Page 33 of Howl About That

"Then I guess we have ninety days to prove them wrong," he said with quiet intensity. "To prove we can make this partnership work and to prove we can create something this region has never seen."

A genuine smile transformed her face and the tension melted from her shoulders, making his chest tight with emotion.

When had anyone offered to share her burdens instead of adding to them?

They ate in comfortable silence—she chose a simple salad while he opted for the house steak—and settled into the rare luxury of simply being together.

Through the bond, he felt her gradual relaxation, and the way proximity to him soothed something deep in her lioness. His wolf responded in kind, content in a way that felt profound after years of rushing from crisis to crisis and controlling everything.

This was what he'd been needing his entire adult life—partnership instead of isolation, shared strength instead of solitary burden.

He didn't want this lunch to end. Didn't want to return to the careful professional distance she'd maintain afterward, didn't want to pretend their connection was purely business.

Because he was already undeniably attached to this brilliant, beautiful woman, and that didn't terrify him—it made him hungry for more.

THIRTEEN

POPPY

The past week had unfolded like a beautifully orchestrated symphony punctuated by moments of pure chaos, leaving Poppy suspended between triumph and torment in ways that made her question everything she thought she knew.

Rewarding barely scratched the surface of what she felt when Keiro had delivered his final architectural drawings—technical masterpieces that transformed their shared vision into something tangible and breathtaking. The sketches revealed a retreat that seemed to grow organically from the woodland, guest cabins nestled among ancient oaks, a main lodge with soaring windows that invited the forest inside, and training facilities that honored both wolf and lion traditions without compromising either. His cost projections were meticulous, his revenue forecasts conservative yet promising, and his construction timeline ambitious but achievable.

When she'd presented everything to the pride elders, their reaction had stunned her. Leon, typically skeptical of any deviation from tradition, had studied the drawings with growing excitement. Marie had actually smiled—a genuine expression of hope that Poppy hadn't seen in years. Even the mostconservative elders had nodded approvingly as she explained how this retreat could generate the revenue needed to save their pride lands while creating something revolutionary for their entire region.

"This partnership appears to be functioning well," Leon had admitted grudgingly. "Perhaps your decision to work with the wolf Alpha wasn't as reckless as we initially feared."

The validation should have felt like victory. Instead, it left Poppy with a hollow sensation in her chest, because their approval hinged on a business relationship that was becoming increasingly impossible to separate from something far more complicated and dangerous.

Eighty-three days. That's all that remained to prove this partnership could save everything.

But the week had also been eye-opening in ways that made her chest ache with longing she couldn't afford. Every brief business meeting with Keiro became the highlight of her day—moments she found herself anticipating with an eagerness that terrified her. Their quick lunches at the diner stretched longer than necessary, filled with conversations that veered from technical details of the project to more personal questions about their daily lives with alarming ease. Even their phone calls, mainly focused on construction permits and zoning requirements, left her pulse racing and her lioness purring with satisfaction.

The mate bond had become a constant presence, that invisible thread connecting her to Keiro growing stronger each day. She could feel his emotions bleeding through their connection nonstop—his determination to make their project succeed, his frustration with pack politics she didn't fully understand, and underneath it all, a desire for her that made her skin burn with remembered pleasure.

But most frustrating of all was her body's betrayal. Every night, lying alone in her bed, Poppy found herself remembering that perfect morning in his penthouse—how he'd worshipped her body with reverent hands and a clever mouth, and how he'd made her feel cherished in ways she'd forgotten were possible. Her lioness demanded she stop this foolish resistance and claim what belonged to them, but her rational mind recoiled from the complications that would follow.

Yet, the fantasies came without warning, usually in the quiet moments when her defenses were lowest. She'd find herself imagining his hands on her skin, his deep voice murmuring her name, and the way he'd looked at her like she was something precious rather than just competent. And through their bond, she could sense when he was thinking of her too—waves of masculine desire so intense they left her gasping and reaching for the cold shower like a lifeline.

What terrified her most wasn't the wanting itself, but what giving in would mean. If they became a couple—really became a couple—what kind of pushback would they face? The elders were cautiously optimistic about their business partnership, but how would they react to learning Keiro was her fated mate? Would they see it as manipulation, just like Sander's increasingly vicious rumors suggested?

Her cousin had been busy this week, spreading whispers about her desperation and her willingness to use her feminine charm to secure financial backing. The accusations stung because they contained just enough truth to be dangerous.

Poppy dragged herself from bed, her muscles protesting after another restless night of fighting the mate bond's relentless pull. The morning light streaming through her windows should have felt hopeful, but instead it illuminated the weight of everything she carried—pride leadership, financial crisis,political maneuvering, and now this impossible attraction to a man who could either save her or destroy everything she'd built.

She needed to focus on what she could control: making this retreat the best thing their region had ever seen, proving to everyone that wolves and lions could work together successfully, and showing her pride that she was the Alpha they needed. Maybe then, if everything went perfectly, she could stop resisting the bond and start living her life.

But that would mean figuring out who Poppy Mintz was underneath all the struggle and burden and hyper-independence—a prospect that terrified her more than any financial crisis ever could.

Who was she if she wasn't constantly proving herself worthy and constantly living in survival mode?

Her phone rang on the nightstand, interrupting the spiral of anxiety that threatened to consume her morning. Keiro's name appeared on the screen, and her heart immediately began racing.

"Good morning, Keiro," she answered, fighting to keep her voice steady.

"Good morning, Poppy." His deep voice carried warmth that made her toes curl involuntarily. "I was thinking it might be nice to have dinner together tonight. Actually talk for longer than a quick phone call or rushed lunch."

Dangerous.