Little Red and the Wolf

so now you avoid happiness to keep the same thing from happening to you.”

“They were just laughing, Cherri. Joking. My dad looked at my mom for a second. That’s how most accidents happen. The driver looks away, gets distracted, for whatever reason.”

“Exactly.”

“So if it had been his coffee cup spilling or his cell phone ringing, you’re saying I’d avoid relationships with people who have coffee in the car or talk on their cells while driving?”

“Maybe.”

Maizie couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s messed up, Cherri. Don’t quit your day job, ’kay?”

“I’m serious.” Cherri pushed at her glasses with her knuckle. “Okay, fine. Maybe that’s simplifying it a bit. But you have to admit there’s a pattern here.”

“Oh yeah?” Maizie covered the last inch of chocolate cake with ivory icing then grabbed the blue piping bag.

“As long as I’ve known you, nothing gets in your way. Nothing distracts you…especially men. You date, but most times it’s just a physical thing. Y’know, something to take the edge off, sexually.”

“You make me sound like such a lady.”

Cherri ignored her comment, pushing her hairnet off her brow. “Every once in a while someone with a little more going on upstairs comes along. He makes you laugh, makes you a little bit happy and then… BAM. You dump him. You make up some lame excuse about being too busy taking care of the shop and your grandmother and not wanting to be distracted…”

“Okay, one-I am busy. And two-none of this has anything to do with Gray trying to steal my grandmother’s land.”

“Yu-huh. Name one guy who’s ever affected you the way Gray Lupo does. One guy who’s made you smile just thinking about him, who’s had more in common with you, who’s made you feel even half of what you feel when you’re with him.”

Maizie didn’t say a word. She couldn’t. There had never been anyone like Gray in her life. Cherri was right. But Maizie kept her focus on decorating the sheet cake.

“Face it, girl, you’re wiggin’ out and it’s got nothing to do with real estate.”

Maizie slammed the piping bag on the prep-table, blue icing squirting out in an arch to the floor. “The letter was there, Cherri. On his desk. Nothing ambiguous about it. At some point he’d planned how he could steal the land.”

“But you don’t know why. Maybe he was trying to help.”

“Help? How? By taking the one thing she loves almost as much as me?” Maizie’s voice rumbled in her chest. Tension roiled through her belly, her heart beating faster and faster like a thing gone wild.

She swallowed hard, tamped down the first stirrings of her wolf. When she spoke again, her voice was calm, controlled. “Fine. You think I’m jumping to conclusions? You think I’m just trying to avoid some…some…guy?”

Maizie reached back, untying her apron. She yanked it over her head and crumpled it onto the prep-table. “I’ll ask him. Happy? And when it turns out he’s got no legitimate excuse, I’ll be back here with a big fat I-told-you- so.”

“And if he has a good excuse?”

Maizie’s jaw tightened. She pressed her lips into a flat line, breathing through her nose. She didn’t want to think about it. She was already too close to the edge with Gray, too close to falling head over heels. If he gave her even the smallest reason to admire him, he’d own her heart completely. She’d have no control, no chance to protect herself if something happened to take it all away.

She shook her head and turned toward the door. “I’ll be back.”

“I’m so sorry, Maizie. He went out for a run with the others about an hour ago. There’s no way for me to contact him. Honest.” Annette stood in the marbled foyer of the Lupo mansion, wringing her hands.

Shoot. If Maizie hadn’t stopped off at her apartment to shower and spend two hours choosing the perfect outfit before driving the forty-five minutes to Gray’s mansion she might have caught them.

“Do you know which way they went?” In her wolf form she could probably track the pack and catch up with them. Unfortunately, Maizie hadn’t figured out how to switch back and forth yet. Wasn’t completely convinced she could.

“I’m not certain, but they usually work their way down to your grandmother’s cottage. Gray’s always kept an eye on her. It’s sort of become part of their normal route.”

I bet. “Thanks, Annette. I’ll drive around and wait there. Maybe I’ll catch them before they head back.” Maizie turned to leave, but Annette’s words stopped her.

“He loves you. You know that, right?”

Maizie glanced over her shoulder. “I don’t know anything.”

“Wolves mate for life, Maizie. Even though you’re his true life mate it took a lot for him to let go of his bond with Donna. It went against everything he is, but he did it for you. For both of you. To give you the soul-deep connection you both need.”

Maizie shook her head. “Like I said, until I see Gray, until I talk to him…I don’t know anything.”

It was full dark by the time Maizie got to the cottage. There was a limo parked out front, empty. Gray. Who else? He’d likely ordered the car be left for a comfortable ride back home. The lights were off in the cottage, the door dead-bolted from the inside. She hadn’t used that lock in years. Wasn’t even sure she still had the key.

The hairs at the nape of her neck bristled, invisible fingers thrummed down her spine. Maizie ignored the sensation, her mind racing with what she’d say when she saw him. After trying two wrong keys she found the right one and opened the door.

“Hello?” Her muscles coiled, she peered into the pitch-black living room, ready for anything. She could hardly breathe.

But she could see. Being a werewolf had perks. Maizie forced herself to relax, trust her body. Her night vision was incredible once she chose to believe it. And what she could hear and smell filled in where her vision left holes. Her heightened awareness was still too new though, constantly feeding her information. Everyone who’d been in the house the last few months left scents behind. She struggled to sort through smells and sounds, tell old from new, familiar from foreign.

The downstairs was lifeless, filled with deep shadows and the yawning silence of night. She closed the door behind her, a soft click when the latch snapped into place. The floorboards above creaked, made her shift her gaze upward.

Gray would likely want to stay in Granny’s good graces just in case seducing Maizie didn’t work out the way he planned. And what better way to charm Granny then to offer up another old trinket she’d forgotten about.

Maizie could feel in her bones he was near. He was probably up there sifting through Granny’s boxed-up belongings looking for more memories to ply her with. At least this one wouldn’t be taken from a death scene.

Moment by moment Maizie worked to harden her heart, prepare for the painful truth. What excuse could he have for that letter? Her chest pinched. Anxiety tightened the muscles across her shoulders. What would it mean for her now that she was a werewolf? Would she have to stay with Gray and the pack regardless? Would she have to leave? Neither option offered her comfort.

She took the steps, rounding the first landing as the swooshing sound of leather shoes scraping over a hardwood floor reached her ears. Leather fringed the scent of sweet male cologne, mixing to create a fragrance that was expressly masculine, unmistakably extravagant.

Maizie wasn’t purposely quiet, but the slightest breath seemed to echo like a gale wind in the silence. She reached the top of the landing on the balls of her feet, sidestepping the old floorboards she knew would squeak.

She glanced to the right at the dark wood door of Granny’s room, then to the left at the matching door of her own room. The bathroom door was directly in front of her and not even a sliver of light showed underneath. Why hadn’t Gray turned on any lights?