Page 2 of Spellbound & Speechless
“I told you, you’re wrong.” She tilts her chin higher. “I’m from Starbrook. Grew up here and everything.”
“Really?” I cock my head. “Guess I had this place pegged wrong.”
“What isthatsupposed to mean?”
I don’t know what it means, but it seems to get under her skin, which I like. It’s rare to find someone who can entertain meandmy wolf.
I glance at the door she appeared from and lift a shoulder. “If you’re from Starbrook, why are you staying…here?”
After spending a few days in the motel, I can’t imagine someone choosing to sleep in the ugly, drafty place—especially not someone like her. Maybe I’m too presumptuous.
She lets out a long, slow sigh. “Family issues.”
“Ah. Story of my life.”
“Isn’t that the story for everyone? Like, who has a perfect family?”
“Guess you’re right.”
“Well…” She turns on her heel. “If you have nothing else to offer me, I’ll leave.”
She could disappear, and she should. I should let her. Whoever this perfect, pretty blonde is, she needs to be far away from me. Everyone does. I’ve never had trouble keeping to myself, even in a small town like Starbrook.
Why do I feel like meeting her will make it much more complicated?
My wolf awakens the moment she steps away. He lifts his head and growls, whispering something only I can hear.
Don’t… let… go…
My wolf isn’t as talkative as some shifters, and I prefer it that way. When you don’t grow up in a pack, you aren’t always as connected to the inner wolf. This is the chattiest he’s been in months, and I should ignore him now.
It’s impossible. She disappears, and my energy shifts.
My quiet wolf digs into my mind with his claws, taking control before I can stop him.
“Wait!” I don’t mean to say it.
She turns back around, and the wolf in me settles, but the hammering in my chest doesn’t. “Yes?”
I shove my hands into my pockets and look away, made vulnerable by her stare. “What’s your name?”
That’s a safe thing to ask. We’re neighbors, and Starbrook seems like the kind of town that cares about neighbors. Hospitality. All the shit I’ve never cared about.
Fuck.
Her smile is disarmingly sweet. “I’m Aspen Hawthorne.”
ASPEN
I haven’t left my motel room since I came home. Back to Starbrook.
That moment with the man and his curly, goldenbrown hair was the only time I stepped outside the four walls, and he wouldn’t even share a cigarette with me. How rude.
Contrary to what people say, the Starbrook Motel is a lovely little place. My family and I used to book rooms just to use their pool in the summer—a tiny indoor pool, lackluster to some, but one of the few in town.
Sure, there’s no room service. There isn’t much of anything. Even the ice machine rarely works. But this is what I need right now, after years of being pampered in New York City and living a life I couldn’t afford. I’m returning to my roots. It’sgrounding. I want to find my place in Starbrook now that I’m here. Alone.
At least, that’s what I tell myself. It makes me feel better about being unable to make it in the fashion industry. Maybe Icouldhave found success if I let them put me in a box like everyone else, but I would have lost myself—and my morals. My suggestion of making plus-size clothing was too much for my terrible boss and the appalling industry. They wanted me to lose my morals, and it was killing me. I had to go.
