by Maia Starr
Standing, Ginny walked over to him. “Thank you so much so spending the time to look over the house...and to give us that tour of yours. I think you were a hit with the kids too.”
“And was I a hit with you too?”
“What? Um, well...you know, you come on pretty strong.”
Chuckling, Zander flashed her his best smile. “And you’re a little blunt. I like that.”
Blushing, Ginny tucked a lock of her platinum hair behind her ear. “Look, I have a favor to ask. Can you and Callie not spread around the fact that we’re living here now?”
Blinking, Zander nodded. “Sure thing. But, why?”
“Well...”
Holding up a hand, Zander stopped her, realizing his mistake. “Ah, you don’t have to tell me. I won’t say a word to those that don’t need to know, alright? Your secret’s safe with me.”
Once again, a strange expression crossed Ginny’s pretty face. It only lasted for a few moments, but it was enough to show something complicated and tragic. Zander’s skin tingled under her look, but ultimately, he sighed and opened the front door. “I’ll come back tomorrow to start on the repairs. For now, just relax and enjoy the sunset, huh?”
“Sounds great. Thanks, Zander.”
Once again, Zander winked, and walked out, leaving behind the cottage, its insides alight for the first time in what Zander assumed was decades. Now if only his inner wolf would remain calm.↡¶
Chapter Seven
Ginny
Ginny couldn’t believe it’d been days already since she and the kids had come to Silverwood Island. Two whole days without Danny somehow tracking her down!
More than once, Ginny pinched herself, hoping beyond hope she wouldn’t wake back up back home next to Danny, his eyes boring into her like a wild hound from hell. And more than once, Ginny’s pinches stung the frail skin on her elbow, the spots marking bright red from where her fingers dug in, telling her that everything she’d went through was real. From fleeing Danny half a week prior, to landing on Silverwood Island, to meeting Zander just outside of the cottage she’d purchased for near nothing, to the present day.
Speaking of which, two days, and there’d been no sign of Zander yet. That first day she’d met him, Zander had said he’d come back the next morning with his crew to begin the repairs and renovations. And yet it had been a full day since then. Where did he go? Was Zander the type of guy to make a promise only to never pull through with it? Did he...did he forget about her and the cottage already?
“Mommy, when will lunch be ready?” Grace called from the living room. Hearing her daughter’s voice snapped Ginny back to the present, and soon after her cheeks heated and she continued her task of peeling the head of slick lettuce laid before her.
“Just another minute, okay? We’re making sandwiches!” Ginny managed to say, her fingers shaking slightly.
Blinking, Grace shrugged and dipped back down to sit on the couch with her brother. The tv blared with the hubbub of cheesy cartoons, capturing each of the twin’s attention now that Grace had turned back. Even Ginny found herself staring absentmindedly, watching a yellow sponge dance across an ocean floor as she chewed on her thoughts about Zander. Soon enough, that yellow sponge grew defined muscles, steely blue eyes, an infectious grin, and dark brown hair that seemed to stand up on his head like some wild animal’s...
Shaking her head, Ginny ripped her gaze from the tv. Now she was picturing Zander in cartoons? What was wrong with her? Ginny had only met the man a few days ago. Because of Danny, she thought love might have been too far a stretch for someone like Ginny. She was too honest about it all, too easy going for all the drama that love brought with it, and too unaware of how easily the flame of passion could burn when things went sour. But the moment she saw Zander, it was like a switch was flipped in her mind. Not only was he downright gorgeous, and charming to boot, but he actually saved Oliver from falling to an early grave, as if he were some superhero, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice.
That moment had awoken something in Ginny, a desire other than the one to run and hide from her ex-husband. Honestly, she wasn’t sure what to make of her new attraction, but she knew it was simply that: an attraction, nothing more. It couldn’t be more; not yet anyway.
By now, Ginny had finished peeling the head of lettuce, filling an entire bowl with the green leaves. The excess lettuce Ginny was forced to wrap up and slid into the fridge. Maybe she’d been a little too focused on Zander to realize she had made too much. Oh well.
“Alright, guys, food’s ready! Come make your sandwiches,” Ginny said as she balanced plates and bowls of food on her hands and in her arms as she rushed over to the small kitchen table.
Both of the kids shouted their response as they jumped up to jog over to the table, sniggering at whatever had happened last on the cartoon. Climbing into their seats, each rickety and groaning under their weight, they stared at the myriad of sliced meats and bread and condiments Ginny began to place on the table, their eyes flickering to Ginny, awaiting her word to start munching away.
“Dig in!” Ginny said when she finally wiped the sweat from her brow and collapsed in the only other chair, which wobbled from one of the legs being too small.
Both of the twins beamed as they began to grab for the food, slapping pieces of bread on their plates and adding thick, juicy ham and thin slices of sweet honey-flavored turkey to their growing sandwiches, trying their best to leave off as many greens as possible. Sighing, Ginny leaned forward to place lettuce and tomato slices on their sandwiches, earning the ire and scowl of each. So far, most of what they’d eaten the past half week were sandwiches or the like, and yet neither had complained. They had surprised Ginny with how enthusiastic they had become with eating now. Usually, when they ate with Danny around, the twins were often quieter, quick to eat whatever their bastard of a father had ordered them too. But now, they were smiling and giggling, and Ginny couldn’t take her eyes off of them.
