Page 11 of The Wolf's Kidnapped Mate

Men made me feel funny, and not in a creepy way. Just funny. Like I didn’t much know what to do with myself. Sometimes, a guy would waltz into the community center looking to do something extra with his time—volunteer or something. I usually handled the lists for that kind of thing. Maybe sometimes it would be acuteguy, or even ahandsomeguy.

But nothing would happen that made it feel extra special. I didn’t feel compelled to text or, heaven forbid, call to follow up on a number I’d been given. Guys just weren’t my thing. If I wanted to have fun, I could watch the pile of rom-coms on my watchlist and drink a bottle of wine by myself.

Who could I date that wouldn’t mind me being in hiding? It wasn’t like I could tell anyone. Fred would have been perfect because he knew everything about me. I wouldn’t have to lie for once. I wouldn’t have to cower in fear or wonder if he was going to leave as soon as he found out I could kick his ass right after applying the perfect daytime palette to my eyelids.

I just wanted to be a normal woman going overseas for a normal competition with other normal people.

Shifter status aside, it would be nice to get out. I would accept something as simple as a ride into town so long as it got me some fresh air. I was getting tired of the mates thing. Left and right, up and down, I couldn’t escape the mates business. Everybody talked about it. Every person in this place lived and breathed for the mating ceremonies.

The breeze rustled my hair as I stood in the open doorway. People were probably talking about me right now. They were probably gobbling up that nonsensical rejection, that horribly awkward and quiet way that Fred had trudged out of the room. Everyone had been quiet after that. Shoot, with so many heartbeats in that room, it hadn’t been quiet at all. It’d been thunderous.

I could still hear it now, my shameful inability to recover marked by the sticky sweat clinging to my upper neck.

After pushing the door wider, I stepped outside. I walked on the main path for a bit, staring at the structure that had been erected just a few weeks ago. Right when Virginia and Slater got married, Blake had started building a greenhouse. As far as I knew, it was probably Fred’s doing.

I didn’t see him around much. When I did, he ducked out of the way like he was avoiding me. Did Liam put him up to that?Pfft, it wasn’t like my brother had told me a shred of anything since I last saw him. Where was he now? Canada?

I bet he’s having fun with the girls without even telling me. My heart sank.FOMO is such a bitch when I can’t go anywhere. Doesn’t he know that?

Panic swelled in the back of my mind, forcing me to turn sharply toward the greenhouse. No one really went in there. If Fred was in there right now, he would probably just leave. It was probably the best place for me to have a panic attack if Iwas being honest. Fresh vegetation, foreign plants, trees—heck, I could do with a change of sight and smell.

I picked up the pace, jogging until I reached the door. To the right of the door was a posted ad asking for a plant caretaker. Funny enough, the actual title wasplant caretaker, and it made me think of Victorian houses with thick cobwebs and creaking doors. A caretaker for plants—wouldn’t that be something different? Wouldn’t it be nice?

I launched inside. A calm quiet fell over me as I just stood there, waiting to feel something happen. Something.Anything.

But nothing came. Not a sound. Not a tweet from a bird outside. Just silence.

In its simplicity, I felt serene. For once, I didn’t have to listen to the drone of gossip or drama around me. I didn’t need to heed the panic crawling up my spine over a flashback. I wasn’t forced to engage in small talk or avoid the questions about why I didn’t have a mate, why I never left the community center, or why I turned down invitations to the events in town.

So quiet. Could the rest of my life be like this too? Maybe someday.

Hope returned, the tiniest sliver of it curling to rest somewhere in my mind. It inspired me to move forward, to study the towering plants and flowers, the unfamiliar stalks of oceanic blue, and the strange shapes of the pink petals—or maybe they were leaves—of some plants that seemed to be from another dimension.

A lot of the flora here didn’t resemble the outside world. There was so much verdant green, yet also such vibrant kaleidoscope shades of red and orange, pink and blue, that I wasn’t sure if it was real or if maybe I had fallen asleep at my desk again.

Maybe I was drooling all over my keyboard. Or maybe this was another place entirely. Finally, a place that didn’t feel like a prison, more like a wonderful forest. It was then I realized how much I wanted to be the caretaker of this place. Lovely dreams might sprout from communing with such pretty plants. Shoot, I needed dreams for once. The nightmares were getting to be too much.

I paused near a plant with large orange bulbs and plump leaves the size of my hands. With a chuckle, I reached out for the bulb, surprised by the way the bulb parted, looking more like a huge mouth than a collection of petals and leaves.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

I snapped my hand away just in time for the plant to chomp at me. As I reeled back, I ran into a massive palm tree—only the palms seemed to whisper something that made me stumble away. I covered my head and ran for, well,more coverto try to get away from whatever was happening in the greenhouse.

Suddenly, the silence broke open like a crater opening in the earth. Great cracks and booms echoed in my ears, sending me back to Tehran. Back to the car. Back to the explosive device underneath us.

Beep, beep, KABOOM.

I covered my ears, the deafening roar forcing me to curl into a ball.Cover the ears. Cover the head. Protect the head.My brother’s words came easily to me, recounting the right steps, the right ways to ensure my success on any mission.

Look alive but play dead.

That was his motto. That would protect me until the very end.

A piercing shriek rang through my ears and then a glittering light beckoned me to open my eyes. I blinked a few times, staring up into the most delicate irises that reminded me of springtime. Odd, considering the face that held the eyes. The rest of him was pale with freckles of rusty orange.

I sat up, nearly knocking my head into his. “Fred.”

He hissed while cradling his nose. “Need you to dial back on that alertness, soldier.”

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