Her Fairytale Wolf: Howls Romance

by Milly Taiden

  “What about a mate that is right for me?” Zander exhaled, his frustration rising.

  Misha sniffed again. “If she’s right for our pack, she’ll be right for you.”

  Zander’s inner wolf howled. Isabel would have been right on both counts. He sat on the edge of the couch. “Truth is, there was one girl. I just met her. Everything about her spoke to exactly what we both want.”

  His father perked up. ”Is she a shifter? What pack is she from?”

  Zander lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “She’s a half-blood. Her scent told me that much even before she said so herself. My gut tells me she’s wolf, but I don’t know for sure. To be honest, I don’t know much about her. We didn’t get the chance to talk for long, but I haven’t met anyone like her in a while. She’s beautiful and kind, and gives a damn enough to go out of her way even when there’s nothing to gain.” He looked at his father. “In that way, she reminds me of Mom.”

  “You got all that from meeting her once?” Misha raised an eyebrow.

  Zander bristled. “Why would you ask that? My senses are as sharp as ever.”

  “Because the air is choked in that city. I’m surprised you can scent anything through the smog, the vice, and the greed. I’m no fool, Zander. Regardless of what the doctors say, I know I won’t last six months. You are my heir.”

  “I know that.”

  “Then do something about it. At least with this girl you know there are possibilities out there. Go. Plan. Make your future happen. I want to see you settled, see our pack settled, before I die.

  Zander raked a hand through his hair. Inside, his wolf was agitated at the thought of anyone else at his side but Isabel. “I don’t want possibilities. I want Isabel. My wolf wants her as well, and he won’t be denied.” He looked at his father. “You know as well as any, when your animal chooses, there is no argument.”

  “Then use your resources to find her. If she’s a half-blood, then her ties to her pack are either strained or nil at best, but to be honest, I’d rest easy just knowing you’re happy. That’s all I want.”

  Zander got up to pace. “I’m planning an industry event announcing a new project to investors and producers. It’s at my Malibu compound. I could open the event to more people. Isabel said she was a designer for an agent, so there’s a good possibility she could come.”

  His father nodded. “Good. Invite everyone. Cast your net wide and see who you catch.”

  With soft eyes, Zander looked at his father. The proud alpha seemed so small in his high-backed chair, the warm plaid blanket covering his legs the way his bravado covered his growing weakness.

  “Dad, Los Angeles isn’t a cluster of mountain clans. We’re talking millions of people. I can’t open my house to the public.”

  Raising his hand, Misha let it fall to his lap. “What then? You invite the same grasping hopefuls you surround yourself with every day? These A-listers as you call them are morally bankrupt, their inner compass, paralyzed. Hell, I doubt they could find due north if you drew them a map. Even if a few have shifter blood, I doubt they could sniff out a rotting carcass, let alone another shifter, even one of an alpha’s bloodline.”

  “Wow, Dad. Tell me how you really feel.” With a smirk, Zander chuckled at the old wolf’s rant. “Leave everything to me, Pop. I don’t want you to worry. I promise I’ll figure out something.”

  7

  “It’s about time!” Alison got up from the narrow settee situated between the windows in the small waiting room outside Isabel’s studio. “What was so important you kept me here for hours? More of your flea-bitten friends? I’m not the kind of person you blow off, Izzy.” The woman sniffed, crossing her arms in a huff.

  “That’s enough, Alison,” Candice replied from the small sofa, casually stowing her phone in her purse. “If you bothered with more than gossip magazines, you’d know animal cruelty is championed by the Hollywood elite. It’s one of their pet causes. Drop the right names and stats and it might separate you from every other actress vying for their attention. You might try telling people you volunteer.” She closed her purse with a snap, and then looked at Izzy. “Tell us what you do at the shelters. Alison’s clever. I’m sure she can imagine herself in the humanitarian role.”

  Isabel snorted. “Not a chance. If your pet princess wants to know what happens at an animal shelter, she has to get her hands dirty and actually volunteer.”

  “Eew. As if.” Alison uncrossed her arms and reached for the plastic garment bag draped over one of the chairs. “Can we finish my dress, please?” She shoved the plastic carrier toward Isabel. “And make it snappy. I’m having cocktails before dinner and then heading out from there.”

