War Claim (The Claim: Book 3)

Chapter 17 - Roma

Climbing off the school bus, Roma dragged his feet across the snow-encrusted path. His backpack and arms were laden with textbooks while his packmates ran around him with fewer burdens to carry.

He stopped at his brother's house near the pack house—like he always did after school. Luna Hazel always gave him a snack while he visited his niece and nephew. The pair were growing too fast. The twins, Viktor and Vera, were already three and would be turning four in a few months. They were such a handful but he loved spending time with them so Luna Hazel could put her feet up for an hour or take a nap. His brother was always busy with his Alpha duties and plotting his next conquest—but he was taking too long with the Zhooniyaa Miskwi Pack. What was the holdup?

The female had been dead for months. They hadn't done anything in months. He knew better than to question his brother's battle plans but seriously, what was the freaking holdup?

Was he waiting for the snow to melt? A summer of warring sounded better than a winter war, that was for sure. A summer war worked for them last time, was he planning to do it again?

When he came over that day to visit, he also came with the intent of demanding answers from his brother.

Viktor and Vera were such cute pups. Already, they were starting to resemble their father more and more. They had his dark brown locks and Vera had his dark brown eyes while Viktor had his mother's lighter-colored eyes.

Hazel was ready for a nap the moment he arrived and disappeared upstairs while he played with the twins. When she came back down an hour and a half later, she looked more refreshed. Thanking him, she inquired about his school work. He always had so much.

"Well, it's good that you're trying to get ahead and taking on extra assignments. It will look good on your college applications next year," she said.

"I know." He heaved a sigh. "I'm just tired of staring at books. I actually look forward to coming here and playing with the pups. It's different."

He missed sex too, but he wasn't about to tell her that. Jacking off in his room while holding a lock of that female's hair wasn't the same.

They had buried her under a maple tree at the edge of the Field of Defiance. No one questioned a fresh grave there and no one got a marker or tombstone. No one was supposed to remember the names of the Defiant. They were to be forgotten forever.

As for dealing with his sexual urges... He needed to find a human female willing to whore herself out. Problem was that there wasn't enough privacy in the school to do such acts, what with wolves occupying half of the student body and teaching staff with their heightened senses. Another problem would be preventing pregnancy. Birth control pills didn't always work with their kind and he didn't want to wear a condom. The smartest thing to do would be to wait for his mate but he still had another year and a bit to go before he turned eighteen and she would most likely be younger than him. How was he supposed to wait another two years or more when every time he glanced at a female's chest, he pitched a tent and couldn't go camping?

He wondered if any female wolves would be interested. Most of them chose to save themselves for their mates but there were a few rare ones who spread their legs for anyone...

Luna Hazel smiled. "I know. But Sergei believes in you. The sooner you finish your studies, the better."

He nodded half-heartedly in agreement. "Mind if I do some homework at the kitchen table? I want to talk to him when he comes home."

"Sure, go ahead."

Normally, he'd leave and go to his room at the pack house to study. Rather than go there and come back to talk to his brother, he figured that it would be easier to stay. Even though it was more difficult to study with the pups in the other room, he would try to ignore them.