My day rapidly plummeted to intolerable when Diesel continued showing Cameron around the pack house, and of course, he had to bring her down to show her Luna's office. I don't know what he had been expecting since his eyes widened as if he was somehow surprised to find me there. It was almost as if it had not been him who had forced me to resume Luna's duties temporarily. All I knew was that I wanted to punch him in his imbecilic face. "And this is Carrie. She's been taking care of the Luna's duties and will show you the ropes," Diesel introduced, barely taking his eyes off the silly girl he had brought back. Cameron was blond and very pretty, but she looked young, probably at least thirteen years his junior. It was a pretty big age gap for a mated pair, although that was the least of my problems with it. I pasted a warm smile onto my face. "Nice to meet you, Luna." She seemed to have momentary misgivings, and I wondered if she saw through my best acting or if she could sense t

I had come full circle, again secretly living among the humans where I had begun to build a life. I went to work and home and repeated my familiar routines like I was on autopilot. It wasn't that I missed having a mate. I was curious to know if Fate still had plans for me. Our time together had made me not believe it anymore. Fate is cruel. Period. I helped a brown-haired customer get a large box down from a shelf. I was pretty sure he was a werewolf from his scent, which was unusual in the store, but I didn't say anything, and he didn't indicate that he knew I was a werewolf, too. It was a weird moment, two supernaturals in a mundane setting surrounded by a sea of humans who didn't know our nature. He thanked me and went on his way. I went to the back to clock out. My gregarious red-headed human co-worker, Pinky caught me as soon as I walked in the door. I put on a smile for her benefit. "So, do you feel like coming out tonight?" she asked. She had her own issues, but she

The man frowned. "Come on. I don't have time for this.""Good, I don't either. I'll stop bothering you and be on my way." I had some important moping around my apartment to get to. I yanked my arm again.His grip was like iron."Let me go! You're hurting me.""You're hurting yourself by fighting against me."I gritted my teeth. The man was like a brick wall. Solid and stubborn and stupid. "Let me go!""No.""Fine. Whatever." I stopped struggling because it was clearly getting me nowhere.He released my wrist. I rubbed it and glared at him. How the hell was this my mate? It was another cruel joke in their lifetime of them."What's your name?""Carrie.""Carrie... You haven't been a rogue long, have you? You still smell faintly of pack. Which was your former?""None of your business." He didn't need to know about all the drama I'd left behind me.He looked irritated with me all over again. I didn't want to spend my life under that disapproving expression. Been there, done that. Besides

He wanted to talk, did he? Well, I was ready to talk, but I wasn't ready to let him control the conversation as if I were some subordinate who had to obey him. I must stand my ground even though this Alpha has already made my wolf surrender. "Sure, let's talk. We can start with you telling me that you're calling off your cute little pack and letting me leave since you don't have any right to keep me here.""Cute little...?" He tensed as he frowned, and my snarky amusement faded a bit. Maybe pushing him when I was completely outnumbered and in his power might not have been my wisest plan."Which pack is this, anyway?"He relaxed on the couch slightly, watching me. "We haven't named it yet.""Well, that doesn't matter. The only name I really need is yours." I stared at him down, not willing to break eye contact."Why do you want it so badly?" he asked."I-""Because you want to reject me properly? Really twist the knife in when you do it? Honestly, that doesn't motivate me to introduce

After my unnamed mate left, with nothing much to do, I wallowed in memories of how my awful choices had led me to being trapped in his trailer.Finally, I snapped myself out of it and spent the remainder of my morning messing up his home as much as possible. Honestly, the mess was starting to get to me, too, but I wasn't about to just give in and accept the unacceptable.I made sure I was sprawled out in his easy chair by the time he returned. He had not been able to sit in it even once since I had been trapped here. I put on the most annoying cartoon I could find and cranked up the volume in an effort to annoy him more. The high-pitched voices bothered my ears and annoyed my wolf, but reaching my goal was worth the pain.My reward was swift when he came in the door and flinched at either the excited chirping on the television or the mess all over his counters.As always, I had been limited by his sparse possessions, but I had made do as creatively as possible."Carrie."I fluttered m