Suddenly, Oliver shivered, his teeth chattering, and Grace scrunched up her nose and began to shift uncomfortably in her seat. At first Ginny thought it might have something to do with the food, maybe a sour leaf of lettuce or rotten slice of meat, but then a draft enveloped Ginny a moment later, causing her to rub her arms for warmth. Glancing past the children and at one of the windows in the living room still broken, she witnessed some of the curtains swaying.
A sea breeze, she thought, it’s what I get for choosing a broken cottage overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The windows were still open because Zander hadn’t yet returned to install new ones. Of course, thinking of Zander again returned her thoughts from the children to wondering where Zander could have gone. As attractive as Zander was, he still was the man in charge of fixing up her home, making it truly livable for them all. So far there hadn’t been many problems, but one day there very well could.
Because Oliver still shivered and Grace remained scrunched up, Ginny stood up, her chair skittering across the wooden floor, and made her way towards one of the open windows. She meant to close the curtains indefinitely, hoping to at least stifle the wind, but then her ears prickled at the sound of vicious howling tearing through the air.
Wolves. A lot of them.
Ginny winced at the thought of how many wolves were on Silverwood, the number far surpassing whatever she had originally thought. At first, she’d thought nothing of the comments made to her by May Silver, the old woman she’d spoken to over the phone half a week prior, but now that she and her children were living in a home with open windows twenty-four seven, Ginny couldn’t help that nagging in the back of her mind. Was it possible for a wolf or other dangerous animal to sneak inside through the windows? Would they be bold enough to?
Then Zander’s claims came back to her, his insinuation that he was more than a simple, handsome human being.
We’re all werewolves. Me, Callie, her husband...pretty much everyone on this island can shapeshift into a wolf, or bear, or something, save a handful
of regular humans like you. If you press your hand against my chest, you can feel the wolf beneath my skin, growling and howling to get out.
Without realizing, Ginny had stretched out her hand, imagining her fingers tracing the hard lines of Zander’s torso. As per usual, because of Ginny’s lack of experience with men, she assumed she wasn’t even close to picturing what Zander really looked like without his shirt on, and yet her veins pulsed quicker and quicker the more Zander remained on her mind.
Was there really a wolf hiding inside of him? No, that was crazy! He was teasing her, playing on a potential fear of growling, hungry wolves. Werewolves weren’t real. Shapeshifters weren’t real. But Zander very much was, and the longer he remained aloof in the world beyond her cottage, the more Ginny longed to meet with him. She knew she needed to hold back, considering the whole reason she was even on Silverwood Island was because of an abusive husband. She barely knew Zander...and she wasn’t ready to make the same mistake she made with Danny. And Zander’s claims about shapeshifting were just as crazy. She supposed she’d just have to let time tell whether or not Zander could be the real deal.
Suddenly, a knock came at the door, hard and rasping. Too hard for any wolf shifter to come knocking.
“Mommy,” Grace said. “Someone’s at the door.”
“I heard,” Ginny said, her heartbeat racing as she peered around the corner, spying none other than Zander and a small cadre of bulky men standing behind him. Her eyes widened at the sight of him, and she leaped back from the window as his gaze drifted over to her, his charming smile forming just as she dipped her head back inside.
“He’s back...” she whispered to herself, fidgeting as she made her way over to the front door. The children still chewed on their food and stuffed their faces while Ginny hesitated with the doorknob.
“Are you—” Oliver began.
“Of course I am!” Ginny said suddenly, steeling herself to open the door and throwing her hand at the doorknob. But as soon as she went to open the door, she leaned forward, putting her weight into it and seconds later the hinges creaked and buckled underneath, causing the door to wrench off and fall forward. Ginny managed to catch herself by grabbing the door frame, but her face drained as soon as her front door slammed onto the sandy grass that doubled as her front yard, and the four men who had sidestepped out of the way all glanced in her direction.
Zander was the first to speak, his pearly whites flashing in the afternoon sun. “Well, we came at the right time, didn’t we?”↡¶
Chapter Eight
Zander
Zander had been eating himself up in anticipation of getting started on Ginny’s cottage. If anything, he was more interested in Ginny herself than the cottage, but of course, that wouldn’t stop him from actually doing the work he was tasked to do.
At first, he thought that Ginny might have become annoyed with him since he was technically a day behind schedule, but he figured with some manly charm and a few jokes to make the children laugh, he could get on her good side again.
But now, after Ginny accidentally pushed her front door off of its hinges, he couldn’t stop himself from teasing her.
“Well, we came at the right time, didn’t we?” he said, glancing at Ginny, her gaping mouth and wide eyes a clear sign that she wasn’t used to parts of her house just falling off. As her eyes met his, he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold back. “I didn’t realize how eager you were to see me again. You don’t need to break your house to get me to stay longer.”
