Running Wild

by Kristen Strassel

  It fucking sounded crazy to me.

  “But on the bright side, at least no one can trick you into an arranged marriage on a reality show.” The corners of her mouth quivered as she fought her smile. “So you won’t have to get yourself eliminated from the team to avoid it.”

  “Haven’t made the team yet.” Especially after today’s practice. Nothing was guaranteed.

  “I think you’ll be sticking around.” She nudged me. Yes, my wolf rumbled. It worked.

  “What makes you think that? You a big football fan?”

  “I know enough not to make a fool out of myself.” She flipped her ponytail off her shoulder. “But sometimes, I just know things. And I think you’re going to be a star.”

  “Oh yeah?” If only I could get her to talk to Coach. “Well, I think you’re going to be sticking around for a while, too.”

  She shook her head. “I’m on the first train to eliminationville.”

  “No way.” Not if my wolf had anything to do with it. “I think you’re going to be a star, too.”

  “What gives you that idea?”

  Because you’re my mate.

  Chapter Four

  NAOMI

  I never had a favorite day of the week before, but Tuesday quickly rocketed to the top. It had always been in the running, mainly because tacos were aplenty, but now it had the added benefit of being Sebastian’s day off.

  We’d been texting ever since the party. I worried he’d had too much punch and would lose interest once he sobered up, but he’d been super helpful so far helping me plan my day trips around Alaska. He understood exactly what type of stuff I wanted to see—quirky, out of the way places only a local could find. Anyone could hit the tourist spots. My readers wanted the authentic experience.

  So far, I was only allowed to tease about the show. I wanted to shout from the rooftops all this insider info is coming from a hot as fuck wolf! Who’s interested in me! And more surprisingly, I was interested in him. Usually, people didn’t take my blog seriously. They wanted to know if I was still doing that blog thing. That’s why I loved my readers so much. They got it, just like Sebastian did.

  My next adventure would be my most challenging yet—my first real date with Sebastian. To see if that spark I felt at the party was real or if it was a byproduct of the rum punch. If he was actually interested in the woman who came to the big Werewife kickoff gala in her travel jammies.

  Are we still on for tonight? I texted him and braced myself for his excuses. I’d perfected the art of making guys like Sebastian go away. I could probably publish a book on it. From the bad underwear to the one night stands to conveniently losing my phone. But I had no idea how to get a guy like that to stick around. I needed to one-click an instruction manual in a hurry.

  I could probably ask Mom, but she’d have the wedding invitations in the mail before the phone call ended.

  Old habits die hard, and I had no intention of staring at my phone and waiting for his text. I put the phone down and headed downstairs. My housemates hadn’t been around much since the party. No big surprise there. Sometimes I caught the very end of their walks of shame while I ate my oatmeal. They’d spent more time in the confessional, coming out with smudged makeup and flushed cheeks. I’d made myself scarce, off on my Sebastian-inspired adventures.

  “Today is the Bloodhounds’ day off,” Tessa drummed her fingers on the edge of the table. “We don’t have any footage of you with one of the guys yet.”

  “I’m working on it.” Same answer I gave her every day.

  “If you need us to help you with a meet-up scenario, we have a few things in mind that viewers would like to see.” Her gaze raked over me. My pink hair was in need of a fresh dye job, and I’d piled it up on my head. Kept it from getting caught in the hood of my sweatshirt. My jeans were tucked into my trusty fuzzy boots. I figured these would be uniform in Alaska, not the barely-there dresses that were an everyday thing for my housemates. They had to be freezing.

  “You have to at least try, Naomi,” Tessa added, disappearing into the production office before I had a chance to say I was. She didn’t deserve to see the texts Sebastian sent all week. And I was afraid to look at the latest. He could totally cancel.

  “It’s like they want me to blow up on camera,” I grumbled as I joined Delilah on the deck. She’d been pretty scarce after the party, too, but she’d been around more the last few days. “Like no matter what I do they want to make me look like an idiot.”

