Page 93 of Accidentally Wedded To A Werewolf

Her friends jumped up and down on the sand, whooping. Her parents let out a half-hearted whoop from their table.

Hector dragged her arm over her head, pulling a twirl out of her. “Live a little, babe. You deserve some fun after the last few months of being stuck in that town.”

Luna stilled. He tugged her arm, trying to get her to complete the twirl. He still had that hopeful smile, like he was waiting for her to giggle and pose. For her to roll her eyes fondly and kiss him and run into the sand, her worries forgotten. He still didn’t fully believe that she’d had a good time in Claw Haven. He believed she had good sex, sure. But she could see the disbelief in his eyes every time she told him how nice it was to do something for the town, even with all the annoying admin work she had to learn on the fly. He couldn’t believe the nosey townsfolk grew on her. He nodded blankly and waited for her to bounce back to her old self, ready to party and go on vacations and remodel the house to her heart’s content, never delving deeper.

She ripped her hand out of his grip. “I don’t just wantfun,” she hissed. “I want to do something; I want to DO something! Ideally, something that actuallymatters! I can’t live like this, party after party and nothing under the surface!”

Hector wavered. Trying to smile, even as he shrank back against her vicious tone. She didn’tdovicious withhim. Just light, breezy fun. He’d only seen her like this a few times, and he’d retreated from her every time.

“I think someone needs a mai tai,” he said, turning toward the bar.

She grabbed his shirt, jerking him back to face her. “I don’t want a mai tai! And I—and I don’t…” She lowered her voice. The others were staring, but they didn’t need a full-volume blow-by-blow of what was about to happen. “I don’t want to be with a guy who only wants fun and nothing else.”

Hector stared at her. His smile shrank, ticking at the edges. Still hopeful that she was joking.

She slid her engagement ring off and pushed it into his hand. He took it, numb and automatic.

“I’m sorry,” Luna whispered and stepped past him. She could hear the girls muttering down on the beach, her parents whispering at the table behind their drinks.

“Whoa,” Hector said, shoving in front of her. He was still holding the ring. “Wait, you’reserious?”

“Deadly,” Luna said. “Bye.”

She stepped around him. There had been a second back at the mud pool that felt chillingly like closing a door, but she hadn’t walked through it. Now, she was full speed ahead.

“Hey,” her dad called behind her. “Hey!”

Luna sighed. She paused in the back door of the resort room and turned back to face her dad, who had actually bothered to get up from his seat to chase her.

“What are you doing?” Dad asked. “You can’t— This isn’t— Your weddingistomorrow.”

“Throw a party instead,” Luna said icily. “We’re good at that.”

Dad scoffed. “You’re really leaving? Don’t tell me you’re going back to that nothing town; they’re using you for your money! You won’t see a cent from me if you leave, then where will you be?”

Luna laughed back at him so loud that he jumped. “I’m going to be fine, Dad! Wanna know a secret? I’ve been working foryears! That logo on your shirt? That’s ME, baby! I’m good at what I do. And I want to do it there. I don’t know if they’ll?—”

She stopped, pain fluttering through her chest as she thought about those last hugs in the common room. Then her goodbye to Oliver. The way he’d looked at her, right at the end. Like he was trying so hard to shut down, to not feel anything, and failing miserably.

“I don’t know if they’ll want me,” she managed. “But I have to try.”

She swallowed and looked up at the deck. Mom gaping at the table, Clancy half-risen from the deck chair and staring like she’d grown two heads. Her old college friends whispered behind them. Her dad’s face contorted in disbelief, fingers twisting in his own shirt. Hector stood behind him, dazed, his eyes wet.

Too little, too late,Luna thought.

She fluttered her fingers at them. “Toodles.”

Then she flounced out.

Twenty-Nine

The moon was full.

Oliver could feel it pulling at his bones. Wanting him to change. And yet every time he tried, his wolf retreated. It was closer than it had been in a year, but that didn’t stop it from lingering just out of reach.

He groaned, eyes fluttering open. He was lying on his back in the moss, a sleeping bag draped haphazardly over him. It was crumpled from him constantly pulling it on, then shoving it back off as he alternated between blazing hot and icy cold. There was a water bottle balanced on a stump next to him, which got refilled every hour by his helpful, deeply annoying family. Sabine, Leo, Grandmother, and Uncle Roy were taking up the night watch, no matter how many times Oliver insisted he was fine and they should go back to the inn.

Sabine peered down at him, one hand stroking Leo’s hair absently. “Shouldn’t he be in bed?”

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