Page 23 of Unwilling Wolf

“Unhand me, you…you…barbarian! What on earth makes you think you can handle a woman like this?”

Legs locked against any forward motion, she wrenched her hand out of his grip. She stared at him as if she actually expected him to apologize.

The wolf inside of him let off a low growl. “What’re you doing here, Eliza?”

She opened her mouth and shut it. Then, damnit, opened it again. “What are you doing here, Garret Shaw? Four days married and already seeking out a loose woman?” Good God, could her volume get any louder? “You’ve made it clear you don’t respect me in any way, but this is unacceptable!”

He growled. Must the woman air their differences for the entire blasted town to see? Howie Raddick and his wife, Hannah, had pushed their way through the gathering crowd on the porch of the dry goods store to watch the show, and Raymond Hill was wearing the biggest, dumbest grin Garret had ever witnessed. Any minute now, that shit-stirrer would be clapping and cheering the argument on.

Garret pinched the bridge of his nose in an effort to relieve the tension building just behind his eyes, but the growl in his voice was getting hard to control. What could he say to her? She had a point. He knew how it looked, but it pissed him off that she was calling him out. “Where is your horse?”

“Lenny took him over to that stable by the hotel, I think.”

“Lenny’s here too?” Aw, hell. If she’d braved coming into town, something big had spooked her. That, or she was dumping Eliza into his lap because she was tired of babysitting her. He headed off in the direction of the stable, leaving Eliza to trot after him.

“I need to talk to you about something, if you aren’t too busy with the whor—”

“You didn’t catch me in bed with one of them, woman. I was drinking at the bar, alone! Enjoying a dad-burned moment of fuckin’ peace before I had to come home and deal with your—oof!”

Someone petite and soft-smelling collided with him. Anna, wearing a light-blue dress and toting a feminine-looking umbrella, let off a feminine sound and placed the back of her hand to her forehead.

He steadied her, hands on her frail arms. From the bad acting job she was pulling, he would bet his boots she had run into him on purpose.

Hell and damnation.

“Oh! Mr. Shaw!” Anna exclaimed, pretending to recognize him at last. “I didn’t even see you there.” Well, that was a lie. The wolf inside of him was scratching at his skin now.

Arranging his expression into one of politeness, he released her arms and took a couple of steps back.

He glanced at Eliza, who stood beside him with her arms crossed over her chest and one dark eyebrow arched.

What? he mouthed.

Eliza angled her head and narrowed her eyes like he should know what had her undergarments in a twist.

Anna was sure done-up today, with her blonde hair neatly pinned in a bun and eyes the color of a clear spring sky. Her lips were full and pouty, and the color that rose on her cheeks was becoming on her. “Miss Jennings, hello. I’m sorry, I didn’t see you coming,” he said truthfully.

Anna laughed a charming, tinkling sound. “That’s fine, Mr. Shaw. I didn’t see you either, though I should have seen a man your size comin’ from a mile away.” She leaned into him and whispered, “I must say, it has been my pleasure runnin’ into you.”

Garret gave her a half smile that turned to an eye twitch. He rarely knew what to do with Anna’s boldness.

Eliza stepped forward. “Hello, Miss Jennings, was it? Eliza Shaw. Pleased to meet you.”

“Shaw?” Anna repeated slowly, the smile slipping from her painted lips.

In hopes of biting back the swear words ready on his tongue, he clamped his mouth shut. In no way did he want to explain the situation then, or ever, if he was completely honest. Fuckin’ Roy and his last request that wasn’t actually his last request, because he was currently learning to be a damned werewolf and would no doubt be back in a few months to make him pay in guilt for what Garret had done to him.

Garret closed his eyes, counted to three for patience, and then cleared his throat. “Anna, I’d like to introduce you to my wife.” Though he’d bitten out the last word like a curse, it was the first time he’d said the W-word. He didn’t like it.

Eliza shivered beside him like she’d taken a chill. Simultaneous dirty looks from him and Anna stilled her quickly enough though, thank God.

“You’re married to her?” Anna didn’t even try to disguise the disgust in her voice or the scowl on her face. “I wonder what my pa is going to have to say about this, Mr. Shaw. You two practically shook hands on our arrangement, and you know he doesn’t take kindly to broken oaths.”

Was this tiny woman threatening him? He shouldn’t have been surprised. She was a Jennings, after all. Probably born to be an extortionist. Her father, Mr. Jennings, had wanted an alliance, he’d called it, with Garret. More likely he wanted his land. It had been mentioned that Garret take her on as a betrothal and consider Turning her to bond his wolf to the woman.

That was Jennings’s plan. Garret hadn’t agreed to shit.

“Well, it’s been unsavory to meet you,” Eliza announced, successfully destroying the awkward silence. “He simply upgraded.”

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