LOGIN(Jenna POV)I returned a minute later with another, larger bottle of vodka. I didn’t even remember buying it; I was never a big drinker. But old-Jenna must have known that I needed to be prepared for a day like this.I took another shot. I had lost track of how many I was up to by this point.“Why didn’t he tell me?” I asked.I don’t know why I expected Nick to know. But he seemed to know everything else.“Tell you what?”“If he only married Beth for the insurance, why not just tell me that?”“Would you have been okay with him committing fraud?”“F&&k no. I would have tried to talk him out of it.”“Would you have stayed with him after he got married?”“Not for a sloppy second.”Nick shrugged. “That’s why. The a&&hole was an idiot, but he at least had enough sense to not want to lose you.”Okay, that did make sense, even to my drunk brain.“It’s still slimy as f&&k,” I responded.“Do you always curse this much when you are drunk?” Nick asked, with a hint of amusement in his voic
(Jenna POV)I downed two shots of vodka before offering Nick one.I half-expected him to decline, but he didn’t. Instead, he downed a second and then a third one.I sat back down at the table across from him. Our food was long since forgotten, but the bottle of vodka was front and center.“When did you find out that Danny and Beth were married?” I asked, not wanting to wait any longer.“I knew they were planning to get married since before we met officially. They registered the marriage with the council.”I studied his face, a part of me hoping he was lying.He wasn’t.F&&k.I poured myself another shot of Vodka and swallowed it.Even though I was putting Danny behind me, the depth of his betrayal still shocked me.Especially as I slowly started to piece the timeline together.“When… when did they get married?”“You should really be asking Danny these questions.”“Danny’s not here. You are,” I snapped. “When did they get married?”Nick sighed as he removed his suit jacket and loo
(Jenna POV)“I should have known you would come,” I sighed.He raised an eyebrow. “Disappointed?”“Not even a little bit,” Willow responded in my head.I let out a breath.“Come on in,” I said. “I would offer you something to drink, but I haven’t gone to the grocery store yet. So it’s pretty much water or alcohol.”Nick held up a bag.“Ashley predicted as much. She told me to bring food.”My stomach grumbled. I couldn’t remember the last time that I had eaten.I showed Nick the way to my dining room.As he pulled the food out of the bag, I smiled.“Burgers and fries?”“All American comfort food,” he confirmed.“Thank you,” I said gratefully.We sat down and began eating. After a while, I noticed that he was staring at me.“You don’t have to look at me like I’m a science experiment.”“You didn’t reject him.”I put my burger down.“Not yet.”“Why not?”His question was more curious than judgmental.“Lots of reasons,” I sighed.“Do you still want to be with him?”I let out a sarcas
(Jenna POV)For the first two hours of our drive back to Frankfort, Mr. McMahon mostly left me alone.I simply sipped at my coffee and stared out the window.The enormity of my decision weighed on me, but not in a bad way. If anything, the further we drove away, the more sure I became that I had done the right thing.Eventually —when we were about 45 minutes away from my house— I asked Mr. McMahon what had been so urgent that he needed to talk to me.“We need to settle the lawsuit,” he replied matter-of-factly.“Okay…”If it was as easy as simply choosing to settle, I would have done so months and months ago. However, nothing about his case was easy.“How quickly can you get it done?”“Do you have $40 million dollars lying around?” I asked rhetorically.“Let’s settle it for $500,000.”I took a deep breath.“Unless you know something that I don’t know, they aren’t settling for that,” I said bluntly. “Mitchell thinks he has you by the toenails.”“That was before,” Mr. McMahon said, as
(Jenna POV)I don’t know how long we ran.It could have been ten minutes, or it could have been six hours.All I know is that Willow ran until she could not run anymore.At one point, we got the vague sense of being watched, but Willow didn’t stop and look. We knew who it was.Nick.He stayed back, not interfering. Not saying anything. Just offering his quiet support.Eventually, once Willow had exhausted the adrenaline and heartbreak out of our bodies, the effects of the earlier allergy medication hit. We went back to the condo, and we crashed. Hard.****I woke up the next morning to my phone buzzing and my doorbell ringing. Glancing at the time, I realized it was already 1:30 in the afternoon.I stumbled out of bed, wrapping myself in a robe, and then answered the door.It was Dr. Daugherty.I looked at him, confused.“Dr. Daugherty? Why are you here?”“Can I come in?”I looked down at my unfortunate attire.“I… um… I just woke up. Is everything okay?”“I was going to ask y
(Jenna POV)Dr. Daugherty sat down next to me.“Are you okay?” he asked.I shook my head.“No.”He moved closer, and then he tried to put his arm around me. I pushed it off. I’m sure he intended it to be a comforting gesture, but it wasn’t.“Please don’t touch me,” I said with a shaky voice.He nodded and then moved a few inches away. Thank Goddess.The slide show continued to play. There were pictures of Beth at all stages of her life. Pictures of her when she was happier and healthier. Pictures of how I’m sure she wanted her family to remember her.There weren’t a lot of pictures of Danny, but there were enough. And every time one came on the screen, a little piece of my heart broke.The pictures included ones not only from the past, but also many from the last couple of years. The most recent ones were easy to spot, because Danny was either wearing his locket or Beth was wearing one of her wigs.According to the pictures, Hawaii wasn’t the only place that they went together.
(Danny POV)Beth just suggested that I spend a few nights “letting off steam” with another she-wolf.Was this her being helpful…. or manipulative? “I don’t care. Either way, it actually sounds good to me,” Mason said in a mind-link. “I miss Jenna.” He sent me a visual memory clip of Jenna naked
(Jenna POV)The next few weeks passed by slowly.Ashley and Kade decided to spend three full weeks with her sister and nephew. That meant that Danny was fully in charge of the pack.Between running the pack and Beth’s treatments, Danny had very little time for me. Which was mostly fine. Yes, we
(Jenna POV)I joined Danny in the living room several minutes later.He was sitting on the couch. His elbows were on his knees, and his head was in his hands.I silently sat down in the chair next to him and waited for him to speak.“I am messed up, Jenna.”I didn’t say anything. I could tell that
(Jenna POV)I woke up the next morning to a text from Ashley.“How did last night go?” she asked.I looked at the clock. It was 7:45 in the morning.“How are you awake?” I typed.“I haven’t been to bed. My nephew came at 6:30 this morning.”Along with her text was a picture of the most adorable







