Page 136 of Big Bad Wolf

Chapter Fifty-Seven

The wolf streaked past her, his gray fur glinting silver in the sunshine. Ruby smiled from her perch on Rafe’s front steps, the old wood warm beneath her thighs. It was early. Early by Ruby’s standards anyway. It was before noon so it might as well have been dawn. But over the past two weeks she’d developed a habit of waking up in time to see Rafe running through the trees in his wolf form. It was worth it to see this side of him.

She sat with her coffee mug balanced on her knees and sipped in the quiet morning as she waited for him to come back. It was peaceful out here beneath the towering pines. It felt like home.

A twinge of guilt settled in her gut at the thought of home. Lena insisted she was fine, but Ruby didn’t need superhuman powers to see right through her sister’s lies. Despite the fact that all had been quiet since Rafe had killed those wolves, Lena still looked like hell warmed over. Ruby knew Callie was doing her best to help Lena control her episodes but so far it wasn’t going well.

And Lena was becoming more and more discouraged.

Ruby and Rafe had spent most of their time at the Bellerose cottage in those first days together, too afraid to leave Lena alone, but her sister had been slowly pushing Ruby out of her life for days now. She insisted she didn’t need a babysitter. She insisted that she wasn’t broken.

Ruby hated that she kept using that word. Broken. It wasn’t how she thought of her sister at all.

But Lena was still angry that Ruby had kept so much from her, that Ruby had treated her like she was a helpless child. She’d practically kicked Ruby out on her ass.

Rafe’s morning runs had started as a safety check, a way to assure himself that all was well, that no one was after her or her sister anymore. And after two weeks of nothing, Ruby was almost convinced that they were safe. Whatever insane plan the Highlanders had, they must have dropped it. They hadn’t heard from Knox directly, but every few days Rafe ran into someone from his pack. Knox had kept his word to send patrols.

Rafe continued to check on Lena every morning, and Callie and Sawyer were always stopping by the Bellerose cottage. Ruby still brought her leftovers every night even though things were tense between them.

But her sister needed space, and after a while Ruby felt safe enough to give her some. She allowed herself her own time to relax. And these mornings with Rafe were perfect for soothing her weary soul.

She wiggled her bare toes on the bottom step. They were bright purple today, very pleasing in the morning sun. She was wrapped in one of Rafe’s many blankets to stave off the late fall chill.

Steam rose from her mug as she scanned the trees for her wolf-man. His steps were so quiet she usually didn’t see him until he was close to the house. She’d made a game of it, of trying to spot him from further away. So far, she was terrible at it.

She leaned back, letting her hair fall over her shoulders. Birds chirped and chittered in the branches above her. It was going to be another beautiful day.

She breathed in the scent of dry leaves and imagined what it would be like out here after the first snowfall. She felt like she had finally settled into her real life and everything else had been a dream.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, her eyes still closed against the brightness of the day, she didn’t hear Rafe until his wolfy breath was skating across her wrist.

She dug her fingers into the thick fur at his neck and savored his contented huff as he rested his head on her lap.

“Good morning.”

Wolfy sigh.

“Did you have a good run?”

Wolfy nuzzle against her hand.

“Oh, good.”

He closed his eyes as she stroked between his ears.

“I was thinking of making pancakes.”

One highly skeptical wolfy eye opened.

“What? I’m not going to get better if I don’t keep trying.”

Wolfy huff.

Ruby laughed. “I really think I have it figured out now. I had the burner turned up way too high last time.”

She tried to get up to begin her breakfast experiment, but the giant wolf in her lap wouldn’t budge.

“Rafe.” She shoved his shoulder, but he just snuggled against her. “Rafe, come on. They couldn’t possibly be that bad.”