Her True Wolf

by Kamryn Hart

  The Moon decreed they were more than friends, but friends seemed like a good starting point. If Karol could accept him as a friend, she would get to know him, and he would get to know her. No matter how long it took, he was going to win his Fated Mate’s heart.

  “If you have some extra money, it’ll free up some time for you as well,” Casey said. “You can start thinking about that future you couldn’t see before. Maybe you’ll go back to school someday. Maybe you’ll become a rocket scientist.”

  That got a laugh out of her. He saw her beaming at him from out of the corner of his eye as he continued to drive.

  “A rocket scientist?” she asked wryly.

  “Anything is possible!” Casey exclaimed. At another red light, he met her gaze. “I believe you can do anything you set your mind to.”

  Karol’s light brown eyes shined with emotion, and she shyly placed her hand on Casey’s right knee. “I don’t know why you and Isabelle seem so determined on sticking out your necks for me and my family. I don’t know why you’re helping us or why you’re so nice to us. But thank you.”

  She quickly dabbed at her eyes before her tears could fall and ruin her makeup. “I think I can handle it.”

  “Handle what?” Casey asked as he pulled into the Gilded Leaf Hotel’s parking lot and parked his car.

  “Being friends.”

  Casey grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. “Thank you.”

  Karol blushed as she reclaimed her hand and did one last makeup and hair check in the mirror. She grabbed her paper and opened the car door. Just before she got out of the car, she asked, “Mind waiting for me in here? It seems a little weird to go in there with someone.” She scrunched up her nose. “Like I’m dependent on someone else.”

  “Can’t have that,” Casey said with a smirk. “I’ll wait.”

  “Thanks.”

  She shut the car door and sped away to the hotel’s entrance. God, something about skirts and her ass… Casey couldn’t take his eyes off her ass. It reminded him of the first night he met her. At least he could stare at her ass without getting in trouble. It wasn’t like she had eyes on the back of her head.

  Beauty was something his Fated Mate hadn’t gone without. He was sure everyone could see that. He was relieved it never got her into more trouble at the bar than it did—until fucking Otto came along. Casey was still furious at himself for not making a move sooner. He was there every fucking night, watching her with that protective instinct all male wolf shifters seemed to have over their mates. The decent ones anyway.

  When Karol disappeared into the glamorous hotel, Casey moved his seat back to try and relax, but there was a lot going through his mind. First and foremost, he hoped Karol got this job. She needed it for the money and for her own well-being. He would be thrilled if she got hired here, too. He wouldn’t have to worry about her all the time. Yeah, there were rich dicks out there too, but the hotel wasn’t a bar where people got drunk off their ass and lost all their inhibitions.

  He also thought about Moonwatch and his former pack. He thought about Willow. He hoped she was happy. He never wanted to hurt her, but he never wanted to be her mate either. And yet, he went along with what his Alpha expected of him. He gave into Willow’s sex appeal, and that ended up getting her hurt worse in the end. He could see how Karol was so wary of giving in to her attraction to him. Casey had hurt Willow because he slept with her and led her to believe he felt something more. She felt something more, and he knew that all too well. It was his fault Willow got hurt. Karol had observed that same kind of situation and many others growing up. She was protecting her heart.

  He closed his eyes and wondered if Willow would hate him forever. He wondered if he’d ever see his pack again. When he left that night, he never expected to. He also didn’t calculate how much he’d miss them at times. His father was a shifter of few words, but he taught Casey everything he knew about building and they had a good relationship. He was probably hurt almost as bad as Willow over why Casey left. Casey knew his mother must have hurt too, but he wondered if she might have understood. He could just imagine the look on her face if he could tell her he found his Fated Mate, that they weren’t just part of the history she knew by heart.

