Page 108 of A Wolfe in the Woods

Why was heleaving?

I raced from the lobby, my heels slipping once on the polished floor, but I didn’t slow. The moment I made it through the glass doors, I called out, “Jonathan!” I weaved through the after-work crowd. “Jonathan, wait!”

He didn’t hear me. Or pretended not to.

Panic spiked in my chest. I broke into a jog. He was passing the central fountain of the plaza, his hands shoved deep into his jean pockets.

“Jonathan!”

This time he turned. Waited. I was huffing and puffing by the time I reached him. But what I saw made any excitement and relief seize in my chest.

His expression was cold. Guarded. Closed.

“Hey,” I said, breathless. I reached out my hand to touch him. “I’m sorry—I was finishing up. I didn’t know that?—”

“I got here early?” he said, cutting in, keeping an arm’s length between us, even when I tried to move closer. I frowned, trying to get a read on him.

I blinked. “Well…yes.”

“Erik seemed to know.”

The way he said Erik’s name made my throat tighten.

“Did he see you down in the lobby?” I asked. “I’m sorry. I was still busy upstairs?—”

“Convenient,” he murmured, his blue eyes like chips of ice.

The word landed like a slap.

What in the world was going on? He was acting so strange.

All around us, people milled like a river, chattering on phones, making bar plans for that night, or smoking after the long day. Someone bumped into my shoulder, but I was stuck in place like a boulder. Unmovable. My belly filled with something that felt like dread as I stared at the man who only a week ago had made me feel so warm, so…happy.

“Jonathan.” I stepped closer. My heart was pounding in my chest. “Please. What’s going on? Did something happen?”

He looked past me, jaw tight, like the city itself was setting his teeth on edge. “Something felt off.”

My chest hurt. “Off how?”

“You lured me right into the wolf’s den,” he said quietly. “And I fell for it. Like a damn fool.”

“What?” I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”

He turned back to me then, eyes sharp with both anger and distrust. It reminded me of how he’d once looked at me.

“Erik mentioned how valuable you’ve been as his little spy, reporting back to him. About Juniper Woods.”

“What are youtalkingabout?” I breathed, my jaw slackening when the words registered. “He’s lying! Why…why would youeverbelieve that?”

“You work for him,” Jonathan said. “And suddenly you’re in my life. Then he knows details about me, my family, the land…things only an insider would know. But I suppose that’s all a coincidence, right?”

“That doesn’t mean?—”

“It means I’ve been wrong before,” he snapped. Then caught himself, dragged a hand through his dark hair. “I ignored my instincts once. It cost someone their life, and it ruined mine. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

The Helix Trust case. It still haunted him. But that hadnothingto do with me.

“Do you really believe I’d use you?” I asked, my voice breaking despite my effort to hold it together. “That I’d fake everything—everything—just to get ahead at Skoll?” The last word sounded like a scoff.