  “No, you’re not.” Candice sniffed. “You have lines to memorize, or did you forget you have an audition tomorrow?” She raised an eyebrow, almost daring Ally to argue. “You’ve been out every night this week and your partying is taking its toll on your face.” She shook her head. “No, Alison. You are staying in tonight. You’ll do a hydrating mask and get to bed at a decent time. I’m all for networking, but I’m not calling in favors all over town to get you auditions just to have you show up hungover and haggish.” She sniffed again. “Isabel can run your lines with you.”

  Candice eyed them both and then flounced out, not waiting for a reply. Isabel shook her head, unlocking the inner door to her studio. “I need to pin you for length, so hang the garment bag in the closet once you slip on the dress. Knowing you, you’ll want the waist taken in and the bust tightened. It shouldn’t take long, but I am not running lines with you.”

  Alison followed her inside and hung the garment bag in the studio closet, but she didn’t get undressed.

  “What are you doing?” Isabel asked, pin box in hand.

  “I need a favor, Izzy—”

  Isabel cut her off with a wave. “Absolutely not.”

  “Iz, c’mon! I can’t miss this hook-up tonight. I need to borrow your car.” Alison pouted.

  “No, Ally. I have plans.”

  “Plans?” She snorted. “You never go out. Where could you possibly have to be that’s so important?”

  Isabel put the pins back in her sewing box and closed the tufted lid. “None of your business.”

  Hip out, Ally crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Hanging out with that dried up old hippie again? Why do you constantly waste time with people who can do nothing for you? Then you wonder why you’re stuck in this hovel.” She threw an arm out. “Tessa Martin is a nobody, Isabel. She has no connections.”

  Izzy applauded slowly, a deadpan expression on her face. “And Olympic gold for digging her own grave goes to Alison Steele.”

  “Iz! Please—”

  Irked, Isabel shot her a look. “Forget it, Ally. I’m not lending you my car.”

  Alison picked up a lint brush and threw it against the wall. “Fine! I’ll just Uber it.”

  Isabel laughed off the tantrum. “Suit yourself. You always do. But I’m not covering for you when Candice gets a ping on her cellphone that you used her account. You are on your own.”

  “Doesn’t matter. She’ll blame you anyway,” Alison looked up from her cellphone, already calling for a car.

  “Probably, but I don’t really care. Not anymore.”

  Alison’s eyes narrowed and she lowered her phone. “Something’s up or you wouldn’t be so mouthy.”

  Izzy shrugged. “Let’s just say I have a whole new perspective on things. I have options, and whether you believe it or not, you are not the only person who has someone to meet tonight.”

  “Who?” Ally snorted a laugh. “Some pathetic button salesman or a crunchy socks and sandals type from the shelter?” She lifted one palm. “Yeah, have fun with that.”

  “Alison, you really are a piece of work. Why do you care who I go out with?”

  She sniffed. “I don’t.”

  “Good, and since we’re not working on your dress tonight, there’s the door. Don’t let it hit you in the ass on the way
out.” Izzy moved to the studio door and swung her arm out. “Bye, Felicia.”

  With a glare, Alison left and Izzy locked the front door behind her. Glancing at the clock, she had just enough time to pull herself together and meet Zander. Her hand went to her stomach.

  Tess said be ready and willing when the magic swirled. She stripped, picturing Zander’s gorgeous face and the feel of his lips on hers and her stomach jumped. She was more than ready. She was ripe. A single touch from him and her body would go off like a rocket.

  His scent made her mouth water, and the thought of him naked made her breath catch as she stood in front of her closet in her underwear. She smirked, shrugging out of the rest of her clothes. “And from the way Zander filled out his jeans, the man certainly had a rocket in his pocket.”

  What would he feel like beneath her hands? Was his chest as hard as it looked? What about the rest of him? She closed her eyes, imagining her fingers over his skin, raking lower until his naked waist tapered to a rock-hard erection.

