Page 13 of Delivered to My Fury

A knock on the door startled us, which was hard to do. Mabel stuck her head in. “I can’t concentrate with all your phones blowing up. I know you’re on the app, but I can’t think straight. Do something about it, please.”

We chuckled and went to get our phones. They were, in fact, blowing up with notifications. Some were texts, others emails, but a lot of them were from the app.

“We have a ton of matches,” Eero said, wide-eyed.

“Why are you so shocked?” I laughed. “We are strong, fierce shifters who own our own successful business.”

He nailed me with a stare. “Yeah, the females are knocking down the doors. Hey…look at this one.”

We gathered around him and his phone to see a woman. She was a match and her name, Opal, sounded like a song in my heart.

“She’s stunning,” Zyon said. Never heard that word come out of my friend.

“She is,” I agreed. “She sent us a message.Hello. Saw we were a match and wanted to reach out. I’m human. Hope that’s okay. I look forward to speaking with you.”

Eero stepped back, cheeks pale. “Is it a joke?” he whispered.

“A joke?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”

“We’re not exactly your run-of-the-mill pack, Shay. I…is it just me, or does this seem too easy?”

“Yes.” Zyon put the phone down. “And no. When Fate decides things, it’s easy—smooth even. Sure, there are some bumps, but no one else has contacted us. Doesn’t your heart flutter, looking at her?”

Eero nodded. “It does. Should we message her back? I never even considered the steps after being matched with someone. My wolf likes her too.”

“As does my bear.”

I picked up my phone and went through her profile before we decided what to do next. We found out Opal was a researcher, a chemist. She had pictures of herself with a lab coat on as well as other photos. Long blonde hair and gorgeous golden eyes… My bear and I were captivated in the best way possible.

“She’s smart, obviously,” I said.

“Beautiful, obviously.” Eero had gotten back on his phone, and his coloring had returned.

“Stunning,” Zyon agreed.

“You said that already, Zy. I…should we look at other matches?”

Eero stepped forward. “No. My wolf wants her. There’s no reason for me to look anywhere else. When you know, you know, right?”

“Even if she’s human.” I wouldn’t be a friend if I didn’t try to play devil’s advocate. This was our life and our hearts we were talking about.

“I don’t care if she’s a donkey shifter. Let’s message her.”

“What do we say?” Zyon asked.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts. “We tell her it’s nice to meet her. We’d love to get to know her better.”

As soon as we sent the message, peace covered my heart.

Chapter Eleven

Opal

Lucky I had given up on the vanilla extract idea and poured the rest of the bourbon down the drain. In this situation, where I was in danger of losing my livelihood and unlikely to find another position outside the cosmetic industry—or Goddess forbid big pharma—I might just get silly enough to drink more if it were in my house.

Every decade or so was often enough to make that mistake. Although, at this point, I didn’t think I could call what I did a mistake. That bottle of bourbon was the very definition of liquid courage. Since the time I slept with that stranger, someone I never saw again, I had not touched the stuff…or a man.

Oh, of course I shook hands and hugged friends. I’d even gone on dates, but not one of those evenings had ended with me in any bed but my own. Alone. I wanted everything or nothing, and until everything showed up, work was my everything.

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