

Leandro frowned, then ran his finger over the objects in question as he tried to feel any food in them.

“Not really your teeth,” She clarified. “They are beautiful shiny-whites. I was thinking about Terrier’s teeth. I can never get him to clean them. I wish he was like you and brushed them more than once a year.” Ryder looked like she’d eaten something bad.

“Oh. Is Terrier your boyfriend?”

Ryder burst into loud snorting laughter. She placed her hand over her mouth to stifle the noise. “No, why do you guys keep asking that? Remember, in the bunker as far as anyone else was concerned I was a man. Well, except for Terrier. He knew I was a woman.” Ryder screwed up her face at the thought of her and Terrier together. “Terrier was more like my big brother, always there when I needed him.” She smiled.

Leandro shrugged. “Some men like men.”

“Yeah, I know. Not Terrier though. He’s my best friend.”

Leandro smiled happily. “Cool.”

“You’ll like him. How far away is Koda’s place?”

“It’s over that hill.” Leandro pointed to a massive hill.

There was going to be a lot of walking today, and Ryder felt good being outside in the fresh air.

Massimo heard wolves howling from the direction of the mountain settlement. He quickly walked over to his son.

Ryder saw the look of concern on Massimo’s face, so she headed over to Clint and Carter to give him and Leandro some privacy.

They all looked at Leandro, who was staring off into the distance. “Why don’t you go and see what’s happening up there?” Massimo asked Leandro.

Leandro shook his head.

“So that’s your problem,” Massimo said to Leandro.

“What?”

“You’re scared that if you turn into Fluffy full time, you’ll lose the part that’s Leandro,” Massimo surmised.

“Jeez, Pops,” Leandro snapped. ”Were you listening to my conversations? And why are you calling me ‘Fluffy?’”

Way to go, Massimo, pissing your son off. Well, that’s my job, isn’t it? Massimo had an internal battle with himself. “I can’t control my hearing. It’s a gift and