Page 14 of Age Gap Wolf's Second Chance Mate

We both silently watch as the rescue crew and the cops do their jobs and then, she pushes back from me and stares me down. Is she still upset with me?

She gives me a small playful frown. “When are you going to propose to me, Jonah? Don’t you think it’s time?”

Chapter Ten

Mara

“Are you sure you want that, Mara?” he asks.

“I’m not afraid of you. I’m not afraid of you human and I’m not afraid of you wolf.” I know that isn’t what he means at all. I know he’s talking about being older than me. I’m hoping my intentionally misinterpreting him will make it clear that I think that’s ludicrous.”

“That’s not what I’m saying. I mean.”

“I know what you mean. Shut up. Stop asking me like I’m a child. If I’m old enough for you to stick your dick in one of my holes, I’m old enough to make decisions about my own life.” Wow. Holy moly. I’m never this… um…

Bitchy.

Bitchy, I guess.

“I don’t think you…”

“You’re damned right you don’t think. You don’t think correctly, anyway. You spend all day every day in your fucking head and you decide how I must feel, what I must want, and what I do or don’t understand. You treat every orgasm like something you ought to feel guilty about. You’re a fucking idiot.”

“I’m just trying to…”

“You’re trying to be some noble, self-sacrificing hero. You’re a fucking idiot.” I turn away and he starts to go after me but right then, a police officer calls him. He can’t follow me but before I walk away, I say, “And the shifter lifespan is very long. You’re going to outlive me, which kind of makes your whole argument about the age gap stupid as fuck, too.”

Then I walk away.

I feel like I’m in a dream and not in real life. I don’t know how to explain it but I see a police car heading down the street and ask if he’s going down off the mountain. He is. “My ride will be stuck here a while because he’s…”

“I know who he is and what he did,” the officer says. He’s a little older than me and very respectful in tone. “And I know what you did, too, Ma’am.”

I blush a little and say, “If you could drive me far enough to where I can call for a taxi or a rideshare, that would be great.”

“I’ll drive you all the way home,” he says, “even if home is three states away. My girlfriend’s little brother was on that bus.” An hour and a half later, I wave goodbye to him as he pulls out of my driveway. I feel strong, you know. I feel like I stood my ground and called Jonah out on his damned obsession about our age gap.

I’m strong.

Powerful.

I’m a woman who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to make it clear.

Yeah, until I get through the door.

Once I’m through the door, I collapse onto the floor crying like a baby. All of my bluster and strength disappear out the window. I mean, it’s all-out ugly crying. It’s crazy to think that I saw him become a wolf and then helped him save all those kids but then had all of this happen.

I cry for about a half hour before I finally lift myself to my feet and make my way to my bedroom. I want to just collapse onto my bed but I force myself to take a shower first. It’s a smart move. I go from desolate and devastated to numb.

Numb feels better.

Well, it doesn’t feel at all, and that’s the point. I’m about to crawl into the bed but I don’t want to. I decide to go to the office instead. I can lose myself in work and get some things organized I’ve been putting off. My parents’ filing system was very poorly designed, and I’ve been waiting for a chance to fix it.

Now’s a good time.

Hell, now is a good time for anything that distracts me.

I get dressed slowly, trying to focus on the work ahead of me and not the dumb shifter firefighter idiot I left behind. Fuck, why doesn’t he just grow up? Who the fuck is going to care about some stupid age difference if we don’t care?

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