Page 32 of Wolf's Rejected Mate

Althea

Alonzo

Allan

Grunting, I turned the page, my armpits growing damp with anticipation. The phone clattered out of my hand and onto the wood floor, and I bent down to pick it up, the book falling from my hand in the process.

“Dammit!” I cursed, snatching both things into my palms and perching on the bed. Inhaling, I steadied my hand, splaying the foreign device over the bedspread as I peered at the phonebook again.

Amanda

Amadeus

Aragon

Groaning loudly, I scanned faster, looking for Ash’s name, but it wasn’t his that caught my eye.

My heart leaped into my throat, and I began to shake with excitement.

Avalon

Abby had Avalon’s telephone number. That was something. It was worth trying.

I turned my attention back to the phone and picked it up, staring at the buttons. Carefully, I pressed the numbers I saw on the page into the keypad and then put the phone to my ear.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

Silence met my call. Confused, I pulled it back, squinting strangely at the buttons. The screen showed that I had pressed all the same numbers, but nothing was happening.

Did I need to press something else?

Biting down on the inside of my cheek, I pushed the red button. All the numbers disappeared off the screen.

“Shit!” I cursed, ready to throw the piece against the wall.

Drawing a deep breath, I tried again. Entering the numbers, I tried the green button. The screen lit up, and my chest jumped.

“Hello?” I cried, hearing a strange ringing in my ear. “Hello? Avalon? Avalon, are you there?”

A click met my ear.

“Avalon?” I yelled. “Avalon, is that you?”

The familiar, sonorous voice called through the earpiece.

“Stop hollering, child. Who is this?”

“Avalon!” I laughed, gasping with relief. “It’s really you!”

“Elijah?” The ancient wizard sounded dumbfounded, but before I could respond, a crash from downstairs silenced me.

“Elijah? Is that you?” Avalon demanded.

I lowered the phone, my guard fully raised, as I jumped up from the bed, inching toward the door.

“Elijah! Good gods, man, I thought you had died—”

I flipped the phone closed, worried that the old wizard’s voice might carry toward the intruder on the main floor, my body ready to shift as the invader came racing up the stairs toward me.

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