“No.” With a grunt of effort, she hurled her chicken bone into a tree trunk. “My last boyfriend found his lifemate at the grocery store. I sent him out for frozen custard, and he came home with a leggy brunette named Petra.” She selected a wing. “The worst part? He forgot the custard.” She bit down hard. “Bastard.”

“Don’t you want the mated thing?” I assumed all wargs would be excited for the hunt. “That whole fated soul-mate connection?”

“Eh.” Another bite. “The idea of a random stranger walking up to me one day and saying, ‘Hey, baby, you smell like forever. Let’s do it,’ isn’t all that appealing honestly.”

A snort escaped me. “Yeah, I guess not.”

“Not everyone is a traditionalist.” She rattled the bucket and plunged a hand inside. “Some wargs are already in relationships or married when their destined mate shows up on the doorstep. Some of them say no. At least at first.”

I hummed in my throat. “That sounds like a heartache waiting to happen.”

“Sometimes,” she conceded. “I’m just saying, if you meet a male and like what you see, that you shouldn’t write him off because of what might happen.”

I tripped over my own feet. “Tell me you aren’t playing matchmaker.”

“All I’m saying is Cord’s in my head, and he’s got a one-track mind where you’re concerned, if you catch my drift.”

Prickles stung my cheeks. “That’s not possible.” I gestured around us. “All of this is for Marie. He must be thinking of her. After Lori…” I rubbed the ache under my breastbone. “I was crazed for months. It was all I thought about.”

The quirk of her brow made me think Graeson hadn’t told her about Lori, which earned him bonus points in my book. It was one thing to be a kidnapper. It was another to be a blabbermouth.

“Is the connection always so wide open?” That must make pack life awkward. “Can you all read each other’s minds?”

“Uh, well. It’s like this.” Her gaze darted left to right. “There’s something you should know about that.”

“Dell.” The low voice resonated in my bones. “I’ll take it from here.”

The bucket of chicken groaned where she squeezed it against her chest. “I’ll wait for you on the porch.”

What I hoped passed for a comforting smile bent my lips. She ducked her head and spun on her heel. She couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I didn’t blame her. Alone with Graeson was pretty far down my list of favorite places to be too.

“Do you always walk this much?” Accusation throbbed in his tone. “Or is this a recent development?”