Page 36 of Accidentally Wedded to a Werewolf (Claw Haven #1)

Oliver went cold. He’d thought this was behind them.

There had been a moment last night after he’d pinned the tarp back in place, when he’d come back inside to everybody drinking hot chocolate.

They’d gathered around him, rubbing their faces against his cheek like he was a little kid, under the guise of warming him up.

But he knew it for what it was: telling him there was no harm done.

That all was forgiven. Even Luna had joined in, giggling about his stubble.

Uncle Roy had stood off in the corner, and Oliver hadn’t thought anything of it.

It was hard to get Uncle Roy to join in on anything, especially physical affection.

Oliver had caught him glaring at Luna, but as soon as he noticed, Uncle Roy would go back to sipping his hot chocolate.

“Luna isn’t dangerous,” Oliver tried. “She’s a spoiled priss, but she won’t hurt us.”

It went against every scared instinct he’d built up in the last year.

But as soon as he said it, those instincts that had fueled him to yell at his grandmother yesterday shrank back.

It was easier to see his beliefs, his real beliefs, behind the fear.

Luna wouldn’t hurt the pack. Not if she could help it.

Uncle Roy growled, the noise rumbling low in his throat. “Look. Say she isn’t dangerous. She still isn’t one of us. Don’t let them convince you she is. Don’t let her.”

“I’m not,” Oliver said, ignoring the bond writhing sadly in his chest. “She isn’t.”

“She’s a tourist at best,” Uncle Roy continued over him. “She’ll probably put this inn on her portfolio to convince her daddy to let her do some actual work for once. That stunt our alpha pulled yesterday? That was the stupidest shit I’ve ever seen.”

“Hey,” Oliver snapped, hackles going up.

Uncle Roy held up his gnarled hands. “I didn’t call her stupid.

I said she did something stupid. Why drag this out?

That woman is leaving, and we will be here long after she does.

We! Pack!” He thumped Oliver’s chest hard, the way he used to do before football games in high school.

“The only good thing that came out of that fire is it finally got someone else in this family to agree with me. Do not let outsiders in! You’re going to be alpha one day. Are you putting the pack first?”

Oliver fought back another wave of defensiveness. Good alphas hear their packmates out. But they’d all learned to tune out some of Uncle Roy’s more colorful opinions, even if Oliver had listened more closely in the past year.

“I always put the pack first,” he argued. “But Luna—she’s good for the inn. She was talking about doing some official partnerships with some stores around town.”

“You hate this town! You said the townsfolk were annoying busybodies!”

“They are,” Oliver said. “But I think they genuinely want to help! Jackson dropped everything to come and spend his weekend fixing up our roof. He texted me on the way over to say he’s only going to charge me half of his usual rates.”

Uncle Roy let out another growl and started pacing. “Do you hear yourself? You’re getting soft again.”

“It’s what our alpha wants,” Oliver reminded him.

“Our alpha is wrong!” Uncle Roy came to a sudden stop.

He squeezed his eyes shut with a shudder.

Before Oliver could tell him how far out of line he was, Uncle Roy looked back up with a snarl.

“She’s shoving that woman at you, shoving that fake bond at you.

It makes you feel like you need that woman. You don’t!”

“You bonded with a human,” Oliver reminded him. “You brought a ‘stranger’ into the pack, you giant hypocrite!”

“I never should’ve,” Uncle Roy roared. “That bitch tricked me. Georgia never loved me, she just wanted me to make her a werewolf and knew I’d never do it without bonding with her first.”

Oliver stopped. He had never heard anything about that. He’d assumed Uncle Roy’s ex-wife had left because of his constant grumpiness. And his trust issues. And his inability to open up.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Oliver demanded.

Uncle Roy grinded his teeth. “I… Never mind. Don’t repeat that.”

He turned away. Oliver caught his arm, dragging him back.

“Whoa, hey,” Oliver said. “What do you mean? Georgia never wanted to be a werewolf. She liked being human.”

