Assuming she stuck around after she shifted back.
Her wolf seemed to have warmed up to me and mine, but that didn’t mean anything as far as the woman went. I still didn’t know what she’d been through to make her reject her last mate, and there was no way to ask her.
After a few days of hanging out at the house and running wild in the forest, her wolf finally agreed to going to work with me. She stayed at my side while I chatted with and coached other werewolves through their shifts. Though she grumbled about it occasionally, I noticed frequently that she was watching and listening closely.
Hopefully, she and her human were taking the lesson to heart. Their shift had been pretty fast for your average werewolf, but it had looked hellishly painful.
A few days turned into a few weeks. Snow dusted the forest a couple times, but melted quickly. Christmas came and went. I had to bring Furball to my uncle’s house to prove that Stella was legitimately stuck in wolf form. Hopefully, Moon Ridge’s connections to the university would come through and let her keep her job.
I was starting to wonder if Furball would ever be comfortable enough to bite me, honestly. My own wolf’s hunt had been pretty short, only around a week.
I had no choice but to trust the process. Even if it had already fucked me over once.
Regardless of the past, I had to hope Stella and I could make something real and solid. Or at least agree to be friends for our wolves’ sakes.
Because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to let Furball go.
I hadn’t even had a conversation with the woman within her yet, but I was already attached. As dangerous as that was, there was no way around it.
But the longer it took, the more I started to think that if fate fucked me over twice, I might not make it through again.
six
STELLA
January flew past.
February did too.
I no longer had any idea what my wolf was waiting for. Three months was a long time to hunt someone. I was already convinced that Graham was a good guy, so I didn’t know why she didn’t just bite him.
March went by slowly.
The pajama-loving bastard was still filling all of my shop’s orders and replying to emails for me on top of working his usual job. Luckily, the business wasn’t insanely time consuming when I wasn’t running a sale.
His job was pretty laid-back, too. It didn’t need to be stressful. The guys were plenty effective while taking it easy. And I’d seen the Feral Pack’s approach work so many times that I no longer wondered why everyone in town loved them.
They’d figured out werewolfism in a way no one else ever had, and instead of keeping it a secret, they shared it. They did so forway less than they were worth, too. People donated more, hence the cabins they’d built, but they’d never asked for much.
Whatever had gotten the rest of them rejected, it wasn’t abuse. I was pretty sure even Maya would like the feral guys if she ever gave them a chance.
Which was unlikely, but still.
Since I’d literally disappeared, Jade was worried out of her mind for me. She had even gone to the police in our town and in Moon Ridge a handful of times, but the werewolves knew how to cover disappearances during a mate hunt.
So, she got nowhere.
I felt horrible for that, but I had no way to help. I couldn’t even get my wolf to bite a man who was clearly good for us.
Halfway through April, Graham disappeared into Austin and Enzo’s cabin, leaving my wolf on the porch with the mated pair.
She was more comfortable around them than anyone else in the pack, even though she’d reluctantly come around to everyone.
She growled at the door when Graham didn’t emerge immediately.
Enzo gave her a supportive smile, but she grumbled at him, remaining on high alert.
Graham came back out a minute later, holding a cake in one hand and a pair of s’mores pajama pants in the other.
