Page 20 of Secret Wolf Baby

“She’s a random girl, though,” Trent argued. “That’s what I don’t get.”

I looked around again. “She’s Mira’s friend. I’m just trying to help her out for my sister’s sake.”

“You’re putting a lot of stuff on the line for your sister’s old friend, especially considering neither of you have seen her for ten years,” Trent commented. “On top of that, agreeing to marry her? That’s a pretty drastic step.”

I knew what I was doing had wide-reaching consequences. I was tearing Audrey and her daughter out of thelife they had known here, and I had made a deal that scuttled the entire mission. I knew what I had done was incredibly selfish on multiple levels. But I couldn’t help myself. The instant I had seen her, all common sense and rationality had gone out the window. All I cared about was Audrey, protecting her and making sure she was all right. Completing a mission seemed pretty trivial compared to that.

The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if this decision was selfish, purely for my own gain, when I should have put the mission first. Honestly? Most likely. But that still didn’t seem to matter, so long as Audrey was safe.

“It was the right thing to do,” I said, trying to remain evasive.

“I’ll believe it if you can convince Declan,” Trent retorted. He glanced around. “Where’s Will? If you’re going to make me help with all these ridiculous decorations, the least you could do is make him do the same.”

My eyes darted from side to side, making sure the coast was clear before leaning over and whispering. “He’s setting up cameras so we can keep tabs on them after we leave.”

Trent raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure that’s going to work? What if they find them?”

Shooting him an exasperated look, I said, “It’s Will. You know how perfectly he does things. There’s no way in hell anyone will find them if Will doesn’t want them to.”

“Fair point,” Trent mumbled.

The rest of the decorations didn’t take long. It wasn’t as though there was going to be a massive ceremony, and Reacher had insisted on a fast turnaround. I hadn’t even seen Audrey since she left town hall the day before. I had tried to, but Reacherhad blocked me, saying it was bad luck to see the bride before the ceremony. So I’d spent as much time as I could decorating the small room the ceremony would be in. I’d bought all the flowers I could get my hands on and other vaguely wedding-related items. It only looked marginally better than it had before, but at least I had done something.

Reacher emerged into the room, strutting forward. He beamed as he approached, clapping me on the back.

“Are you excited?” he asked. “You should be. Audrey’s a great woman. I’m not surprised she caught your eye.”

“She seems like a nice woman. I hope she likes her new pack,” I said. I had decided to conceal that I knew her from all those years ago. I felt the less Reacher and his pack knew, the less leverage they would have. Keeping our past in the dark was beneficial for everyone.

“I’m just glad that we were able to come to a mutually beneficial arrangement,” Reacher declared. He gave me a pointed look.

“Don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten our deal,” I said. “We’ll be out of your hair in no time.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” he said, giving a brief nod. Something dark flashed in his eyes. “And let me be clear: if I get a whiff of you reneging, you and I are going to have a serious problem.”

I gave him a steady look. “Are you implying I’m a liar?”

“Just making sure we understand one another,” Reacher said, giving that same oily smile that made me want to take a shower.

“We do,” I said.

The truth was, I planned on keeping up my end of the bargain. I wasn’t about to give Reacher an excuse to retaliate against Audrey or anyone else. However, I knew I could find some loopholes. Reacher had been a bit hasty to agree to the arrangement, to the point I had some flexibility in terms of its interpretation. I had seen enough of this town to know that he was bad news and needed to be stopped. I planned on still doing that, but protecting Audrey took precedence. At the moment, that was all I cared about. I’d worry about the consequences later.

The alpha nodded, clapping me on the back again. My wolf snarled, wanting to tear into him. Before I could do anything reckless, Will and Trent came in, followed by a handful of bored-looking guests.

“In that case, why don’t we get started?” Reacher said.

I nodded, going to stand near the makeshift altar, Will and Trent coming to stand next to me.

Music began to play. A young girl, maybe ten or so, walked down the aisle with a basket of flowers. She threw them in the air sporadically. Even as she did, she kept her eyes on me, as if she was studying me. She had light brown hair that went to her shoulders, and the same blue eyes and face shape as Audrey. It didn’t take a genius to realize this had to be Claire.

As she continued to walk and toss the petals, she tilted her head at me, unsmiling as she regarded me. I got the sneaking suspicion she was assessing as much as possible about me in her short stint down the aisle. She didn’t look particularly happy to be here, but she didn’t seem angry, either. More curious than anything else, as if waiting to see how everything would unfold.

I admired that. It wasn’t patience, exactly. More like trying to assess all the facts that had been thrown at her beforepassing her final judgment. It was a skill I didn’t think too many kids had. Something about the way she studied me felt eerily familiar, though I couldn’t explain why. Most likely it was Audrey’s influence. She probably had given me similar looks countless times since I had known her. That had to be it.

Claire finished her promenade and scurried over to a chair, hopping on it so her feet dangled, not touching the ground. Either she hadn’t hit her growth spurt yet, or she had inherited Audrey’s petite height.

I wonder what she inherited from her father, I mused.I wonderwhoher father is.

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