Page 7 of The Wolf's Bullied Bride

A smile spread across Sara's face, getting on board with my declaration. "That's what I like to hear! You're on another level now, and he can't touch you."

"A part of me wants to let him know how awful he had been to me at the time and just how much I've changed since then, but I'm not sure he even deserves that much."

"I know what you mean," she murmured, swallowing back some of her pizza. "But I think you should leave him guessing. You're not a little girl anymore, and there's so much he doesn't know about you."

While both options sounded tempting, the latter was even more so.

Even if he came back to town shrouded in mystery with his bad-boy image, I was technically a mystery to him, too. I didn't think he even recognized me. There was something satisfying about that.

"You're so right," I smiled, feeling the weight of it all as it slowly lifted from my shoulders. Sara always knew how to help me when I needed it the most.

"Here's to change and growth," Sara said, holding her glass out.

I gently clinked mine against hers, mirroring her mischievous grin. "To change and growth."

We both took generous sips from our wine, feeling more optimistic than I had initially. It went down easily and helped me better appreciate the company.

"It's crazy to think about how much has changed," she began with a small smile on her lips. "We're both in very different places than we had been even five years ago."

"You're married to your mate, you have a little one, and you're more in tune with your magic than you ever had been," I said, thinking almost longingly about how well everything had gone for her.

Sara's empathetic look continued, surely catching on to the hidden meaning in my words. "You are great at your job in a prestigious position, you've been having fun meeting people, and you have so much time to figure out your future."

While she was encouraging, I couldn't help but feel like I was surrounded by pitfalls. I wasn’t rushing or daydreaming about settling down with anyone, yet it seemed like I was running out of time.

Everyone around me had their families and their beautiful love stories, and I was afraid of being the perpetual dater. The friend witnessing marriages and connections without finding the same for myself.

It didn't dampen my happiness for them, yet it added another layer of pressure on me. I didn't want it to weigh me down, even if it felt unavoidable.

Sighing, I nodded absently. "I know, I know. It can just be hard to see the bright side sometimes."

"Honestly, I'm envious of how career-driven you are. You've done it all on your own and are so involved in the community by reporting. It's impressive," Sara said, warming my heart.

"Thanks," I murmured with a small smile, aware that very few people were in my position. It was easy to overlook how much of an accomplishment it was. "Before you met Griffin, were you afraid you'd miss the marriage train?"

Sara snickered at that. "Everyone has that fear at one point or another, hon. Just give it time, and everything will work out. I promise."

Sighing, I nodded to myself and tried to hold on to that hope.

I never used to worry about that kind of thing, and I didn't understand why my mind was so caught up in it. I had always been content with having fun with strangers and being casual wherever possible, but something felt different in me then. The thought of having more actually seemed appealing.

"All right, no more pity parties tonight," I said, trying to shove that part of me away. "What's been happening with the girls? I've been working so much that I’m sure I'm behind on friend-news."

Wasting no time, Sara got into it, telling me all about our friends' latest updates. I did my best to focus on the conversation, even if my mind started to wander back to what happened earlier and the assignment.

I had been so startled when I first saw Liam, almost like the ground had been pulled out from under me.

It was like opening Pandora's box and being forced to face the very pain I had stashed away for all those years.

And while I was doing everything in my power to heal from it, Liam had come back better than ever, ready to make his mark on Rose Valley.

I had the feeling he wouldn't be easy to avoid forever.

Chapter 4 - Liam

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get that journalist's face out of my head.

The whole interaction had been weird and somewhat uncomfortable, but it left me with so many questions. Like why she was asking me such bizarre things or why she looked so familiar. I just couldn't place her, which made it even more frustrating that I didn't catch her name.

---