AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1 - Kayla
“Jeez, could you look anymore glum?”
The question caused Kayla’s head to whip up from her desk, hands balled into fists and fingers itching to elongate into claws. “Damn it, Sarah!”
She bared her teeth at her best friend, who leaned over her desk with a half-curious expression.
“You’re a werewolf, Kayla, act like it,” Sarah chuckled, rolling her eyes. “You should have heard me coming down the street, let alone down the hall.”
Kayla blushed. She knew that, but she was so intent upon her work, so focused on doing a good job, that sometimes it did get her into trouble where her ears were concerned. Luckily, she was only a secretary at the security firm and not one of the security agents, or she was certain that there would be a few complaints by now.
“What are you doing here?” Kayla grumbled back at her friend, watching as Sarah picked up the little bronze wolf ornament she kept at pride of place upon her desk—the only thing she had left of her mother. “Please, put that down.”
“Sorry,” Sarah said and did as she asked. “I was just in the neighborhood and thought I’d swing by and see how that dating app is treating you.”
Kayla scowled. “You’re always in the neighborhood, Sarah. Silverdale is a small place.”
“Fine,” Sarah said, mirroring Kayla’s expression. “I just came to see how the app was going.”
“I never wanted to be on the stupid thing in the first place,” Kayla pointed out, making a point of adjusting the pile ofpapers in front of her. She had work to do. She didn’t have time for this. “So it isn’t going anywhere.”
Swift as, well, a werewolf, Sarah shot around the desk and yanked open the top drawer.
“What are you—” Kayla exclaimed, but before she could finish, Sarah had grabbed her cell phone and unlocked it. “Sarah, don’t you dare!”
“Oh, look, you matched with someone,” Sarah said, her smirk widening as she held Kayla back with one arm, stopping her from grabbing the phone. “WolfMan78. Forty-five years old. Athletic. Likes nature, hiking and history. Looks like he ticks all the boxes—you love old things and history.”
Sarah laughed and typed on the phone.
“What are you doing?” Kayla demanded.
“There aren’t any pictures, but hey-ho. Beggars can’t be choosers. Looks like you didn’t put any pictures up, either.”
“Because I didn’t want to be on the stupid app in the first place!” Kayla pointed out, growing more and more frustrated as she tried to wrestle her phone away from Sarah.
Finally, as if she had wreaked all the havoc she had intended, Sarah gave up the phone. Kayla grabbed it and spun it until the screen was the right way up.
“What did you do?!” Kayla exclaimed, looking at the message that Sarah had sent to one of her matches.
Hey WolfMan78, I love your profile. If you’re up for meeting, I’ll be at the Silver Moon bar tonight @ 7 wearing a black dress and red boots. Don’t be late.
“Why, Sarah? Why would you do that?”
“Because you need to get laid and I want my friend back!” Sarah sighed, rolling her eyes. “You’ve been like a wolf with a sore head ever since you-know-who.”
Kayla cringed at the mere mention of her ex. She didn’t need to be reminded of him. It was hard to forget him as it was.
“Maybe I’m just not ready yet,” Kayla shrugged and looked down at the phone in her trembling hands.
“It’s been three years, Kayla. It’s time to live a little. Besides, what harm could going on one date do? You might even have fun!” Sarah said, opening her mouth in a mocking gape before she added, “Imagine that! Fun, Kayla, just a little fun!”
She gripped Kayla’s shoulders and shook her a little. Bile rose in the back of Kayla’s throat. Just the thought of going out on a date made her feel physically sick. She had never really been one for dating. Though she was a hopeless romantic at heart, she much preferred to live vicariously through characters in books and television shows, especially since her last relationship hadn't gone down too well. And she had never really been any good at socializing.
In fact, she made a pretty shitty werewolf all round. Maybe that was why she had always chosen to date outside of the pack. And look where that had gotten her.
“I have had fun!” Kayla protested. “There was….”
She trailed off, trying to think of a single time that she’d done anything remotely close to romance in the last three years.