  Isabel sucked in a breath and snapped her eyes open. She glanced toward her bathroom and licked her lips. “Maybe a quick shower before I go,” she mumbled, nodding her head. “Yep, definitely a shower. The colder the better.” The magic was positively swirling.

  8

  “I’m in my workroom!” Tessa looked up from her pattern table. One look at Izzy’s face and she was out of her chair in seconds. “What happened? Are you all right?”

  Isabel sniffed. “Yes and no.”

  “Oh boy. Go sit. I’ll get the wine,” she replied, reaching to turn off her sewing machine.

  Isabel shook her head. “I don’t want wine. I want food and chocolate. What have you got?”

  Tessa chuckled. “Honey, I’m always stocked. I just made the best brownies ever and I’ve got a new gallon of Rocky Road ice cream, plus, tons of leftover Chinese. I think there’s even some lasagna in the fridge.”

  Izzy cracked a smile. “That sounds like a stash for someone with the munchies. Are they real brownies or are they your special brownies?”

  Tess slid her arm around Isabel’s shoulders with a laugh. “I’ve got those, too, if you’re in the mood. Otherwise, it’s good ol’ fashioned comfort food.” She steered the teary-eyed girl toward her small galley kitchen. “C’mon. You can tell me all about it while we eat.”

  Isabel slid onto one of the mismatched barstools at the counter and took the glass of wine Tessa poured anyway. She toyed with the stem.

  “You look as though you’re not sure if you want to cry or break something.” Tess glanced at her from the fridge. “You wouldn’t be here at this time of night, otherwise. I’m all ears, honey.”

  “I met this guy this afternoon—” Isabel sucked in a quick breath and told her the entire story.

  Tess didn’t interrupt, and when the girl exhaled a ragged breath at the end, she lifted a hand and let it drop. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know you’re disappointed, but did you consider the possibility he never got your note? Or maybe he did and something came up and didn’t get a chance to call?”

  Izzy wiped the back of her hand across one eye. “Didn’t you hear me say how drop-dead gorgeous he was?”

  “And?”

  Isabel stared at her friend. “Let’s look at this from the point of view of reality. It’s obvious why Zander didn’t call. He did his good deed for the day, repaying the fat girl for helping him find his dog.” She exhaled hard. “This is why I don’t go out. If you don’t put yourself out there, you can’t get hurt.”

  “You’re right, Iz. Putting yourself out there definitely opens the door for being hurt, but that’s life, sweetheart. What’s the alternative, though? Becoming the neighborhood Cat Lady?” Tess gave her a knowing look. “You don’t know for sure what happened with him tonight. If I were you, I’d go back to the restaurant and speak to the waitress. See if she gave him your note and explained the way you asked her, or better yet, I’d go to the vet’s office and ask them to call him.”

  Iz shook her head. “Why? So I can be humiliated again? I appreciate you thinking this is a misunderstanding, but no thanks. To use your favorite saying, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…” She let her voice trail off before looking up with a smirk. “Well, at least the night wasn’t a total loss. I let Ally have it between the eyes.”

  At the grin on Izzy’s face, Tessa smirked. “Girl! You’re killing me. Out with it!”

  “I told Alison not to let the door hit her and Candice in the ass as they left.” Izzy’s eyes flashed. “I told the little twit she wasn’t the only one with options.”

  “Good for you! Oh man, I wish I had been there to see the look on her face.” Tessa grinned.

  Isabel scrubbed her face. “God! I forgot how good it felt to let go!” She sucked in a breath, letting her hands drop to her lap. ”Too bad I feel like an absolute fool, now.”

  “For Heaven’s sake, why? Those two will never know you were stood up, so what are you worrying about?” Tess pushed a plate of warmed up lo mein and two brownies toward Isabel. “To be honest, I don’t think this guy stood you up. Not when your plans hinged on a note you’re not even sure he got.”

  She angled her head, watching as Izzy picked up a brownie and took a bite. “You’re astute at reading people, Izzy.” Tess smirked. “Alison and Candice aside—and you’ve got that super sensitive nose of yours. If this guy was a creep, you’d have sensed it.”

  “Maybe.” Izzy shrugged. “Or maybe I was too distracted by the fact a gorgeous, hunky shifter was flirting with me.”

