Page 15 of So I Won a Werelion

“That’s not what they warned me about.” Hugo ran his hand over his beard. It was a little longer than usual. A little unruly. I shouldn’t have liked it so much. “They said that she’d been sniffing too close to some important shifter artifacts.”

“Artifacts?” Maybe I should’ve asked more about the archeology job.

Hugo let out a long breath. “The packs here have been on this land for centuries. Before humans. Our ancestors created annals and formulas and a lot of things that could be dangerous if they fell into the wrong hands.”

This was news to me. “Laura put out a call for historical pack items when she took over the Colorado Ranch library and barely got more than a shrug in response.”

“Laura’s human,” Hugo said. “Some of these secrets are so well guarded that the current generation of shifters don’t evenknow about them. Which is probably a good thing. If this information fell into the wrong hands—”

“Like a Montana wolf’s.” I put my fingers on my temples and made small circles. Hugo’s gaze was drawn to the motion. We’d have to talk about our kiss at Cindy’s mating ceremony sooner rather than later. “What is this artifact, and how can it be dangerous?”

He shook his head. “Don’t know all the details. Only that Wendy’s gone places she doesn’t belong, the council elders are extremely concerned, and they think she wants to find a shifter to help her finish what she started. Which could be why she wanted to come on the show, and freaked out when she saw Gabe. Although, the lion’s been gone so long he could be considered an outsider at this point.”

“So you think Wendy’s using the show to expose ancient shifter secrets?”

“The council is concerned, and they insisted I bring it to your attention.” Hugo was a wolf between an ancient artifact and a hard place.

I scoffed. “Sounds like Wendy knows more about shifter history than some of the animals running around in this forest.”

Hugo nodded. “And that makes her a target if she manages to succeed in her search. No one wants to say too much. But they’ll make damn sure Wendy doesn’t either.”

“If Wendy’s in danger, we have to get her back on the show. It’s the only way we can guarantee her safety.” I gasped. “Think the Montana wolves know about this?”

“I’m afraid that’s why one of them went out of their way to get her to choose him on that stage,” he let out a sexy rumble. “And now that she’s off the show, that makes her an easy target.”

Chapter

Four

Wendy

“Something needs to be done about the reporters in the parking lot.” My sister Wanda stood in the doorway of my office in all her boxy beige glory. She was probably the only member of Generation X to still get a perm.

At first, she was so excited to have me back at Woodhead Family Realty, that I’d finally given up shifters and planned to give adulting a whole-assed try, that she’d upgraded my sad cubicle desk to an actual office. But now, it was like we were kids again. She’d made a career of being an overachiever, and I was forever the world’s hottest mess.

“They’re intimidating our clients,” she continued when I didn’t offer an immediate solution. “Which means we won’t have the opportunity to sell as many houses. Your coworkers are losing money.”

“Listen, I didn’t expect to be an internet sensation at forty-two, either. If you have any suggestions to get them to forget about me, I’m all ears. But until another scandal breaks, it’s all me all the time.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re not taking this seriously. I’m about to call the police.”

I followed her out of the office. “Please don’t do that.”

“Did you hear a word I said? They’ve been interfering with business in town sinceThe Real Werewivesstarted, and no one has the courage to do anything about it. I understand people are making a lot of money off this show, but I’ll be the first to say good riddance when it’s over.”

My heart was pounding. The phone was in her hands and she was three little numbers away from making this so much worse. The reporters who’d gotten comfortable camping out in front of the realty office, hoping they’d catch me or one of my coworkers saying something stupid, were the low-hanging fruit in this story. I’d seen them go to town on contestants ofThe Real Werewives, and we didn’t need to hand them any reason to dig deeper.

Some of them had turned their sights to Gabe. They wanted to know why a championship snowboarder quit at the top of his career. Others wanted to know how he was still winning medals in his forties in a sport that chewed humans up and spit them out long before that.

Ugh. I resented the fact everyone thought over forty was washed up.

But I had to admit, I had some of the very same questions about Gabe. He couldn’t have given all that up for me.

Gabe had been quiet, keeping to himself since he’d come home. Even beforeThe Mating Gamedebacle. I’d expected us to pick up where we’d left off, hanging out all the time, maybe helping him find a new place because things had changed so much with his pride, but instead I felt like I barely knew him.

He wasn’t the same teenager who’d rejected me on the side of that mountain so many years ago. Not even the same guy behind the deep voice that had soothed me so many late nights after an awful date. He was completely new to me.

Which could have been really exciting, if I hadn’t rejected him, on stage, in front of the live audience and millions of online viewers.

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