I ran a hand over my face. “I never caught it. Possible I wasn’t paying attention.” I sucked a deep breath in through my nose. Now that I was really paying attention, the scent trails made it pretty obvious. Was that what you were trying to tell me? The wolf’s whine turned into a huff. Whatever his point was, I still wasn’t getting it.

Trick sipped his beer, his expression concerned. “Why is this a problem? You like women. Probably half of your roommates have been women and your best friend is your sister.”

Until my last place, I’d always had roommates. It was difficult to live cheaply without them, and my upbringing hadn’t soured me on communal living situations. I had no desire to live with dozens of people ever again, but I was very comfortable with a few roommates.

I didn’t feel comfortable right now. “I was expecting men! Their names are Lou and Van, for fuck’s sake!” I was yelling at my friend. Why was I yelling? A fine sheen of sweat broke out along my skin. My wolf was panting now, feeding off my stress. Oddly enough, telling myself there was no reason to be stressed didn’t actually make me feel better.

Okay, deep breath in. Hold it. Count to seven. Let it out. Do it again.

“Yeah, Louise and Vanessa. Are you okay?” His face said that no matter my answer, he knew I wasn’t.

I closed my eyes and took a few more deep breaths. Opened my eyes. Drank more of my beer. Manifested a grip on my fucking awful emotions so that rationality could raise its damn head again. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled. Of course I don’t care.” I waved a hand at the picture, intentionally keeping my voice soft. “Your roommates seem awesome.” Calm, I needed calm. But my wolf was still whining. Something about the scents… I downed the rest of my beer.

Trick continued to stare at me before understanding dawned. “You were looking forward to living with a house of dudes for once, huh? Soak up the manliness.” Trick started laughing uncontrollably, the sound almost coming from his toes. “What kind of manly dudes exactly were you expecting me to live with? Guys who like sportsball and only eat steak and wax poetic about…” Trick hiccupped. “I can’t even finish that sentence. I don’t know what manly dudes wax poetic about.”

“I didn’t need to steep in alpha male stereotypes,” I muttered. “A little break sounded nice, though.”

“Jim’s probably coming over later. He follows a lot of masculine cultural norms. He builds stuff and wears flannel. We’re going to watch a dating show, but he might also be into sports. There, see?”

I just stared at him. “How did this turn into a discussion about sports?”

Trick held his hands out in a helpless gesture. When I continued to stare at him, Trick gave my arm an awkward pat. “Hey. Don’t worry. Van and Lou are the best. You’ll see.”