Page 26 of Alpha Wolf's Arranged Bride
“He looks like he’s getting along fine,” Rex remarks.
“Yeah, I’m happy for him. He had it pretty hard over at Eccles.”
“Oh?” Rex asks.
I turn slowly, looking right into his eyes with a cold glare. “Eccles are very traditional. Single mothers aren’t kindly looked upon. Especially when the deadbeat dad is a lying drifter who vanishes in the middle of the night.”
Rex’s face reddens a little, and I see his lips twist as he presses them together. There’s obviously something he wants to say, but he holds it in with extreme effort.
“Let’s check out the stalls,” he says, keeping his voice even with great effort.
I just nod, following behind him as he begins to greet people.
Within only a few minutes, I’m overwhelmed. People come swarming out of their stalls to greet me and offer samples of everything from food to jewelry. Rex has to keep moving me forward and pushing the crowd back so we can keep walking through the fair.
“Sorry,” he mutters as some of the crowd falls back. “I told you, they’re enthusiastic.”
“You weren’t wrong,” I reply, trying to get my breath back. “They’re such nice people, though.”
“They really are,” he says. “I actually kind of forgot. I’d been away from home for so long.”
There it is again! Where the fuck has he been?
Rex turns to me with a flash of worry in his eyes as he realizes what I just said, but before I can ask any questions, a pretty blond girl appears by his side and puts her arms around his neck.
What the fuck?
“Hey,” the girl says flippantly. “What are you doing with my man?”
I’m about to drop dead from shock when Rex groans and rolls his eyes. “Scarlett, I’d like you to meet my sister, Rebecca,” he says.
“That’s Bec,” she says, giggling as she holds out a hand for me to shake.
“When I said everyone in town was nice, I meant there was one exception,” Rex says, giving his sister a pained look.
“Oh, calm down,” Bec says, jostling my elbow. “I couldn’t resist. You guys looked so serious, I had to stir the pot a bit.”
You didn’t stir it, dear. You threw a live grenade into it!
“Yeah,” I answer, laughing softly. “That was funny. Please be less funny in the future.”
Bec laughs, giving my waist a squeeze.
“I like you,” she says. “We’ll catch up properly soon, when the menfolk aren’t around.”
“I’d like that,” I reply as Bec walks away, having the sudden realization that if anyone knows what Rex has been up to, it would be his sister.
“Sorry about that,” Rex sighs. “Let’s check out these craft stalls, then find Jarrod so we can get some ice cream?”
“Sounds good,” I say, following Rex up to the next stall. Just like before, we’re greeted with generosity and happy smiles, along with baskets of free samples.
I was brought up to believe Rose Hollow was a backward, uncivilized place—but it’s everything but that. Why didn’t my pack ever like these people?
Chapter 8 - Rex
After checking out a few more stalls, we swing by the jumping castle to pick up Jarrod, then head to the ice cream stand. Old Johnny and his wife, Maeve, are overjoyed to meet Jarrod and make him a triple scoop on a waffle cone with whipped cream and fudge.
“Whoa,” Jarrod mutters as Maeve hands it to him. “I think this is more ice cream than I’ve ever had in my life.”
