Chapter 3

Roosevelt

Just. My. Luck. Of all the women for fate to bring me, fate chose a spoiled little rich girl. Bet she hadn ' t done a day ' s worth of honest work in her entire lifetime. Her make-up was too flawless, her nails too perfectly manicured. She was too perfect… What in the hell would she do here even if it did work out? While I wanted to get out of here one day, I ' d rather stay here alone, trapped in my beast form forever , than spend my life with an entitled princess.

She followed behind my two-door Jeep in her outrageous vehicle. Don ' t get me wrong, it was a good-looking ride, but very out of place in our town. Pulling up to my three-bedroom bungalow, on the outskirts of the town, I parked the Jeep and hopped out, waiting for her to pull up beside me.

" This is it, " I announced as I made my way to the front door.

" Can you help me with my stuff?" she asked, nibbling on her lower lip and giving me a flirty look that I knew she reserved for men she was trying to persuade to assist her. It worked.

With a sigh, I followed her to the back of her truck.

" I didn ' t bring much, " she stated as she opened the back to reveal five large suitcases.

" Are you fucking kidding me ?" I growled, grabbing the first case and giving it a tug. Grabbing the handle of the second, I pulled that one out as well and carried them to the front door.

" I didn ' t know where I was going, so I had to pack for any circumstance, " she protested, following behind me as I retrieved the next two.

" Right. You aren ' t a minimalist type, are you? "

She didn ' t answer, the guilty look on her face told me everything I needed to know. There ' s no way this woman was sent for me. No. Fucking. Way. Either that or fate had quite the sense of humor indeed.

Opening the door to my home, I ushered her inside, then followed behind with her ridiculous pile of luggage. " Let me show you to your room. It ' s not much, but it ' s decent. " Continuing past the kitchen, I let her into the spare bedroom across from mine, placing two of her suitcases just inside of the door.

Entering the room, I spread my hands out on either side. " This is it. Home sweet home. "

" Oh …" She entered and did a full 360. " It ' s cute."

Cute. I ' d take it, but I suspected it wasn ' t a compliment.

A tremor shot through my body. Glancing out the window, I cursed under my breath. The moon was almost entirely out. I needed to get out of here so she didn ' t experience the shift and go running from the house and out of my life forever.

With some effort, I overpowered the urge to shift. " I gotta take off for a while. Make yourself at home. I ' ll be back when I can."

I started for the door only to have her grab my arm. " Wait. Where are you going? When are you coming back? "

" I ' ll be back by morning. I can ' t explain now, but I will. Help yourself to whatever you want or need. " Pulling my arm from her grasp, I rushed from the room and out the back door slamming it closed behind me.

Sophia

That was weird. I mean, this whole situation was freaking weird.

Going over to the double bed, I sat down on the edge. It was nice and soft. The house definitely had a single bachelor vibe to it. Very minimalistic.

Grabbing my purse off the bed, I pulled my phone out and brought it up to eye level. No signal. Frowning, I shut it off and restarted it. Still nothing. Maybe we were too far out in the middle of nowhere? That in itself was a concerning thought.

Since leaving my father ' s house, my choices hadn ' t been the best. I ' d gone home with a complete stranger who claimed to be a werewolf, and then just ran off. There was no internet signal, and the town was filled with crazy people who thought they were supernatural creatures.

Had I lost my damned mind?

Quite possibly.

Well, crazy or not I was brought here for a reason. Can ' t say I bought the whole fated mate thing, but there had to be some reason why I was drawn here , and to him. It couldn ' t have just been a coincidence.

Pulling the rest of my luggage into my room, I began unpacking. Despite being minimalist, the furniture he did have was quite beautiful.The workmanship was superb, with each antique piece crafted from oak and varnished to a stunning sheen.

I was just finishing putting away the last article of clothing when I heard a loud, deep howl. Rushing into the living room, I took a peek out of the window facing the forest just as a second howl echoed through the air.

In the night sky the moon was now out, full and shining bright, accompanied by a sprinkle of stars. I ' d never seen the moon and stars shine so brightly before. Many of the constellations I could easily make out, although I couldn ' t have named them if I tried. It felt as if I could just reach out and touch them.

Opening the back door, I stepped out onto the back deck which contained a glass outdoor table and four chairs, and a large barbecue grill. Taking a deep breath in, the smell of pine filled my lungs. Had I ever smelled something so pure before? Strange. It was as if this area was completely untouched by the outside world and the pollution that goes with it.

I was about to turn to head back into the house when something off in the distance caught my eye, just inside the treeline. A movement. Slowly, I backed towards the open door. My handgun was in my bag, in my room. Perhaps I should keep it close at hand, I thought. Not like I could call for help.

Another movement flashed. Bringing my palms to my eyes, I gave them a rub. My heart momentarily stopped beating when I lowered my hand to see a large wolf in the distance. When I say large, I mean gigantic. It turned its head to look at me, its amber eyes capturing my gaze even at a distance of a football field away.

Those eyes. Identical to the ones in my dream. Identical to the ones of the man who claimed to be my fated mate.

Before I could so much as move a muscle, the beast disappeared into the forest.

Roosevelt

The run felt amazing. While this shift came at the worst of times, it did do one thing for me and that was clear the confusion that had been filling my mind since she ' d appeared at the diner. While she didn ' t seem like the type of person that would be meant for me, there had to be a reason that fate had chosen her. Perhaps I ' d been too quick to judge her.

Right?

Maybe she was the ying to my yang? I was a cranky fuck, I ' d be the first to admit it. Perhaps she was the ray of sunshine that could bring the best out of me? I scoffed at the idea. Not fucking likely. Even in the outside world , I was known for being a no-nonsense hard-ass. Why would here be any different?

There were only two things in my life that brought me unbridled joy – cooking and running free in wolf form. That was it.

The sun was perhaps an hour from breaking over the horizon. If I was going to get a little shut-eye before opening the diner for breakfast then I needed to get home. My clothing was long gone, shredded when the shift happened. I had no choice but to walk across the field and to my house naked. My little houseguest didn ' t seem to be the early riser type , so I felt confident I could get to my room and into bed without giving her a show.

I opened the back door and proceeded inside, being careful to close the door softly in case she was a light sleeper. Satisfied that my entering hadn't roused her, I made a quick beeline to the kitchen and grabbed the milk jug from the refrigerator. I began drinking, emptying close to half the bottle before putting the cap back on and placing it back in the refrigerator.

Closing the door, I froze on the spot. Sophia was standing there at the end of the hallway in a little purple teddy looking sexy as sin, staring at me in all my naked glory.

Well, damn. Talk about awkward.