Page 6 of Betrayed By the Wolf

Vera glanced around the shabby house, cluttered with knickknacks accumulated over generations, like she might find some excuse for why she couldn’t go. Her schedule was entirely empty. Chances were high that once he interviewed her and realized no, she hadn’t been downplaying her experience, he’d send her home, but at least she could say she tried. Maybe that’d be enough to get whatever baby-crazy phase she was going through out of her system.

She typed out her response, squashing the internal voice that kept asking if she was really doing this. While she waited for his reply, she searched for her most nanny-like clothes. Most of her wardrobe contained scrubs, but she found a plain T-shirt and a pair of dark-wash jeans for a casual look.

His next reply came through, and she leaped for her phone. Her hands shook, blurring the screen slightly. He’d sentan address, the local park, to meet at and suggested a time only an hour away. Desperate. Maybe hewouldn’tsay no. That thought was almost more frightening than him rejecting her.

See you there,she sent. Pulling on a pair of ankle boots and a lined jacket, she headed out. Walking to the park, rather than driving, would give her body something to do other than worry.

She tilted her face up to catch the sun, the promise of warmer air to come. Spring was there in the puddles of snow melting, dotting the grass and the tight knots of buds on the trees. Her wolf blood beckoned her like a siren’s call. But it was too easy to sink into that form lately, where emotions were dulled, and the simplicity of animal life was tempting as ambrosia.

Recently, there had been rumors of a curse afflicting werewolves. The curse trapped shifters in their wolf forms until they seemed to forget their human lives, abandoning even their packs to find a new home in the wilderness. Her pack, the Rosewoods, had begun an investigation into the rumors, pairing up with the Silversands, whose territory abutted their own.

While they hadn’t personally been targeted by the curse, Vera was wary of shifting too often in light of the rumor. Though perhaps it wouldn’t be the worst thing. Jobless, loveless, without even her sister to care for, she wasn’t a far cry from a purposeless beast.

She kicked a pile of slush and watched the crystals break and scatter over the sidewalk. If only that bastard hadn’t dumped her. Until then, she’d been holding it together, even with Moira’s move and the pressures of work. Then he’d broken her. Not her heart, of course, but her resilience.

And she’d never forgive him for it. She almost wondered if he’d pursued her just to break her down, but couldn’t imagine what his end goal was. She’d never done anything to give him reason for a vendetta against her.

Putting thoughts of Rami aside, she stopped in front of Hot Shots, the local cafe. Before entering, she looked through the large glass windows that made up the front wall, checking to make sure neither Moira nor Rami were inside, well aware that she looked insane. As long as they weren’t in the bathrooms, she was clear.

Jonah waved from his spot behind the counter. It was unavoidable running into Moira’s mate, given that he worked as a barista there, but he’d been surprisingly silent on the Moira front. He probably knew better than to stick himself in the middle of a fight between sisters.

“Hey Vera, how’s it going?” He asked, already getting her usual order ready.

“Fine,” she lied the biggest of lies, right to his face.

Nothing was fine. She was freaking out. Her life was being flushed down the drain; she was about to meet a stranger in a park, and she maybe wanted to be a mom? An inane little laugh bubbled out of her before she could stop it.

He took an extra step back, putting more space between them. “O-okay. Maybe only three shots today? You seem a little keyed up. Maybe.”

Vera forced her face into less of a rictus. “Jonah, if you give me fewer than four shots, I will reach across this counter and—“

“Got it, got it!” He pulled another shot into her travel mug and topped it off with hot water. “One extra-strong Americano for the woman who is totally fine.”

She glared at him. “I am fine. Perfectly fine.”

No doubt he would report all of this back to Moira. The last thing she needed was him to give her more reasons to call.

“This one is on the house.” Jonah waved her credit card away. “Look, Moira went by your place the other day and… well, it’s not your place anymore, is it?”

The pure gentleness and concern in his voice almost broke her. She felt her lip tremble in a horrifying fashion.

“I can’t talk about this right now. I’ve got an appointment to get to.” She fled the cafe, hot coffee spilling out of her mug.

Vera hurried to the park, head down, eyes on the ground where she wouldn’t accidentally meet the gaze of anyone walking by. She didn’t know what her face might reveal, and she could hardly trust herself not to cry.Cry.Like she was a child.

She spotted the man waiting beside the playground, his back to her as he rocked back and forth, the motion of someone soothing a baby. But she didn’t need to see his face to recognize him. His black hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, and he was bizarrely tall, the sort of tall that meant he had to bend going through doorways. Rami.

Just as she was about to leave, he turned. His arms stilled, and his mouth opened.

“Vera?”

“Rami.” She crossed her arms over her chest. Fury welled in her. Her name in his mouth felt like an assault.

And what was he doing with a baby? He was moving toward her and she was frozen in place, reeling. Was it a niece? Had he ever mentioned a sibling who might have left him with a child to care for? Had some tragedy happened, something that might explain not just the child but the sudden breakup?

“Please, don’t go,” Rami said, when he got close enough that her body finally, finally, realized the imminent threat and let her move. “I really need help.”

It was obviously true. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks. “So you posted an ad?”

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