Page 7 of Twisted Destiny

Unexpectedly, a tear rolled down her cheek.

“I probably haven’t dealt with this. Who am I kidding? I definitely know I haven’t dealt with any of this baggage. What the fuck am I even doing here? Is any of this worth riding out an emotional trainwreck?”

Anxiety and self-doubt crept into her mind, gnawing at her usual assertive and confident nature. Those traits took her years to build up and hone, and she’d be damned if she would throw them away over a sentimental journey to an old fantasy. Taking a deep breath, she tried to shake it off.

An odd, surprising squeak caught her ear. The sound slowly repeated, creaking along the porch and disappearing into silence around the back of the house.

“Footsteps! Someone is sneaking around outside. Same old Twisted Tail. It hasn’t changed a bit.”

Selecting a club-sized piece of firewood, she armed herself and stealthily peered out onto the porch. “To shift or not to shift?”

“Shift, of course!” Her wolf growled.

“Easy, let’s see what we’re dealing with before we spring into lethal mode.” As soon as she ascertained the porch was clear, she quietly snuck out the door.

Using her heightened abilities to hear and smell, she knew the intruder had stopped to check the back door. The handle rattled, as did the windows, as he checked each one.

“He’s trying to break in!”

When she determined he had turned around and was sneaking directly toward her, instead of shifting into her wolf, she cocked back the firewood like she was ready to drive a fastball out of the park.

The second the stranger’s head appeared around the corner, she took her swing.

Fortunately, at least for him, he seemed to have sensed the ambush at the last second and jerked away. Hayley’s club connected with the side of the house with a sickening thud. In the seconds that followed, Hayley jumped backward. Her wolf instinctively charged forward and burst through, both consciously and physically taking control of her body and the situation. A snarl erupted from her snout, warning the stranger away from her property.

The stranger simultaneously shifted, and she found herself facing off with a huge crouching wolf. Slowly circling each other, they snarled and growled with bared teeth. It was their primeval ritual, sizing up each other’s strengths and weaknesses. At any given second, one of them would strike. Hayley just hoped she would have the strength to take down the imposing male. He was easily twice her size. Couple that with the fact that she and her wolf were completely out of practice, and the situation didn’t look good for her.

The intruder suddenly froze, his threatening red aura instantly replaced with one with deep purples indicating shock.

“You? You’re Hayley?” His voice fluttered through her mind.

It could only mean one thing. He was a member of the Twisted Tail pack. It was the only way they could communicate in such a manner unless they were mates who had completed the mating ritual—and the last time Hayley checked, she was still single as hell. And very much planned on staying that way.

Magic circled all around her, filtering into her nostrils, enveloping her senses, and nearly knocking her off the porch. Her heart raced, pounding against her ribs. Breaths that should have flowed easily hitched in her throat, making her dizzy. She shook her head to clear her mind.

This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not like this. Not ever. Not with him.

Hayley quickly shifted back to human form, lest the wolf get the better of her and try to stake his claim in wolf form. If he did that, she would be fucked with a capital F. She drew a deep breath, still trying to clear the fog from her mind, but it didn’t seem to work. She needed to be rational and think clearly. The stranger’s magic and proximity were not helping in the matter.

“This can’t be! I don’t know what kind of trick you’re trying to pull on me,” she shouted, fear and panic creeping into her voice.

The stranger quickly followed suit and shifted into his human form. Hayley’s heart stopped. At this rate, I’m going to end up in the ER if my heart doesn’t chill the heck out.

“This is no trick, Hayley.” His voice was smooth, like music to her damn ears.

Hayley gulped in another breath, still trying to make sense of the world around her. “Bullshit! You have thirty seconds to explain why I shouldn’t rip you to shreds.” She may be in human form now, but she could change back into her wolf in the blink of an eye. Her wolf was ready and waiting for the commend. Hell, Hayley may not even have to issue the command. Her wolf was likely to tear into him on her own if he pissed her off enough.

Hayley’s mouth dried up, leaving her wishing she had a drink in her hand. While the man’s wolf form was impressive, his human version was drop-dead gorgeous. It took all her willpower, and then some, not to lick her lips and swoon. He towered over her five-foot frame—he literally had to be at least a foot and a half taller than she was. Sable hair, cropped close on the sides and longer on the top, framed his handsome face. His cobalt eyes swept up and down her body, making her feel more exposed than ever. As her eyes slowly traversed the length of his body, she sucked in a surprising gasp. His black t-shirt hugged his broad chest and what she was sure to be washboard abs.

“My name is Jackson, Jackson Whelan. Cam told me you were looking for someone to take a look at Henry’s old place. But now that we’ve met, it’s clear there is a whole lot more we should talk about.”

“Nope. There isn’t a single thing we need to discuss other than the work that needs to happen on this place so I can get it on the market as quickly as possible.” Hayley finally shook the fog from her brain by stepping back and drawing in a breath of clean, fresh air—free from Jackson’s magic.

“Really?” He asked, his eyebrows creeping higher and higher up his forehead.

“Yes, really. I don’t know you. You don’t know me. I’m only here for a week. That’s it. I don’t plan on starting anything or giving myself a reason to stay in this hell hole.” Though the new Alpha and his wife seemed nice enough, it wasn’t sufficient to make Hayley want to uproot the life that she had built for herself and stay at Twisted Tail. She had lived through the hell of it before. There was no way she was going to willingly jump back into life there again.

Jackson’s mouth flopped open like a fish out of water. Hayley could see the shock on his face. She had no idea what he had expected from her, but it surely wasn’t a bad attitude.

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