  “The official line from production is that real emotion makes the best television.” Delilah’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. She was wrapped up in a blanket and clutching a mug of tea. “Stay out of the confessional room as long as you can. It’s brutal.”

  “What happened with your guy?” I asked. She was the only one of my housemates that I liked and as she snuggled deeper into her blanket, she looked like she was ready to go home.

  “Graham? He’s a wide receiver and a lynx shifter. No big surprise he moves fast. And had the filthiest mouth I’d ever heard.” Her cheeks pinked.

  I scooted closer to her. “Tell me more.”

  “I couldn’t repeat those things out loud.” She laughed. “He’s not the one.”

  “They want us to date a few of the guys. We won’t find the right one on the first try.” Another official line from production. Which made me worry about tonight even more. “I’m hoping to go out with Sebastian tonight.”

  “The guy you’ve been texting all week? It’s about time he takes you out.” She brightened when the subject changed to me.

  “I like him. I’m hoping to go one and done.” A total one-eighty from my original goal of the first one being eliminated.

  “They’re shifters, and they mate for life, Naomi. But wolves, their mates are fated. It’s like a sixth sense with them, or something.”

  “Like they see dead people?”

  Delilah laughed. “No, smart ass, their mates are intended, destined, meant to be. You know that, right?”

  Her mouth fell when my own shocked expression told her otherwise. My heart sunk a little. If wolves’ mates were destined, then that meant I was probably nothing more than a booty call to Sebastian. Suddenly Tuesday didn’t seem so great. Old habits really do die hard.

  I tried my best to hide my disappointment. “So the bears and foxes, they choose their mates and it’s . . . forever?”

  She nodded. “It was in the contract. You really have to read that thing. Graham was...he was nice—”

  “He didn’t sound nice to me.” I’d wondered if I should’ve gone over to him instead. “He sounds like a sexy beast. Don’t mind the pun. I don’t want a guy like that to be too nice. I want him to be rugged and take what he wants and let me try to tame him.”

  “Okay, he wasn’t nice. He was a lot of fun, and I’ve never been with a guy who was that experienced in bed. But that was the problem. I don’t want a professional player.” She tipped her head when I opened my mouth to protest. “You know what I mean. He’ll hook up with every unattached woman in Holiday Falls, and we’ll all have the scars to prove it.”

  “He didn’t hurt you, did he?” I’d kick him so hard in the shins if he did. I had a pair of steel-toed combat boots that would hobble him for a game or two.

  She took a deep breath and shook her head. “He’s not the kind of guy I came here to meet, that’s all. If I was only responsible for myself, I’d be more than happy to see what happened. But if he decides he’s my mate, I can’t see him being a good role model for my son.”

  “Wait a minute. Decides he’s your mate? Don’t we have any say?”

  “You really need to read that contract.” She pressed her lips together, but her amusement was clear. “Yeah. They choose us. And you gave up your say in the matter when you accepted an all-expenses-paid trip to Alaska.”

  Oh. So maybe this whole ‘wolfy fated mates’ thing would work in my favor.

  “So what are your plans with Sebastian?” she asked when I didn�
��t answer.

  “Not sure yet. I asked him if we were still on for tonight but I’m too afraid to look at what he said.” Every time I asked him about himself, he changed the subject back to me. My blog. He didn’t answer when I asked him where he was from in Alaska. It had to be painful for him, since he said he didn’t have a family anymore.

  But he had a mate out there somewhere, someone he was meant to spend forever with. Now I understood his hesitation. All I really wanted out of tonight was a margarita with salt and maybe a smoking hot kiss.

  Liar. I could handle the season, but forever was more than I bargained for.

  “Go get it. I’ll coach you through this.”

  I looked over my shoulder at the camera. “Then the whole world will know I’m an absolute failure at dating.”

  That was, if anyone actually watched this show. Production wouldn’t be spending all this money if they didn’t think anyone would watch.

