Page 26 of Alfie

“I’m kind of mad.”

“About Eddie.”

“No.” She waved a hand dismissively. “I know you scared him off. I mean, when you said you would end him, holy crap.” She chuckled for a second, then scowled like she remembered she was mad at him. “Why?”

“Because you should be in shock, maybe? Or still a little freaked out? You went from being confronted by a crazy asshole to yelling at me in two seconds.”

Her brows rose slightly, like it hadn’t occurred to her to be scared. She shrugged. “I could feel you were nearby. I don’t know how, but I knew you’d be there for me. I’m only scared because I feel like something is wrong between us, and I…don’t want that to happen with a guy I’ve fallen for.”

There it was. Fallen. Not Falling.

His wolf, out of ready to bite Eddie’s face off mode, was now doing cartwheels and purring like a damn cat in his head.

“I promise everything will make sense when we get to the park. And I will always protect you, Myla.”

He shut the SUV door and walked to where Nathan and Joss were back inside their own SUV. “That was badass, man,” Nathan said as Joss put the driver’s window down.

Joss nodded. “Everything okay?”

“I need to show her my wolf,” he said, keeping his voice low just to be safe. “But I think someone who is human should be there to talk to her.”

“I’ll grab Jeanie. We can meet you in the maintenance shed of our paddock and talk to Myla while you’re in your shift.”

“I appreciate that,” Alfie said. He told them what she’d said, not just that she felt he was keeping a secret, but that she’d fallen for him. Although she hadn’t said the exact words, he knew what she meant.

“That’s good,” Joss said. “But regardless, she has to understand that she can’t tell a soul. By sharing the truth, you are ensuring she can’t go anywhere until we know for sure she won’t tell anyone. And then you two need to talk about what that means—for her home, her family, and her job.”

It was a lot. But Alfie knew that she was worth whatever hurdles they had to cross to be together.

“I’ll take the long way to the paddock so you have time to meet with Jeanie and get in place. Thanks, guys.”

“Good luck,” Nathan said.

Alfie walked back to the SUV and got behind the wheel. As he pulled away from the curb, she said, “Why can’t you tell me what’s going on right now?”

“Because it’s important that I show you and not just tell you.”

She harrumphed. “Fine.”

The vibe between them was strained. She wasn’t talking and he wasn’t sure what to say, because everything he wanted to tell her—up to and including that he loved her—was tied into the secret of his shift.

The endless-seeming ride ended at the employee lot, and Alfie took her hand and led her into the park through the employee gate. He took his time walking her slowly around to the safari tour. “It’s so quiet,” she said, finally. “I guess the animals are all sleeping.”

He hummed in agreement.

Stopping in front of the wolf paddock, he saw that the light was on in the maintenance shed, slivers of light showing around the building. He entered a code and the door unlocked.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

“It’s safe, I promise,” he said, holding the gate open.

She stared beyond him into the darkness of the paddock and then looked at him. “Well, I didn’t come this far to back out now. So just know if something furry bites me, I’m going to be so freaking pissed at you.”

She was so damn feisty.

“I won’t let anything bite you.” The gate closed behind them. “We’re going to walk to the maintenance shed.”

“Why?”