Page 10 of Mates for the Rejected Wolf

“Fern, come here.” Ugh, I should have known Brian wouldn’t let me just pass him by. “Take a look at this drunken idiot. We think he might have been trying to break in last night.”

“Oh? Why?” I can’t look at the man on the ground. I don’t want to.

“Well, what else would he be doing here? It doesn’t make any sense.” Brian shrugs. “Unless he’s mixed up in drugs and just didn’t quite make it to the lake.”

I blink a few times,desperately racking my brain to come up with the right thing to say. “Well, are there any drugs on him?”

“We’re checking that right now,” the sheriff replies, as she scribbles something down on her note pad. I guess she doesn’t need anything else from me right now…

I know there are drugs on him since he offered me some last night. Hopefully, that will give Sheriff Smart something else to think about and buy me enough time to slip inside the office so no one can ask me anything else. I don’t want to outright lie, but I also don’t want to tell anyone about last night either.

People coming in for tours soon. And since Brian is going to be distracted by this, I figure at least one of us needs to be alert.

“Hey there.” I jump as a familiar warm voice greets me. “Good to see you.”

“Griffin? What are you doing here?” I ask him. “Has something happened? Had Rodrrur come up with a plan”

His face breaks out in to a smile. “Everything’s fine. I’m here for a tour today.”

“A tour?” Why would he need a tour? He knows Iron Mountain better than I do. Especially the legends I talk about. “Why?”

“Well, Roddrur wants you looked after while he sorts everything out.” He shoots me a playful wink, but I have no idea what that means. “Does that work for you?”

What is that warm, fizzy feeling inside me? It could be butterflies, it could be nerves, I don’t know. But I do know I can’t take my eyes off of him. He’s gorgeous. I noticed it at the first meeting we shared, but now I can’t stop seeing it in him

“Err, sure. I will get you written down on the list as a guest.”.

Here I was thinking none of the good men in Iron Mountain wouldevernotice me. I’d almost given up on the idea of dating and finding love completely. But now everything has changed. Not only do the dragons have me intrigued, but I’ve also been thinking a lot about Jace and Slane as well. There’s no denying I’ve been thinking about him ever since we ran in to one another…

“Right.” I swallow hard as I try to refocus on what’s going on right now. “So, I’m just going to modify the list. Let my boss know that we have another customer.”

“Sounds good.” Griffin winks again, then turns serious. “I will be with you as much as I can be today. Especially with what happened last night.”

My heart leaps up into my throat. “What do you mean?”

“The attempted robbery. I overheard Brian and Sheriff Smart talking. He thinks the drunk guy was trying to find some money or something. Is that right?”

I feel like I can tell Griffin the truth and get this off my chest a bit. “He was actually here for me last night. Trying to sell me drugs and make me go on a date with him. Despite me begging him not to touch me.”

Griffin’s eyes almost pop out of his head. “What? Are you serious? He came for you? He’s one of the drug dealers? Does that mean he’s part of the Nightshade Hunters?”

I nod.

“Holy hell. Did you knock him out? What the hell happened to him?”

I wrap my arms protectively around myself. “One of the wolves from the Iron Mountain pack actually stumbled across him trying to drag me off with him, and he stopped him.”

Griffin looks upset. “I wish I’d known.”

“I was okay though,” I reassure him, or do my best to anyway. “He saved me, so it’s all good. I’m going to see what I can do to build that connection with you guys and them.”

Griffin nods, but he doesn’t look too happy about it. Wasn’t he the one who wanted to connect with the Iron Mountain Pack? I don’t understand why he’s acting all weird about it now.

But understanding what’s going on his brain will have to wait until later because other people who want to go on the lake tour are arriving, so I need to focus on them. Even with everything else going on, I have to make sure they have a good time so they will tell their friends and I can keep the boat tours going.

I smile at Griffin, trying to connect with him again, but it doesn’t feel quite right between us. I’m going tohaveto change that at the very first opportunity.

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