  “Another thing you signed away.” That fucking contract. “Get your phone. And if I can’t get Sebastian to agree to a date with you, we’ll rope the camera girl in on it, too. Between the three of us, we’ll get him to bend.”

  Yeah. Production and their made-for-TV date scenarios. Just add a hot wolf and a clueless blogger who needed her roots done. I grumbled all the way up the stairs and into our room. This was so much easier when the guys on dating sites asked me to send dirty pictures.

  I usually did it. Why not? If they kept talking to me after that, there was a chance I’d keep them around for a minute. I cut off my face, and used a fake name. Although, a little scandal would probably do my blog some good. All publicity was good publicity... even if it came from a dating reality show.

  My heart pounded as I picked up the phone. I didn’t know what made me want to throw up more—getting shot down or having to be schooled on how to get a man in front of an audience. I sabotaged my relationships on purpose, and I could stop whenever I wanted. Right. According to Delilah, Sebastian and I were already doomed. There was some nice wolf lady somewhere waiting in the wings for her happily ever after.

  Maybe Sebastian wasn’t looking for nice, either. So I had nothing to lose.

  For that reason, Sebastian shouldn’t scare me. The situation was tailor-made for me with no future. And I had no idea why I felt this way. The guy had more walls up than I did. That was it. Right there. I was trying to date the male version of myself.

  I owed a lot of people apologies.

  He answered. Absolutely. Looking forward to it.

  My happy dancing was pathetic, but at least it wasn’t on camera. I knew I left my phone up here for a reason.

  Yay! What do you want to do? We should probably practice our celebration dances. He must have one, since he scored touchdowns. And maybe he’d be scoring on me.

  No, no more hookups on the first date. You have one job, Naomi. And it’s not to fuck this up.

  Take you to dinner. And see where it goes from there.

  Chapter Five

  NAOMI

  Game time. I wasn’t a dress-to-impress type of girl, but at least I took a shower before this date and put on makeup. I may have even shaved my legs.

  But I put on the ugliest underwear I owned. They had giraffes and elephants on the ass and said Welcome to the Jungle. I had a whole collection of these things—I considered them an insurance policy. My clothes were guaranteed to stay on. Unless, for some reason, I wound up in the emergency room, and then the doctor would get a good laugh.

  I blew myself a kiss in the mirror. The bright pink lipstick would take some getting used to, but it worked. Delilah blew out my hair for me, and I was rocking my favorite long sweater, leggings, and fuzzy boots.

  Tessa intercepted me in the living room. “Before we bring you to the restaurant, we need to stop in the confessional room and record your thoughts.”

  Ugh. Busted. At least I wouldn’t have any reason to cry like my housemates. “But I haven’t sinned yet.”

  Her grin was tight. Tessa still didn’t think I was funny. Whatever.

  “That’s what a confessional is usually for,” I added, in case she didn’t get the joke. “You know, in church? You have been to church, right?’

  It had been a while since I’d graced any place of worship with my presence. I had a sneaking suspicion I might throw off a few sparks when I crossed the threshold.

  “You have read the contract, right?” she asked.

  Negative. “For the most part. Can we do this? Sebastian is waiting for me.”

  Everything was set up for the inquisition. Tessa took a seat across from me and opened her laptop.

  “You know the drill. No one will hear my questions in the final edit, so include them in your answers.” She glanced up at me. “Ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be.”

  “How do you feel about going on your first date with Sebastian Connall tonight?”

  “Tonight’s my first date with Sebastian Connall and I’m...” I hesitated. A bunch of sarcastic answers floated through my head. But it wasn’t only the whole world who’d see this. Sebastian would too, if watching dating shows was his thing. “Really excited about it.”

  Tessa’s face brightened when I gave her an honest answer. “How did you catch his eye at the party?”

  “Who said he didn’t catch my eye?” I smirked at Tessa because it was fun to watch her squirm. “He thought I was part of the camera crew. He wanted me to get someone to fill the punch bowl.”

