Zoe POV
Sliding out of the red vinyl booth with an enormous sigh, I rub a hand over my belly and groan. It's so swollen I can barely breathe. I drop the receipt back onto the table, along with a few notes from my pocket, and stretch. My aching muscles protest. They had been hoping they could finally give up for the evening and rest at last, but we still have to make it back home.
“Earl, what are you trying to do to me?!” I moan while flashing him a big grin as he comes out of the kitchen to stand at the counter. He rests his large hands flat on the pale grey surface as he admires his handiwork. This man loves nothing more than to fill people to bursting. I was on my way back from a call out to assist with a foaling mare when the flashing lights of Earl’s diner called out to my rumbling stomach and lured me in. Dinner and two pieces of pie later, I’m thinking I would have been better off with the boring sandwich I had originally planned to inhale before falling into bed. I'm so full I can barely move.
“Zoe, I bet you haven’t eaten since breakfast,” he comments, drumming his fingers on the counter as he waits. He rolls his eyes when I have to pause and think about that. I can’t even remember whether I ate any breakfast, but I know that I’ve survived on coffee and adrenaline since. “My cousin is a vet, and he never stops to sit and eat a meal either. So, if I get the chance, you bet I’m going to take good care of you. Someone needs to.” Earl continues, clearly very proud of the amount of food he’s tempted me into eating.
I hop up onto the foot rail that runs around the outside of the counter. Leaning over as far as I can, I press a kiss to his waiting cheek, where he taps his finger pointedly. Sly old dog. Earl might be happily married for the last forty years, but I bet he was quite the charmer in his day.
“You’re a god among men, Earl,” I praise as I toss my change into the tip jar on the counter and wave at Mandy, my server, before walking outside into the cool evening air. It’s already dark outside, and the town is all but deserted. As I glance back towards the white-painted diner and spot Earl bustling around inside, I realise he might have stayed open just for me. It's eerily quiet. He probably would have shut up and let Mandy go home if I hadn't waltzed in. There isn’t another sinner to be seen. Which is probably a good thing, I decide as I zip up my fleece and look down at my worn boots and mud-stained jeans.
At least I hope that it's mud. In this job, it could be anything. It's better not to think about it.
“Milk, bread, cereal,” I mutter to myself as I remember why I was driving home this way in the first place. The fridge is practically empty. I need to grab some essential supplies if I want to get through to the end of the week without having to do grocery shopping. And I definitely don't have time for that. Loading up my arms with bread, milk, and a box of cereal that probably has more sugar in it than a bar of chocolate, I head up to the till and pay. The gangly teenager rings it up and accepts my card without once looking up from the screen of his phone. It would be impressive if it wasn't so rude.
“Thank you!” I say brightly, wondering if my overly cheery tone would be enough to get his full attention, but no dice. He is so engrossed in whatever he is watching that I don't think he even hears me. With my arms full, I use my hip to shove the door open and push my way out into the night. Balancing everything on one arm, I manage to get the door open without dropping anything and I toss my purchases across the console. My passenger seat is already cluttered with other junk, and I watch in disgust as the milk topples off the pile and onto the floor. Wonderful. Too tired to even care, I climb in and turn the engine on.
Sitting behind the steering wheel and glancing in the rearview mirror, I sigh as I pull a bit of straw out of my messy blonde bun and try to ignore the dark circles under my eyes. I look awful.
There's a brief flash of light that catches my eye and I turn to see where it came from. Another car is parked at the far end of the lot, tucked in under the trees, well out of the way. An amber flame glows in the darkness where the tip of a cigarette has been lit. It burns even brighter for a second as the smoker takes a deep pull. Whoever it is appears to be looking straight at me. Given there’s nobody else around, if I was waiting for someone to arrive, I’d be doing the same.
Propping my shopping back right side up, I reverse my brother's big old black Land Rover Defender out of the parking lot in a wide arc and set off for home, mentally calculating how much sleep I can still get if I’m home and back in bed within half an hour.
A loud yawn escapes me and my eyes water. I’m bone tired and even taking a shower when I get home seems like a monumental task. But I need to. I must stink. While a soak in a hot bath sounds much more appealing, I’m afraid I’d fall asleep in the tub. Living alone means nobody to rescue you from drowning. Shaking my head hard to ward off the drowsiness creeping in, I turn up the radio and roll down the window. My hair whips around my face in the breeze as I sing along to a pop song that I’m probably far too old to be enjoying. I sit up straighter, concentrating on staying away long enough to get home and crawl in the door.
