Page 17 of The Bookish Girl’s Guide to Mating with a Werewolf (Mate Hunted #1)
“ABBY, WHERE ARE—who the fuck are you?” Stella’s demand rang out. I still couldn’t see her, so she wasn’t talking to us.
She’d definitely woken up one of the guys.
Her scream tore through the air a moment later, and I took off running.
Nico caught me quickly, scooping me up off my feet and hauling ass in that direction. Unlike me, he didn’t struggle with the rocks or uneven terrain. At least one of us was on good terms with the outdoors.
He stopped abruptly when we found Graham standing in the middle of the road, right in front of Stella’s old truck.
His hands were in the air, his hair was even more of a mess than usual, and shock was written in every line on his face.
There was a wolf in front of him.
A wolf with red eyes, who was much, much smaller than Nico’s.
“Is that…” I trailed off, not wanting to say my friend’s name.
“She shifted,” Graham said, stunned.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“She was already a werewolf.” Nico set me down on my feet.
“How?”
“She would’ve had to be rejected,” he admitted.
“But why did she shift?” I pressed.
“Graham?” Nico looked at him.
Something told me Nico already had an idea, but wanted his friend to confirm it.
“She’s hunting me.” Graham stared at the wolf.
Stella’s wolf stared back.
Graham looked a little nauseous.
Maybe a little pale, too.
“Is he going to pass out?” I whispered to Nico.
“It’s a possibility,” Nico murmured back. “Stay here.”
I didn’t love following orders, but this situation definitely called for someone with more wolfy experience than I had.
Lifting his hands to show he wasn’t dangerous, Nico took a few steps forward.
Stella’s wolf snarled in his direction.
He stopped immediately.
“No one here is going to hurt you or anyone else,” Nico told her, his voice low and steady. “Graham is fine to stay in his house while you decide whether or not you want to bite him. Right, Graham Cracker?”
I was pretty sure the use of his nickname was Nico’s attempt to snap the guy out of whatever had him looking so ill.
Considering it was probably the possibility of another rejection that led to the sickness, I doubted the nickname will work.
Graham cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah. My house would be good. It’s safe. No weird smells. No other people.”
Stella’s wolf looked back at Graham for a long moment before dipping her head in a nod.
Graham hesitated a moment, looking at Nico.
Nico nodded, and flicked his hand like he was shooing the other man toward his house.
When Graham scowled, I decided everything was probably going to be okay.
“Did you know she was a werewolf?” I whispered to Nico, after Graham’s door closed.
“No,” he admitted. “You didn’t?”
“I wouldn’t have taken my sleep deprived ass to your grocery store to find a werewolf if I did.”
He chuckled softly. “That’s fair. Are you good with going home? I need to text the rest of the pack to let them know what’s going on.”
My chest warmed when he called it home . Not just his place. “Yeah.”
He scooped me up off my feet again, making me laugh as he carried me back through the forest.
“I am capable of walking, Cucumber” I teased him.
He winked. “I’ll protect you from the dirt anyway.”
“Good man.”
“Good mate .”
I liked the sound of that.
“We’re stuck together permanently now, right?” I asked.
“Yup. There’s no way out anymore.” He tickled my side lightly, making me grin.
My grin faded when I thought back to Stella, shifting.
And hunting Graham.
If she’d been rejected, there was no way in hell she wanted another mate. And she must’ve realized what I’d gotten myself into the moment she saw Nico’s wolf.
I needed to talk to her… but she was trapped in her fur.
“They’re going to be fine,” Nico promised.
“You don’t know that.”
“No, but I know Graham. Whatever happens, he’ll get through it.”
“I feel like a terrible friend for not realizing,” I admitted. “She never said anything.”
“I’m sure she didn’t want to talk about it. Most of the guys don’t after they’ve been rejected.”
We made it through the door, and Nico found his phone in the kitchen while I charged mine in the bedroom. The screen lit up quickly, and I scrolled through the handful of messages Stella had sent me.
She was checking in, then starting to worry. Then asking if Nico had hurt me, and telling me she’d been where I was and that she’d help me get out, no matter how bad things had gotten.
Her experience with mating must not have been a good one.
Nico came to our room and dragged me into his arms. What I was thinking must’ve shown on my face, because he said into my hair, “They’re both going to be fine. The pack’s going to give them space, and they’ll figure out their shit like everyone else who gets trapped in the mating process does.”
I nodded against his shoulder.
There was no other option for them except figuring it out, after all.
He tugged my phone out of my grasp and pinned me to the bed. “Do you know what you need?”
“A shower and a good book to distract myself with?”
“I was going to say cookies.”
“I have it on good authority that cookies do make tough times easier.”
“Exactly.” Nico kissed me. “We’ll shower together, and you can read while I make them. How does that sound?”
“Blissful.”
He kissed me again.
Then made good on his promise of a shower, followed by sugary baked goods.
They didn’t fix everything, but his grandma was right. It was hard to worry when you were eating cookies.
Especially when your life was pretty fucking perfect, like mine had become.