“She wanted a pack,” Uncle Roy muttered. “Didn’t care whose it was. Would’ve married you if I didn’t fall for her fool tricks. So be lucky it was me she suckered into that bond.”

Oliver stared at him. It couldn’t be true. Could it? Even if it wasn’t true, one thing was certain: Uncle Roy sure as hell believed it.

“Georgia made me swear not to tell you,” Uncle Roy said in a rush.

“Said she didn’t want to ‘taint your memories’ of her.

Know where she is now? Huh? She’s in New York with whatever dumbass pack took her in and turned her like she wanted!

Could’ve been anybody. Anybody. Never gave a shit about me.

You can’t trust humans, Oliver. Even if they’re not gonna hunt you, they’ll still screw you over. ”

Oliver shook his head, reeling. All of Uncle Roy’s bitterness was starting to make sense: He had finally opened his heart only for his wife to prove he’d been right all along: trusting someone only got you hurt.

It sounded appallingly familiar. Oliver watched his uncle’s face twist, a sickening realization growing inside him.

“I never should’ve agreed to that bond,” Uncle Roy spat. “It’s poison. Worming its way into your bones, making you think you have something with a—a stranger!”

Oliver couldn’t tell if he was talking about Luna or Georgia. That realization from before was expanding, cold and queasy, until it finally revealed itself in full:

This snarling, bitter old man in front of him…was him. This was what he would turn into if he kept heading down this path.

Oliver held back a shudder as he imagined it: not becoming alpha, everybody rolling their eyes behind his back when he spoke.

Zoning out when he went on yet another angry rant.

He thought he was being smart when he’d closed himself off after the fire.

Now he had a horrified suspicion he had doomed himself.

But it wasn’t too late. Right? Luna had proved that. Even if she walked out of his life today, there was his old self left in him. He just had to hold on to it. A growl ripped out of Oliver’s throat, loud enough to make Uncle Roy twitch.

“It didn’t make me think shit,” he snarled. “It made me want to be close to her, sure. But it didn’t make me like her. She did that all on her own. I know it won’t last, alright? I’m not an idiot. I just think—”

He stopped, the words sticking in his throat.

Uncle Roy stared at Oliver, his eyes wet and wounded.

He really had been excited to have someone in the family who agreed with him, even if he was more enthusiastic about it than Oliver was comfortable with.

He’d tried to bring it up with Oliver, only for Oliver to make the first excuse he could think of and leave him to his ranting.

But he couldn’t leave this. Not without sticking up for Luna.

Not without sticking up for himself. He wasn’t going to turn into a resentful old man who didn’t let anyone in just in case they betrayed him. He was better than that.

He had to be. Even if he never saw Luna again.

Oliver swallowed thickly. “Maybe she’s good for us, Uncle Roy. Maybe we’re good for her. Is that so bad?”

Uncle Roy sucked in a wet gasp. The burn mark on his cheek was white and faded with age. And yet, standing there under the harsh lobby lights, it had never looked brighter.

The lobby door creaked open.

Oliver turned to watch Jackson step in. He stopped as he took in the two men, who were standing as tight as clenched fists.

“Ah,” Jackson said. “Is this a bad time?”

“No,” Uncle Roy snarled. “Come right in. Have your run of the place, why don’t you?”

“Uncle Roy,” Oliver said. “That’s enough.”

Uncle Roy snarled at him, teeth sharpening into fangs. For a second, Oliver’s hackles went up, and he thought he might have to genuinely fight his uncle right here in the lobby.

Then Uncle Roy’s face fell. He stared over Oliver’s shoulder with such slack shock that Oliver whirled immediately.

Grandmother stood in the hall, swaying on the spot. She had three shawls wrapped tightly around her body. Her only exposed skin was her face, which was slick with sweat. She looked dazed.

Oliver rushed forward, taking her gently by the arms. “Grandmother! What’s wrong? Does something hurt?”

It took her a moment to focus on him. It filled him with fear to see those eyes, usually so keen, clouded over.

Her lips came unstuck with a wet noise.

“I think…” she began weakly.

Then she collapsed into his arms.