Page 253 of The Werewolf’s Wrong Mate

“Sorry,” I gasped. “Tessa just called Cormac a nice wolf.”

Cormac looked faintly pained. “I object to nice.”

Aunt Linda patted his good arm. “You’ll recover.”

By afternoon, the resort had become less battlefield and more controlled disaster. The bodies were gone from the courtyard. Not cleaned, exactly. The rain and the staff had done what they could, but nothing about that place would feel like a wedding venue again for a very long time. Ronan’s wolves moved through the halls with grim efficiency. Council members gathered in small, furious clusters and stopped talking whenever Ian approached.

That part was almost fun.

Almost.

Ian didn’t leave my side unless Sava physically forced him to. Even then, he stayed close enough that I could feel him through the bond like a warm hand pressed to the center of my chest.

My family took turns being strange about him.

Mom brought him tea, then seemed embarrassed by her own impulse and told him not to read into it. Dad stared at him for a full minute before asking, “Can you turn into the wolf whenever you want?” Ian said yes. Dad looked like he regretted asking, then asked six follow-up questions.

Tessa hovered near me until I told her if she didn’t stop looking guilty, I would bite her myself. That made Ian look up sharply.

“Kidding,” I told him.

His eyes warmed. “I was not worried about you.”

Tessa muttered, “Cool. Good. Love that.”

A few hours later, I found her in the hall outside the dining room talking to one of Ronan’s younger wolves. His name was Evan. He had soft brown hair, a split lip, and the cautious politeness of someone trying very hard not to frighten the woman who had seen him turn into a wolf earlier.

Tessa was holding her phone.

“So you’re exchanging numbers,” I said.

She jumped.

Evan straightened like I had caught him stealing .

Tessa lifted her chin. “He helped get Henry out of the courtyard.”

“Ah.”

“And he apologized for the hostage situation.”

“That is a low bar, but I appreciate it.”

Evan looked miserable. “I didn’t personally participate in the hostage taking.”

“I assumed. You have nice wolf energy.”

His brows pulled together and Tessa’s mouth twitched.

I looked between them. “Sorry. Are you getting numbers from a nice wolf?”

Tessa went bright red. “Please stop saying it like that.”

“I do not know another way to say it.”

Evan cleared his throat. “I can give you space.”

“No,” Tessa said quickly.