Page 38 of Wolves Always Bite

“We’regood,”Jeremysaid quickly, still not comfortable with the other wolf.

Haydenpointed us toward a walking trail that’d lead us to the inn, before jumping in his truck and leaving.

Atleast we could gather some intel in case we decided to stick around and helpVanwith the rest of his problems here.Because, as idyllic asWillowLakeseemed on the surface, there was something shady going on.Wewouldn’t have been asked to find those boxes in the first place if there wasn’t.

ChapterTwelve

JEREMY

AdrianandIfollowed a scenic walking trail along the lakeshore toward the inn.Iwasn’t convinced going to the inn was our best plan, butIsupposed it was better than eating gas station sandwiches or going to get something from the grocery store to slap together without having access to a kitchen.Neitherof those options sounded appealing.Ash’spizza would have been the best, so that was my plan for tomorrow.AfterIfigured out what to tell him.

I’dhave to come up with something to tell my parents too.Idreaded that conversation.Losingyour job and being on the cusp of eviction from your apartment didn’t inspire a lot of parental pride.Luckily, that talk could wait a day or two.Myparents were too busy enjoying being empty nesters nowadays to notice when one of their kids wentMIAfor a few days.

I’dnever thought of my life as being pathetic, but whenIadded up the people who’d immediately noticeIwas missing, that number was shockingly low.Iwould have countedAshin that number a few weeks ago, but he was pretty wrapped up in his sexy boyfriend now.Hemight not noticeIwasn’t texting as often as usual.Whichmeant the only being who’d notice my absence wasClawie, and he was a cat.Astrange pang stuttered through my chest beforeIstomped on it.

Iwasn’t being fair to everyone in my life.

IfIreally was missing, they’d notice eventually and then they’d all move mountains to find me, becauseIwas fucking special and a joy to know.Ilifted my head and threw away the weird feeling.Besides,Icouldn’t be sad right now.Iwas with a werewolf, whoI’dbe sexing up later.Thatright there was reason enough to put a little bounce in my step.

Hmm…WouldAdrianmiss me?Ibet he would.Hehad that whole protective thing going on that was sexy as hell, making me wish we’d skipped supper and gone straight to the room.

Mystomach gurgled in protest at the mere idea of not eating.

Fine.We’deat.Butafter that… it was game on.

Wasthat another sports reference?Mybrain was clearly malfunctioning.

Itwas time to think about something else.Somethingnot food or sex or supernatural related.

Ieyed the lake to my left.WhenI’dvisitedAshin the past, we hadn’t gone to the lake.Hewas self-conscious about his scars and didn’t like going shirtless, so he wasn’t into sunbathing and swimming.I’dtold him he could keep a shirt on, but he hadn’t been interested.NowthatIlooked at the lake, it was actually pretty impressive.Themassive body of water was long and narrow, surrounded by aspen trees and pine covered foothills.

Ifroze.Wasthat a gigantic tail fin flopping around in the middle of the lake?

DidWillowLakehave a sea monster or a mermaid?Nah, mermaids wouldn’t live in a freshwater lake nearly a thousand kilometers from the ocean.Theywere saltwater creatures.Except…

Ipulled out my phone to textAsh.

Me:Doyou think mermaids live in freshwater lakes?

MyAmazingBFF:LochNessis freshwater and so isOkanaganLake.Ifmonsters can adapt to lakes,Ithink mermaids could too.

Me:Fair.Doyou think one lives inWillowLake?

MyAmazingBFF:Whatmade you think aboutWillowLake?

Me:Nothingin particular.Doyou think their coloring would be different from their saltwater cousins?Waterclose to tropical islands is all turquoise and aqua, so those mermaids have similar coloring, right?Butlakes are different…Likesometimes they’re all muddy.Arethere mud-colored mermaids?Doyou think that impacts their self-confidence at family reunions?

Ihated lying to him, soIdistracted him with words.Thatusually worked whenI’dmistakenly said somethingIshouldn’t have and needed to misdirect someone.

“Whoare you texting?”Adrianasked.

Iwas so used to throwing all my weird ideas atAsh,Ihadn’t even thought about askingAdrian.Buthere was a walking and talking werewolf.He’dknow, right?SoIasked him whatI’daskedAsh.

Adrianglanced at the water. “Yousaw the tail too, hey?”

Iblinked at him. “Youmean…Wasthat…Domermaids really exist?”

Istared at the softly undulating water.Myheart pounded.I’donce seen a documentary about a guy who’d stalked the banks ofLochNesswaiting forNessieto make an appearance.IthoughtI’dunderstood what’d driven him to do that, but faced with my own moment of personal discovery,Iwas a true believer.