Page 2 of Married to the Wolf

Creed

Damen

Stefan

Duke

* * *

www.tressielockwood.com

Chapter 1

“Sophia!”

She let out a small cry and jerked awake. For a minute she wasn’t sure where she was. The room lay in darkness, and the maple scent confused her. Memories returned as she grew more alert. She sat upright, her heart pounding. It wasn’t a dream. She had run here with wolves chasing her.

Wolves. The situation was something out a bad movie rather than real life—her life. Worse yet, the man she married, Sebastian St. James, wasn’t human. Another moan escaped her, and she rubbed her forehead. How could she not have known in the two years they dated? But then how could she? No woman in her right mind would think, “I wonder if he’s some kind of animal.”

She almost laughed at the notion. Instead she had to suppress a small sob. If she cried again, she might not stop. No, she had gotten away, and she needed to get her mind together and think about what she needed to do next. A divorce, definitely that much, but what about tonight?

“Sophia?”

She jumped at the female voice and sighed, trying to calm down. “Harper. Thank you so much for letting me stay.”

The woman she had met recently, at her engagement party of all places, held a mug out to her. Sophia received it with thanks and found it was hot chocolate. She sipped it and let the warm liquid ease some of the shaking.

“Don’t you worry none about it,” Harper said. “Getting here must have been tough, but I’m glad you trusted me and Jack enough to come to us.”

She nodded and sipped her chocolate, but it wasn’t about trust. Jack’s offer to come to them if she ever needed help had seemed weird at the time he said it, but the words made an impact. Now she knew why he spoke to her that way. He had known.

“Think we can turn on a light?” Sophia asked. Her eyes still hadn’t adjusted to the darkness, but it didn’t seem to bother Harper. Then again the biggest wolves in existence hadn’t chased her through the woods.

“Of course. I’m sorry.” Harper flipped on a switch, and the room came into focus.

Jack and Harper lived in a small home in the middle of nowhere, and Sophia considered it a miracle that she actually found the place—especially after she had to abandon her car a few miles down the road.

The living room where Sophia crouched on the sofa was designed with rustic, heavy-wooded furniture with a stone fireplace and way too much wood paneling on the walls.

“Jack will be back soon,” Harper told her. “Then we can talk.”

“It’s dangerous out there. The wolves…” Something snapped outside the door, and she popped up from the couch, almost spilling the chocolate.

Harper patted her shoulder. “That will be him. Relax, Sophia. No one is going to hurt you here. Jack will make sure of it.”

Sophia didn’t want to remind her about how big her husband was and how strong. She shut her eyes and redirected her thoughts. Despite everything that had happened, there was something deep inside that still craved him.

He must have bewitched me.

A pounding started on the door. She froze, and so did Harper. Jack wouldn’t knock at his own house.

“Open up,” came the deep-voiced command. “Now.”

Harper started for the door, but Sophia grabbed her arm. “Don’t!”

“I have to.” Harper looked nervous but not scared. “They know you’re here, Sophia. They can smell you.”

She blinked. “Smell?” Of course. Like dogs. She felt sick.

---