Relief washes over me as I turn down my long driveway. Nearly there.
The wide-open pastures around me dance and sway in the warm breeze. The odd light is invigorating. It feels magical, like the energy in the air after a thunderstorm. I suck in a deep breath and just enjoy the moment. The peace. It’s why I bought this place after all. I didn’t want to be in a city clinic treating caged hamsters and house rabbits all day. I wanted the great outdoors. Big skies and open spaces. That and the fact it was the only one that I could afford within a reasonable drive back to my parents.
The jeep bounces and rolls over the uneven surface that I need to get fixed as well. Eventually. It’s on the to-do list but it’s way down in the order of priority. Hiring someone to help me is number one before I run myself into the ground. I only took over the practice a year ago and things are going well, but I’ve spread myself too thin. It’s all well and good winning new business, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day for me to do it all. Much as it pains me to admit it, I need help.
I’m contemplating where I might advertise for a part-time manager and new veterinary nurse when the glint of something behind me catches my eye in the rear-view mirror. There's a car stopping at the end of my laneway, but with its headlights turned off. If it wasn’t for the full moon and its light reflecting off the chrome trim, I never would have seen it. My heart hammers in my chest as I slow down and watch it closely. Praying for it to just pull off and go on its merry way.
Forcing myself to let out the breath I’d been holding without realizing it, I curse as it moves again, but not in the direction I want. Instead, it slowly rolls forward and turns into the laneway behind me, lights still off. Sometimes I get late-night calls, but normally they need me to go to them. And if it was an emergency patient, surely I'd have a call on my phone. And they definitely wouldn't be driving without no lights in the dark.
My older brother Chase is a military man, protective by nature. With three younger sisters constantly getting into mischief, he worried about us. Chase drilled into us to trust our intuition when we were out and about. Always be aware of your surroundings. And if something doesn’t feel right, never worry about looking foolish, just get the hell out of there as fast as you can.
And right now, my instincts are screaming at me that something is very wrong. And to run. Except I can’t. That car, the one that doesn’t want me to know it’s following close behind me, is blocking my only way back out onto the road.
I’m trapped.
Blake POVMy wolf gradually calms down the further I get away from the packhouse, whereas really, with the pack run going on without us, he should be itching to get back and run alongside his friends. I try not to dwell on what that might mean as I drive, turning the radio up and enjoying a rare moment of solitude. Being Alpha of a pack of rowdy wolves, and living in the main packhouse, means I am never truly alone. And since taking over as the head Alpha for the region, things have gotten significantly more hectic. With ten packs under my watch, there is always something that needs to be done.I love it. It’s what I wanted. I worked so hard to get that position and I remember the satisfaction I felt when I found out that the council had chosen me. But there is always a price to pay for success, and that price is privacy. Even when I’m locked in my office or my living quarters, there is always someone or something waiting for me. Work to be finished. I haven’t had a day off since I st
Blake POVEven though I know she’s not here, I can’t help scanning the aisles of the store as I enter, searching for her. My heart is pounding in my chest, and I can hear my blood rushing in my ears. Her smell is setting my body on fire. Every cell is tingling in anticipation of meeting her, and the hair is standing up on the back of my neck.I shake out my hands, trying to ease some of the tension firing through me. She’s not here, I repeat to myself, and if I don’t calm down, I’ll miss something that might tell me who or where she is. When I reach the counter, the kid still has his wide eyes fixed firmly on me and his fingers grip the counter tightly. If he has an alarm under there, I'd say he's about two seconds away from pressing it. I must be throwing out some angry alpha vibes to be making him so nervous so I try to reign in my emotions as best I can. Using one hand, I smooth down the front of my shirt, drawing his attention to the expensive suit I’m wearing and the watch on my
Zoe POV My mind races as I run through all my options. There aren’t many. Maybe because I’m driving his jeep, I try to think about what my brother would do. He wouldn’t just meekly wait to see what the creepy driver wants, that’s for sure. But I’m no fighter. I need to get myself somewhere safe, but my nearest neighbours are too far away to run for it. Fuck it. With only a half-baked idea in the back of my head, I press my foot to the floor, grateful for the sudden acceleration driving a manual allows, and take off, bouncing over the pothole-filled laneway. I have no elaborate plan other than to get inside, lock the door, and call the police. And pray that they happen to be nearby. A quick glance in my mirror tells me I’ve caught whoever it is off guard. Any lingering hope I had that this is a customer and that they’re going to think I’m nuts for driving like a crazy woman is dashed when I see them pick speed. I’ve extended the distance between us. Not by much, but hopefully, it’s
