I closed my eyes and shuddered as I downed the shot. Heat radiated through my body as the whiskey erased my bad feelings about running into Justin. The rules were different now.
A man stood on the other side of the bar. Many men were there—the place was packed and a band wailed through their set—but this man was different. Blinking to make sure my eyes weren’t lying to me after an infusion of ninety proof, he didn’t change. He was definitely a wolf, all freaking wolf. His T-shirt clung to his muscular chest, riding up on his biceps. I gulped, because he’d caught me checking him out. Normally, this guy wasn’t my type—I’d bet he was insanely loyal to whoever his pack leader was, and more comfortable in the forest than in this packed room full of people.
And it was sexy as hell.
Maybe he was my type after all. I met his gaze, and from across the bar, it shined like platinum. Dark hair fell past his shoulders, and he ran his fingers through it, pushing it away from his face.
I looked down at the shot glass, wishing I had more of the magic potion. When I looked up again, he was gone.
Threading through the crowd again, I caught a flash of Willow.
“Hey, how did it go?” I asked, but the look on her face said everything I needed to know. She didn’t answer and plowed right into a massive mountain of man.
Now it was my turn to be shell-shocked, because he was with the gorgeous creature I’d locked eyes with across the bar. But now was not the time to make a move.
Something was happening with Willow and her wolf. She wiped tears away from her cheeks and smiled as she walked away with him. Okay, so maybe I could talk to his friend. We definitely had a common interest.
“Ready to come into the confessional?” Tessa’s question made me jump. I’d let my guard down, confusing being back in my hometown with safety, and I was making rookie mistakes. I might be on the hunt for a forever mate, but I couldn’t forget my wolf nature.
“Now?” I almost said, my forever mate is right there, but the last thing I wanted was for Tessa to make an awkward introduction. And my she-wolf was still urging me to run.
She shrugged. “Doesn’t have to be. We have a few Werewives who have already signed on, but none of them stand out on camera like you do. We’ve had multiple wolves express interest in you already.”
I was about to ask who, but I didn’t really care unless it was the man from the other side of the bar. The friend of the wolf that had disappeared with Willow. And unless he’d seen me come in and made a beeline to Tessa, who’d been in the confessional booth with Willow pretty much the entire time I’d been in the bar...he wasn’t one of the wolves she was talking about.
“I have my eye on someone too.” I had control of my destiny on the show. Tessa had drilled this into us since she first pitched the idea. Especially to the she-wolves who’d been under contract. I always loathed that term. It sounded like we’d negotiated a deal. We’d been sold.
Awkward introductions be damned. Maybe we could make this into something cute.
Tessa’s expression brightened. “Excellent. Show me who he is. If he’s not signed up for the show yet, I’ll pitch him.”
Oh, right. I had to find a fated mate that was willing to fall in love with me in front of an audience.
“He’s right...” He was still there, in all his tall, dark, and handsome glory, but now he had company. Tate Ulrich, Willow’s ex and shit stirrer extraordinaire, had walked in, flanked by his boys. I groaned, because this could mean nothing but trouble for my friend.
If he saw her with another wolf, he’d do whatever he could to stop it. The wolves in this pack had a hard time letting go of things that should have never belonged to him.
My wolf nudged his friend, and tipped his chin toward Tate, then followed him. They were either working with them or against them. Neither option was good.
I didn’t miss this crap when I was away from Sawtooth Forest.
“I have to find Willow. You can follow me if you want.” Having a camera record whatever was about to go down was convenient. “But I have a bad feeling all hell is about to break loose.”
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