Page 4 of Falling for her Guardian

“You too,” he said.

She stood at the front entrance of the old hotel and looked up at the gray sky. Snow was falling, big fat flakes that covered her dark coat for a moment before melting. It was a sucky time of year to get fired, considering it was December first. But she’djust paid her rent, so at least she didn’t have to worry about that until next month.

The snow and cold temperature chilled her, so she hurried to her car and put her lunch on the floor of the back seat. She turned on the car and sat for a little bit to let it heat up before making the twenty-five-minute drive across town.

She texted her sister, Noelle.

I got fired.

Hells bells, Ser. Don’t they know it’s your birthday month?

Seren was born on Christmas Day. Easy to remember for family members, but it sucked in the gifting department with the overlap of the holiday.

I doubt they cared. They cut some long-timers too.

Are you okay?

I will be.

No, I mean $$.

She flipped the screen to the folder holding her banking apps and opened her account. She had a checking account, but she also had an emergency fund in the form of a savings account. She didn’t really want to use it, but if she had to then she had to.

I’m good for now. Hopefully I’ll find something quickly. I’m going to stop at Mom and Dad’s and update my resume. I need to use their printer.

I’ll come over after work and we can watch a movie and cajole Mom into making caramel popcorn.

Immediately her mouth watered at the thought of her mom’s caramel popcorn, crispy and sweet and studded with peanuts.

I’m in! I’ll see you there.

Her sister paused for a long moment, the screen showing the dots as she was typing out whatever she was planning to say. Then she texted,It’ll be okay. You’ll find a great job, the best one yet! And just think, it could be worse.

Seren’s brows lifted.How could it be worse?

You could still be with that jackass.

Just had to bring him up, huh?

The Jackass, otherwise known to his friends and family as Finn Draylock, future alpha of the Columbus Pack.

Sorry. It’s true, though. You might not have a job right now, but at least you’re not wondering what your boyfriend is up to and whether he’s cheating on you with she-wolf skanks.

She didn’t thinkallshe-wolves were skanks, just the ones that knew she and Finn were together and had hooked up with him anyway during one of the four full moons they’d been together.

When she’d first met Finn, she’d been enamored with the whole shifter thing, finding them mystical and powerful. In the end, he’d just been another guy who took her trust and abused it until she swore off dating shifters for the rest of her life. Humans cheated too, but at least a human wouldn’t blame the cheating on her being human or his wolfy libido.

You’re right. It’s a silver lining to the shitty day.

Love you, babe. See you in a little bit.

Love you too.

Now that her car was sufficiently warm and she had plans for the night that didn’t involve sitting in her apartment alone and staring at the walls wondering where she went wrong with her life, she was feeling a little better.

She’d feelloadsbetter once she got to her parents’ home, where the TV was always on while her dad flipped channels, and something was always cooking in the kitchen, where her mom showed the family how much she loved them by always feeding them.

Eat more, you’re wasting away to nothing! Take leftovers, take it all!

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