Page 36 of Falling for the Werewolf
“Jace.” Amos put his hand on his nephew’s shoulder. He had been sitting in the same spot for nearly twenty minutes, staring off into space.
Jace turned expressionless eyes toward him. “What?”
“Time to call it a day, son.”
Jace nodded, but made no move to get up.
Amos sighed and began packing up the truck on his own. “You want a ride?”
Jace shook his head. “I’m going for a run.” Just as he had every other night. Shifting and running the steep mountain trails was the only thing keeping him from disrespecting Dani’s wishes and camping out on her doorstep until she agreed to talk to him.
“Want some company?”
“Aren’t you going over to Bess’s?”
“Not tonight. Bess said she and Dani were going to have a girls’ night in; whatever that means.”
A sharp pain speared through his gut at the mention of Dani’s name. He missed her, more than he ever thought possible. Each hour that went by without word was as bad—if not worse—than the last. She was his mate. They belonged together.
He understood—or, at least thought he did—why Dani had taken to relative seclusion. First, Amanda had dropped her bombshell, which had been bad enough, especially given what Dani’s ex had pulled. It wasn’t the same thing, but it must have drudged up some bad memories.
Then, when Dani had finally come to him, he had handled things poorly. He knew he had hurt her by pulling away, but that hadn’t been his intention. He had allowed this mess to come between them, and now, instead of facing it together, she had somehow gotten it in her head that she was part of the problem.
To make matters worse, Amanda was upping her game. It wasn’t enough that she was trying to make his life miserable; she was using her family’s influence to make sure everyone supporting him was miserable, too. Jace was sure she was behind the sudden lull in Amos’s business, as well as the outrageous offers flowing in from some big-name firms, firms that her father no doubt had a paw in.
Bess had also told Amos, who in turn had told him, about the teaching positions Dani had applied for, and how swift the rejections had come. She had lost her position at the senior center, too, leaving her only with the night shift at the diner.
Bess was especially worried because Dani’s self-imposed deadline was drawing swiftly to a close. Apparently, Dani had told Bess that, if she didn’t find a teaching job by the end of the summer, she would have to look elsewhere.
He couldn’t let that happen. Now that he had found her, he wasn’t going to let her go, and it was about time she knew that she was the most important thing in his life. Everything else came second. But how could he do that when she refused to take his calls and had her aunt send him away every time he showed up on her doorstep?
After their run, Jace went back to his place and cleaned himself up. Another text to Dani went unanswered, as did one to Bess. He thought about heading over there, anyway, and demanding to speak to Dani, but Amos had warned against that. That was how Jace found himself in Tiny’s Diner, sitting at the counter and scowling into a cup of coffee for hours. Dani wasn’t there tonight, but this was the closest he could get to her without pissing anyone off.
The big bear shifter,Tiny, waved away the waitress openly flirting with Jace and placed a fresh, hot cup of coffee in front of him. “Why are you here, wolf?”
Jace exhaled. “Dani refuses to see me or answer my calls.”
“Maybe you should take the hint and get a fucking life.”
Jace clenched his jaw. “Sheismy fucking life.”
“Yeah?” Tiny said, putting glasses away noisily beneath the counter. “Try telling that to your pregnant fiancée.”
Something inside of Jace snapped. His hand shot up across the counter and grabbed Tiny’s shirt.
When Tiny looked at Jace’s hand, then at Jace, he let Tiny go and dropped back down onto the padded counter stool.
“You got balls, I’ll give you that,” Tiny said with grudging respect. “But you got shit for brains if you think Dani wants to watch you marry that rich bitch and raise a kid together.”
“I’m not marrying Amanda,” Jace said miserably.
“And what about the kid? It’s yours, right?”
“Doubtful.”
Tiny raised his eyebrows. “Explain.”
“What the hell do you care?”
