Page 8 of Claiming His Virgin Mate

Her mind wandered back to her sister. Maggie was so proud of her. Joelle had learned to spot the signs, and once her Change began, she’d run off before anyone could see her in her fur. Apparently, another girl pushed her during soccer warm-ups and her Wolf objected. Loudly.

She’d destroyed her clothes in the process and couldn’t sneak back on campus without being seen. Thank goodness she’d managed to grab her backpack, which held her cell phone before she’d taken off, but of course it died before she could say exactly where she was hiding.

Anyway, that fiasco took up quite a bit of time. Then she’d had to go speak to the human principal who was not in on the whole Maccon-City-is-basically-a-Wolf-Shifter-town thing and explain to the man why her sister shouldn’t get detention for skipping class.

Sigh. What a day. And it wasn’t even six yet.

“I assure you,” she interrupted the little cretin whose name she hardly thought worthy of remembering, “I know all about responsibility. Now if you are done being all condescending for the moment, I think it is my turn to talk. Now, I made the payments. I have the cancelled checks right here,” she shoved them at him.

“These were not cashed here. Look at this number in the back,” he held it up to her, “These do not match our bank’s depository accounts. I am sorry, Ms. Flint, but there is nothing more to be done.”

“What are you saying? Use small words, because I am dangerously close to losing my shit,” she growled, and watched his face blanch before he continued.

“I am saying your loan has been sold. It will be up to the new owners to tell you when you must vacate. Now, if you want to see law enforcement with those check stubs, be my guest, but I am telling you from what I know those checks were deposited in offshore accounts. And to be honest, Miss Flint, if I were a police officer, you would be the first person I looked at as a potential thief.”

“Thank you for your honesty, Mr. really? Your name is Cox?” she laughed, reading his nameplate, “Well, again, thank you for the chat, and while you are at it, Mr. Cox, why don’t you go fuck yourself!”

Maggie slammed the door on the way out, and while it closed with a satisfying thwack, she still left the bank in a daze.

Her drive home was much the same. Thank goodness for her reliable little Camry, since she had no idea how she got back to the inn. Couldn’t recall a single traffic light or stop sign.

“Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!” she screamed and slammed her hands on the steering wheel before sobs overcame her.

What the hell were they going to do now? Hands trembling, she grabbed the Macconwood Pack Alpha’s business card and dialed the number.

“Mr. Maccon? It’s Maggie Flint. I need your help.”

A few hours later…

“Hey sis. How’d it go? Snag a date on the way home?” Joelle asked between mouthfuls of mac and cheese.

It was the young Wolf Shifter’s favorite go-to-dish, and she was becoming quite good at preparing it from scratch. Complete with diced pieces of crispy uncured bacon and delicately seasoned panko breadcrumbs toasted on top.

The succulent aroma made Maggie’s stomach growl, and Joelle giggled as she passed her older sister a bowl. But could she keep anything down? That was the real question.

“OMG, this smells good.”

“Well?” Joelle waited.

“Well, what?”

“You and a man. A real one. On a date. Is it happening or what?”

“Jo-Jo, really? A date? Is that all you can think about?”

“You know, most girls my age are already having sex-”

“Joelle April Flint, please do not tell me you’ve been having sex of any kind. After the day I’ve had, I really don’t know if I could handle that right now,” she growled the words.

“Ew, like no way, Mags,” Joelle looked at her like she was nuts, “First of all, sex sounds really gross. It’s like smelly and squishy and penises are ugly as hell.”

“OMG, Joelle, really?”

“They are! They’re like veiny and weirdly shaped.”

“How do you even know this?”

“Dick pics are a thing, Mags. Get with it. You have seenone,right?”

---