Page 25 of Betrayed By the Wolf

Rejected. Mate.

She repeated the words to herself, staring into the mirror. Honestly, it was his loss. Vera looked as good as she ever had, and maybe her life was a mess, but it was a mess she’d made for herself. The pep talk had become a daily requirement before she faced him.

After that humiliating walkout he’d done after they’d had sex, she was done pining for him. Done being pathetic. If he didn’t want her, she didn’t want him, and it was his loss. If she kept telling herself all that, she might even start believing it.

“Are you ready to go?” Rami called from the bottom of the stairs. “Jessa’s in her car seat and I’ve got her bag all packed.”

Vera took one last look at herself, making sure her hair and makeup were perfect, and her outfit would torture him. Check and check.

“Coming!” She grabbed her bag and met the two of them in the foyer.

Rami’s eyes tripped over her tight little skirt like she’d known they would. Good. Remind him what he’s missing out on because he wants to be stubborn. She hoped he was remembering how it felt to have her legs wrapped around him and kicking himself because it would never happen again.

It had been her last ditch effort to get him back, and looking back at it now, she couldn’t believe herself. No way she’d come off as anything other than desperate. She only wished it hadn’t felt so good. Rami knew her body like no other man ever had.

He held the door for her, and she stepped out, instantly wishing she’d worn something a bit warmer. The winter’s chill was determined to stick around, and her bare legs were paying the price. Still, she’d pay it again just to see Rami’s eyes glued to them as she walked around him to get in the car.

The car smelled of Rami and leather, a mix that made her want to reconsider her new vow of chastity. He clicked Jessa into the backseat then slid into the driver’s seat beside her. She tried not to stare at his forearms as he backed the car out of the driveway, leaning her head against the window to watch the scenery roll by.

“First stop,” he declared, pulling to a stop outside of Silversand’s coffee shop. “Quadruple shot?”

Oh, he definitely knew he was in trouble if he was offering to indulge her caffeine addiction without any commentary on how bad it was for her. She nodded, tight-lipped, and sat with Jessa while he ran inside to get their coffees.

“He’s a good dad,” she told Jessa, twisting around in her seat to catch the baby’s eye in the backseat mirror. “And a good man. And I’m lucky to be your nanny.”

Whatever tension the baby might be feeling between Rami and Vera, she wanted Jessa to know it had nothing to do with her. She’d fallen in love with that baby girl. The thought of having to leave her behind one day when Rami no longer needed a nanny felt like a claw ripping at her chest. Add it to the list of things she was trying not to think about.

Rami knocked on the window with his knuckle, holding two to-go cups in his hands. She pressed the button to roll it down and took hers, careful not to let their fingers touch. It was hot and bitter, just the way she liked it.

Vera pushed the radio on and let music fill the car while they drove to the Rosewood library. It was the base of operations for the mixed Silversands and Rosewood team working on the curse, and familiar ground to Vera. She’d lived just down the street from it before selling her home.

Dark brick and steepled, the building looked like something out of a gothic novel. Ivy crept up its side. Rami parked, and they climbed out, gathering Jessa and her bag before heading inside. A buttressed ceiling curved high above the gleaming wooden floor. Stairs led up to the second level, and private rooms for studying were tucked behind doors, interspaced between shelves of books.

Rami looked awestruck. She fought her smile at the sight of him, mouth slightly agape and brown eyes sparkling as he took in the paradise of books.

“It’s something, isn’t it?” She led the way through the rows of books to the stairs down, where the packs had set up their base.

Desks and comfortable chairs filled the space. A map of the area was spread across the main table, held down by books at each corner. Adria, Spencer, and Evelyn were already in the room, bent over the map, heads together in conversation.

Adria turned at the sound of their entrance, face breaking into a smile. “Welcome to headquarters.”

"All we’re missing is a whiteboard and some red string.” Vera set her bag down on the comfiest armchair and unbuckled Jessa from her seat. “I brought backup.”

After Jessa had been properly doted upon by everyone, they settled in. Jessa played on a cushioned mat on the floor while they went over everything they knew so far.

“James has been gaining some coherence,” Evelyn said, kneeling by Jessa on the mat and shaking the rattle for her. “He told us everything he could remember about the moments leading up to you finding him in the woods when he woke in the middle of the night.”

“And his veins? Are they still black?” Vera jotted notes as she listened.

Spencer nodded. “Yes, but they don’t seem to be spreading. Maybe we got him away from whatever it was in time.”

Rami sank into the seat beside her. There were plenty of other chairs in the room. She shot him a glare that he brushed off with a shrug and a smile. Vera caught him staring at her three times as the debriefing went on, a thoughtful look across his face. If he was thinking about how he’d get her in bed again, he had another thing coming to him. The third time, she subtly flipped him the middle finger. He laughed.

“And I think that’s all we’ve learned,” Adria wrapped up, tracing a line around the cabin on the map. “This is how far the scent extends. For most of us, the scent isn’t powerful, but it seems to affect you, Rami, and James differently.”

“So figuring out the common link between the three of us is key,” Vera finished.

The energy in the room shifted. Vera caught a glance passing between Evelyn, Adria, and Spencer.

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