  “You didn’t tell me he was a shifter.” Tessa leaned on the counter. “That makes things interesting.”

  “How so? He knows I’m a half-blood.” Izzy stopped with her brownie halfway to her mouth. “Maybe that’s why he didn’t show.” She nodded, looking at Tess. “The fact I’m a plus-sized mutt.”

  Tessa blew out a breath. “There’s no talking to you tonight. I guarantee being a half-blood has nothing to do with why he didn’t show.”

  Isabel put the brownie on her plate. “Tess, I didn’t come here for a lecture.”

  “Then what did you come for?” She eyed the young woman. “Comfort food? For me to say boohoo, poor Isabel, fucked over by the world again? I have two words for that, Iz, and they’re not Happy Birthday. I’ve been your cheerleader forever, now it’s time for you to get on with it.”

  “Tessa, please—”

  “Fine. Sit here and wonder about this guy, never knowing for sure what happened, but I’m disappointed, Izzy.” Tessa nodded, continuing. “I know it’s scary, but I also know you’re not a coward. No one likes the idea of rejection, but there's one thing an old woman like me can still spot, and that’s a young woman who wants a guy so badly she can’t see straight.”

  Isabel chuckled to herself. “Am I that obvious?”

  Tess nodded again, with a laugh. “You shaved your legs.”

  Izzy burst out laughing, getting up to throw her arms around the older woman’s shoulders. “What would I do without you, huh? Tell me.”

  Tess gave her a squeeze, patting both of Isabel’s arms before letting go. She took the other brownie from Izzy’s plate and pointed it at her. “I meant it, Iz. The Isabel Marie Lassiter I know is no fool. Too nice sometimes, yes, but no fool. Go find this Zander. You want him, Isabel, and from what you said, it’s clear he wants you, too.”

  Wiping her mouth, Izzy folded her napkin and put it on the table. “You’re right. I am too nice.” She picked up a fork and stabbed the plate of lo mein. “And that ends tonight. It’s time I picked up the pom-poms to cheer for myself. Starting tomorrow, everything I do, I do for me. No more Miss Nice Girl.”

  Tess held out her brownie and Izzy tapped it with her fork. “That’s my girl. Just be careful not to become too hard, though. There’s a fine line between strong woman and bitch, but I know you’ll have no problem finding the right spot.” With a smirk, she took a bite of chocolate gooeyness. “And from what you said, this
guy Zander sounds like he won’t have a problem finding the right spot on you!”

  “Tess!” Isabel crumpled her napkin and threw it at her.

  “What?” She feigned an innocent tone. “Am I wrong?”

  Izzy shook her head. “No, that’s half the problem. Zander definitely seems like he knows his way around town, if you get my drift.”

  “Hopefully downtown, too, and not as an express train.” Tess snorted a chuckle.

  Isabel grinned with her mouth full.

  “So, you’re going to ask around about him, right?” Tess raised an eyebrow.

  Isabel shrugged. “If Zander wants me, he has enough clues to find me. Watching out for numero uno shouldn’t include chasing guys out of my league.”

  “That’s not fair, Izzy. If he didn’t get your note, how do you know he doesn’t think you bailed on him? You’re sitting here with a chip on your shoulder the size of a manhole cover because you think Zander couldn’t be bothered. What makes you think he doesn’t assume the same of you?”

  Isabel looked up from her plate. “That’s true, but I’m done chasing people. If it’s meant to be, our paths will cross again.”

  Tessa shook her head. “Life isn’t a fairytale, honey, no matter how good looking the Prince Charming. You have to make things happen for yourself. Don’t wait for fate or the swish of a magic wand.”

  Isabel looked at her. “What if fate’s answer is no?”

  Covering her hand, Tess gave her fingers a squeeze. “Then you chuck him out with the other frogs and pucker up again.” She looked at her young friend. “I gotta say, though, something tells me this one is a keeper.”

  Isabel chewed in silence, watching as Tess turned for the beeping microwave and the rest of the food.

  “So, have you given anymore thought to designing something wonderful for yourself?” Tessa asked. “Who knows? Maybe this Zander guy will be your good luck charm.”