Page 58 of Frost Wolf

I stuck a big spoonful of mint chocolate chip ice cream into my mouth and swallowed quickly. The pain that spread through my brain made me shake. It was painfully excruciating. I tried to rub the pain away with my open palms, only pushing it deeper into me.

The sound of my phone made me put it on the table and tap the screen. My fingers felt frozen.

What’s up, girl? Are you all cozy up with your new hot man

Aly’s text was followed by a smile and a kiss emoji.

Could I tell her? What could I tell her? She was a sweet girl, and I acted childish. Soren never explicitly asked me to keep the wolf thing a secret but, in my mind, that was self-explanatory. I couldn’t tell Aly that my man had shifted into a big white wolf and that his pack brother had an issue with me being his mate. Sure, because that didn’t make me sound crazy.

I texted back.

We had a small fight.

Need me to kick his ass?

She added a shovel and rope emoji to her text, which made me smile.

No, it was more my fault. We talked about his emotions and I got upset.

Girl, your feelings are valid. You have every right to feel what you feel.

The fucking patriarchy made us ashamed of what and how we felt for too long.

Each time Aly gets into one of her fuck the patriarchy rants, I have to smile. I agree with her view of things. Maybe she needs to work on the way she delivers her rants. However, she’s right, and they’re valid. I wished I had her soul and her ability to speak my mind, but I have this horrible filter that stops me from being as free.

As I looked at the phone, I tried to understand what upset me so much. It was that Soren refused to talk to me. He should have told me why Alistair hated having me there.

Thank you. I think I’ll take a bath and crash.

Do that. Take Bob with you.

Bob?

Battery-operated boyfriend.

I ugly snort laughed reading this.

You’re bad.

Take care, Queen. Don’t allow the guy to fuck with you. In an unpleasant way, I mean. You’re worth more.

After putting down the phone, I swallowed hard. Was I worth more?

What could have been done or said to avoid this? After such a long time being single, I was now in this full-blown, forever kind of force-of-nature relationship, and I had no idea how to deal with it.

I was not prepared for it.

I’ve read about dating in your late 30s and early 40s and expected a few awkward dates with men asking crap about my life, but not the force that was Soren, who loved me so completely that every bit of myself melted into him. This was a lot. Maybe it was me. I picked a straw, like a woman drowning, trying to get back to where I was comfortable. Chewing on a lock of hair, I contemplated this with Spike on my lap. My fingers slid through his fur and pulled him closer to me before kissing his head.

“Am I so broken that I can’t see love, not even when it hits me in the face and offers me everything I want?”

Another scoop of ice cream entered my mouth as I watched Dean punch a Demon.

“It’s so easy for guys. You punch someone, and things are better after.”

18

SOREN

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