Page 45 of Betrayed By the Wolf

She loved that jelly feeling that came from a bone-deep orgasm, the sense of ease that flowed through her afterward. It was the best stress relief, better than any yoga class or meditation session. Maybe she should start booking an appointment for an orgasm. Not that she needed to. They spent every moment they could steal finding new ways to pleasure each other.

Rami zipped himself back up and reached into the backpack, coming out with yet another handkerchief. He handed it to her with a satisfied smirk.

Vera took it, snorting as she cleaned herself up and pulled her pants back on. “Seriously? This is next level, Grandpa. Not one, but two handkerchiefs.”

“And you wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said, reaching for her.

She settled herself back onto his lap, leaning against his chest and threading her fingers through his. Her ring sparkled on her pale finger. A symbol of his promise.

“I really wouldn’t,” she agreed.

Chapter 20 - Rami

“How’s that look?” Rami stepped back to look at the sign. The crisp white paint on the wood made the black text stand out. “Is it straight?”

Vera frowned, hands on her hips. “A little more that way.”

He adjusted the sign by a quarter of an inch for the hundredth time. “How about now?”

Her nose crinkled. He groaned and stretched his back, preparing for another hour of adjustments.

“It’s close, it’s just not perfect.” Vera leaned her head against his shoulder. “Are you regretting that ceremony already?”

“Never,” he replied without hesitating. The memory of it still made him smile and sent a warmth pooling through his chest.

She’d looked ethereal under the light of the full moon. They’d agreed to compromise, performing the ceremony in the Rosewood center beneath the magnificent tree so central to the pack, then a part at Jonah’s lighthouse after. Originally, he’d suggested the beach, but one look at Vera’s face, no doubt thinking of the sand sticking to her dress, he’d pivoted.

The night had been a blur of champagne and revelry. Moira, Evelyn, and Adria had decorated the tree with twinkling fairy lights, and he’d watched their light dance in Vera’s eyes as she’d spoken her vows to him. The buzz hadn’t worn off, and the whole thing had taken on a surreal feeling. Each time he looked at her, he couldn’t believe his luck. She was his, and he was hers.

“Definitely too much to the left now.” She interrupted his daydreaming.

Even when she was being a pain in the ass, he was lucky to have her. He was even fond of the way she obsessively needed everything to be just so, and if that wasn’t a testament to how in love he was, he didn’t know what was.

The sign was the last detail for the new Silversands Veterinary Clinic. Vera had used the money from the sale of her house to build the small white building not far from Rami’s bookshop or Moira’s bakery. It was conveniently located across the street from the coffee shop, and he’d already had a discussion with her, with printed-out papers, on healthy amounts of caffeine consumption, wringing a promise from her that she wouldn’t overdose espresso shots.

“Are you seriously still working on the sign?” Moira came out of the clinic with a tray of muffins. “Give up, Rami. It’s never going to be perfect. She’ll be out here all night straightening it.”

Vera shot her a look. “People aren’t going to trust me to help their animals if I can’t even manage to hang a sign straight.”

Moira gave Rami a commiserating glance. “Right. Most normal, logical people would connect those two things. Very sane.”

“Are those chocolate chips?” Rami cut in before the sisters could really lock horns. Their arguments could go on for hours. “I’m in.”

Pack members from the Rosewoods and the Silversands streamed in and out of the clinic, helping to put the finishing touches on the place. It had been exactly what they’d needed in the wake of the curse. A way to restore some normalcy to their world and reconnect without the fear that had been plaguing them.

Rami swallowed a mouthful of muffin, spotting James coming out of the clinic’s front door. His mistrust of the manstill lingered. Even after the curse had been lifted, he hadn’t volunteered any more information about his past, not where he’d come from or why he’d left, but Rami knew an Alpha when he saw one. That man was running from something.

He raised his chin in a short nod of greeting. James had been eager to help Vera once he’d been fully informed of what had happened during his dazed state, wanting to pay back some of the work she’d put in during his worst days.

“The front desk is done,” James declared, plucking a muffin from Moira’s tray.

His buzz-cut hair had grown out some in his time with the Rosewoods, but it didn’t detract from the hard, military cut of him. He looked like the sort of man who had been in many fights, and hadn’t lost any.

“Really, you were able to fix it?” Vera clasped her hands together and squealed. “That means we’re officially finished! You’re a hero, James. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you. If I’d had to call the contractors back again, I think they would’ve taken my head off. Somehow, I don’t think they appreciated my close supervision of their work.”

“Because you’re a micromanager. You drive everyone who helps you out insane. They’re just too afraid to say it out loud because you’re kind of scary,” Moira chimed in.

“Thank you,” Vera said in a singsong. “Did I hear Adria say you wouldn’t make it to our grand opening party?”

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