Page 25 of Stalked By the Wolf

I open my mouth and close it again, glaring at him suspiciously. After everything he did, he has the nerve to stand there and act as though this is totally normal. What’s worse, I’m going to have to uproot Kevin, Tator Tot, Nugget, and Yo-Yo all over again.

Seething, I stomp into the great room and stop dead in my tracks.

Sebastian’s carefully curated living space has been transformed. Kitty condos are strategically positioned by the windows. Fluffy cat beds lie in puddles of sunshine. There’s a tall scratching post next to the fireplace, and toy mice litter the floor. Kevin is sprawled on the warm concrete, looking more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him.

I round on Sebastian. “You went out and bought all this stuff?”

“Er, well, no,” he admits, scratching the back of his head. “I . . . had it delivered.”

“But you hate cats.”

“Hate is a strong word,” he says slowly. “I hate cathair, but I’ve hired a maid service to come in and tidy twice a week. I think that should suffice.”

I blink at him. “Why?”

“Four cats generate quite a lot of hair.”

“No, I mean —” I gesture around. “Why go to all this trouble? You had to know I would come here and . . .” I trail off.

Whatisit that I’m planning to do? I can’t exactly confiscate the cats — not when they’re so well-cared for.

Sebastian shoves his hands in his pockets, staring at the floor. “I thought I’d give the whole do-gooder thing a try. I wanted to . . . I dunno. Be worthy of you.” He scoffs. “Stupid, really.”

I blink. Something about seeing my handsome, cocky mate like this thaws the ice around my heart.

“I’m sorry for digging into your past,” he continues. “I know it’s not . . . Well, it’s not how normal people start a relationship. But, in my defense, I didn’t plan on starting a relationship with you at the time.”

I nod.

He drags in a shaky breath, still not looking at me. “I don’t know how to do this,” he admits. “I’ve never met someone like you. Someone who was genuinely . . . good.” He shrugs. “I have a hard time trusting people. Iguess I find it easier to learn all I can so that I’m . . . prepared.”

“I suppose with what you do, you’ve been trained to expect the worst,” I say slowly.

“Yes, but it’s not . . . Well, it’s not just my line of work.”

He pauses for so long that I’m not sure he’s going to say anything else, but then he adds, “My mother wasn’t the maternal sort, and I never knew my father. After my first Change, I was a bit lost, I suppose. Withdrawn. Quiet. Had a hard time making friends.” He sighs. “My rugby coach was the only one who took much of an interest in me. I thought I’d finally found someone I could trust . . .” His throat works, and he doesn’t look at me as he says, “One evening, he asked me to stay back after practice. I thought he wanted to talk about my defense. As it turned out . . .”

Sebastian trails off, and my gut tightens. “How old were you?”

“Fourteen.”

“I’m sorry,” I croak, feeling the inadequacy of the words even as they leave my mouth.

“I know now that he was just a shit stain of a human being preying on young boys — that I wasn’t the only one he did this to. But at the time, I felt . . . alone. Ashamed. Like it was some dark secret I had to carry.”

Horror and fury unfurl inside me, and my heart breaks for him.

“To cope, I would shift and stay wolf for weeks at a time. My animal didn’t feel emotions as acutely as I didin human form, which made the pain . . . bearable. When I was human, I didn’t speak to anyone. I think I was worried that people would find out what had happened if I so much as opened my mouth.”

“You didn’t tell anyone?” I whisper.

“Who would I have told? My own mother didn’t give two shits about me, and the man who . . .” Sebastian’s jaw twitches. “He wasbeloved. I didn’t think anyone would believe me, even if I had wanted to come forward. Eventually, I flunked out of school. I had a lot of time on my hands, so I learned how to hunt.”

Sebastian’s expression darkens. “I started stalking sexual predators online and hacking into their bank accounts . . . draining the funds. It was easy to find out who they were — and even easier to gain access to their accounts. Nobody had a strong password back then. There was no two-factor authentication. Then I started going into their email accounts and forwarding the pictures and videos to the authorities. It felt like justice, but it wasn’t enough.” He takes a deep breath. “It took seven years, but I finally got up the courage to face my old coach.”

Sebastian’s expression shutters. “I wasn’t merciful. There are still bits of him scattered all over the practice field, I imagine.”

I swallow, cringing inwardly while trying to keep my expression neutral. I want to show my mate that he was right to trust me with his past.

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