Page 54 of Trick Me
“You love us,” Sera says. “Almost as much as you love mysterious wolf boys with soulful eyes and a tragic backstory.”
Ash leans in and whispers, “She’s not wrong.”
I nudge him in the ribs. He doesn’t budge.
“You’re all fired,” I tell them.
“You don’t have that power,” Sera adds.
“I’ll find it.”
And despite the utter chaos of my life, my coworkers, the fact that I may have accidentally soul-bound myself to a werewolf in the woods, I can’t stop smiling that he’s returned for me.
Because maybe, just maybe, this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Ash steps behind me, arm sliding around my waist with casual possessiveness. “Nothing to hide. I’m hers if she’ll have me.”
“Let me think about it,” I tease, but he’s already tickling me, finding that spot just under my ribsthat makes me squeal. “Okay, okay! Yes, I’ll have you!”
“Good.” He draws me against him, speaking into my ear loud enough for everyone to hear. “Because I have a lot to make up for. Leaving you in the woods, even accidentally, requires significant groveling.”
“I do like songs.”
“Then I’ll commission a symphony.”
Sera makes a gagging sound.
“We’re not having this conversation in front of my office.”
“Then let’s have it at dinner.” He presses a kiss to my temple. “I’ll wait for you after work.”
“Sounds perfect.”
He kisses me again quickly, then heads for the front doors. Just before he disappears, he turns back with that smile that has my stomach somersaulting.
And then he’s gone. Leaving me with a hallway full of grinning coworkers.
“So,” Sera says, sidling up with zero shame. “He called you ‘mate’!”
“Shut up.”
“You’re going to move to the woods for him.”
“I’m not—maybe. Probably. Eventually. I don’t know.”
As everyone filters away, still buzzing about the office drama turned epic love story, Sera hugs me, whispering, “I’m so happy for you. You deserve thebest.” Then, with her grin, she heads to her desk, where a manager is waiting.
I drift back into the Aurora Room and edge closer to the window, staring out over the city.
The sun is setting, casting molten gold across the glass.
In a few hours, Ash will come pick me up for our first real date.
Tomorrow, we’ll start unraveling what it means to be this… whatever we are. Soul-bound. Power-twisted. Dangerous. Unprecedented.
But for tonight, I’m just a girl who met a boy at a cursed party, traded magic and memories, and accidentally fell in love somewhere along the way.
The ghost of his wolf hums inside me.
