Page 34 of Accidentally Wedded to a Werewolf (Claw Haven #1)

“Well, you can’t be grumpy all the time.

” She popped her chocolate into her mouth, sighing happily as it melted over her tongue.

“Everything’s fine, Oliver. Your family’s fine.

That awful woman is in jail. The inn will get a lot better once you fix it up.

Once you start implementing my genius ideas, money will be rolling in by the barrel.

So, something terrible almost happened. So what?

You’re okay. Your family’s okay. Everything’s good. ”

Oliver was silent. Luna looked over to find him watching her, exhaustion shot through with something she couldn’t quite identify.

She smiled reflexively. “What?”

He shook his head. He reached up to touch her cheek, and Luna’s heart stuttered in her chest in a way that had nothing to do with the bond unfurling inside it, eager as always for his touch.

“Chocolate,” he explained. He drew his thumb back, sucking the spot of chocolate he’d lifted off Luna’s cheek.

Luna nodded, dazed. She couldn’t stop looking at his thumb, still shiny with spit. She wanted to put it in her own mouth. Wanted him to touch her again, smear that shiny thumb all down her collarbone. He was still watching her, and something strange washed over her.

Relief, she realized. Luna was relieved she was still here. That she wasn’t in her rental car right now, finally on her way to the airport.

Still…there was something strange about the relief. Like it wasn’t fully hers.

Oliver dropped his gaze. Then he looked at the door and groaned. “They’re all waiting for me, aren’t they?”

“Oh, yeah,” Luna said. She let out a nervous laugh and stood. “Come on. Nobody’s mad, I promise.”

“They should be,” he muttered.

She held out a hand.

Oliver glared at it. But it was a tired glare, one born out of habit rather than actual annoyance.

She wiggled her fingers.

He sighed loudly. Then he took her hand, letting her pull him to his feet.

* * *

The kids were clustered on the ground, with Darren picking at Leo’s light-up sneakers as Leo and Vida commenced a thumb-war, quickly stopped by the aunts just as Luna and Oliver entered the lobby.

Grandmother Musgrove was off in the corner with Uncle Roy, their hushed conversation dying as both of them looked up.

Sabine turned toward them, in the middle of crumpling up the empty Prickles bag.

There was no one beside her. Where had Ben gone?

The roof creaked. It was a statement of how anxious Oliver must’ve been that he barely even glanced at it, his hands fisted at his sides.

Luna looked down. No claws out, no blood in his palms. Then she looked back up at the pack. They all looked encouraging. Except for Uncle Roy, who was still glaring at Luna, and Grandmother Musgrove, who was watching Oliver with a sorrowful expression.

For a moment, the only sound was the wind howling outside.

“We don’t have to make a big deal about—” Oliver stopped, turning to watch Ben push past him with his arms full of towels. “Where are you going?”

“Delivering more towels to room 12,” Ben replied. “The new fluffy ones. Luna was right, the guests love ’em.”

Luna swallowed her nerves and posed, sending him a wink.

Ben winked back. He was terrible at it, but that didn’t stop him from doing it to Sabine at least once a day.

“Somebody’s gotta take care of the guests,” Ben continued. “Since we actually have guests now. That woman who heard about us from Luna’s Instagram story is staying for another three days.”

He swayed sideways and headbutted Oliver fondly in the shoulder, reminding Luna oddly of a cat. “If you’re planning on some grand apology, forget about it. You got conned by a crazy lady. We have a new home now. No score to settle, brother.”

Then he headed off, arms so full of towels he had to shove them down with his chin to see where he was going.

“He’s right,” Sabine said, stepping aside to let Ben down the guest hall. “You don’t need to apologize.”

Oliver growled. “Just let me say it!”

“You said it after the house burned down,” Darren said, going back to toying with Leo’s light-up sneakers.

“Over and over and over,” Leo added, kicking gently at Darren’s fingers. “It was so annoying.”

“Yeah, well…” Oliver’s jaw tightened. “You all kept saying it wasn’t my fault. You didn’t know.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Sabine told him. “It was Alexis. Like Ben said, you got conned. No one got hurt—”

“But you could’ve! I put the pack in danger just because I was stupid enough—”

Grandmother Musgrove spoke up. “To fall in love? To trust someone?”

The lobby fell silent once more as she walked up to him, laying a hesitant hand on his arm. He stiffened underneath it, but he didn’t pull away. Not this time.

“Those were brave things to do, Oliver,” Grandmother Musgrove said softly. “Just…the next girl you fall for, get us to vet her first.”

No one looked at Luna, but it was a very pointed avoidance. Luna even caught Vida ducking her head to hide a very un-Vida-like smile.

Luna felt her cheeks heat. She glanced at Oliver to find him already looking at her. She wanted to make some joke—Do I have chocolate on my face again?—but her throat was suddenly tight. She couldn’t speak if she wanted to.

The roof creaked louder. Luna frowned. Was that uneven plank of wood from Oliver’s patch job moving, or was that just her?

Ben emerged from the guest hallway. “The guy in room 3 spilled his drink. We still keep the carpet cleaner in the top closet, right? Or did Ollie have another fight with Sabine about where to keep cleaning stuff?”

“It wasn’t a fight,” Sabine argued.

“Um,” Luna said as the uneven patch of roof bulged. “Guys?”

Ben slid an arm around Sabine’s waist, smacking a kiss on her forehead. “So, I’m going up the mountain next time the snow thaws, huh? I’ll repack that backpack.”

Oliver sighed. “Sometimes I really hate—”

“Guys,” Luna yelled.

The roof cracked open. Snow piled into the lobby, right on top of the carpet Oliver had cleaned a month before.

“Snow,” Oliver finished flatly.