Page 50 of Wrestling With Werewolves

Richard stops in front of me. “Did you have a good morning?”

“Pretty good,” I say with a knowing smile. “Except that I kept getting the sense someone was watching me. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, Richard?”

He feigns indignation. “Me? Never. A pack alpha would never follow around the beautiful woman who’s captivated him just to watch her having fun.” He steps closer, bending down to bring his lips to my ear. “I’m quickly developing a soul-deep obsession, Lola.”

I resist the urge to put my hands on him, to show him with touch that I feel it too, even though I’ve been here such a short time. A hot blush steals over me so I focus on the box under his arm. It’s a good distraction, and I need that before I tackle Richard onto the rocky beach and have my way with him. I can’t… We agreed to take it slowly.

“What’s in the box?”

He takes a step back and gestures to the blanket Lou laid out when we first arrived. “Sit, and I’ll show you. I didn’t want to promise these to you earlier because I wasn’t sure I could find them. But I was able to, and I know you’d want to have them.”

I drop to the blanket and wait for him to join me. He sinks elegantly to his knees and sets the box in my lap. Big, rough hands come to the carved wooden top and gently remove it, revealing stacks of photographs. The one on top is of him, my Papá and, oh moons, Mamá too. I recognize the hair. And the smile.

My stomach tightens and does somersaults all at the same time.

His fingers move softly over the photograph’s surface. “Maria, Marco, and I were friends long before they got together, and just as close once they mated. The photos from this box are from a ton of different times, but flip this one over.”

I flip it to reveal manly-looking chicken scratch on the back.

Maria, Marco, and Richard at the spring pack run the year they mated.

“I labeled every one for you this morning,” he says softly. “So you’d know what was going on in their lives then.”

Emotion crashes over me as tears fill my eyes. Flipping through the photographs, I gasp at how different Papá looks. He’s blissfully happy; that much is clear. I wonder if he’d want to see these photos.

“Lola, you okay?”

I glance up to find Lou emerging naked from the water. She joins us and flops down next to me, grabbing a towel and tucking it around her figure.

“Look,” I whisper, barely able to find my voice. “Richard found these photos of my parents from before I was born.” I give her a sorrowful look. “My mother died when I was young, so I don’t remember her well, but now I have all of this to remind me.” My eyes drift to Richard’s, which are locked firmly on my face. “Thank you for this.”

He smiles. “Any time, Lola. There’s a sizable stack at the bottom from when you were a newborn pup. Lots of pics of Maria holding you and Marco carrying you around.”

The first tear trails down my cheek then. I can’t believe what a treasure it is to have this.

“This is amazing, Lola,” Lou murmurs, flipping several of the pictures over. “Good gods, your dad is hot.” She waves at her face. Her cheeks are pink.

“Ewww,” I grouse, scrunching up my nose, even though I can see what she means. My father is classically handsome and charming. And now single. It doesn’t surprise me that she could find him attractive.

Which brings me back to what’s going on between Richard and me. This thing we decided not to share with anyone else just yet. I can see it in his eyes, in the way they wrinkle slightly in the corners and Big Daddy’s intense green begins to shine through.

No matter what happened in the past, our future involves each other.

If I’m certain of anything at all about my life…it’s that.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER - RICHARD

Ispent all morning labeling photos for Lola, and then Big Daddy had the genius idea to follow her when we happened to see her walking up Sycamore toward Biergarten.

I resisted for a while—an hour, maybe. And then I gave in, stalking through the woods to the perfect viewing spot beyond the patio.

I’m not even ashamed that I stood there and stared at her for moons know how long. I could watch her all day every day, and it wouldn’t be enough. The truth is out between us; the connection is undeniable.

Yet you tried to tell her she might not want to be tied to us. What the fuck is wrong with you?

She’s young; she wants to travel and play music throughout the haven system. She wants to escape Marco; she wants something more out of her life.

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