Healing Her Wolf: Paranormal Werewolf Romance

by Chant, Zoe

Konrad glanced at the other ranger, wondering if she knew what Tyler really was. “Yeah, so did I. Can I have word with you? Outside?”

  Tyler nodded. “Sure, I need to go out anyway. You can tag along.”

  Konrad followed the older man out, wondering where to start, but it was Tyler who broke the silence.

  “What happened with Maddy? C’mon, you wouldn’t be here if something hadn’t gone wrong.”

  He stuffed his hands in his pockets, staring at the ground as he walked alongside Tyler. They were following a trail into the woods, which suited Konrad just fine. “She pretty much kicked me out.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I explained to her what being mates meant, then she wanted to know more about me, so I told her where I came from, how I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her in Woodland Creek, and then she told me to leave,” he told him.

  “Hm, I’m guessing you skipped a few steps there,” Tyler replied, “because that sounds ridiculous.”

  “That’s why I don’t get it!” he exclaimed, hands out of his pockets now. “It is ridiculous to send away your mate.”

  Tyler laughed. “That’s not what I meant, Konrad. If I’m gonna help you — and I’m guessing you came to me because you want help — I’m gonna need a few more details. What did she say when you told her about being mates?”

  He tried to remember her exact words. “She wanted to know why I was so sure about the two of us. She seemed pretty skeptical about the whole thing.”

  “Makes sense,” Tyler said, as they strolled along the trail. “So, did you convince her or did she kick you out before you could?”

  “No, no. She argued I couldn’t be sure, since we didn’t know each other,” he explained. “So I figured I’d tell her anything she wanted to know about me.”

  Tyler nodded. “That’s a good start. And then what?”

  Konrad explained the situation in Woodland Creek, and about his uncle’s second term almost being over. “So in about two months they’re gonna elect a new Alpha to represent the wolf shifters, and I have to be there, with my mate, if I want to make things better for us,” he argued. He couldn’t let Michael or Christopher take the position of Alpha. If anything, they’d be even worse than Uncle Stephen.

  “Good on you,” Tyler told him, smiling a little. “So that’s what you told Maddy? That you need a mate in order to become Alpha, since your uncle has been doing a terrible job?”

  “Pretty much, yes.” He kicked at a rock. “So how do I convince Maddy to come with me? I need her, and not just to join the council.”

  “Well, you can start with that. Because from what you’re telling me, it almost sounds like you’re more interested in the council than in her.”

  “But I’m not!” he exclaimed. Until Maddy had asked him about his hometown, he hadn’t even thought about being an Alpha that much ever since he had met her.

  Tyler eyed him. “And does Maddy know that?”

  Konrad remained quiet, a sinking feeling in his stomach. “I was trying to convince her how important it was that we were mated…”

  “Important to you, yes,” Tyler countered. “But why should she agree? What’s in it for her?”

  He stopped walking, feeling like he’d just been slapped in the face. “I hadn’t actually thought about that.” He hadn’t thought about it from her point of view at all, apart from realizing that the concept of shifters and mates would be completely new to her. In the heat of the moment, he had been too focused on having found her and what that meant for him. He hadn’t considered her wants and needs. “I’m an idiot.”

  “I wasn’t gonna mention it, but yeah,” Tyler told him bluntly. “Take it from me, assuming your girlfriend wants the same things you do in life without talking about it is the fastest way to get dumped.”

  Konrad didn’t ask how Tyler had learned that; he didn’t need to. “Do you think if I talk to her again, she’ll give me another chance?” He knew where he’d messed up now.

  Tyler considered this. “Maddy’s a sensible girl, but she won’t like it if you push too hard. If you want, I can let her know you’ll be in the area if she wants to talk, and that that decision is entirely up to her?”

  Konrad thought it over. His wolf snarled at having to wait even longer. He knew where Maddy lived, why not go over there immediately? But he had already ignored what she wanted once, and he had to show her that he had realized his mistake. “That would be great, thanks.”

