Page 2 of Wolf Forgotten

"Ivy... that's how I got my name. I was abandoned in a fucking ivy bush." I put my face in my hands. "Why didn't they tell me? How could they not tell me about something like this?"

Riley leaned against the desk and sighed. If anyone had some perspective on why parents kept important, life-altering secrets, it was her. "Would it have mattered if you'd known?"

I moved my hands and looked at the three papers. "It's who I am. I could have a whole other family out there. There could be genetic abnormalities or illnesses that I need to know about." I bit my lip to stop myself from bursting into tears in front of Riley. I'd drowned her in my tears enough already.

"Youcouldhave another family out there somewhere." She stood and then leaned down to wrap her arms around me. "But is it a smart idea to try to find them? Especially right now after losing your parents?"

Probably not, but what did I have to lose?

Chapter One

Ivy

Istood from my seat and held my shot glass in the air, the clear liquid threatening to spill over the rim. Maybe toasting with shots wasn't the best idea. “The last eight months would not have been the same for me without Richard. He's been the most reliable colleague and friend any of us could ask for. Cheers on your retirement, old man!”

Shouts and laughs went up around the table, and we threw back the tequila shots. I grabbed my beer and washed down the burning sensation as Richard began making his way around the table, saying his goodbyes.

When he got to me, he scooped me into a bear hug, lifting me off the ground before putting me back down. “Do you really have to retire? What am I going to do without you?”

"Probably get yourself into a whole heck of a lot more trouble." He laughed and squeezed my arm before making his way around the table to the other researchers and employees from our facility.

I had only worked for the Northern California Alliance Against Climate Change for eight months, but it felt like much longer. Richard was the chief engineer and helicopter pilot, flying us out to remote locations to collect soil samples for our research. His retirement left a gaping hole in the company. Qualified pilots with an engineering background were hard to come by. Especially ones that wanted to work in the middle of nowhere for chump change.

Originally, I had moved to Arbor Falls to figure out who I was after my adoptive parents died in a car accident, but I ended up falling in love with the town and the people, so I stayed.

I was no closer to figuring out why I was abandoned and by who. The town was less than five thousand people, but no one knew who had abandoned the gray-eyed baby with fiery red hair and a cry loud enough to make a man's nuts retract. I knew enough about genetics to know that my birth parents might not have had red hair themselves, but it still didn't stop me from staring at every single redhead I came across.

Our going away party wrapped up as the older members of our team left to go home to their families for the evening, leaving three of us—who happened to be the three youngest— to inevitably drink too much.

Reid slung his arm over Jessica’s shoulder and called the waitress over to our corner. “We’ll take three more shots of tequila and another pitcher of beer.”

Jessica let out a small groan and laced her fingers with Reid’s. “I'm going to have such a bad hangover. Tequila is not my friend.”

Reid and Jessica had been together longer than I had worked for Northern Alliance. At work, they kept it professional, but the second they stepped out the door for the day, they were all over each other.

Being the only three without families and under thirty, we typically hung out after work, either going to the gym, drinking, or hanging out at each other's houses.

Living in what I considered to be the country had taken some getting used to. I grew up and went to school in a small town off the coast of California, but everything was so close by. The small-town life of Arbor Falls had been a culture shock to me, but a good one.

Well, besides the fact they didn't have In-N-Out, which was unacceptable. I never told anyone, but I drove almost an hour one way a few times just to have it.

“There’s a guy at the bar who hasn’t taken his eyes off of you since we’ve been here.” Reid’s voice held a hint of a challenge as he passed out our shots. Reid and Jessica often tried to play matchmaker, rather unsuccessfully.

“I know.” I’d felt him watching me earlier and had snuck a peek in that direction a few times. “I don't like picking up men in bars or coffee shops, you know that.”

I drank my shot and chased it with a gulp of beer. I still could only feel a slight buzz. Everyone said they were jealous of my ability to drink the biggest male under the table, but really, it was a curse that had to be a twisted gift from my biological parents.

“I don't see a ring.” Jessica glanced over my shoulder to the bar and then looked back at me with a grin. “You should go for it. He’s pretty hot.”

"Guys like him are either married or are at a bar just to pick up women." I admit, I was a bit jaded in the men department.

I braved a glance in his direction, and his brown eyes stared back at me before he looked down at his phone that was on the bar.

My breath caught in my throat, and I wanted him to look back up. He was the definition of handsome, with dark hair and tan skin. He seemed to be tall too, and his boots looked to be a good size—not that a big foot meant anything.

Had he been looking at me, or was it just a coincidence?

I put my forehead in my hand and groaned. "It's been too long since I hit on a guy, and that one looks like he's an ass kicker and panty ripper."

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