“I’m not. Soon she’ll be able to make her own decisions about who she wants in her life. If you hurt the wolves she loves, you hurt her. Remember that.”
“Did you come here to get my blessing?”
I closed my eyes for a long blink. Had he really always been like this? “No. I came here to ask you to accept the new pack rules peacefully.”
“I can’t do that, Willow.” His words were tipped with a growl. “I can’t go to sleep at night knowing my mate is in another wolf’s bed. What kind of message does that send to the pack?”
“I don’t want to do this your way, Tate, but you’re not giving me any other choice.” I looked back at the wolves. “Send him a message.”
Carlos, Javier, and Rick stalked toward Tate.
“I don’t want this,” I said to no one, anyone who would listen.
I never realized Tessa was beside me. “They’ll settle this,” she said. “They want what you want. Have faith.”
Tate shifted, then lunged at Carlos, but my mate was quick. He had his opponent in the dirt in a matter of seconds, with his paw on his stomach.
“I could let Willow finish this. For all the times you treated her like shit,” Carlos said between gritted teeth. “So you never fuck with her again.”
“You can’t fight your own battles. You know what happened the last time someone challenged your mate.”
That was it. Carlos tore his teeth into Tate’s flesh, whipping his body back and forth in the dirt. Blood splattered everywhere, hitting all of us.
“No.” I pleaded. For the second time, I jumped between them. Carlos stilled, but he didn’t let go of Tate.
His guys still hadn’t moved. Tate had lost support in the pack.
“Don’t do it.” I said.
“Coming to my defense again, princess?” How Tate managed a smile, even with blood in his mouth, was beyond me.
“No. If you don’t leave us alone, I’ll let Carlos finish the job. Promise me, in front of the entire pack, you’ll honor the agreement. I’m free to choose my true mate. And you can do the same.”
“You should just let him kill me,” he said. “I can’t stand to see you with another wolf.”
“You’ll get used to it.” For the first time I felt hope. “Your guys want change too. They want to be a part of this pack. Can you do this? For Hazel? She loves you so much.”
“Yeah,” he grunted, and Carlos let him go. He was a panting, bloody mess, and he’d have to figure out how to put the pieces together on his own. “That’s the only reason I’m doing it.”
For the first time, I truly felt free. “You can be the dad she deserves.”
“I’ll do what I think is best for the pack.” He looked over me and to the wolves standing behind me. We were all in human form, but we were always wolves. “Make sure no one gets in my way.”
To anyone else it was a threat, but from Tate, it was a concession.
**
It was time to celebrate. So far, Tate hadn’t tried to retaliate or contact me about anything other than our custody arrangement. My yoga studio had been cleaned up, got a brand-new door, and a bunch of new students. Maybe the town was ready to change.
We decided to keep things small this time, and just invited the wolves who’d been in the Wyoming Pack with Carlos and their mates. Marcus and Jasmine, Matteo and Jessica, and Rick and Javier. I invited Luna, because if I denied her that type of quality alone time with Rick she would’ve revoked my best friend status.
“Should we invite someone for Javier? Or give him the opportunity to do it himself since he’s a grown-ass wolf?” I asked.
Carlos shook his head. “He’s all about Stephanie.”
“Oh really?” I waggled my eyebrows. She’d definitely be there. This was supposed to be the conclusion of our episode and a lead-in for Luna. We had some definite catching up to do. But Stephanie and Javier. How did I miss that? I felt like I spent almost every waking moment with Stephanie. “Can Stephanie be a Real Werewife?”
“Tessa was. It’s the whole reason we’re here.”
Love was all around us, and it blew my mind. Wolves finding their true mates, even if they were human. I had hope again that anything was possible, and I couldn’t be happier that my daughter was right by my side to witness the whole thing.
The party was at my apartment, and Luna arrived first. She looked adorable with her freshly dyed blue pixie cut, and pinup girl makeup that made her periwinkle eyes pop. Wolf shifters always had the prettiest eyes. She wore a short-sleeved black fuzzy sweater that she’d paired with high waisted leopard print pants. I’d gone with my usual uniform of jeans and a sweater, but she made me want to up my game.
“I’ve barely talked to you since yoga the other day.” Things have been crazy to say the least. “What have you been up to?”
Her pale pink lips turned up into a smile. “I’m looking for a new space to work on my art. I’m excited, because I’ve never stayed in one place long enough to be able to put together the bigger ideas that have been floating around in my head forever. But it scares the hell out of me too.”
I understood. Having my dreams come true was the scariest thing because what if I lost everything I’d wished for? What happened now? But I wanted to hear Luna’s take because nothing scared her. “Why?”
“I’ve designed my whole life not to settle. Anywhere, for anything. And now I’m back in my hometown and I’m making plans to stay here. What if it’s not enough?”
“You make it enough.” But I knew what she was asking. She was worried she’d sabotage this opportunity. “You like Rick, right?”