  They walked back to the station, Tyler asking him more about the daily life in Woodland Creek, since he had always lived in predominantly human towns and was curious about the difference. “It must be great, not having to hide all the time,” Tyler said, as they neared the station again.

  “Maybe you should visit some time,” Konrad offered.

  “I just might do that.” Tyler opened the door to the station. “Hey Sarah, anything interesting happen while I was out?”

  Sarah picked a post-it note off the keyboard. “You got a call from Maddy Petersen, said she needed to talk to you about a feral dog?” She shrugged. “I think she needs your help or our equipment for catching him. It’s not an emergency. I asked.”

  Konrad tried not to feel too relieved by this news.

  “I’ll call her back right now,” Tyler said, then glanced at Konrad.

  “I’ll just — I’ll be outside,” he replied, his stomach tying itself in knots. He hated having to let Tyler do the talking, but for now it was the best option.

  *

  Maddy was checking her dad’s inventory, a little job she knew he hated doing. She didn’t like it much either, but it was something that didn’t require a lot of thinking, and therefore the perfect job for right now.

  She started at her cell phone ringing in her pocket, made a final note on the notepad and picked up. “Hello, Maddy Petersen.”

  “Hey, it’s Tyler. Sarah told me you called? Something about a feral dog you were having trouble with it?”

  She could hear the smile in his voice, and that brought all her nerves right back. How the hell was she supposed to explain this Tyler? “You can say that again.”

  “I’m surprised you have the time to call me, I thought you’d be busy.”

  “Yeah, not so much,” she muttered, flushing slightly. “I sort of told him to leave.”

  “Why?”

  Maddy sighed, walking out of the storage room and back to the front office. “What do you know about mates? For shifters?” She sat down in the chair behind her father’s desk, turning this way and that.

  “I know every shifter has one, although they’re pretty hard to find,” Tyler told her. “Shifters can fall in love with someone who isn’t their mate. Most of ‘em do, and have perfectly happy marriages. But once you find your mate, that’s it. And that feeling is pretty much mutual.”

  “Right.” Great, she felt even guiltier now for sending Konrad away. It really was as important as he said it was; Tyler wouldn’t lie to her.

  “So why did you tell him to leave?”

  She leaned back in the chair. “Well, for one, he asked me when I wanted to be mated, when I had only just found out that even existed, and then he asked me when I wanted to go back to his hometown with him!”

  Tyler laughed. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

  “Really? We don’t even know each other,” Maddy argued. “How can he be so certain?”

  He sighed. “We just know. It’s hard to explain when you’re not a shifter yourself, or have grown up around shifters.”

  “So it’s instinct?” she asked.

  “That’s definitely part of it, yeah. Look, us shifters have a better sense of smell, so for us it’s easier to pick up that someone’s our mate. Compared to us, humans walk around with a permanent cold,” Tyler explained.

  She was also willing to accept that, but it still didn’t make her feel better. “But how do I know Konrad’s actually my mate?”

  Tyler let out a deep sigh. “Good question. From
what I hear of shifters finding human mates, the human just sort of… knows as well. I guess it would be more like love at first sight,” he mused. “And whirlwind romances where people get married only a few months after meeting.”

  “And then get divorced a year later,” she muttered. But calling it ‘love at first sight’ made sense to her. Even when he had been a wolf, she had known there was more to him and that he wouldn’t hurt her. And in the middle of panicking earlier that day — oh God, had it only been hours since she had first met him? — part of her had felt like she could trust this stranger. She had wanted to know more about him from that start, and not just out of scientific curiosity.

  And obviously he had been very hot, and very naked.

  She didn’t do one-night-stands or casual flings, and yet she had liked and trusted Konrad enough to jump into bed with him. And the sex had been amazing. It had simply felt right, like they had known each for much longer. She had never felt that way with her previous boyfriends, and definitely not on their first date.

  “And sometimes those couples stay together,” Tyler said. “Maddy, I get that you’re confused, but what’s stopping you from giving Konrad a chance, at least?”

