Page 46 of Runaway Wolf
“Hey,” Isaac said softly, yanking her from her wandering thoughts. “Let’s make some dinner together. Just you and me. Before everyone else gets here.”
She nodded and smiled, hoped it reached her eyes.
It didn’t fool him. As she walked across the room, he reached out for her. Hooked his arm around her neck. “C’mon, pretty wolf. Let’s go make your rabbit food.”
“Salad? You’re willing to eat salad?”
He snorted. “A side salad. With the rest of my meal.”
Just like that, things were smoother between them as they chopped vegetables. Tenderized steak. Baked potatoes. Laughed and joked about things that didn’t really matter.
“Took the top off the hot tub. As soon as we change back to human skin, we can plunge right in to warm up.”
“Naked?” she asked, scandalized.
“Well, we can dress first but chances are, the entire pack has seen our naked asses.” His eyes twinkled. “If it makes you feel any better, your sister will probably be waiting in there, holding down the fort with a glass of wine and a swimsuit on. And she’ll complain sorely as dicks start swinging when we climb in.”
Penny being there first—alone—did make her feel better, somehow. Not just because she felt like an outsider, but Penny was the only human. Would she feel like an outsider too when she went through her change?
They sat down at the smaller table, the more intimate one centered in the breakfast nook that they used when it was just them.
He’d smeared butter on their steaks. They were delectable, and the first bite melted in her mouth.
“God, I think food tastes better as a wolf.”
“Or you just got a man who can cook.”
When her eyes flew up to meet his, he was focused right on her. Reminding her daily of her place. Did he really want her for herself? It almost seemed too good to be true.
But she had something important to do. Something for herself, and for Penny. And in the roundabout way, for shifters. For humans.
Her wolf tamed his. Her person tamed him. She had no idea what he was like before because he wasn’t that ruthless man who took before asking. He wasn’t the one who lived by the wolf’s instincts.
But now? He could feel her slipping through his fingers, like he was trying to hold onto water without a cup. And somehow, somewhere, he needed to find that cup. He needed to contain her.
The wolf called him a fool. Said she should have no choices. Tell her she’s their mate, no ifs, ands or buts. And he was tempted, so tempted to lock her up and never let her out. But deep down, he knew he’d lose her for good that way. He and wolf had to compromise. They had to woo her, make her hate to leave. Show her how good it could be between them… if she’d only give him her heart.
He didn’t know what was weighing on it. He could only assume it was all the new hormones from having an animal born inside. Being born, not bitten, meant he’d never had to go through that. He’d known two people inside him from day one, even if they didn’t see eye-to-eye, he still didn’t have to get used to sudden hormonal surges.
“My mother was human.”
“What? She was?”
He nodded, pushed a piece of his potato around on his plate. Speared a piece of broccoli with his fork.
“My father was alpha of this clan. He’d seen her in town, fell for her. But he wasn’t a good man. And she was a good girl.”
“What happened?”
“He took her. Got her pregnant, told her she’d have to stay for the sake of the baby. Because no one knew about shifters back then and surely, she didn’t want to put her own offspring at risk?”
“Emotional manipulation.”
He nodded. “It worked for years, until I was a teen. I was old enough to stick up for her then, and she would stick up forme. He didn’t like that. He didn’t like that her focus wasn’t solely on him. So the selfish bastard decided to turn her.”
Sweet Caitlin gasped. “Against her will?”
He nodded. “No preparation. No trying to sweet-talk her into it. I think he knew his days of sweet-talking her were over. So he bit.”
