Page 9 of Wanderlust With Wolves

My fur bristles. I clench my jaw so tight my teeth ache. “I did no such thing.”

“Of course not,” she drawls. “You were the definition of cool and detached.” She rolls her eyes. “Anyway, she’s not here. She’s moving her van and settling in. And Ihighlydoubt she’d appreciate overprotective wulvers sniffing around her property.”

I catch on one detail and ignore everything else. “She’s moving the van?”

Luna sighs. “She doesn’t need help, Ronan.”

That’s debatable.

“She drove cross-country on her own. She’s a capable woman, fully able to take care of herself.”

I frown. “She’s also wildly independent,” Luna continues, slicing another ribbon clean through. “Don’t get attached. She plans on leaving.”

The words land in my chest like a rock sinking into deep water.

Maya. Leaving.

No. That’s not going to happen.

She might think she’s just passing through, but she’s mine.

“She’s been surviving on sheer luck,” I mutter, unwilling to hear anything else. “You don’t know what kind of creeps are lurking around.”

Luna exhales, clearly done with me. “I’m serious, Ronan. Leave her alone.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say evenly, already heading for the door.

Just as I reach it, Luna calls out one more time?—

“Oh, and dear brother?”

I pause, ears twitching.

“Theonlycreep lurking around her cabin is the one staring back at you in the mirror.”

I huff at that and let the door swing shut behind me.

I’m notlurking.

I’m ensuring the area is secure.

It’s my job to patrol. To protect the Wilding Way Resort & Spa and its guests. I’d do this foranyone.

It just so happens that my current patrol includes checking on Maya’s cabin.

And making sure no other wulvers—or sirens or forest-dwelling opportunists—are sniffing around where they shouldn’t be.

I approach quietly, padding along the worn forest path that winds along the ridge above her site. From here, I can see the glimmer of her silver van parked next to the cabin, settled in comfortably near the utility station.

Good.

I approve.

But then?—

A sound.

A moan.

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