Page 8 of Fetch Me A Mate (Shifter Mates of Hollow Oak #1)

ROWAN

D awn came gray and cool, with the promise of rain hanging in the air.

Rowan had been on the inn's roof since sunrise, replacing loose shingles and checking the flashing around the chimney.

The work was methodical, requiring the kind of focus that kept his wolf quiet and his mind off the way Diana had looked at him yesterday when Kieran mentioned staying.

He moved across the pitched surface with practiced ease, his tool belt heavy at his hip, hammer finding its rhythm against cedar shakes.

Below, the square was beginning to wake up.

Twyla emerged from Griddle it was a guarantee of destruction.

With a force of will that felt like ripping his own skin, he released her and took a sharp step back. The space between them felt like a frozen lake, dangerously thin.

He turned away from her, grabbing his hammer so he had something to hold onto. "Go back down, Diana. Now."

He heard her hesitate, a small, confused breath. "Rowan?—"

"Go," he bit out, not looking at her. He couldn't. If he saw the look on her face, he knew his resolve would shatter.

The roof groaned softly as she made her way back to the ladder. He didn't watch her descend, but he listened to every sound until he heard her boots hit the solid ground of the porch.

Alone on the roof, Rowan drove a nail into the decking with a single, violent strike.

The scent of her was on his jacket, the feeling of her body pressed against his was seared into his memory.

He had to keep her away. For her own good, he had to be the monster she ran from, not the man she ran to.

He worked until his muscles burned, the rhythmic crash of his hammer the only sound loud enough to drown out his wolf's furious howl.