Page 31 of Accidentally Wedded to a Werewolf (Claw Haven #1)

Luna was still clinging to his back when they made the last turn that would lead them into the parking lot. She could even see the car through the trees.

Oliver stopped. Luna assumed this was her sign to get off, even if he hadn’t let go of her yet.

“Thank god,” she sighed, climbing off him and stretching mightily. “I was cramping from holding my legs like that for so long.”

She mostly said it to make him roll his eyes. But he didn’t even look at her. His head was cocked, his nose flaring.

Luna shivered, rubbing her arms against the chill. “What?”

He shook his head and set off down the path.

Luna jogged behind him, eyeing his ankle warily.

He’d been limping for the last hour, denying it every time she brought it up.

She’d been tempted to start kicking his leg just to prove herself right, but they’d already been stranded here for one night.

If she got them stuck out here for another, he’d harp on about it until she was waving Claw Haven goodbye in the rearview mirror of her rental car.

She turned the corner into the parking lot and came to a skidding halt.

There was another car sitting opposite theirs. Sabine and Ben stood next to it with one back door open. Ben carried a light backpack while Sabine munched on a peach.

“Oh,” Ben said. “Hey. There goes that plan.”

He tossed the backpack into the back seat and slammed the door shut.

“Told you,” he said to Sabine.

She shrugged, biting another hunk off the peach. “Good morning! How was your night?”

“Fine,” said Luna and Oliver in unison.

Sabine and Ben traded a knowing look. Luna grimaced, trying to imagine how she smelled to these wolves after a night of sex and hours of being plastered against Oliver’s back.

Ben asked, “Did you get the flower?”

Oliver rummaged in the side pocket of his backpack, resurfacing with a squished but still perfectly intact flower.

Ben grinned. “Sorry to see you go, Luna. But it looks like you’ll be unbonded to this lug by dinner.”

“Promises, promises,” Luna said dryly. She rubbed her arms harder, goose bumps standing up on her skin.

It had been warm when she’d clung to Oliver’s back.

It was so much colder without him. It had been freezing last night, but she’d barely felt it.

Oliver hadn’t let her go that whole night.

She’d fallen asleep to him absentmindedly nuzzling her neck, the way he’d seen Ben and Sabine do to each other.

Oliver frowned. “She can really make the spirit so fast?”

“That’s what she said before we left.” Ben opened the passenger seat door, ready to climb back in. “Said she needs a few hours and some privacy. And the ritual tools, obviously. Otherwise, yeah. Unbonded by dinner.”

A knot tightened in Luna’s chest. She couldn’t tell if it was the bond rebelling or just her own body. She would be relieved to get back to her life. But she’d be lying if she said she wouldn’t miss Claw Haven and everything that came with it.

She looked over at Oliver, pulling up a smile. She was about to say it had been arguably nice knowing him, but a wet spot on his cheek made her stop. Was he crying?

Oliver frowned, looking up. Another wet spot landed on his forehead.

It was snowing, Luna realized. She held out a hand. A snowflake landed on her palm and melted down her wrist.

Sabine hummed, a snowflake hitting her face and running down the thick scar over her eye. “It’s earlier than the forecast said.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Oliver replied, shielding the flower from the snow. “We have what we came for.”

Ben whistled. “Hell yeah. That’s enough for a generation of divorces. Let’s go!”

Luna followed Oliver to the car. He handed her the flower, and Luna laid it carefully on her lap.

“A generation of divorces,” she said as they drove toward the inn. “This little thing?”

She poked its tiny white petals.

“Quit picking at it,” he said, eyes still on the road. He flicked on the windshield wipers, snow smearing over the glass. “That’s what Grandmother says. A small pack only needs one flower to last a lifetime.”

Luna rubbed her cold arms, staring down at the flower in her lap.

Tried to picture Uncle Roy’s wife, who called maybe twice a year.

She couldn’t imagine walking out on this family.

Being a part of it—really being a part of it, not her accidental visit—and then leaving.

If she was married to Uncle Roy, sure. But if she had someone else…

“What?”

Luna startled. They were stopped at a red light, Oliver watching her as snowflakes fell around the car.

“Nothing,” she said hastily. She touched the flower again, more gently than she’d ever touched anything. “It’s beautiful. For something so sad.”

He didn’t reply. She looked over at him, expecting him to be watching the flower. But he was still staring at her, his expression unreadable.

Luna swallowed. “The light’s green.”

“Huh? Oh.” Oliver stepped on the accelerator. The car lurched forward. Luna fell back against her seat with a shiver, thinking of Oliver’s molten arms around her all night, keeping her warm.

* * *

Hector answered on the eighth ring. “Stranded fiancée? Did it work?”

“Minor setback,” she told him, drumming her chipped blue nails on the handset. There was no way she was coming back from that ordeal with perfectly polished nails. “So, we’re only getting back now—”

“What? Did you stay overnight on the mountain? I thought you said there wasn’t a hotel up there.”

“It wasn’t a big deal,” she said quickly. “Anyway, we’re back! Yay! His grandmother is getting the breakup ritual ready now. I’ll be yours again in no time. Only yours, I mean. Obviously, I was still yours through all this.”

She let out a nervous titter. It wasn’t like she thought Hector would get mad—he never got mad unless he could make it fun.

But she still felt weirdly guilty. Like he should get mad at her.

Even though he’d given his blessing a hundred times to sleep around before the wedding.

