Page 39 of Broken Wolf

“And it’s also knowing they’re going to bully you because you’re gorgeous.” I snorted when she blinked at me. “Baby girl, you are gorgeous. You are an exotic beauty from Europe like boys around here don’t see. You are going to have every hormonal male chasing after you. Do not listen to them at all. They will assume you are dumb and uneducated prey.”

“I’m not prey,” she snarled.

“No, no, you are not, and you smell bullshit from a mile away,” I said with a smirk. “But you don’t make enemies. You don’t call them on their lies and shit. You will make enemies and trouble for the pack. Don’t take bullying or them touching you, but you don’t call a guy out on lies.”

“I don’t understand the difference,” she hedged.

I blew out a slow breath and glanced at Felix. “Don’t lose your shit, Dad.” I waited until he nodded, noting the way he crossed his arms over his chest. “A boy will ask you to go for a drive and you’ll smell the lie. He wants more than to go for a drive. Don’t call him on that. He wants your body. That’s normal teenage stuff. Just say no and dodge. You know what I mean?”

“This is more complicated than I realized,” she grumbled.

“It was for me as just a human too,” I assured her. “Being a teenager is rough no matter the species, and we have it a hundred times harder as girls.” I rubbed her hand again. “You’ll figure it out just fine though. I’ll give you the right numbers and you guys stick together. The male wolves at your high school will help as well. You guys are the team to protect and shield.”

“Thank you, Alpha.”

“Always. I know this is a lot and overwhelming, but it’s a great chance for you to have a better life too. Heal and breathe a bit better.” I pulled my card out of my pocket and gave it to her. “And I’m always available as an auntie to help. I’m not good at the girl stuff because I didn’t get a lot of it in high school and avoided people, but I know who to get you to, okay?”

She took it and jumped to her feet, giving me a huge hug. “Thank you, Alpha Sera. It’s been so hard to know who to talk to and how not to fail. Some of the girls were talking about getting fairy clothes for the first day since they’re all over social media and popular, but that could cause more problems and Dad hates fashion and—”

“It’s hard to navigate for all of us,” I assured her, kissing her hair. “And I don’t know the answer to that one. You could start more trouble for sure. Maybe for school pictures? Simone would be more in the loop and could help. I’m not in the loop of fashion or any of that.”

She leaned back and frowned. “But you have a clothing company.”

I snickered. “I just put up the money.” I shrugged when Felix chuckled.

I didn’t handle any of that.

When would I have time?

But it would be good for them to wear the cute hoodies and more to support Siren’s Kiss and be cool. We could make that happen.

Right? Or was that bad for high schoolers?

Yeah, Simone needed to get involved on that side, but I was glad to help bridge this issue between them before I left.

11

Friday night, I was back in Chicago and to work. Of all the reports that came across my desk, one caught my eye that I wanted to check out myself because of the potential backlash if something was really there.

Or more so if it was a trap.

Which I was always paranoid enough to consider… But it was only being paranoid if I was wrong, and most times I wasn’t.

I arranged for us to meet the next morning at a popular breakfast spot in Naperville and promised I wouldn’t look like me so it wouldn’t be a problem. I saw him when he walked in and walked right up to him and hugged him like we were old friends, kissing his cheek and asking how his family was before telling the hostess my party had arrived.

She seated us right away and left us with menus.

“I would never have thought it was you,” he muttered, staring at me as I looked over my options.

“That’s kind of the point,” I chuckled. “My security is here throughout the restaurant as well, and you won’t recognize them either. So know if this is a setup—”

“It’s not. I swear it’s not, and I appreciate you going through all of this to keep me safe,” he muttered, scratching his cheek.

Carter nodded from where I could see him at the table catty-corner from me. Whatever was going on was legit. He was sitting with Eva who had demanded to come and help with more “fun spy work.”

Whatever made the ancient wolf amused when she visited.

“So tell me what you think is going on,” I told him when he didn’t say anything for a few minutes. I held him off and smiled, our server approaching us. At the last second, I remembered to order like a human and not draw attention. “Hi, I’ll have the strawberry crepes with a side of crispy bacon and an iced caramel latte with soy milk if you have it?”

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