Page 75 of Wolf's Mark

“Apparently not.”

I managed to sit up, groaning the entire time. When I looked at my clock, I winced. Not from the bright light streaming in from the open blinds, but from seeing the time. There was little I hated worse than being late.

Then again, I was the boss. I could do whatever I wanted to do. Plus, the night hadn’t gone quite like I’d thought.

There was also the other thing I had to deal with.

“By the way, you look like shit.”

Glaring at Mattie had become a pastime. “Thank you very much, little Miss Perky One. You’re all happy.”

“Well, I might have a date tonight myself.”

I crawled off the bed, able to hear the television set. “What? You work fast.”

“Texting, girl. I told you to try it. We’ll see if he calls at the allotted time. If not, I’ll blow him off.”

“Don’t you think you’re a little too rigid about the men in your life?” My head was killing me from anxiety.

“Never. You can’t get attached to one man unless you’ve tasted a few dozen. I’m going to grab Britney some cereal for breakfast. I’m leaving after that, so make yourself the perky one, Ms. Grumpy.”

She walked out of my room after blowing me a kiss.

Exhaling, I glanced in the mirror as soon as I entered the bathroom. Yup. I did look like shit. What bothered me was that I couldn’t stop thinking about everything Agent Drummand had told me, including her warning. Why had the FBI gotten me involved without issuing the warning first?

Well, duh. Because anyone with a sound mind, which I obviously did not have, would have told the bastards to take a hike.

After all they’d put me through, I still wasn’t positive they’d gotten anything from the work I’d performed other than affirmation something weird had killed them.

I splashed water in my face and quickly brushed my teeth, trying to figure out a plan from here. That wasn’t easy. My thoughts centered on something that seemed… impossible.

Hey, what could be any more impossible than learning there were werewolves?

Giggling almost hysterically also wasn’t my style, but everything had changed in the last few days. The one thing I knew without a doubt was that I couldn’t put Britney’s life in danger. I had to make arrangements to keep her safe. Me? Well, what was wrong with a few claw marks on my skin?

You need a shower and a lobotomy.

Both were true.

I bounded from the room, literally smashing into the refrigerator door as Mattie opened it.

“Ouch,” she said. “What is up with you? How was Mr. Hunk? You need to tell me juicy details.”

I shifted my gaze toward Britney who hadn’t noticed I’d come into the room. Mattie had allowed her to watch her favorite Disney movie before school.

“I don’t know what to tell you. He was everything fantasies are made of. Will that do?”

She narrowed her eyes as she placed the carton of milk on the counter. “You don’t know, or you refuse to tell me? No fair. That’s like tossing a cookie crumb to an elephant.”

“It’s not that. I just… I don’t know him and I don’t think he’s good for me.”

“Why and in what lifetime? I saw the way he was looking at you. Like you’d be perfect on a silver platter with an apple in your mouth.”

“No, he did not, and it’s just a hunch.” Why did her words have such an effect on me? I had tiny shivers dancing all through my body.

“Honey,” she said gently. “You don’t trust any man right now, but that’s not fair to Mr. McHotness. What does your gut say?”

I hated that my gut said the same as other body parts. “That I want to be with him, but it’s so fast.”

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