Chapter 12. Claim the Runaway!

Toke’s POV

The air was filled with howls and cheers, but I slumped back and poured that thick, warm liquid down my throat, looking over at my good friend Rune. I could feel the excitement of the whole pack flush through me, but all I felt was boredom.

“You don’t want a mate, do you?”

Rune’s words sounded lazy, and the words shuffled a bit before he busted out laughing. He was drunk, no doubt about it, so I lifted my glass in a toast, and we emptied yet another. He always spoke freely around me, even more so when mead warmed his body and fogged up his brain.

“I do, but I’ve already attended two hunts. I could have had a mate, but I don’t want a scared-to-death rabbit that twitches every time I breathe. Not even the hunt is a challenge, so the women are no longer worth it.”

He frowned, thinking so hard I could practically hear his head squeak. Tilting my head back, I laid lazily over my dad’s throne. What had become of us? I grew up with my dad’s and gran