Page 62 of To Challenge a Wolf

She trusted Blaine with her own life and, if it came to that, even with Rhett’s. But when she tried to ask the question on Rhett’s behalf, her lips refused.

“Viv?”

“Shoot,” she said. “I was wrong. I can’t ask you. He wouldn’t want me to.”

“All right,” he said.

“But I need to understand this. I need to understand him, and—and you’re a walking encyclopedia on almost every topic in the universe. Sometimes I think you’re omniscient.”

A low, melodic laugh came over the line. “I hope you know that’s not true.”

“Who else can I ask? This is so frustrating. He’s not talking to me about it; he hasn’t for the last two days. I don’t think even he knows what’s going on with him, Blaine. I’m worried.”

“Would he consider it a breach of confidence if you asked his alpha?”

“Oh…maybe not. And Malachi’s a lore-master. He’d know, if any wolf would.”

“There you are, then.”

“Thanks. You were the first person I thought to ask, but…no. Rhett wouldn’t be okay with it.”

“Well, you’ve been there five days. How do you feel?”

“It’s not that simple.” She lowered her forehead to the steering wheel and closed her eyes. Somehow, after only five days, Vivian wanted more than anything for it to be that simple.

“Not an answer,” Blaine said.

Tears rose so fast, she couldn’t keep them from her voice, especially not from a vampire. “I feel like I’m falling for him. There. Is that what you want me to say?”

“I want you to be honest, Viv. That’s all.”

“I loved him ten years ago. I know that now. It’s the only way I can explain how fast this is happening.”

“Mmm.”

She jolted upright. “If you tell me you knew this before I drove down here, I’m going to hang up on you.”

“I won’t tell you then.” The musical laugh filled his voice. “But I seem to remember your referring to him as the ‘wolf who got away.’”

“That was sarcasm!”

“Was it though?”

“What if he doesn’t love me?” The words fell out of her mouth like glass marbles off a table top and hit with a shattering impact. “I don’t think he does.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not working.” She had no idea where the words came from, but when they burst from her lips they sounded true.

“Whatitare we talking about?”

“My being here, showing him we’re meant to be and fate is stupid. It’s been almost a week. I know I’m the one who has to do this. I know if I want it, I’ve got to make it happen. I can’t give up—Iwon’tgive up—but he—”

“Whoa, one second. I agree the cooperation of fate shouldn’t be necessary if two people love each other, though I’m not a wolf, so I’m not the final word on that. But, Vivian, love takes two people. Sheer willpower can’t manifest it. If force were the means, it wouldn’t be love at all.”

Her throat filled with a sob. Of course she knew she couldn’t force Rhett’s interest, never mind his love. Of course she knew love required two people. But her willpower…it was the one reliable thing in the world. It had kept her heart intact in the Rossi family. It had kept her pushing through Chicago on her own, taking on three jobs to feed herself and pay the rent until she landed the job of a lifetime, the job that let her save for a down payment on a condo of her very own. And after achieving all that, after her ten-year search, her willpower had brought her at last to Harmony Ridge and Rhett. There was no other way for her to be herself but to work hard, persevere, and succeed. There was no other way to have the thing she wanted most.

Her wolf.

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