The Great Wolf Escape (Scandalous Shifters Book 1)
Page 13
“I do not know if there are furnishings,” he told her. “I was bequeathed the home.”
“Yes,” Sera had sighed. “I guess this will be a surprise for both of us.”
She reasoned that there was no shortage of money to buy new things if need be, but that was a matter for another time.
Inside the quaint little home, Sera dropped her knapsack and stared around at the surroundings with a jolt of happiness. Just as the front had shown, the interior was equally cozy and sweet.
Someone had taken special care to make the house a home and Sera swallowed the lump of emotion rising in her throat.
“Do you like it, Serafina?” Ash asked softly, noting the pleasure on her face. “Will this suffice for you?”
She nodded, tears blinding her eyes, and she met his adoring gaze.
“Yes,” she assured him. “This is everything I could have hoped for…”
A smile warmed her face.
“Because I’m here with you.”
Their eyes locked and Ash pulled her closer into his arms.
“We will look into your schooling here,” he told her, the words only spawning more excitement inside her. She didn’t bother to tell him that she had already done precisely that.
In fact, she had already applied to Thomas Jefferson Law School and eagerly waited to hear back from them. She didn’t know if her experience as a paralegal would help or worsen her chances, especially given the last two places she had worked, but she had her fingers crossed.
The sound of a car pulling up along the front caused her to fall slightly out of Ash’s embrace and they tensed when they saw the sheriff’s cruiser out front.
“Don’t tell me that prick went and laid charges,” Sera muttered, Jacob’s pig-face immediately filling her mind.
“Do not worry,” Ash said quietly and they both moved toward the open door to greet the sheriff.
There was a smugness about the man that radiated from him well before he sauntered his way up the stone walkway to meet them on the porch.
“Well,” he drawled. “Someone finally bought this house.”
“Good morning, sheriff,” Sera said quickly, casting Ashur a warning look. “Is everything all right?”
The man nodded, a smirk toying at the corners of his mouth.
“Of course, little lady,” he purred and Sera tried not to grimace at his condescending words. Instead, she maintained a half-smile on her face, even as her arms folded under her breasts.
“I had heard that the new couple had moved into town and I make it my business to know what’s going on in these parts. I am the sheriff, after all.”
He stuck out a hand for Ash to take, almost dismissing Sera altogether.
“Damon Sommers,” he told Ashur. “At your service.”
The cocky drawl of his voice sent shivers of apprehension through Serafina but she couldn’t say why exactly. There was simply something about the man she didn’t like and when she cast Ash a sidelong look, she could tell he felt the same.
Quickly, Ashur took his hand and dropped it just as fast.
“I am Ash. This is my wife, Sera.”
She eyed him dubiously, her heart catching in her throat.
His wife, she thought with unbidden excitement. Why did he say that?
“Welcome to El Cajon,” Sheriff Sommers declared. “I hope you’ll both be very happy here.”
He leaned in conspiratorially.
“It’s a great place to raise a family. I have a daughter of my own, you know.”
Sera instantly felt pity for the girl whom she had never met.
“You folks let me know if there’s anything you need,” Sheriff Sommers continued, handing his card to Ash, again disregarding Sera, and she checked the urge to snap at him that she was standing right there.
“Thank you, sheriff,” Ashur said, accepting the paper. “I am certain we will be fine.”
The policeman nodded curtly and spun on his heel as if he’d done his duty for the day, waving over his shoulder without turning.
“Have a good one, folks,” he called, disappearing back into the car as easily as he’d come.
“He is a strange man,” Ash commented, closing the door as if to block him out. “There is a darkness about him.”
But Sera was fixated on something else and she met his eyes squarely.
“You told him that I was your wife,” she reminded him. “Why did you say that?”
An eyebrow raised and Ash peered at her in surprise.
“I see you as my wife,” he replied honestly. “You are my eternal mate, after all.”
A rush of elation shot through Sera.
“A-are you asking me to marry you?” she asked quietly and surprise shot through Ash’s face. She could tell she was catching him off guard with her boldness but she didn’t care.
For once in her life, she was sure of the man before her when she had never been certain of any male in her life. Ash was everything he had claimed to be, despite the mystery surrounding him.
“Yes,” he said, his voice gruff and full of emotion. “Serafina, will you be my wife?”
Sera nodded, unable to speak for a moment, but her response was to throw her arms around his neck and rain kisses over him.
“Yes,” she breathed. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter Two – A Step Down
Chapter Three – He’s on the Wrong Track
Chapter Four – More Than a Wager
Chapter Five – Overwhelmed
Chapter Six – Bad Partnerships
Chapter Seven – Making the Hard Choices
Chapter Eight – Out of Her Element
Chapter Nine – Who is Running the Game?
Chapter Ten – An Unpleasantly Familiar Face
Chapter Eleven – Confronting the Beast
Chapter Twelve – Getting Out of Dodge
Epilogue