The Wolf of Christmas Past by Kristen Strassel

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

Chapter Five

Amelia

“Of course I’ve thought about it.”

I thought about it every time a relationship with a human didn’t work out. When I felt like I was the only wolf in Southern California. Drew had laid everything on the line. Was I ready to do the same?

“I begged my mother to find a way out of needing a marriage contract. She’d held off as long as she could. The only loophole she could think of was to send me away to school the minute I graduated from high school. She said once I was of age, there was no way around getting sold to one of those wolves. Our pack mandated it. At the time, it seemed braver to run than for my family to take the money.”

“It was,” he said.

“It would’ve been braver if I’d stayed and let you claim me as your mate.”

“The pack wasn’t ready for that. They would have killed me before they let that happen.” He sighed. “That’s why I left when I had the chance, too. I couldn’t stay in a place that didn’t think I deserved to choose my own mate.”

“We have completely different lives.”

“I won’t hold you back, Amelia. You can take whatever job that comes.”

So many times I’d dreamed of having this conversation. To taste Drew’s kiss one more time. But I also had to face reality. “How can I be your mate if we don’t live in the same place? My job isn’t like a nine-to-five. The hours are long, and I spend a lot of time being someone else. My relationships haven’t worked out because people don’t understand what I do.”

He shook his head. “What would we have done if we could have mated right out of high school? Never left Granger Falls? I think the beauty of this is we’ve both gone out and lived our lives and fate brought us back together in that airport. And we still feel the same way about each other.”

He was right. A thousand percent right.

Sort of.

Tonight, it worked. We needed each other. Stranded, frustrated, lonely, with so many expectations about going home again. If we ever got there.

But outside of this hotel room? The math just wasn’t mathing.

“I’m sorry. I don’t see how it can work.” I turned toward the wall, tears stinging my eyes. I couldn’t believe I was rejecting Drew after all I’d wanted was him for so long. How many nights had I laid in hotel rooms just like this one and dreamed of having his body warming the bed, just like it was now? Once the magic wore off, we’d resent each other.

Fated mates were a fairy tale, sold to the highest bidder. Relationships took hard work. Compromise. And sometimes, you had to know when it could never be.

Even if it sucked big hairy wolf balls.

“Hey.” He slipped his arm around my waist. The heat of his body would almost be overbearing if it didn’t feel so good. So much like home. A tear slipped down my cheek. “I have an idea and you can tell me to go to hell—again—if you want.

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