  Wolves weren’t meant to be solitary. It did things to their mental state. Casey wasn’t alone per se, but he didn’t have the support of a pack anymore. He didn’t have any friends among the shifters in the Jones Apartments. Isabelle was a passing friend who was always busy with Trinity business, something Casey only heard about in passing since he wasn’t interested in becoming a part of it. The only one who had kept him going these last three years was Karol. He needed his Fated Mate more than ever with this life. She was all he wanted.

  When he opened his eyes again, Karol was walking out of the hotel with a huge smile on her face. The sight stole his breath away. She had never looked more beautiful or more confident. He wanted his girl to look this happy all the time. Casey got out of the car to greet her.

  “You got the job,” he said with a grin.

  “I got the job!” she exclaimed, raising her hands into the air. “I can’t believe it. It seems too good to be true.”

  “It’s about time good luck came your way.”

  “Maybe it is.” She bridged the gap between them and gave him a big hug. He could tell she was squeezing as hard as she could, but it barely fazed him. The difference between a wolf shifter’s strength and a human’s strength was pretty significant. He hugged her back with enthusiasm, but he reeled in his strength. It felt so good to have her pressed into him like this. He could only imagine how good it would feel if they were naked. He’d feel the softness of her breasts without her bra getting in the way. She would definitely feel his boner. Maybe she noticed it even now. If she did, she didn’t mind.

  “I’ll get to work during the day when the kids are at school. I’ll pretty much be on the same schedule they are. It’s perfect. Absolutely perfect,” she said.

  Abruptly, she stopped hugging him like she just realized what she was doing. She also had a little grimace on her face like she was in pain. He reluctantly let her go in response; her arousal made this self-control thing ridiculously hard. She cleared her throat, a habit of hers she seemed to have whenever she was trying to refocus. “Want to come over for dinner tomorrow?” she asked. “I feel like I need to thank you somehow. We’re going to have spaghetti, nothing fancy, but great for a lot of people.”

  “I’m taking you up on that offer,” he said. “It sucks eating dinner alone every night.”

  “I wouldn’t know, but I imagine it would suck,” she replied thoughtfully.

  “Should I bring anything?”

  She waved her hand. “Not unless you want to. Be careful though. If you bring ice cream or something, the kids will riot and move in with you.”

  Casey laughed. “I doubt that, but it seems like a good way to earn me some brownie points.”

  “I won’t be responsible for the aftermath.” She grinned.

  She had never been this free around him. Getting that job really put her in a good mood, but he wasn’t going to take that for granted. He wasn’t going to take any of this for granted. His Fated Mate was giving him a chance, and he was going to make the most of it.

  Chapter 7

  BUYING ICE CREAM WAS the first thing Casey did after he took Karol home yesterday. He opted for chocolate since pretty much everyone in the world seemed to like chocolate. Now he was standing in front of the Lee family’s house because of that dinner Karol invited him to—and he was nervous. Tonight would either put him ahead or set him back, and he desperately wanted it to put him ahead.

  He held the ice cream in a plastic bag as he leaned on his right foot, reminding himself to baby his healing left foot. He had pretty much forgotten about his other injuries. They weren’t hurting much at all now since they were shallow wounds compared to his foot.

  He focused his hearing on what was going on inside the house. It sounded like
the family was having a good time. There was laughing, shouting, and instructing.

  Okay, he was stalling now.

  Casey raised a hand and knocked on the door. He heard the muffled sound of footsteps, and then the door swung open. The girl who greeted him looked just older than the one who was clinging to him yesterday when he was here. Her hair was extremely short, and she screamed tomboy.

  “Hi,” Casey said.

  She scrutinized him, giving him a once over, and then she slammed the door in his face. Well, she hadn’t said anything to him last time he was here, but obviously, this was how she felt about him. She probably hated men as much as Karol did. The whole family probably did. He wondered what kind of effect that had on the boys.

  “Well, shit. This is off to a great start,” Casey said to himself. “At least my odds are even so far. One kid sister likes me, one hates me.”