  “I mentioned he wanted me to move to his town, right?” Maddy said. She explained about Konrad’s desire to be Alpha and join the town’s council. “So he could just bring back any woman and it wouldn’t matter.” Just talking about it made her angry all over again. Why would she want to spend the rest of her life with someone who was only interested in what they wanted?

  “So you kicked him out because he was moving too fast,” Tyler replied.

  “He wouldn’t listen to me. He just kept repeating that I had to because we were mates, because he wanted to be on the council.” Maddy sighed. “I don’t want to be with someone like that.”

  “I figured that’s what it was,” Tyler muttered.

  “What?” she asked, suspicious. That sounded like Tyler knew more than he was letting on.

  “I, er, should probably mention that I’d already talked to Konrad, right?”

  “Tyler!” she yelled. “Why the hell did you ask me to explain when you already knew what had happened?” She thought she knew him better than that. Then again, she hadn’t known he was a shifter either.

  “Because from what Konrad told me, I already thought you were angry because he wasn’t listening to you. I needed to know if I was right, or if it was something else,” Tyler replied calmly.

  She huffed. “So, now what?”

  “Well, Konrad’s outside the station. I can call him in if you want to talk to him.”

  Her stomach felt like it did a cartwheel inside of her. “No,” she immediately said. “No, I need time to think first. What did he say to you?”

  “When he realized he had basically ignored your side of things? Called himself an idiot.”

  She had to smile. “He is.”

  “That’s what I said.”

  She turned around on the chair to look out the window. “And then what?”

  “I told him I’d ask you if you were willing to talk to him if he stays around for a few days. I was gonna call you tonight, but I guess Konrad’s not the only one feeling like an idiot.”

  “I’m not an idiot,” she muttered, flushing. “I was being sensible.” Maybe a little too sensible. And rash.

  “I think Konrad can use someone who’s sensible, don’t you?” Tyler told her. “I’m not saying you should run off with him tomorrow, but give him a chance to apologize, at least. Finding your mate is weird for a shifter, too.”

  “I guess.”

  “So,” Tyler said, his tone more cheerful, “what do I tell him?”

  She tilted her head back, looking at the ceiling. “Tell him he can come over for dinner at seven. Depending on how our talk goes, it might become a date.” She definitely wanted it to be a date, but she also wanted to make Konrad sweat a little.

  “Seven it is,” Tyler told her. “And try not to over-think it too much, will you? Go with what your gut tells you. Also, just so you know, this is gonna be the last time you can use me as Cupid, okay? Sort out your own problems or leave me out of it.”

  She laughed. It was ridiculous, having Tyler as a go-between like this. “I will,” she promised. “And tell Konrad to be on time.”

  They exchanged goodbyes, and Maddy hung up. Her stomach went back to doing cartwheels.

  She had a date tonight.

  *

  “Pizza?” Konrad asked, surprised. When Tyler had told him about Maddy’s peace offering, he’d been over the moon. Dinner had been more than he had hoped for after their fight that morning, but shoving two pizzas in the oven didn’t give him a lot of confidence that Maddy was interested in making this a date.

  She clearly sensed his disappointment, and gave him a smile. “Things got a little busy this afternoon, so I haven’t had the time,” she admitted. “Mrs. Campbell came to pick up her Chihuahua and stayed for a little chat. On the bright side, I am now fully caught up on the town gossip.”

  To be fair, it wasn’t like he had been able to make much of an effort for this potential-date either, since he was wearing a pair of jeans and a shirt, but he had brought her some flowers, and he figured that had to count for something. “And by ‘little’ you mean?”

  “Nearly an hour,” Maddy said, arranging the flowers in a vase. She was wearing different clothes from last night, the t-shirt more fitted than the loose hoodie.

  Konrad tried not to think of the body underneath those clothes. He was here to discuss things with Maddy, and he told himself firmly not to have any further expectations. “Wow. That’s — that’s kinda impressive.”

  She shrugged. “She’s had a lot of practice.” Then she smiled at him. “So, ham and pineapple is okay for you?”