She fluttered her lashes, either trying to disguise her dreamy expression or enjoying every second of it. “Like isn’t the right word. I’ve never felt anything like this before—”
The door opened, and Carlos came in, followed by Rick, whose face lit up as soon as he saw Luna. It was going to be so much fun to sit back and watch these two fall into crazy, stupid love. Luna didn’t do anything halfway. Javier was there too, followed closely by Stephanie, who was giggling at one of his jokes. I didn’t know Stephanie giggled. Not only was there so much I had to learn about the pack, but still so much I didn’t know about my new friends.
The Shaw brothers and their twin mates followed, carrying boxes of pizza and cupcakes and chatting with their mom, Tessa.
“Should we eat first, or do the surprise first?” Tessa asked.
“There’s a surprise?” Hazel’s eyes got wide and she headed for one of the cupcake boxes.
“Pizza first.” I opened one of the boxes and found the taco pie that she loved the best. “Why don’t we eat while we watch the surprise?”
Everyone agreed to that and huddled around my little kitchen, picking their favorite slices and ladling fruit punch into glasses before settling into the living room. I didn’t have enough seating for twelve people, so Carlos, Hazel, and I wound up on the floor with Elvira curled up at our feet.
Tessa put her plate aside and tapped into her tablet. She picked up the remote, turned on the TV, and connected the two devices.
Hazel gasped when she saw Elvira on the screen. It was the wobbly phone camera video I took the day we adopted her.
“Elvira!” She picked her up and pointed her toward the screen. “You’re on TV!”
The video continued, showing some of Elvira’s greatest tricks, and Hazel being so patient, teaching her how to do more. I was in the background, watching the shows in the living room. I recorded those with my phone too, but by then, we had Tessa or Stephanie there to get good quality video.
It faded to black, with the message, Fall in love today, adopt from your local shelter.
The look on Hazel’s face, the pure shock, the disbelief that it actually happened, was the best gift anyone could’ve ever given to me. “Elvira’s really going to be famous?”
“She already is, and you are too. We’ve put the video online last night and you already have close to a million views. At this ra
te, it could go viral.”
She gasped. “Mom, I’m famous.”
“Yes baby, you are.” My voice cracked with those damn happy tears. She dove into my lap, and Elvira wriggled out. Carlos put his arms around both of us, rocking us back and forth.
“And this is the shot that will close out your episode,” Tessa said. “There’s no doubt in my mind you’ll all be famous soon.”
**
Thank you! I hope you enjoyed Carlos and Willow’s story as much as I loved writing it. Next couple to get their own Real Werewives episode is Luna and Rick. Luna’s been running from her contract her entire adult life, and but Rick makes her want to stay. Until another wolf will stop at nothing to lay claim on her...
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Seduced by the Rogue Wolf
Luna
“You’re just like your namesake. You drive men wild,” Nana said with a dismissive wave when I told her about my latest venture as a Real Werewife. We’d always been close, even when I was half a world away from Granger Falls, Idaho. “They’ll be fighting over which one gets to claim you, just like they go into the forest and fight every full moon.”
As a she-wolf, I took being named after the moon seriously. She was my goddess and my guiding light. And when the earth spun me away from her? Torture. I guess she made me a little crazy too.
“That makes zero sense, Nana.” I checked my makeup in my vintage compact. I collected old fashioned beauty items because they reminded me that I was more than someone’s potential mate. I was a fucking force to be reckoned with, even when I wrapped myself up with lipstick and pretty bows. “Fated mates means two wolves are meant to be together. Any other wolf should be on the hunt for his mate.”
“This pack follows tradition only when it suits them,” she said. “Otherwise, you would’ve never been contracted to a wolf you didn’t belong to.”
“That’s why I refuse to settle for less than my fated mate.” I snapped the compact closed and dropped into my purse. I’d bought them in the same thrift shop when I was hiding out in Austin. I didn’t have a lot of things, which meant I treasured everything I had. “It’s the only reason I came back to Sawtooth Forest. I don’t have room in my life for anything that’s not real—art, passion, or mates.”
“You’re perfect for this TV show.” Nana chuckled. “You’ll help them sell the fantasy. We’ll have an influx of humans coming here, hoping to snag their own personal werewolf. They’ll be high on romance and in for one helluva tumble when they see what it really means to be pack.”
I gave an obligatory eye roll when someone said what it means to be pack. If it was a drinking game in Granger Falls, I’d never be sober enough to operate heavy machinery. Yesterday, at the press conference announcing the show, I cheered Shadow Channing on as he shattered all the tired conceptions about what wolves did. First and foremost? He’d freed the she-wolves from their mate contracts. We’d barely had time to adjust to that before he dropped the second bomb. Effective immediately, we’d outed ourselves to humans.
I’d a good part of my adult life hiding. Instead of fighting my contract, I ran. When I was eighteen, leaving was the biggest middle finger I could give the arrangement. Now that I was back, I was determined to leave my mark on this pack.
“Good. Maybe they’ll quiet down all the fools who think we’re dangerous.” They hadn’t given me too much trouble yet, but they’d made my best friend Willow the target of their attacks after she left a marriage to a wolf she should’ve never been with in the first place.
“We are dangerous, Luna.” Nana sighed. “So much time away from your pack made you forget your she-wolf nature.”
