Page 1 of Zoe

CHAPTER ONE

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Zoe reached out for the last box of eggs on the shelf, and a large hand came down on top of them just as her fingers wrapped around the edges. Admittedly, Christmas-time food shopping had its ups and downs, but fighting over the last box of eggs wasn’t on her to-do list for the day. “I think you’ll find I got there first,” she said, turning a bright smile and puppy dog eyes up at the behemoth whose hand had claimed them.

Behemoth was right. Tall, with broad shoulders, and jam-packed full of muscles, he couldn’t be anyone but part of the pack – not unless they had a bear clan nearby that she didn’t know about.

“No, you didn’t,” he said, a voice so deep she was sure the eggs in the box rattled a little.

Zoe wasn’t about to move her hand. She had just as much right to claim them, if not more. “Yes, I did.”

“Lady, I have hungry mouths to feed,” he said, eyeing her with a big dollop of suspicion.

“Coincidence, me too,” Zoe replied. “And my hungry mouths want chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate cake, and I aim to please as it was a promise. You wouldn’t want me to break my word, would you?”

Zoe heard him sigh, it was deep and long, and his gaze wandered from hers just long enough for him to consider her words. “Nope,” he said.

“Then move your hand,” Zoe said and remembered to offer him the kind of smile that used to get her everything she could possibly want back in the day before she hit her midlife blues. Still, with the glamour spell still working its magic, she was sure to get her way this time, wasn’t she?

“How many eggs do you need?” he asked.

“Six,” Zoe replied.

“Then I will split the box with you, six each.”

That did sound reasonable, but there was something about him that she couldn’t quite put her finger on and didn’t entirely trust – apart from him being a wolf shifter – so she had a deal of her own. “Fine, but they go in my trolley, and I’ll give you your share once they have gone through the till.”

“Can I trust you?” he asked, leaning over her a little.

“You can certainly trust me not to be intimidated by a big oaf like you,” she said, yanking the box from beneath his hand and sidestepping out from beneath his shadow. “And while I finish shopping, you might consider visiting the deodorant, mouthwash, and soap aisle.” She snapped on a victory grin, popped the eggs into the trolley and skirted off quick smart down the aisle. “Phew,” she said over her shoulder.

When she got to the end of the aisle, she quickly looked back to see what he was doing and almost tripped over into the trolley when she caught him lifting his arm and sniffing his armpit.

Zoe pressed her lips together until she was out of sight. Then she slapped a hand over her mouth and chuckled into it.

“Hey!” Heather said, but she slapped her on the back and was way to close and loud when doing it.

Zoe jumped and let out a squeal of surprise. Luckily she still had her mouth covered, so it was somewhat muffled. “Don’t do that!” she snapped.

“What’s got into you?” Heather asked in her usual curled-lip look of disbelief way.

“I just ran into a big shifter; we fought over eggs – sort of – I told him to visit the hygiene aisle, go look round the corner and tell me if he’s still sniffing his armpit?” Zoe grinned.

Heather was up for that, and she raced to the corner of the aisle and peered around. There he was, still sniffing his pits. She let out a chuckle and yanked her head back when he snapped a look her way. “What an idiot,” she chuckled, back at Zoe’s side.

“Well, I have to spilt the eggs with him at the till because I said I would, and I had the feeling anything less would turn into world war three,” Zoe informed her.

“But there are two of us now,” Heather said. “And world war three is fun, no?”

“No,” Zoe snapped. “Not when our bestie is now one of the pack.”

Heather rolled her eyes. “Does that mean we have to be nice from now on? As you well know, I don’t do nice.”

“You can do nice,” Zoe reminded her.

“I can, but Ichoosenot to.”

“Thenchooseto be nice; we’re only here a little while longer until after the holidays,” Zoe said.

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