  He nodded. “Yeah.” He wandered over to the kitchen table to sit down, feeling incredibly awkward. Things had gone so well between them, talking to her had been so easy this morning, and now he wasn’t sure what to say. “So.”

  “They should be done in about ten minutes,” she replied. “Do you want something to drink? Beer? Coffee?”

  He wasn’t going to touch alcohol tonight. “A water for now, thanks.”

  She moved around the kitchen, nearly brushing against his shoulder as she did. Her scent made his mouth water more than the smell of the pizza, and he curled his fingers into a fist, his nails digging into the palm of his hand.

  There was a flowery undertone to her scent now, one that hadn’t been there this morning. And was that a hint of coconut? “You showered.”

  She turned to look at him, her eyes wide as she held a glass under the tap. “What? How the hell do you know that?”

  Oh shit. “I can smell it; you used coconut shampoo,” he quickly said, scooting his chair back. “I swear I did not lurk in the bushes or anything.”

  “Well, you’re right,” she muttered, raising a hand to her hair self-consciously. “I guess I didn’t notice the smell myself.” She put the glass of water in front of him, and eyed him suspiciously as she sat down opposite him.

  “It’s nice,” he said, in case that made it better. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and bury his nose in her hair.

  Her cheeks reddened slightly, and she looked away for a moment. “Yes, well, anyway, Tyler said you wanted to talk?”

  “I did, yeah.” Where did he start? “Things didn’t go so well this morning.”

  “They didn’t, no,” she agreed, folding her hands together on the table, rubbing her thumbs against one another.

  “I shouldn’t have been so pushy.” There, he’d said it.

  She smiled a little. “True. And I may have been a bit quick to kick you out.”

  He squashed down on the relief sweeping through him. They weren’t done yet. “I should’ve listened to you. You — you made some good points. We don’t know each other at all.”

  “Yes, but telling you to leave didn’t exactly help with that.” She sighed. �
��If I could do it again, I would’ve asked you to leave for a few hours and then meet for lunch, or something.”

  “Hey, I get it now, you just had your world turned upside down.” It was amazing what a few hours of thinking could do to you. “Of course you needed space.”

  “I did. I do,” she added. “This is still — this is still weird for me, Konrad.”

  He had tried to imagine what it must be like for her, to suddenly discover a whole new kind of human. “It’s a little weird for me too.” He had had crushes before, even fallen in love, but meeting his mate was so completely different from that.

  Maddy laughed. “At least you know what you’re doing.”

  “I really, really don’t,” he replied, laughing as well. “Didn’t I prove that this morning?” Suddenly, he had to be considerate of someone else’s needs as well as his own in a whole new way.

  She leaned forward, folding her hands under her chin. “Shall we agree that neither of us know what we’re doing?”

  He nodded, raising his glass of water. “Agreed.” He took a sip. “So, now what? Because Maddy, I have to be honest, I don’t want to leave you. I don’t think I can stand it.” The pain was still fresh in his mind, and he never wanted to feel that empty again.

  “I don’t want you to leave either. I pretty much regretted sending you away the moment you went,” she admitted, lowering her hands to the table again. “But I also don’t want to go with you. I just can’t.”

  That stung, even if he understood. “I’m gonna have to go back home eventually.”

  “Do you really?”

  He frowned. “I have to if I want to be an Alpha. I’ll have to see how the council feels about an Alpha whose mate doesn’t live in the town, though.”

  She shifted in her chair. “What if I never want to live in Woodland Creek?” she asked. “What if, assuming you could be an unmated Alpha, you had to choose between me or the town?”

  He stared at her. She couldn’t be serious. There was no way the council would allow that to happen. Maybe if he made his case that even as an unmated Alpha he was still a better candidate than either of his cousins who did have mates — and that was assuming they had found them — the council would agree to an exception to the rule. But it didn’t matter, because when it came to choosing between Maddy or being Alpha, the choice was obvious. “I’d go with you,” he said. He couldn’t be without his mate. “I’d make a terrible Alpha if I was constantly pining for you.”