“No.” I let a little growl slip for good measure. “I’ve been discovering what it means to be Luna. I’m much more than someone’s mate. I’m a she-wolf who wants things, loves fiercely, and will protect my right to do so.”
“I’d never expect anything less. But we have a new set of concerns now that Shadow Channing decided it was a good idea to out us to humans.”
“I’ve been living as a human for the last ten years.” I laughed when Nana made a face like she’d just sucked on a lemon. “They don’t pose a threat to a pack.”
She shook her head. “They play by different rules than we do, and that takes our advantages away.”
“Any good wolf should know how to gain an advantage on a human.”
“Do you?”
“A girl never tells her secrets. You taught me that.” Truth was, I’d never been tested. Nana wouldn’t want to hear that I’d passed for human so convincingly it had never been an issue. “On that note, how do I look?”
For the party tonight, I’d chosen a body-hugging leopard print dress that hit just above my knee. Winter lasted until almost summer in Granger Falls, so I had a pink faux fur jacket that went over it. It contrasted with my blue hair but matched my heels and lipstick. I was going all in on this Real Werewife gig. No matter if I found a fated mate or not, I would not be forgotten.
“Like a handful.” I’d missed Nana’s truth bombs while I was away, and it was one of the reasons I’d asked to stay with her while I got myself back on my feet in Granger Falls. Although, before the Real Werewives came to town, I’d considered it a quick exit strategy too. If things in Sawtooth Forest had changed in name only, I’d hightail it out of town. This town scared me.
But as Nana squeezed my hand, she reminded me it was home too. “I can’t wait to meet the wolf who’s brave enough to be your mate.”
**
The Redheaded Stepchild had never had a reputation for being a chill place, and that certainly hadn’t changed while I was away. Protesters greeted Willow and me as we walked the red carpet, and she was freaking out.
A little piece of me loved that humans were so upset about sharing space with another species. Shapeshifters were out, but the Sawtooth pack had kept their secret until it served them to expose their furry side. Nothing would change for the humans, but I didn’t come back here for things to stay the same, and I was committed to making a difference.
Willow’s jitters weren’t the only reason I encouraged her to go into the infamous Werewives confessional booth first. I was a flight risk too. I hadn’t been to The Redheaded Stepchild since I used to sneak in here underage to cause trouble with wolves I didn’t belong to.
When I realized how little Shadow’s declarations had changed, how even after a decade, the same men sat on the same barstools, how the creepy pool tables still loomed in the dark corner, and sweet moon, Red Heaven still existed. That place held secrets I’d take to the grave... I couldn’t breathe. I’d definitely changed, but my faith that Granger Falls could make good on its promise to do the same waned.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.
Could one of these wolves be the one I was meant to spend the rest of my life with? Would they care about my hopes and dreams when theirs fit so snugly nestled into this valley?
Someone plowed into me with their shoulder, almost knocking me off my high heels. “Out of the way, wolf,” a woman I’d never seen before sneered at me. How did she know?
I’d just said I was determined to make my mark, but a woman could change her mind when something turned out to be an absolute shitshow. If I left now, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. Besides Willow and Nana, no one would miss me. I hadn’t kept many friendships when I left town. I’d reached out to Willow when I came back because I knew she had to be feeling as lost and lonely as I was. Th
ere was a line of hopeful Werewives out the door. One of them would be more than happy to take my episode.
“I had a feeling I’d see you here, Luna.” Justin, the wolf I’d been sold to all those years ago, the one I’d spent my entire adult life avoiding, stood in front of me wearing a lopsided wolfish grin and one of his many suits, like he had to make sure everyone in the room knew he was important. Like this night could turn into more of a disaster. Somehow, he’d always managed to track me down—all signs pointed to Nana, who supported my missions but always wanted me to come home—and send me trinkets to remind me of his inflated opinion of himself. He missed the mark by several miles every time. “Are you a Real Werewife?”
The temptation to lie was overwhelming. “I am.”
“I’m signed up for the show too. You can’t deny what a coincidence that is.” Somehow he’d moved closer, sucking the little bit of remaining oxygen out of the room. “Are you ready to give me a chance, moon child?”
“Don’t call me that.” I tried to step away from him, but the bar was crowded and he moved with me. He’d never respected my boundaries; it was unreasonable for me to expect him to start now. But it would never stop pissing me off. “Justin, you finally have the opportunity to find the she-wolf who wants you. Don’t waste it. Please.”
“I want you,” he insisted.
I shook my head. “You want to own me. I’m not for sale.” This time I managed to get around him and headed straight for the bar, squeezing between patrons, letting the crowd swallow me as a layer of protection as I got the attention of the bartender.
Tessa Williams, executive producer of The Real Werewives, promised she recruited wolves from outside the Sawtooth pack when she assembled the cast. Because clearly, I had concerns about the very thing that just happened. That wasn’t what I signed up for. I had a fated mate out there somewhere. I’d searched for him far and wide, and I never imagined I’d find him in Sawtooth Forest, but I was willing to try almost anything.
And at this point, take a shot of anything, but whiskey was strong enough to burn away my doubts and give me a fresh perspective...
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