  The door opened again. It was Karol this time. She was dressed similarly to yesterday. She didn’t have the same outfit on or anything, but she was wearing almost the same makeup. Casey had to wonder if she did that to impress him. That was the reason she wore this amount of makeup yesterday, to impress the hotel staff. The foundation she wore was hiding her freckles again. Maybe she didn’t like them or maybe she didn’t think they were considered beautiful, but Casey liked them. A lot. They were a part of her beauty. He’d tell her that one day. That he loved her freckles.

  “You look nice,” Casey complimented.

  “Thanks,” Karol said with a little shy smile that showed she was still warming up to him. “So do you. That cut above your eye and the gash on your arm look like they’re healing pretty fast.” She paused. “Were you talking to yourself?”

  “Nah, that’d be weird.”

  “Sorry about Alice. She’s a little… bold.”

  “Nothing wrong with that.”

  “Well, c’mon inside and I’ll introduce you to everyone. Dinner’s almost ready.” She eyed the bag in his hand. “You didn’t actually bring what we talked about, did you?”

  “Of course not.”

  “You did!” She grabbed the bag out of his hand. “This is going into hiding until after dinner.”

  Casey raised his hands in surrender. “You’re the boss.”

  Karol led him inside and into the kitchen where she shoved the ice cream, bag and all, into the freezer.

  “What’s that?” Cora, the youngest, asked as she set down plates on two different tables. One was in the living room and the other was in the kitchen. Casey guessed they set up the other every evening because the kitchen table was too small for the family and there wasn’t enough room in the kitchen to set up both tables in there.

  “Nothing!” Karol said. “Okay, it’s something, but not until after dinner. Got it?”

  “Got it,” Cora said as she set down the last plate. Then she bounced over to Casey. “You came back!” she exclaimed. “Does that mean you’re going to show me how to carve wood now?”

  “How about after dinner?” Casey asked, glancing at Karol for silent permission. She didn’t give him any indication that after dinner would be a problem.

  “So, you already met Cora it seems,” Karol said. “But let’s do quick introductions anyway. Cora’s nine. She likes making things and taking them apart. She’s basically the handyman in the house.”

  Cora held out her chest proudly and wore a big grin.

  “Alice is the one who shut the door in your face,” Karol said with a look that said you-better-not-ever-do-that-again. “She’s ten, and she likes sports.”

  “Taylor is the blonde in the family.” Casey looked over at the quiet girl. Her face immediately went red under his gaze. “She’s eleven and probably the sweetest person you’ll ever meet,” Karol informed.

  Casey got the impression she was rather shy and quiet as well. Though she didn’t share her sister’s look, she was a pretty little thing. The whole family was good looking.

  “This good looking kid is Greg,” Karol said as she wrapped an arm around the young boy at her side. “He’s thirteen and competing with Taylor for the sweetest person you’ll ever meet position. He loves superheroes.”

  This kid wouldn’t even look at Casey. He seemed more interested in his feet. He shared Karol’s fair skin, but he didn’t have any freckles, and his hair was a light brown.

  “Sarah’s the glam queen,” Karol said, pointing out the teenage girl who was rather interested in Casey last time he was here. The way she looked at him told him she still thought he was hot, but there was an anger in those green eyes now like he had personally wronged her somehow. It was a weird mix of scents in the air and he couldn’t quite pin down what she was feeling.

  “She’s fifteen and—”

  “Why did you invite some man we don’t know over to our house, Karol?” Sarah interrupted. “I thought it was a house rule not to bring boys home. I mean, you never let me bring home any of the boys I’m interested in. Would you let Dale bring a girlfriend home if he ever got one?”

  “I’m too busy for a girlfriend,” Dale, the oldest and the only sibling left who hadn’t had an opportunity to be introduced, muttered.

  “You’re not allowed to date,” Karol said, exasperated like she had had this conversation with Sarah too many times now. “You’re only fifteen!”