  “Interesting.” Tessa’s mouth settled in the usual tight line, her baseline when dealing with me. “Most of the other Werewives have already gone out with their potential mates. How did you finally talk him into taking you out?”

  “Maybe I asked him out.” Bitch. Tessa raised an eyebrow, and she didn’t buy that for a second. Maybe I should read that contract, to see if there was any place they mentioned setting us up for failure. That Sebastian wasn’t the only guy whose destiny was already tied up with a neat little bow. There was nothing neat about me. “We’ve been chatting. I have a travel blog, Naomi Harts Travel, and he’s from Alaska. He’s been giving me great suggestions on places to visit.”

  Tessa grimaced at my gratuitous self-promotion. Sebastian was lucky he didn’t have to go through this.

  “How do you feel about going out with a wolf? You know they’re different than the other shifters, right?”

  That’s it. Confessional closed. I liked Sebastian too much to think about being rejected because of some stupid canine destiny rules. The show knew exactly what they were doing. Setting us up for disaster.

  “I hate to keep him waiting.” I quickly stood, but Tessa didn’t, and I needed her to take my wires off. I was tethered to this room until she said otherwise. “It’s rude.”

  Tessa and a couple other ladies from the crew followed me into the driveway. The unlock button of the van chirped like she threw the first punch. I turned around, because something told me I wasn’t done with them yet.

  “Have plans tonight?” I asked.

  “We’re going with you, Naomi. To film.” The other ladies loaded their gear into the van. “This is the show.”

  I knew that. I really did. But I wasn’t prepared for how much I didn’t like it. I already felt protective of Sebastian. Damn it. I wanted to spend time with him without the whole world watching. Even if I was wearing these awful underwear.

  “No one else has a date tonight?” The Bloodhounds’ day off had to be the busiest day of the week, and I expected to be the lowest priority.

  “We have multiple units. We don’t miss a thing.” Tessa might have had claws and fangs herself.

  “So I noticed.”

  From the backseat, I sent Sebastian a warning text. Sorry. The camera crew is with me.

  Let’s give them a show, he answered.

  Oh, we’re going to get along. I looked up and smirked at Tessa. Dusk had tinted everything lavender, the challenge could’ve gotten lost in the shadows. “Did you bug my phone, too?”


  “You really need to read the contract.” She didn’t give me a chance to respond before she turned around.

  Sebastian had the right idea. Give them a show. Next time we hang out, we need to ditch them.

  I’d like that. Another message came through right away. But they want all the juicy stuff for the show.

  The mere mention of juicy stuff made me cross my legs to make the tingies go away. I was not used to this. Thank God for the underwear. We can keep some of it to ourselves, right?

  Damn straight.

  Every suggestion Sebastian had made for my blog had been incredible, so it made perfect sense to let him choose tonight’s venue. He stood in front of the restaurant. It was on the water, and maybe it was the sunset that set everything on fire, but he looked even better than he did the night of the party. I’d chalked up the most gorgeous man I ever laid eyes on to exhaustion or that hangover-inducing punch.

  Nope. It was all true. He wore jeans again, and this time, a blue button down. I thought I’d imagined the eye thing, but no. They were even more intense, like the sunset was playing live inside them.

  His lips curled into a slow grin as I approached. His dark hair was a little more tamed tonight. I wanted to run my fingers through those curls. My knees may have knocked together.

  Tessa grabbed my arm before I got to him. “Stay with us until we get the cameras rolling. We want to capture your genuine reactions when you approach him.”

  “Too late.” You snooze, you lose, Tessa. I wriggled away from her grip and headed over to Sebastian. “You have the most incredible eyes,” I said.

  Ugh. All I’d meant to say was hi. But between seeing him again and having my own personal paparazzi in tow, I was way off my game.

  At least I kept myself from asking him if it was a wolf thing. They glowed. I couldn’t be imagining it.

  “I like your lips,” he said. Okay, he left his game on the field, too. “They match your hair.”