Page 30 of Wolf's Midlife Bite

Robin grabbed the broom out of the supply closet and started on the floors in the back. The problem with the whole wolf thing was that it wasn’t as simple as just having more energy and better vision. Those were a plus, but the rest still bothered her.

She frowned at the small pile of dirt forming in the middle of the hallway as her mind turned once again to her last date with Brody. He had been sweet and polite. She loved the way he genuinely expressed himself. So many people were trying to be someone they weren’t just to look good, but he wasn’t like that. There were days he wanted a burger at a little restaurant, and days he wanted to smell the fresh herbs at the farmer’s market and cook at home. It was so very real.

Just like the fact he was a wolf, and that he’d made her one.

Just like the fact he believed they were destined to be together and that he’d mark her as his own.

Sweeping the dirt into the dustpan and pitching it into the trash, Robin moved to the front office to start in there. This marking thing was part of his culture, something that was now about to be a part of her own culture. She was one of them now. It was the way things were done, yet Robin couldn’t quite accept it. The issue wasn’t with the bite itself, nor the blood that would inevitably be drawn.

No, it went much deeper than that.

As much of an asshole as he’d been to her, it hadn’t been easy to leave JC. She’d known for a long time that she’d wanted out, yet the logistics and the what-ifs had stopped her. How would she pay for the house and bills on her own? What if he fought her on it and wouldn’t let her out? What if it led to a long, dragged-out court battle simply because he wanted to make things difficult? It wasn’t like he’d wanted things to work out. He’d refused to go to any kind of counseling when she’d still been trying to make things better between them, and he certainly hadn’t changed his ways. But he was a stubborn jerk, and he would hurt her as much as he could if it meant it preserved his sense of manhood.

In the end, he hadn’t put up much of a fight. He’d pretended, here and there, saying he wanted the washer and dryer, the television, or the china that had belonged to Robin’s grandmother. Finally, Robin had fisted her hands at her sides and told him he could have every scrap in the house as long as he was out of it. That’d been the final blow. He hadn’t argued for anything further, and he’d only taken what was rightfully his.

Robin quirked one side of her mouth up. It was easy to summarize it all and break it down into one simple story, but the emotional journey she’d been on that entire time had been far bigger and more desperate than a few visits with an attorney and a quick court date could account for. She’d set herself free. She had a chance to do what she wanted with her life, to be herself without having to account for someone else.

In her heart, she knew that things would be different with Brody, no matter what. He’d already proven he wasn’t trying to change her, at least not any more than he already had. That was an accident, and in many ways, Robin had no regrets about it.

Grumbling to herself, she finished the front desk area and moved into Watson’s office. She could go back and forth with herself all day and all night, and still, she wouldn’t come to a conclusion. Part of the problem was that this was a matter of the heart. It couldn’t be solved by simple logic or even complicated logic. She couldn’t make a choice based on what made sense. She had to go with what she felt, and figuring that out was harder than it ought to be.

Starting by the window and working her way toward the door, Robin’s mind continued to churn as she swept. She wanted to come to some sort of decision. It would at least mean she could relax for a little while, and that was something she needed badly. Wouldn’t it be nice to just enjoy her time with Brody? To lean into whatever they had going on between them, fated or not? The thought filled her with warmth. Maybe she’d been thinking about this too hard.

The odd tension on the broom made her look down. A thin red band of leather had come out from underneath Watson’s desk. Robin repositioned the broom and tried to pull it the rest of the way out. It was hung up on something, though. Trying again, Robin managed to pull out about another inch and paused to look down at it for a moment. This definitely wasn’t anything she normally swept out from under the furniture. It looked like a purse strap.

Curious, Robin reached down and gave it a good yank with her hand. The bottom drawer of the desk rattled as a slim purse came flying out. It whipped around Robin’s hand like a boomerang, sending the contents skittering out of the open zipper.

Her heart jumped into her throat. Whatever this was, she had a feeling she wasn’t meant to find it. Watson had all sorts of women coming in and out of this office. Had one of his flings left her purse there, and he’d stuffed it away to hide the proof of his entanglement? Robin wouldn’t doubt if he brought them in back-to-back, insisting to each woman that she was the only one he was interested in.

Whatever it meant, she knew she couldn’t just leave it all there. Robin quickly picked up a tube of lipstick and a collapsible hairbrush and stuffed them back into the purse. She had to step over to the window to reach the wallet. When she turned it over, she saw that the owner’s driver’s license was slipped into a clear pocket on the outside. It was none of her business, and she just needed to put it all back together and get the hell out of there. But her curiosity got the better of her, and she held it for a moment.

Sienna Barry. Robin frowned, wondering why the name was so familiar. She studied the smiling photo of a young, attractive woman who’d somehow managed to get a decent driver’s license photo. She was a patient, Robin remembered. She’d seen her in the office before.

That was all perfectly logical. People met with Watson in his office all the time to discuss options and payment plans. There was no reason someone couldn’t have left their purse in there. Robin had occasionally left her own purse in a restaurant or at a friend’s house. But her throat closed when she realized the name wasn’t familiar just because it was in their computers.

This was the most recent woman who’d been found dead in the woods.

She desperately wanted to be wrong. Robin pulled her phone out of her pocket, her fingers shaking as she tried to find the news story to verify what she saw.

“It’s all very simple, really, and we’ve got to do something. You have to admit that I’ve done more than my fair share of—”

Robin’s entire body jerked as footsteps and voices sounded in the doorway behind her. She turned to find her boss staring at her. He looked at the wallet in her hand and then up at her face, his eyes quickly turning angry. She was caught, and she knew it. The gush of adrenaline in her system told her to run, that things were more horrifically wrong than she could ever imagine, yet there was nowhere to go.

A woman stood just behind Watson, tall and slim, with perfect skin and judgmental eyes. Robin had seen her before. Running on high speed, Robin’s brain flickered to another day when this woman had been in the office recently. Edith, she’d said her name was. She was one of Watson’s pompous friends.

Her boss would be furious with her for calling him out right in front of one of his people, but Robin wasn’t going to wait around until it was convenient for him. “Why do you have this?” she demanded.

“What the hell are you doing with that?” Watson asked simultaneously.

Edith gestured so quickly that it made Robin flinch. She rolled her hand through the air and formed a fist in front of her face. When she uncurled her fingers and blew on her palm, thousands of glittering green crystals filled the air and headed straight for Robin.

Flinching instinctively, Robin stepped back. There was no place for her to go, no escape to be had. The glittering particles filled her mouth and nose and choked her. Robin’s vision darkened around the edges until she could only see what was directly in front of her. She dropped the wallet and leaned against the desk, finding that her feet didn’t want to stay underneath her. That disc of vision continued to telescope smaller and smaller. Her arms and legs were numb now, leaving only her tremulous heartbeat. Fear had taken over her completely. Robin knew she should be doing something, but her mind refused to let her know what. She slid to the floor, only vaguely aware of the cold linoleum beneath her. Two faces appeared in the last remnants of her vision as Watson and Edith peered down at her.

“I think that’ll do,” Watson said with finality.

16

“Lori,I know you and I were destined to be together, but I would’ve taken you as my mate for this spaghetti alone.” Rex shook his head in pleasure as he twirled another big bite onto his fork.

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