Page 10 of The Wolf's Kidnapped Mate

Ass, I thought.You could be nicer to your sister, you know.

As soon as the girls got to the end of the rocky path, I scooted on to the next tree, trying to stay as casual as I could just in case people were watching. Nobody was lingering around from the meeting, but I couldn’t be too sure. If it came down to it, I could just use Jermaine as an excuse.

Kylie paused and clicked the heels of her sneakers together. “Well, at least this means I get a new path.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I don’t have to worry about Fred. He doesn’t mean anything to me.”

Yet something about the tone of her voice told me that was partway a lie. Being in the black ops for so long had helped me learn the dozens of ways people could withhold the truth, and all the signs that signal just that. By Kylie’s rigid stance and stiff upper back, I could tell she wasn’t being entirely honest with her friend.

Then again, Faye had no clue about Kylie’s past. All their walks were void of any black ops information, which was for the best, and for the safety of everyone in the pack. Besides the alphas, Jermaine, and myself, nobody knew Kylie had been in the black ops at one point. The same applied for me.

Even Virginia didn’t know about my past. She just knew I peddled in some illegal circles around town. That was the bulk of it.

Faye huffed and waved nonchalantly. “See? No harm done, right?”

There was no way both of them were that bad at lying.

I stared at the back of Kylie’s head, watching the way her hair bent to the breeze. She seemed to be sizing up her friend, or maybe trying to get a gauge on how much lying she could get away with this time.

Best to keep it simple, love, I thought.Don’t let the lie turn into another lie.

Kylie shrugged. “Right. No harm done. On to the next mate.”

“Since when do you date?” Faye chuckled. “You don’t even leave the pack.”

“Hey, I go places when you aren’t looking.”

Faye strayed off the path, heading toward the woods. “Want to go for a quick swim? I’m feeling grimy after that weird meeting.”

But Faye didn’t wait for a response. She took off running, giggling like a maniac as Kylie ran after her. Given the circumstances, I knew I had to keep a close eye on Kylie in case Bernadetti got any ideas about scoping out the supernatural scene. One whiff of this pack might send him in this direction—or maybe he wouldn’t care.

There was no way to know.

At the end of the day, I had to cover my bases. I walked briskly onto the path and headed in the direction the girls had taken. As soon as I reached the trees that separated the path from the ocean, I noticed a couple of things resting on the bushes up ahead. Two shirts, two pairs of pants, and some shoes with the socks stuffed in.

I rubbed the back of my neck. Liam had said to protect her at all costs.

If the cost was to see her a little bit naked, then hell, I’d take one for the team.

Chapter 4 - Kylie

I never quite understood why I took a job at the community center. Not much about it felt appealing other than the organizing side of things. While a lot of folks who came through just wanted to plan a birthday or retirement party, I got a wedding reception every so often. Sometimes, it was the wedding itself.

Since Blake and Troy were going trigger happy on the mate announcements, weddings were booming. We were taking requests left and right to rent out the recreation center, the barn, or any other patch of land available on the Beaufort Creek side of things. Less often, somebody asked to have a party on the beach. Those were easy.

But I was getting tired of parties and nuptials. I was getting sour just from staring at the emails on my screen from various dating websites.Meet your match today!None of the dating services had really appealed to me, but I was curious about them. I was curious about meeting someone.

Who am I kidding? I can’t even leave the perimeter. These were just fanciful dreams I was having. It wasn’t like I could initiate a conversation, let alone actuallymeetsomebody. I was fooling myself. I never clicked on the emails to sign up, but I thought about it. I really thought about it.

I sighed while stepping into the lobby of the community center. This wasn’t really the life I’d pictured when I went into hiding. I had thought maybe I’d find a nice little spot to tend to a garden and maybe do the farmer’s market thing like Karla and Cora. They were living a sapphic paradise dream up in Canada.

Technically, I didn’t need the money from the pack. Liam had dropped a huge sum on my apartment. I wasn’t hurting for cash or anything.

I pushed on the glass door, letting the breeze into the lobby.I’m just bored.

Something about that public rejection the other day felt weird. I didn’t have any feelings for Fred as far as I knew. Not the slightest tingle in my gut. My chest didn’t heave at the sight of him, and anyway, what was that supposed to mean if I couldn’t catch my breath around a guy? Allergies. That was what that would mean.

---