Page 90 of Accidentally Wedded To A Werewolf

He glared at her. “For someone who’s always telling me to be open about how I’m feeling, we didn’t hear one word from you about feeling sick until you were passing out in my arms.”

Oliver had never seen her look so caught off-guard. He fought down the wave of shame that flooded him for speaking so rudely to his grandmother, let alone his alpha, and went back to the chocolate display.

“Well,” Grandmother said. “I suppose you had to get it from somewhere.”

Oliver focused on the cardboard. His hands were shaking. That had been happening on and off since Luna left. He clenched his hands into fists, feeling claws prick into his palms. He forced them back. The last thing he needed was to punch holes in the stupid cardboard.

Grandmother cleared her throat. Oliver thought hard about telling her to leave him to his very important work. Then he looked up grudgingly, waiting.

She had her hands folded in front of her, chin held high. She looked even more regal than usual, and he straightened his spine reflexively.

“I want to make you the alpha during the next full moon,” she announced.

There was a lowpop. Oliver looked down to see his claws poking through the cardboard display.

“But that’s tomorrow,” he said, dazed. “And you said?—”

“I have faith—” Grandmother paused, lips thinning. “I havefaiththat this is a minor setback. That what you experienced in the last few months will carry you forward, even if it’s over now. Can I trust in that? Or should I wait a few months to see if you backslide entirely into that sullen, brooding man who doesn’t let a handyman in to fix his roof?”

His hackles went up evenas he tried to force them back down. The old paranoia rose—it’s not safe, gotta guard the family—but along with it came a swarm of images. Luna grinning as she showed him how many orders Beth had gotten; Luna proudly displaying a whiteboard listing all the ways they could change the inn; Luna watching him fondly as he rubbed her feet. Luna stroking his hair, giggling at his dumb tattoo, and showing him her private sketchbook with that guarded look like she was afraid he’d laugh at her.

“I don’t want to rush this,” Grandmother continued. “But I don’t know how much time we have left.”

“You’re fine,” he argued weakly. “Right? You keep insisting.”

“I do,” she said. She paused. Then she reached out, ghosting her fingers over the dark bags under his eyes.

Oliver flinched. He couldn’t help it. But he didn’t move away this time.

Grandmother dropped her hand. “You really do look strange.”

Oliver opened his mouth to insist he was fine. But he was exhausted and shaky, and he’d been lying through his teeth long enough.

“It’s the bond,” he said slowly. “Right? I remember you saying something about after-effects.”

She nodded. “Uncle Roy stayed in bed for days after. We had to force-feed him soup. Couldn’t stop shaking long enough to hold a spoon.”

“Really?” Oliver scrubbed a hand down his face. It came away damp with sweat. “That’s so annoying. The bond isover.”

“It is. But it was a big change. Your body has to adjust.”

“Gotta scar over,” came a voice from the hallway.

Oliver turned to see Uncle Roy, shoulders hunched. He sneered at them as he approached. “Can we quit talking about that woman? She’s gone, and good riddance. She wasn’t pack.”

Grandmother sighed. “You know we can’t subsist purely on pack, right? We have to let others in, or the Musgrove pack will getverysmall,veryfast.”

The lobby door banged open, letting in a gust of chilly air as Beth Haberdash stumbled in. She had a giant cardboard box in her arms, teetering under the weight.

“Oof,” she said as the door bounced off the wall. “Sorry! And on the new wallpaper, too!”

Oliver hurried out from behind the counter grudgingly, steadying the package in her arms.

“Thanks,” she said brightly. She’d started looking him in the face in the past few weeks, and Sabine said she’d been stammering less. “I came to drop off some chocolate.”

“We’ll need a new display,” Oliver said, helping her heave the package down onto the floor. “I kind of, uh, punctured it.”

“What?” Beth looked over at the front desk and blinked rapidly as she noticed the display banged up and torn. “Oh. That’s fine, I’ll bring some over tonight. Anyway, I dropped by and saw this outside! It arrived so fast!”

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