I hadno fucking idea what to do with the female wolf who followed me back to my house.
The one my own wolf had just claimed as our mate.
What the hell was he thinking?
Wasn’t one round of mated-fucking-bliss enough?
I’d occasionally wondered what my life would’ve been like if fate had paired me with anyone other than Corinne, but I had never wanted a second fated mate.
The only guy in the pack without a mate who actually wanted one was Ethan, and that was purely because he’d never had one.
It felt like there was a rock in my gut as we approached the house.
Shitty memories were coming back in waves. Shittier feelings accompanied them.
I’d like to forget the way I’d found my mate fucking my best friend only hours after rejecting me. Unfortunately, that one was chiseled into my skull like words engraved on bone.
I glanced at Jade’s wolf, hoping she’d be gone.
She wasn’t.
Fuck.
I turned at the last minute, heading for the garage instead of the front door.
The garage was about the same size as the house. My architect had tried to talk me into downsizing it, but I spent more time out there than I did inside.
“I’ve got work to do,” I told Jade’s wolf, discomfort still sitting heavily in my lower abdomen.
There was no way of knowing when she would shift back into the sexy, snarky woman I’d met in the hospital’s waiting room. During the chase, a woman wasn’t trapped in her wolf form the way a man was during the hunt.
Both of my oversized two-car garage doors were already open. The weather was great, and no one would dare try to steal from my pack. Three of the spots were occupied, and the only empty one was the place my truck usually stayed.
One of the guys would bring it back. Nico, Finn, or Ethan, probably. Nico was on his way back with Abby, and they were planning to find Jade. Finn would feel guilty for ditching me after the shitshow that had just happened eventually. Ethan would hear what happened and want to meet the woman who had ended my permanent bachelorhood.
Something within me bristled at the thought of him coming to meet her, all charm and smiles. He’d call herCupcake.
The bristling wasn’t a good sign.
Then again, neither was the biting that had already occurred. And there was no going back from that.
The car on the far side of my garage belonged to a family in town that couldn’t afford an oil change and some other simple maintenance. It was a poorly-hidden secret that I handled those things for free when someone didn’t have the money for them. Putting it off would just lead to larger repair bills, and I had nothing else going on. Didn’t need the money, either.
Most of my pack basically worked as therapists who helped people become one with their wolves. Hell would have to freeze over before I joined them on that. Finding peace with your wolf wasn’t rocket science. You just had to accept that they were their own being, back off, and let them do their thing.
I put on a random pair of work pants I’d left hanging out of a tool box, then turned on some music and grabbed the equipment I’d need.
Jade’s wolf followed me everywhere.
As I set the oil pan down next to the car, a yelp ripped my attention back to the furry little thing at my side.
Her back was arched, and there was pain in her eyes.
She was shifting back.
Shit.
Stella wasn’t there to comfort her.