Blake POVNormally, I am a man of my word. Tonight, however, I leave Earl’s diner and drive straight to the vet practice that Zoe owns, fully intending to go back on the promise I just made. I won’t try to see her tonight. I want our first meeting to be special, but there is absolutely no way I can just drive back to the cabin without at least seeing where she lives. Zoe, my mate. I love how that sounds. It’s heaven to finally know her name. The woman who already owns me, heart, body, and soul.Grinning to myself, I whistle and drum my fingers on the steering wheel to some imaginary tune as I follow the winding road out of town. I am perfectly content, or in all honesty, excited, about the prospect of sleeping in my car tonight, once I can be close to her. Cooper, one of the Alphas under my command, once told me how he used to sleep in the woods outside his mate Hayley’s house when they first met, just to keep his wolf calm. That never made sense to me before, but it does now.Six mo
Zoe My fingers touch my lips gently as I sit back down, dazed, behind my desk and fire up the feed to my cameras again. They still tingle where he kissed me. I don't think I've ever reacted like that to a man. Particularly a bossy man. Who I don't know. In the middle of a robbery. After I shot him with a tranquilizer dart. Before he went out to protect me, drugged up to his eyeballs. I don’t need the butterflies in my stomach or the goosebumps on my skin to know that this man is different. I watch him stand tall and face the two men bravely. His stance is relaxed and confident, but in his expensive suit and immaculate white shirt, he looks more like a high-priced lawyer than a brawler. I can barely watch as the first of the thugs takes a threatening step toward him, crowbar bouncing against the palm of his other hand menacingly. Tattoos snake down his wrists and out from the edge of his sleeves. A distinctive jagged scar runs down the side of his neck. These aren't kids looking to
Zoe A gigantic, dark grey wolf is lying passed out on my clinic floor, injured. Just when I thought we were over the crazy part of this night. I’ve never seen a wolf up close before. The vet part of my brain is in awe. The rest of me is looking out the window at the full moon, putting two and two together, and making ten. I’d like to think there is a reasonable explanation, but for the life of me, I cannot think of anything that is going to explain this. Other than the obvious. Which is that the man I just kissed is a werewolf. An image of Blake lying in the same spot just seconds ago flashes into my mind, but I push that away. I need to focus. I can freak out and worry about my sanity later. The drugs pumping through his system mean he’s not dangerous, for now anyway. As I edge closer, trying to get a look at his hind leg, I can admire how magnificent he is. Thick grey fur covers his body. He’s in perfect condition. Except for the deep cut still oozing bright red blood out onto h
BlakeAs I uncurl my stiff body, I bury my nose deeper into the soft blanket that smells like heaven. The fog clears from my brain, and the cold air and hushed voices drifting underneath the door bring me back to my senses. I sit up slowly and fight back the wave of nausea that washes over me. I squint against the bright lights of what appears to be a utility room and rub a hand over my head, trying to figure out how I got in here.The last thing I remember was propping myself up against the door to Zoe’s office, struggling to keep my eyes open, and praying that I wouldn’t shift to heal once the drugs kicked in. Given I’m stark naked, I can safely assume that’s exactly what happened.Feeling groggy, I haul myself to my feet, but one of my legs gives way and I land hard on my knee on the tiled floor. I bite back a curse and I try again, this time gripping the countertop beside me to pull myself up to standing. A dull ache in my leg draws my attention to the neat row of stitches I can f
ZoeThe bed dips as someone pulls back the covers and climbs in beside me. I open one eye but slam it shut again when I see the sun streaming in through the window. The curtains are wide open. I was too tired or too lazy to close them when I fell into bed last night. It can't be morning already. I'm still exhausted.“Please tell me that was all a horrible dream,” I groan as I roll over to lie on my side facing my sister. She has her hands tucked under her cheek and her pose mirrors mine exactly. It reminds me of when we were teenagers, and we’d climb into each other’s beds late at night to gossip about school and boys.“I wish I could, sweetie,” she says sadly, stretching out a hand to brush the hair back from my face. “But it’s going to be ok.”I blow out a breath and screw my eyes shut, wanting to pretend for another minute that my clinic wasn't destroyed last night and I don’t have a whole mess to deal with today. The police arrested the two intruders last night, but the clinic is