Page 24
Story: Wolf's Reluctant Mate
“Don’t deflect,” Sam cuts in, looking up, his eyes narrowing like he’s Sherlock Holmes.
“I’m not deflecting shit, pup,” I say.
“Oh?” he asks, arching an eyebrow and crossing his arms over his chest. “You think I don’t know about last night? You think my woman doesn’t talk to me, huh?”
“What of it?” I ask, acutely aware of the intensity of Raul’s stare.
“You moved a whole tree? With your hands?”
“Brute force.” I shrug, flexing a bicep. “You should try lifting something heavier than a socket wrench, pup.”
Sam snorts, shaking his head.
“A tree?” Raul asks. “What the fuck happened?”
I give him the broad strokes of last night, bringing him up to speed. He shakes his head before returning his attention to the design he’s working on, muttering that I was probably an idiot.
“There was a stupid amount of sheer stubbornness,” I agree, the aches in my back throbbing. “Nearly pulled every damn muscle in my back. Felt like I’d run a marathon afterward.”
Sam snorts and shakes his head.
“Whatever… but hey—worth it if you scored a date with Stacy, huh?”
I pause, letting the humor fade just enough. “I want it to be.”
Raul frowns as he sets his laptop on the bench next to him. He leans in, a questioning look on his face.
“That’s not the tone I expected. You’ve been beating yourself up for days over her. Now you’ve got another shot, but you sound like you’re heading to a funeral.”
I rub the back of my neck as the concerns I’ve been pushing aside thrust their way in.
“It’s not that I’m not glad. It’s just… complicated. You and Monica, you two clicked right away. Easy. Natural. Stacy and I? We haven’t even been on a real date, and we’ve already had two blowups. Doesn’t exactly scream fairy tale.”
Before Raul can respond, someone knocks on the open garage door. All three of us turn around.
“Well, if it isn’t our favorite witch,” Raul says warmly, walking over.
Helena steps inside. She walks in like the air belongs to her. Not just confident—unchallengeable.
“Morning, boys. Hope I’m not interrupting.”
“You never interrupt,” I say, my arms folding across my chest, hiding the sudden shift in my pulse.
A faint smile plays over her lips but she barely nods an acknowledgment.
“I wish I could say I came by to chat. But I’ve got something more—and it can’t wait.”
“Something wrong?” I ask, straightening.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” she says, tone dipping lower. “Five weeks back, a crew started clearing trees east of here. At first, I thought it was some rich human building a retreat. But when I saw it—” she pauses, eyes sharp. “It’s not a house. It’s cross-shaped, two stories, and wide open inside.”
“So what is it?” Raul asks, already frowning.
“Last week, I received reports that there were humans in lab coats moving around inside.”
“Alab? Out here?” Sam asks, scratching the day’s growth of beard.
“It seems to be,” Helena nods. “But what kind of lab… that’s the question. I don’t trust it and I want you boys to check it out.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24 (Reading here)
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76