Page 11 of Betrayed By the Wolf

“To be my nanny, I mean,” he went on. “Please don’t give up yet?”

He looked at her with those puppy-dog eyes she knew so well, the ones he employed whenever he needed to get out of trouble. They’d always worked. She couldn’t help falling into them even when she knew better.

Apologies had never been difficult for Rami. He’d offered them up the moment things had gotten heated, and he’d usually taken the blame, too. Always a martyr. It might have cooled off their fights, but it also kept them from ever really talking about the important stuff. There was no way to work through things when someone just wanted to shut down the conversation entirely.

“I don’t think I’m cut out for it.” She looked away from his deep brown eyes and up at the stars.

Ram’s tone was a challenge, taunting her. “The Vera I know wouldn’t give up so easily. Are you really going to run away before you can prove that your schedule system is superior to my seat-of-the-pants method?”

She knew what he was doing, but damn if it didn’t work. Her eyes glinted. “Fine. I’ll give it a week. You can drive me to get my stuff in the morning.”

Vera stomped over to the car and climbed into the passenger seat like she had so many times before. It was still adjusted to her liking, like he hadn’t had anyone else in it since they’d broken up. But that was impossible. He must have been dating or at least sleeping with others since then. A man as good-looking as Rami didn’t have to spend a night alone unless he wanted to.

The thought made her curl her fingers into the leather seat. She didn’t like picturing him with anyone else. He was her mate.And then he rejected you.It was pathetic, humiliating, and painful. But his hand around the gear stick made her mouth run dry, remembering his touch on her thigh before he’d pulled her onto his lap and taken her right there in the driver’s seat.

“What were you looking at?” He asked, interrupting her thoughts before they carried her away. “Was there something in the woods?”

She leaned her forehead against the cool glass of the window and tried to recall what she’d seen in the woods. It had been more of a feeling than anything else. A scent on the wind that didn’t belong.

“Maybe. I couldn’t tell. Could’ve just been a rabbit.” She shifted in her seat, bringing her knees up to her chin. Normally, he’d scold her for putting her dirty shoes on the leather, but he must have really needed a nanny because he kept quiet, even though his mouth tightened to a thin line. “What got you all upset at work?”

He didn’t answer, the silence stretching until she grew suspicious. Rami was an awful liar. Stories didn’t jump to the tip of his tongue when he needed them, and she could tell he was scrambling for one now. There was something he was hiding from her. Was it another woman?

“Are you seeing someone else?” She pressed.

Rami scoffed. “With all my free time? No, I’m not, and I don’t know what that has to do with anything.”

“Well, there’s something you’re not telling me, and knowing you, it’s because you think I won’t like it. Not to mention the way you practically stalked me in your car. Totally normal behavior.”

“Maybe I just didn’t want to handle the night shift on my own.” He waved toward the backseat where Jessa was sleeping. “Couldn’t that be it?”

“Is it?” She didn’t relent.

Poking at Rami’s defenses was the closest she ever felt to him, when she pressed and pressed until he had no choice but to be honest and show that despite what he wanted to believe, he did actually have feelings.

“No.” He sighed, seeming to finally accept that she wasn’t just going to let it go. “The wolf curse has made it to our borders.”

Vera knew of the curse. Her pack was looking into it but it had felt like a distant threat, something they had plenty of time to deal with. Now, it was at their doorstep. Thoughts of Moira and Cora trapped in wolf form, forgetting who they were, filled her mind. Of Jessa, so vulnerable, stuck as a pup.

“Rami,” she gasped, ashamed of the way fear made her reach for him.

He didn’t push her away as she slipped her arm beneath his and leaned her head against his shoulder. Her fears were reflected in his eyes.

“I know,” he said, glancing down at her from the corner of his eye. “Please just stay close until we know what’s going on. Please.”

She knew she shouldn’t. But Rami’s hand squeezed her thigh, and her refusal died on her lips.

Chapter 6 - Rami

“Vera,” Rami looked up from his cup of coffee, scowling. “What are you wearing?”

It was early and Jessa was still asleep in her crib, leaving Rami a few quiet moments with his caffeine fix, the baby monitor at his side. Vera peered down at herself.

“Pajamas?” She shrugged, reaching for the coffee pot.

He took a slow breath in and out, prying his eyes away from her perfect skin and long, lean legs. The silk pajama set she was wearing left little to the imagination, clinging to the peaks of her nipples and hugging the curve of her ass, and he wanted to slide his hands underneath it. She’d always felt so good in his hands.

Dammit.She had to know what she was doing. As she reached up high to grab down a mug her top rode up, revealing a strip of moon-pale skin at her lower back. Rami’s dick responded eagerly. It had been too long since he’d last had sex, and the sight of his mate—no, not his mate anymore—half naked in his kitchen was too much to handle.

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