Page 16 of Redeemed Wolf

“I think I might have something a little more… exciting for you next week. Our tissue samples are running low, and I could really use your help in retrieving a fresh supply. What do you say?”

“I say hell yeah,” I replied, smiling when I remembered the way Dr. Gray’s blood had looked spilled across the lab floor. Eric’s turn was coming, and it was that certainty that carried me through the tasks for the day.

I didn’t even bother trying to get close to Carter today. Instead, I focused on getting out of the building before he did. I went through my usual routine of chatting with Greg for a couple minutes on the way out, but he was subdued and not in the moodto talk. It was Friday, which normally would’ve meant going out for drinks, but without Melissa, was there any point?

Saying our good nights, I pulled out onto the highway, but I didn’t go far. I pulled into a farm supply lot, parking between two trucks, and waited. I didn’t have to wait long before I saw a familiar blue SUV coming down the highway. I backed out of my spot, then slid back out onto the highway behind Carter, leaving several cars between us.

I hoped he wasn’t as paranoid as Eric was, or this was a good way to expose myself.

Though it was still light out, the moon had begun its ascent in the sky, and I could feel its pull. It was nearing full, and maybe that was what made me reckless enough to enact my plan.

I was planning to stage a meet-cute. It always seemed to work in the movies, so…

If Carter had decided to go straight home, I would’ve been out of luck, forced to wait another day, but instead, he turned into a grocery store parking lot, and I blew out a gust of air. I’d been wrestling with my wolf, forcing patience on us both, but now that it was time to take action, my stomach roiled with what most would describe as butterflies, but in reality felt more like I’d kicked a hornets’ nest.

Turning off the car, I waited until Carter was inside, a wadded-up fabric bag in his fist. Then I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dropped it into the cupholder. There would be no listening in for Eric and his cronies—at least not on my side.

I jogged inside, grabbing a cart from the stacked row. I needed to make it look like I was shopping after work, same as Carter. Nothing suspicious going on here.

Following the scent of burnt marshmallows, I charged down the adjacent aisle with my cart, trying to time it strategically for maximum effect. I grabbed food off the shelves indiscriminately without looking at what it was. Didn’t matter. Then I paused justa second before I came careening around the corner as if I were in a hurry.

“Oh, shit!” Carter hissed, jumping back in time to avoid being run over, and I jerked the cart to the side at the last second, clipping a display of diapers, sending a cascade of boxes tumbling across the floor.

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. That part was an accident. Why the hell were there diapers in the dairy section? “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there.” I bent down and started grabbing boxes to stack in the display.

I wouldn’t have blamed Carter if he kept walking, but instead, he crouched beside me and picked up a box. “No need to apologize. I wasn’t paying attention. Here, let me help.” His voice was slightly breathless, and when I looked up, he was staring right at me, not the boxes.

“Hey, I know you. You’re from Apex, right?” he asked. “Silas?”

He’d remembered my name. “Yeah. And you’re Carter.”

“Yeah.”

We both stood in front of the leaning stack of diapers, and I caught this strange vibration coming off him, that strange sour scent intensifying, sharpening my senses. There was no sign of his wolf, no flash of his eyes or the familiar echo of sameness I always got around shifters, but the air around Carter seemed to buzz against my skin, raising goosebumps all the way up my neck. I couldn’t look away—my beast wouldn’t let me. For better or worse, my wolf was enthralled with him.

Carter rocked back and forth on his heels, searching for something to say. “So… what are you making for dinner tonight?” He peeked into my cart, his eyebrow arching, a dimple appearing as he smiled, pulling out a box of children’s cereal. “Breakfast of champions?”

That glimpse of mischief in his grin made my wolf stagger. “It’s not for me,” I said, rubbing a hand over the back of my neck.

“Oh… you have kids?” Was that disappointment I heard in his voice?

“I have a roommate,” I offered in answer, smiling slyly. This felt awfully close to flirting.

Carter sucked his bottom lip between his teeth, then, as he came to some decision, boldly reached his hand out between us. “I never got the chance to shake your hand.”

I chuffed a laugh and caught his hand in a shake. “It’s nice to officially meet y—” At contact, that pressure I’d been feeling in my chest seemed to pop like a bubble. My wolf went stock-still, and just like that, it was as if the puzzle pieces slotted into place with an audible click. All that pressure I’d been feeling seemed to have moved lower, and my cock began to thicken.

Carter gasped and jerked his hand free, clutching it to his chest as his eyes widened, filled with confusion. “S-sorry, I… got a shock.” We both knew that was a lie. This was far more than the release of static. His throat bobbed with a hard swallow, and he took an involuntary step back, the air ripe with the scent of his arousal. “I should… go.”

“Carter, don’t—” I started to say, reaching for him, but he turned and jogged down the aisle toward the checkout, without a backward glance. There was no way to stop him without causing a public scene.

My wolf growled, low and dangerous, as we watched him leave, and I felt the rumble of it through my chest. A woman turned to look at me with a wary expression before she set the yogurt she’d been holding back in the cooler and shuffled away toward the deli.

He didn’t like letting Carter leave without settling something between us. Because when our skin touched, it had shoved through whatever sludge he was coated in, and one thing became obvious. Carter was our mate.

I wandered the aisles of the grocery store on autopilot, not caring what kind of food I came home with. When I walked through the door to the apartment, I had no recollection of driving home.

Pacey was lying on the couch with his feet hanging off the other end, reading a paperback romance. He glanced over at me, caught one glimpse of my shredded expression, and tossed his book aside. He surged up, every muscle taut, ready for battle.

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