His teasing worked, causing Ginny to flush and snap to a straighter posture, and for her arms to come up and cross over her chest, where Zander shamelessly stared for a moment longer than he meant to. Ginny moved out of the way as Zander stepped inside, his nose wrinkling at the scent of freshly washed vegetables and freshly baked bread. The pressure of Ginny’s eyes was on his back as he put down a rattling toolbox and pointed at the door. “Come on, let’s get this fixed up first, boys.”
The men grunted but got to work instantly, forcing Ginny to step farther back inside as the three men descended on the door, heaving it up back into place and tossing a variety of tools and screws to each other.
Zander flicked his eyes over to the two twins, who watched him without blinking, both stuffing sandwiches into their faces. When he winked at them both, Oliver grinned like a little rascal, while Grace smiled shyly. “I guess we popped in in the middle of lunch, huh?” Zander said, throwing his gaze over his shoulder at Ginny. “Didn’t mean to just walk in on you.”
“No, it’s fine!” Ginny said quickly, curling a lock of her golden hair around her finger, making Zander’s inner wolf go wild, trying to claw itself out. “We just sat down, and I haven’t even eaten yet. So, it’s fine.” She flicked her eyes at the men putting her door back into its place. “Besides, the sooner this cottage gets fixed up, the better. I’d rather not accidentally push something else off the house.”
Chuckling, Zander moved into the living room, peering at the windows that remained completely open to the sea winds and raucous noise of the forest. This was where Ginny poked her head out to see Zander waiting at her door only to vanish back inside when he met her gaze; it was another gesture he wanted to tease her about but decided to hold off on it for a moment. He could imagine how the cold breezes affected the house during the night. “Well, I guess I’ll start with the windows. We can’t just leave you to the mercy of the ocean, can we?” Noticing his men finishing with the door, he nodded at the closest one. “Gus, grab those windows from the truck. The rest of you go around the outside of the house and patch up the exterior boarding. Make sure there aren’t any rodents burrowing underneath.” All three nodding, they opened the door and left, shutting it closed behind them.
“Rodents?” Ginny asked, slight panic underlying her voice.
Zander smiled back her. “It’s just a precaution. No one’s lived in this place for years, so we want to make sure there won’t be any surprises in store for you.”
Ginny’s frown remained stitched into her forehead, though the furrowed brows didn’t lessen her beauty in the slightest.
Gus returned in no time with the two windows Zander had asked for, placing them into his boss’s hands and sauntering back outside, the sandy grass crunching underneath his boots. Turning to Ginny, with a window half his size in each hand, he smiled and nodded towards the two open window frames. “Well? Want to see how professionals install windows?”
Before Ginny could even respond, her two children dropped their sandwiches and leaped off their seats, rushing over to him. “I do!” they both shouted.
As the two children abruptly slid to a stop before him, craning their necks up to look at him, he decided now would be a great time to make the kids laugh, so he shifted his face to a sillier one. “Wow! I’ve never had people be so excited to see me work! What, are windows your favorite things or something?”
Both Oliver and Grace giggled, their wide, innocent smiles brightening the room instantly. Once again, Zander glanced to Ginny, raising an eyebrow, and she nodded, returning the smile he wore.
So Zander whirled on his heel and stomped off dramatically to the open window frames, laying the windows and his tools down gently yet quickly. First, Zander cleared the window frames of any remaining glass or objects that could potentially misalign the window when he installed it. While he worked, the twins looked over his shoulder, their heads jiggling as they shoved each other around to get a better view.
“Come, you two, no more shoving,” Ginny’s light, graceful voice said behind him. “You can both see from where you are.”
“My goodness, I don’t remember having as much energy as you two do when I was younger. Where do you all get it from?” Zander said, getting the two children to stop shoving and instead glance silently at him. “I bet you’re both going to grow up into handsome and beautiful people, just like your mother.” He peered back to gauge Ginny’s reaction, only to see her gazing warmly at him, her skin remaining a steady pi
nk hue. “Seriously. I mean if they got any of your genes, which they clearly did, then they’ll better looking than you, Ginny. And you’re already a knockout.”
“Oh, thank you...” Ginny said, her arms tightening around herself. “But I’m not their biological mother. The fact they have similar hair is just a coincidence.”
Astonished, Zander took a moment to ponder her words before moving over to lift one of the windows into place in the frame. “So they’re adopted?”
“You guessed it. The man I married had these two, and so a few days after our marriage I signed an adoption paper to make them my official children.” Ginny said, a soft smile on her face. “It was the best decision of my life.” Her face dropped soon after that, and she moved away into the kitchen, probably in an attempt to hide herself.
“You’re married?” Zander said, feeling his heart also drop. Of course she would be, moron, he wanted to say to himself. A gorgeous woman like Ginny Whitlock didn’t just stay single. Especially not when she had children. He should have realized from the start. Zander let out a huge sigh as his wolfen nature began to tear itself apart on the inside, calling for him to simply take her anyway. But Zander wasn’t that kind of guy, thankfully.
“I should have said ex-husband,” Ginny went on, suddenly shattering Zander’s thought process. Suddenly his wolf was even more aggressive, causing Zander to grunt and stiffen momentarily to keep himself in check. “We split up a while ago.”