Page 33 of Taming the Wicked Wolf

“Emilia.”

“Hold on.” I hold up my hand.

The spirit of a goddess must have possessed me because I’m no longer afraid of Chase Reynolds, not anymore. I’m too pissed off to muster any sympathy for him. My fire burning bright beneath the surface of my skin. Frustration throwing gasoline over the flame.

This town has been nothing but hell since I got here. The sheriff’s office ignored every single one of my calls for help.Hecan’t break in when he has a key. Being at the supermarket at the same time isn’t stalking, Emmy.

I squeeze the tiny device in my hand until the plastic creaks. He must have placed it there months ago when I gave him a ride after his truck broke down. If it ever did.

I charge across the lot and rap on his window. Chase straightens, his face is as pale as the time he has food poisoning on our honeymoon. He rolls it down, continuing to stare straight ahead.

“You have made my life a living hell for far too long. I have done nothing, but play by you rules. Bend to your whims. That stops now.” I say, pushing away the sting of tears in my eyes as I wave the little GPS device in my hand. “If you have ever had a decent bone in your Gods damned body, you are going to call your dad and have him release Silas.”

Chase glances over at me out of the corner of his eye, I notice his sharp inhale as he slides his keys into the ignition. Chase Reynolds is afraid of me. No, not just that, he is afraid of what I can do. I can’t deny that I feel a little giddy at the thought.

I hold my hand up, focusing my magic on holding the keys, to keep him from starting the car, “You’re not going anywhere. Look. At. Me.”

“What the hell, Emilia?” His hands shake as he wrestles against the invisible force, his shoulders slumping as he falls back in the seat.

“You know he doesn’t belong in that jail cell.”

“Something tells me he can take care of himself.” He spits out as he turns over the engine and peels out of the parking lot so fast that I have to jump back in order to keep my foot from being smashed.

I find Carly Beth leaning against my car, her thumbs tapping against her phone. I’m lucky that the parking lot is relatively empty or else Chase might have caused more of a scene.

“Hey, do you think you could?—”

“Already done. Mark called in someone to cover your shift and Alex owes me one, so she’s gonna work a double tonight.” She says, glancing up at me.

“I can do this on my own, Carly Beth, I don’t want to get you fired.”

“Family is more than blood, and you make this job bearable.” She hesitates, holding out her phone, “I also have this.”

Carly Beth presses play on the video.

She caught Chase’s admission of guilt, a lovely and surprisingly flattering shot of my ass as I lean over the console to fish out the tracking device and, more importantly, the feral way that Chase rushes over to haul me out of the car before Silas, in his human form, grabs him by the shirt and pulls him away.

The video glitches as the two of them stare each other down, and when it returns, Chase looks horrified. It finally ends after Kyle shoves Silas into the back of his police car.

“There’s at least three violations there, and Kyle put cuffs on him without reading him his rights or telling him why. Say the word and I’ll have it uploaded to three different social media websites and delivered to the sheriff’s email address.”

“Hold on to it. The sheriff is a reasonable man, hopefully he’ll at least listen to what I have to say.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Then all bets are off.” I shrug and press my key fob, unlocking the car.

Carly Beth smiles.

The sheriff’sdepartment is just a few blocks away from the bar and in true small town fashion, it still has its brickand mortar facade that looks plucked straight from a Hallmark movie.

I’ve only been here a few times outside of my former family obligations. Last time was when I tried to file a report over Chase illegally requesting a key to my apartment, the judge said I could only file for a restraining order with proof.

No one in a small town believes that your ex-husband is openly stalking you, especially when said ex has painted you out to be a liar. He did his best to spread rumors about me, especially how my infidelity leadhimto file for divorce.

Carly Beth looks around, half nerves and half wonder, which leads me to believe she’s never set foot inside the building before.

“If you want, you can wait in the car,” I say, holding out my keys.

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