Page 14 of The Broken Wolf's Redemption

“When we’re not always learning about shifting, can we play a game?” Waverly shifted tracks, studying her hopefully.

“I think so. What do you like best?”

“Poker.”

“Oh. Goodness. Where did you learn that?”

“Papa taught me. But I also like chess.”

Seren laughed. “I think, in that case, you might have to be the teacher.”

Waverly jumped up and raced to her closet. It had a sliding door, and when she threw it open, Seren saw her clothes were hung neatly, ordered by color. The shelves to the one side had shoes on the top, then a row of books in the next one, and on the bottom, a small stack of board games. She tugged at the box with the plastic chess set until it popped out.

“I can do that! I’m a good teacher! I showed the kids at daycare. They aren’t very good, though. Not as good as me.”

“I won’t be nearly as good as you, I can promise you that.”

She shrugged. “That’s okay. You’ll try hard, I know.”

Seren grinned at Waverly’s faith in her. They’d get along just fine. Waverly wasn’t only eager to learn, she was enthusiastic about sharing her own knowledge. She’d be an easygoing, kind, patient instructor.

Waverly started to set up the chessboard, but paused. Her smile turned into a huge grin. “Tea!”

Seren whipped her head around and caught Rome standing in the doorway with a child’s tea set. He’d prepared three pink cups and included the pink teapot with flowers. There even appeared to be a sugar bowl and creamer, and a plate with cookies.

Three cups.

Was he going to join them?

For as long as she lived, Seren was certain she wouldn’t be able to erase the image of him standing there holding a pink tea tray, dressed entirely in black and scowling as per usual. It seemed like an advertisement, or a token movie made just for little girls.

Waverly clapped her hands. “Yay! I was going to teach Seren how to play chess. Maybe you should explain. You’re better at it.”

Rome was going to refuse. That was obvious.

He didn’t. He set the tea tray down right on the carpet and sat behind it, folding his legs in. “Tea first, milady, and then we expand our mental states, yes?”

His fake posh accent sent Waverly into a fit of giggles and just about gave Seren a heart attack.

She’d anticipated that Monday nights would give her the most trouble. They’d be dark and dangerous. She had no defense against this new sneak attack. Fatherhood and love in action.

Sundays were also going to be a day she had to guard herself against.

She might get attached to Waverly, and that was okay, but she could never take things any further than that. Crushing on a hard, brutal, unyielding, nightmare of a man was out of the question.

Chapter 6

Rome

Dumb things happened sometimes. For instance, a ninety-year-old woman who decided to change lanes going forty miles an hour without looking. Right into him.

Even through the hazy state of shock, the shivers that racked his body as the bike lay on top of him, impossibly heavy, his body numb and weak, too weak to move it off and get up, he wondered how on earth she hadn’t heard the loud rumble of his motorcycle. The growl was enough to shake the asphalt under him whenever he came to a stop.

Right. Because she was ninety.

And currently standing over him with bright seafoam green pants hiked up into a crisp white blouse with lace at the collar. She was the total granny package down to her wild and fuzzy white hair, thick eyeglasses, and the dentures she chomped back and forth in her mouth.

“Oh lord. Goodness me. Oh shoot. Dang. What can I do? Are you dead, son? That bike looks awful heavy. There’s so much blood. Your leg doesn’t look good. It’s… oh sweet lord, it’s twisted up under there.”

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