Page 15 of Accidentally Wedded To A Werewolf

Ben laid a big hand on his shoulder. “It’s strongest when the bond is new. It’ll get easier with time.”

“It’d better,” Oliver said. He rubbed his chest harder, hoping it would soothe the numbing cold. It didn’t. Nothing would—except getting close to the last person in this inn he wanted to get close to.

Five

There was a chocolate wolf on the pillow the next morning.

It would’ve been sweet, Luna considered as she waited for Hector to pick up, if it didn’t mean that someone had snuck into her room while she was sleeping.

The landline clicked. “Stranded fiancée?”

Luna laughed, twirling the chord of her bathrobe. “Are you just answering every unknown number like that?”

“Every landline number with an Alaskan area code,” Hector said. “How was the night? No nibbles?”

“No one ate me,” Luna replied, turning the wolf chocolate over in her hands. She popped it into her mouth and chewed. “Ohwow, that’s delicious.”

“Hmm?”

“Nothing.” Luna swallowed, already missing the bitter taste. She didn’t usually like dark chocolate, butthis was delightful. “Do you remember that time you invested in those terrible cheese graters?—”

“There’s still a market for graters that scream when you grate things, babe.”

“My point is,” Luna said, licking chocolate off her teeth. “I didn’t laugh at you that hard. Because I love you.”

“Alright,” Hector said. There was the sound of glass clinking on his end of the line, and Luna groaned as she imagined him sitting on some beach in the Bahamas. “What did you do?”

“Ididn’t do anything.” Luna bit her thumbnail, wincing when it pulled a strip of pink manicure off. “But say I stumbled into a totally unwanted, unconsummated marriage with a werewolf who hates me almost as much as I hate him. Would you be mad?”

There was a long silence. Then Hector snorted.

“I said not to laugh,” Luna whined. “This isn’t funny!”

“Your mom and brother will find it hilarious,” Hector said. “Your dad’s going to laugh and then tell you to sue the hell out of them.”

“I’m not going tosuethem,” Luna argued, fitting her feet into the snow boots Sabine had given her last night. “They’re nice.Weirdlynice, actually. Not the guy I’m stuck with, but everyone else. Also, are wolves really affectionate with each other? Because I spent ten minutes around them, and they areconstantlytouching.”

“That’s a wolf thing,” Hector said confidently. “Wait, back up. What the hell happenedat that party?”

“I didn’t even make it to the party. The roof caved in.”

“What?”

Luna sighed and explained the rest of her night. The mystery booze, the snow, the roof. Her scowling, closed-off husband, who seemed just as enthused about the situation as she was. His sweet family, who had treated her alarmingly nice, even if the uncle was super goddamn creepy.

“And they dragged my car out of the snow and fitted the wheels with chains, and I think they want to take me to buy warmer clothes,” she finished. “And they keep joking that I’m family! At least until the snow thaws and they can go up the mountain to get the weird divorce flower.”

Hector started giggling.

“Shut up,” Luna told him. “I’msuffering!”

She rubbed her chest. Sabine had mentioned it when they were in her bedroom gathering clothes.You’ll be able to feel him, she’d said.It won’t be as powerful since you’re not a wolf.But you’ll be able to feel him a little. Right there in your chest.

And there it was. It had been warm when they’d been in the same room. Now it was cold, a small sliver of it right in the center of her chest. Trying to make her go toward him. He wasn’t far. Still on the property. Wait, why did sheknowthat?

“So,” Hector said when his laughter trailed off. “When you sayunconsummated?—”

A knock on the door drowned the rest of his words out.

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