Page 26 of A Surprise Baby for the Wolf Shifter

I let out a deep breath. She came back. I didn’t bother with looking at who was on the other side. Instead, I swung open the door, eager to see Gemma. But the person on the other side was the one person who had quickly become the bane of my existence.

“Oh,” I said and frowned. “It’s you.”

She smiled sweetly at me. Her big brown eyes blinked at me, lashes fluttering as she twirled a strand of blond hair between her fingers.

“Hey, Weylan,” she cooed.

My first mistake? Answering the door. Especially since I didn’t look to make sure of who was behind it first.

I glared at her. “What do you want?”

“I thought that I would come and see if you changed your mind yet and are ready to put this whole breaking up thing behind us,” she said, waving her hand between us. Her eyes unfocused for a split second. She sniffed. As the scent that filled my home registered, her eyes grew wide. A raging fire burned within them.

That was my second mistake.

Tabitha pushed past me, forcing me to lose grip of my doorknob. She charged into my living room and started grunting and searching for the person responsible for the scent. The woman who had just left. “Where is she?”

That was my third mistake. And I had a long list of them when it came to the woman who was rapidly losing control. It seemed the list was only growing.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and let out a heavy sigh. “Tabitha, you need to leave. I already told you we were done.”

“Don’t give me that bull shit!” she shouted then added with a smile and a voice coated in poisoned honey. “You’re my mate, silly. We can’t break up.”

“No, I’m not,” I said, staring at her like she was nothing but dirt underneath my feet. “Leave. Now.”

“Who is she?” Her voice raised again. Back to the yelling. Tears started welling in her eyes. “Tell me who she is!”

Before I could say a single word, she dashed through my house like a madwoman in a fit of fury, seconds away from shifting. I let out another heavy sigh and leaned against the door jamb watching as she destroyed my house looking for Gemma. Even tossing the cushions off my couch as though Gemma was hiding under them. Even under the kitchen cabinets, and in the coat closet, of all places.

I shook my head as I watched the show. There was no point in getting involved. Not yet at least. Once she realized there was no one here, she would calm down and I could talk some sense into her.

“She was here. I know she was here. Who is the bitch? How dare she try to take you away from me!”

I rolled my eyes. On second thought. Why sugar coat and placate? “I’m not property. I don’t belong to you, crazy-ass woman.”

“I will rip her to pieces!” she said, whirling around on me and stomping to the middle of my living room.

I stood from the door jamb and glared at her. “You’ll do nothing of the sort.”

Her frame started to shake, and her hands turned into paws.

Shit. She was going to shift.

I had to do something to stop her.

“Tabitha, take a deep breath,” I said as calmly as I could.

She settled her glare on me. “Don’t you dare try to stop me!”

“Look, we’ve been through this. Half a dozen times. I meant what I said the other night. I’m done. I don’t want to keep stringing you along anymore. I let it go on longer than necessary. I’m not your mate. I don’t want to be your mate. You deserve so much better than what I can give you.”

She growled. “You are mine! You belong to me!”

Talking to her wasn’t working. Her hand shifted into a paw, and I had seconds before she was out the door, chasing down Gemma’s scent. So, I shut the door, faced her, and held my hands up in the most non-threatening way I could manage. “I am not your mate. I was never your mate. You need to calm down. Now. Don’t make me call the authorities on you.”

My words were no use. They fell on deaf ears.

Her arms turned into her mountain lion’s, and she hunched over as fur sprouted from her skin. Her face took on a shape somewhere between cat and human.

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