Instant Mate by Kristen Strassel

Author:Kristen Strassel [Strassel, Kristen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kristen Strassel

Nineteen

Austin

Saint and Stephanie were waiting for me in the office when I got to work in the morning.

“Did something happen overnight?” A question I shouldn’t be asking. If something happened, I should be telling them about it, not the other way around. I swallowed the frustration with a gulp of hot coffee. The nightmares had returned when the security breaches started happening on the ranch. They’d started when I was still in the Army—me on the mistaken site of the attack, watching everyone die. This time, they’d been upgraded to include the Werewives. Blaire, screaming my name from the inside of a racecar that was about to explode. And I could never get to her in time.

I shook my head, trying to cancel the thought, knowing it was only a short-term solution. “Did Jackson come again? Haven’t had a chance to look at all the surveillance yet.” That was a good save. “I’m recording any activity for the next council meeting. If he tries to use the rules against us, we’ll have evidence of all the ones he’s broken.”

I didn’t mention that I saw Levi leave the ranch with Sunny the other night. He was breaking the rules, but he was wolf enough to claim his mate, no matter what the circumstances were. I wasn’t exactly in a position to stop him.

“It’s not Jackson, Austin,” Saint said.

“Is it someone else?” Another question I should already know the answer to. Damn it.

Saint and Stephanie looked at each other, and I couldn’t decide if I’d been called into the principal’s office or if Mom and Dad were about to ground me.

“We’re wondering if you’d like to take a step back from the surveillance duties,” Stephanie said.

“Or if you’d like to postpone filming your episode,” Saint added, rubbing his beard like he did when he wasn’t sure about something.

My animal was going crazy inside me. Wanting to shift. Warning me—this is what happened when I kept ignoring him. “You think I’m the reason we’ll lose the ranch?”

“We won’t lose the ranch. And no one said that.” Saint sighed. “If this is bringing up some bad stuff for you, we want to make it better. There are other ways you can help us.”

“Like what?”

“Like claiming your mate, for one.”

“The Werewives had a book club meeting last night. They invited the she-wolves in The Village, and I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear your mom was our most enthusiastic participant.” Stephanie grinned when I groaned.

Saint chuckled. “You should pick up one of those books. Apparently that’s what human women think we do. If you’re looking for suggestions—”

“I don’t need a manual.”

“Blaire asked your mom if she knew why you don’t want to see her,” Stephanie continued, and tension swallowed any of the lightheartedness.

“I do want to see her.”

“I won’t make you watch the videos of when I tell her that you’ve postponed again.” Stephanie wouldn’t look me in the eye. Shit. I was letting her down. I was letting everyone down.

“We know you had a hard time when you came home,” Saint added.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.