Something about sleeping in Oliver’s arms, his hands soothing the sore muscles in her feet, felt more illicit than the sex. Like she was betraying Hector somehow.

“So,” she said before he could say anything in response. “How was your week?”

He made a noncommittal noise. “Well, I’m running out of things to do at this resort.”

“Maybe work? Which is what they brought you there to do?” For some reason, it was harder than usual to keep her voice playful. Her default voice for most things was fun. Why was this suddenly difficult?

“Ha, ha. Anyway, I booked a helicopter ride. Got some beautiful photos of the islands.”

Glass clinked on his end of the line. Luna thought of suntans and mai tais. They didn’t fill her with longing like they did weeks ago. Instead, they made her think of Grandmother Musgrove’s hot chocolate, full of spices and a crumbled-up Flake bar.

“Anyhoo,” he continued. “How was your week?”

“Great,” she said automatically, toying with the comforter tucked around her.

“I think this town has something, Hec. Like, it’s got the It factor.

Claw Haven: for the monster who needs some peace and quiet, sure, but also the perfect escape for the busy traveler!

The monsters only make it more cozy. Like when you put foil behind a jewel to make it shine better.

Have you ever seen a minotaur in a winter scarf? It’s adorable.”

“It sounds adorable,” he said distractedly.

“And it’ll be even more adorable when they start implementing my marketing strategies,” she continued. “I’ve been doing some consulting on the side—don’t tell Dad.”

“Wait,” he said. “For the inn? I thought you were just replacing their sign.”

“I am!” Luna replied. “But you know how small towns are. You’re out and about, you get to talking, someone asks for advice, and suddenly everybody wants a piece of you. I’m a very hot commodity here.”

“Do I know how small towns are?” Hector repeated, incredulous. “Do you know how small towns are? You’ve been there a month!”

“It’s been a very full month,” she said defensively.

She reached down and pulled her duvet tight around her, determinedly not imagining a certain pair of arms around her instead.

In another month, this would all be a distant memory.

She’d be back to her old life, in her old house, with her brand-new husband.

Back to charity galas and parties and to secretly emailing the marketing team and falling into whatever fun Hector had planned every weekend.

A nonstop party. That was how Hector had proposed: Let’s keep this party going, he’d said with a grin and a giant, glittering diamond ring that was currently sitting at the bottom of Luna’s handbag. For safekeeping, of course.

“Whatever,” he said dismissively. “Do they tip well? They’d better. The way you made it sound, that inn is another bad year away from going under. Not even mentioning Claw Haven.”

Luna bit her lip. She hadn’t told him she was doing all that marketing work for free. “You know how I said I was bored?”

He was silent. Then he let out a laugh so loud Luna had to hold the phone away from her ear.

“You’re doing it for nothing? Oh, Lu.”

“Don’t Lu me,” she said. “I’m so bored, Hector! By this point, I would’ve paid them to give me the reins. There’s nothing to do here when you’re chained to a werewolf who passes out if you want to go on a walk without him!”

“I mean,” he said. “Not nothing.”

“Hush,” she told him, neck prickling with heat where Oliver had kissed her this morning.

He snickered. “How is that going, by the way? Should I be worried?”

“No,” she said, too fast.

There was a pause.

“Uh,” Hector said. He laughed, uncharacteristic nerves trickling into his tone. “Ooookay.”

She grimaced, burying her face in the duvet. Could she sound any more suspicious?

“It just feels weird,” she said. “Like, our arrangement was only ever meant for onetime flings. Right? If you hit it off with someone at a party, or—or you wanted to hook up with a waiter in a hotel room. One night only. This is…”

Hector’s voice went soft in a way she rarely heard it. The last time was after his aunt had a stroke and he was talking to her on the phone, trying to decipher her words as she slurred with the one working half of her mouth.

“Lu,” he said. “Are you falling for your accidental husband?”

Luna scoffed as loud as she possibly could.

“For Oliver? God, no. He’s still that same rude jackass who snarled at me that first night. He’s good in bed, but that’s pretty much all he’s good for. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Okay,” he said, relieved. Glass clinked again, and Luna imagined ice against his sun-warmed mouth. “That would’ve been depressing. Everybody already has their flights booked for our wedding, babe.”

Luna almost said something about how everyone would make the trip anyway.

If a destination wedding got canceled and the flights were still booked, their guests would turn it into an impromptu holiday.

At least, that was what Luna and Hector did when their college friends broke up the day before their destination wedding in Hawaii.

Luna and Hector had spent two days sprawled out on a beach drinking rum out of coconuts.

I’m kind of glad they broke up, Luna had told him as she rested shirtless on a beach chair. This is way nicer than that awful vegan spread they told us about. Seriously, who has zoodles at a wedding?

Carbs or bust, Hector had agreed.

Then they’d toasted to it with the twelve-hundred-dollar bottle of champagne they had been planning to give to the not-so-happy couple.

There was a knock on the door.

Luna jumped up. “That might be them now! That was fast. Love you, bye!”

“Have a good divorce!”

Luna hung up and raced for the door. She flung it open to reveal Oliver, even more steely-faced than usual. He wouldn’t look at her.

Her heart dropped into her stomach. Had he heard her trashing him on the phone?

“You look stormy,” she said, her smile strained. “What happened? Did you lose the flower?”

His jaw clenched. He finally met her gaze, eyes flat and guarded.

“Come with me.”