Page 33 of Loved By the Wolf

I could help Becca and Pac. That much I could do.

Becca

The boba teawas the best I’d ever had, and I made a note to bring Jill here the next time she visited.

“I have something to show you before we head back to your place,” Thomas said as we stood up to leave.

“Oh, I was going to—”

“You’ll like it,” he said quickly. “It’s a surprise.”

A surprise for me? From Thomas?There was a sudden urge to say no, that it could wait till later, but Thomas looked very excited and genuine. Decided, I turned to Millie, tapping her on the shoulder.

“Millie, Thomas wants to show me something, and he says it’s a surprise for me only.”

“Oh yeah. He told me he might pull you away tonight. I’m excited for you.”

“But you remember our talk earlier?”

“I remember, but you’re still a single lady, right? And what he has to show you will be breathtaking. I’ve already seen it a thousand times, so you go and enjoy.”

I gave a laugh and hugged Millie. It was nice to have another friend.

I turned back to find Thomas, who was now waiting for me by the door. As he held the door open, we walked out to Tammy yelling, “Have fun, you two!”

In the car, I watched the city lights pass by. There were people milling about everywhere, and I was excited to experience what this city had to offer. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

“Could you give me a hint?”

“You said you’d never seen the sunset over the water before, so . . .” He pointed in front of me, and I gasped.

The ocean was spread out in front of us as far as the eye could see, and the sun was casting a warm orange glow across the water’s surface and onto the sand as it set. It was glorious. Thomas parked the car, and we stared at the beautiful view. I had never seen anything like it.

Getting out of the car, I went to stand at the top of the sand dune, staring at the beautiful painting nature had made. It was surreal to behold while the city was behind me. I could hear cars zooming by, and I wished I could make them stop to enjoy what was right in front of them. It was breathtaking.

“You love it?”

“I do. Thank you, Thomas.”

“Being out in nature is one of my favorite things to do, and even though you live in the city, you have a lot of opportunities to go to the beach or hike without going very far.”

“Yeah, the outdoors is something I’ll miss from Crystal Lake, so it’s good to know there’s opportunities here.”

“Now you’ll get the best of both worlds.”

“Yeah.” It’d been fun so far, but looking out at the ocean, I missed the tranquil silence that only came from being away from the city. San Francisco was a bit too much for me.

I noticed Thomas kept checking his watch, and it was starting to make me nervous. It was then I heard a rustling sound from my right.

When I faced Thomas to joke that I was now hearing things, he wasn’t there anymore. I turned to look in the car when an arm came around me. The smell of gardenias suddenly flooded my nostrils, and I turned around, confused.

Looking at me with beady eyes was a man I didn’t know. A man who had hunger in his eyes. He was looking at me like he had just won the greatest prize.

I stepped out of his arms, looking for Thomas while I walked backward down the dune toward the entrance to the beach. On seeing that Thomas was now in the car, I headed toward him, but he just gave me a thumbs up. The stranger was by my side in the next instant, and I jumped; I hadn’t even seen the man move!

“Aren’t you glad to see me?” the man asked.

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