  “Lots of people my age are dating! I’m fifteen!” Sarah shot back. “It doesn’t matter how old I get. As long as I live here, you’ll always tell me I’m too young to date.”

  With that, the angry girl stormed out of the house and slammed the front door behind her. Karol’s body twitched like she was going to chase after her little sister, but she took a shuddering breath instead.

  “Let’s eat dinner,” she said. “Food’s almost done.” She went to the stove where she was working on some red sauce for the spaghetti.

  “I’ll be right back,” Casey said.

  He dashed out the door and looked all around to try and catch sight of the girl who had stormed off. Sure enough, she was walking down the street with her hands in her pockets and anger rolling off her hunched shoulders. Casey jogged to catch up with her.

  “What do you want?” she growled. “Shouldn’t my sister be the one chasing after me?”

  “Probably,” Casey agreed.

  “Did she ask you to do this?”

  “Nope. You know your sister wouldn’t do that. She doesn’t trust guys who aren’t her brothers much.”

  “Yeah, which is why I have no idea why you’re here.”

  Casey stopped walking, testing to see if Sarah would do the same. She did, and she turned to face him.

  “What did you do to my sister?” she asked, a look of utter astonishment on her face.

  “Nothing, really. She said we could try being friends. That’s it.” He cocked his head, trying to understand this girl he felt an odd connection to. He found himself thinking of Karol’s siblings the way he thought of his wolf pack. No, closer than that. Like family. It made sense. Karol was his Fated Mate after all. It was his wolf nature to think of her family as his own. It was wolf nature to want a pack.

  Casey asked, “Are you worried I’m going to steal your sister away?”

  “No!” Sarah shouted, meaning that was exactly what she was worried about. Tears were even building in her eyes. “You look like a fucking bodybuilder, and you have the face of a model. Of course, I’m worried you’re going to steal my sister away. I’m worried you’re going to hurt her because the first guy she’s interested in looks like you. You probably sleep around with girls all the time, and you probably break their hearts, one after the other.”

  It seemed Sarah had more reservations about boys than Karol realized. Maybe the whole fighting over dating thing was more of a show of defiance, or Sarah trying to break out of what she had been taught, trying to see for herself if all guys were as bad as her sister and mother seemed to think. That seemed like a teenager thing to do.

  “Sarah,” Casey said softly, “I’m not going to stea
l your sister away from you, and I’m certainly not going to break her heart. I know you don’t have a good reason to believe me, but I’m going to tell you something I told your sister. If you don’t open yourself up to the possibility of getting hurt, of being vulnerable, then you’ll never know if you had missed out on something amazing, something true. Something meant for you.”

  Her eyes widened like she had never considered that before. The tension and anger left her body, and she shook her head. “What are you? A guy straight out of a romance novel? A guardian angel?”

  Casey laughed. “Neither of those, but I’ll take them as compliments.” He turned around and started walking back to the Lee family’s house. He looked over his shoulder and said, “C’mon. You don’t want to eat dinner cold, do you?”

  Sarah shrugged, but she started walking back with him. When they arrived, everyone was sitting at a table, dishing up their food. Karol walked over and gave Sarah a big hug, and she gave Casey a look that he could only interpret as gratitude.

  “You always make the best red sauce,” Mary said, voicing her presence and breaking the silence. She was looking at Casey when she spoke. Casey couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but her look seemed conspiratorial somehow.

  Karol sat next to Casey at the table in the living room. He liked being next to her of course, but he wished they could be closer. He was constantly wishing that. It was painful to be patient, but he knew it would be worth it. He knew.

  Everyone started digging into their food. The spaghetti, and meatballs especially, smelled fantastic, but Karol’s cherry scent was the loveliest of all. Casey tried to concentrate on the smell of his food alone so he wouldn’t get a boner at the fucking dinner table, but his Fated Mate made that damn hard with her conspicuous arousal. This was the most painful part about being patient, knowing how much she wanted him but not being able to do a thing about it. He wondered if it affected her the same way.