Page 9 of Fated Despite the Moon

"Some people enjoy solitude and nature to busy malls and traffic jams."

"I'm guessing there aren’t any health food stores around here, either."

"No, but I whip up a mean steak."

"I'm a vegetarian."

Of course. "Moscow is an hour west. They probably have one there. If not Coeur d’Alene is two hours north. We could drive there next week if you want."

"An hour to a real store?"

He shrugged. "The local market supplies all we need. Or we grow it ourselves. Or hunt it."

She eyed him incredulously. "You hunt for food?"

She really had been removed from the ways of wolves.

They hit a giant hole, and she flew out of her seat and grabbed the door handle.

"Sorry. I've been meaning to throw some dirt in that hole for months now. I’ll try to get to it this week." He came to the mailbox and stopped. "This is us. I'll get you the address in case you want to send a letter or need something delivered."

He turned left and headed up the dirt drive toward his cabin.

"You really do live out in the sticks."

Caleb held back a sigh. "I like the beauty and the quiet. I also like being able to get out and run whenever I want, on my own land. You may learn to like it here."

"People keep saying that."

Caleb shook his head. Makayla was no longer the spunky, pretty girl he remembered as a boy. She was exactly what he'd expect from a girl who’d grown up in a Beverly Hills mansion- and not at all what he was looking for in a mate.

Chapter Four

Makayla prayed she was dreaming, and that she'd wake up to find it had all been a terrible mistake, and she was back in her bed in LA. Rachael and Mindy snoring on the floor, the maid Susanna coming in to pick up her clothes and make them food… Then they'd hang out, get dressed up, and go out for the night again.

Instead she was wide awake and pulling up to the front of an enormous log cabin that was to be her new home.

"I didn't realize log cabins could be so big. First your parents and now yours."

"It's not finished all the way. I just got the roof put on before the first snowfall this past winter. The fireplace works well for heating, and there's running water, but no internet yet and no television."

"No internet or TV?"What kind of hell is this?

"To be honest, I don't have much need for either, so I haven't taken the time to install it."

"Then what do you do up here all day?"

His eyes darkened, and he swallowed hard.

Her gut clenched. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be such a bitch, I really don't, but this is all…"

"Fast?"

"Foreign. I mean, last night I was dancing in clubs in LA, and today I'm in a truck in the woods learning I won't even have a television to watch."

"I get it. I do. I went to Seattle for school. I know it's an adjustment coming here. I can't say that living the life you have I'd choose to make this move on my own, either. But this is how it is. My suggestion is you try to make the most of it because it isn't changing in the foreseeable future. For either of us."

Us?She hadn't had an ‘us’ since her father had died.

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