Page 31 of My Blind Date is a Werewolf

“I know what I saw!” he roared, pushing me down on the couch and looming over me. “Your boyfriend transformed into an ugly, reddish-brown beast. And the man he killed? He was a monster too. The two of them tore through the forest, pinning each other down until your sweetheart tore his throat out.” He wrapped his hand around my throat to emphasize his point. I tried to knee him in the groin and failed miserably.

“Get off me!” I grunted, thrashing around and trying to kick at him.

“You may refuse to see it, but I am going to save you. Once you see what kind of man—if he can be called that—Adrian Cooper really is, you’ll thank me.”

He hauled me up and removed the bindings from my hands. “Here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to call him over here without letting him know what’s happening. And then you’ll see… You’ll see…”

Dustin held my phone out to me. When I reached for it, he pulled it back. “Remember, no funny business or my finger might just slip and pull the trigger,” Dustin threatened, aiming the gun at my head. I could have pointed out that shooting me in the head would defeat his purpose of protecting me from Adrian, but I quite loved my head and decided against testing his supposed love for me.

“I get it,” I said, holding my hand out, palm up.

He reluctantly placed my phone on my hand and demanded I call Adrian on loudspeaker. I brought up Adrian’s contact on my phone and stared at it, wondering how to warn him that he’d be walking into a trap.

“Go ahead, call him. Remember to put him on loudspeaker,” Dustin urged.

My hands trembled as the phone rang. Part of me wished he wouldn’t pick up, and I almost cried when he did answer after three rings.

“Hey, darling. I'm twenty minutes away from town. But I want to go home and shower and change. I should be by your place in about an hour,” he said before I got the chance to say anything. Dustin rolled his eyes but gestured for me to talk to him.

Think, Olivia, think! How do I hint at what’s going on here without tipping Dustin off? “Hey, glad to hear that. Don’t forget to pick up some air freshener.”

Adrian gave a little snorting laugh. “What?”

“See! I knew you’d forget,” I said, trying to keep my tone light and teasing. “Remember, there was a weird smell in the house? It’s back. I need you to do something about it.”

Adrian was quiet for so long, I was afraid Dustin was going to get suspicious. Or worse, that Adrian was going to ask me for some kind of confirmation that Dustin was with me.

Thankfully, my man was smarter than that.

“Dang it, I did forget,” he said with a chuckle. “Do you like something flowery like lavender or citrus like lemon?”

“Surprise me,” I said. “But be quick about it. I miss you.”

Dustin groaned and mouthed that I needed to hang up. With Adrian’s enhanced hearing, I hoped he’d heard the groan and would know for sure I wasn’t alone.

“I miss you too, darling,” he said.

With a sigh I ended the call and tossed the phone aside. “Happy now?” I asked, crossing my arms and sticking my hip out in obvious annoyance.

“I could have done without the sweet talk,” he said moodily.

I rolled my eyes. “I had to keep it realistic, right?”

He sighed, accepting my excuse. “Fine. Now we sit and wait.”

CHAPTER 21

ADRIAN

Adrian

I pulled along Olivia’s street, my headlights off, and stopped far enough away that Dustin wouldn’t hear the truck’s engine. I had originally told Oliva that I would be there in an hour, but after what she said about the weird smell, I knew she was in trouble. I gunned it and made it to her place in fifteen minutes. Her house was the only one along the street with the front lights off. I’d never been so terrified before, and it wasn’t my life that was in danger. If anything happened to Olivia…

“Relax, man,” Logan said reassuringly. “Between all of us, that twerp isn’t coming out alive. Heck, you could have come alone and ripped him to shreds.” He was in the passenger seat, having ridden up to visit the Greendale wolf pack with me as my second, my Beta. After getting that call from Olivia, he’d been the one to stop me from rushing up to her house, guns blazing. If it were up to me, I would have kicked through that door and Dustin Rathinger’s blood would be staining my teeth by now. My mouth watered at the thought. But Logan convinced me to bring in the pack, just to be safe. They had all run over to Olivia’s as soon as I called them. The pack members I was able to get ahold of on such short notice, including my brother, were hanging out in the neighborhood, waiting for my signal. Some of the pack were still in their human forms, sitting on porches or in cars, acting like totally normal neighbors. Other pack members were in wolf form, stalking the area so stealthily that only another wolf would know they were there. They were hiding in shadows, in bushes, completely invisible to the human eye. At best, they would only be acting as witnesses in case law enforcement tried to kick up a fuss. At worse… Well, there might not be anything left for law enforcement to find. Olivia and I were not technically bonded yet, but the mating bond was there—nascent but strong. And now that I was tapping into it, I could feel her fear. But more than that, her anger and courage were burning hot. The pack already recognized her as mine, as the other half of the Alpha pair, and would gladly lay down their lives for her.

Over the last few days, I was beginning to see a glimmer of understanding in Olivia’s eyes about who she was to me, and I’d been planning to talk to her about it once I got back from this trip. The bond was wide open on my side. The wolf and I were only waiting for her to completely accept us.

“I know, I just didn’t want her to see this side of me…at least until this was a done deal.” There was no way Dustin was coming out alive. He’d forfeited his normal human rights by holding one of us hostage. If he harmed a single head on Olivia’s hair, the only thing waiting for him was death.

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