Page 20 of Bound to the Wolf
“Yeah, but that was like three years ago,” Elise pointed out. “I’ve known Emerson my whole life, and he’s a decent guy, and relationships can be tricky. So maybe we shouldn’t judge him too harshly.” Elise was already playing with the little charm on the bracelet that Emerson had given her.
Delainey rolled her eyes. “Is there something tricky about your relationship that you want to share?”
Elise scowled. “Stop being a meddler,” she said, nudging Delainey’s arm with her elbow. Then she checked the time. “Do you want to go get some lunch later?”
Delainey agreed and used that as her excuse to escape the room and take a shower. She left Briana to deal with Emerson and hoped that they weren’t making a huge mistake.
Chapter
Eight
The green space outside the Stewart Central Zoo teemed with people. Families with young children were out having picnics. There was what looked like a class of elementary schoolers gathered around a fountain. People walked their dogs, and more than a few bikers pedaled past Reece and Nico on the sidewalk so quickly that they nearly bowled them over.
A few hundred yards ahead, the fountain the kids were clustered around shot a single plume of water about six feet high, its stone basin green with algae at the waterline.
Out here was very different from in the pack. He didn’t see wolves casting worried glances over their shoulders, ready for a fight.
No one seemed to be too concerned with dominance or any of the other bullshit that came with it, and nobody was looking at them like they expected them to have all the answers, which was a relief.
Reece liked his position in the pack. He liked being a beta. He liked the responsibility and respect that came with the role.
But some days it was nice to chuck all that off and just be a normal guy in town.
He and Nico had just grabbed lunch, and Nico had mentioned something about needing to stay in town, which Reece assumed meant he was sneaking off to go hang out with Elise somewhere—which was why Nico had insisted on taking different cars from the pack house.
He glanced over to say something, and Nico’s face lit up.
He was a serious man who usually wore a dour expression, except when he spotted his girlfriend; then he was an open book. A man in love and unafraid to show it.
It was disgusting.
And this whole thing was feeling more like a setup by the minute.
Elise was walking down the path toward them, with a woman at her side. Delainey.
Of fucking course.
Reece had gone home after the bar the other night, confused and horny and certain he needed to get this woman out of his mind before he went out of his own.
He was a grown man, damn it.
He didn’t have time to get strangely obsessed with a witch who looked at him with the devil in her eyes—and he had to keep reminding himself of the devil part.
Witches, magic, all that bullshit—he didnotneed it in his life.
Delainey wore a loose-fitting denim jacket over a plain black top, her corkscrew curls pulled up and away from her face with a wide band, gym shoes on her feet and jeans that tapered at the ankle. She walked with her chin up and her shoulders squared, as if daring the path itself to get in her way.
“Hey,” Elise said brightly, reaching out and tracing her arm over Nico’s biceps when she got close enough. “Surprised to see you here,” she said.
Reece leveled a droll glance at her, and on instinct looked over to Delainey, whose expression mirrored his own.
“It’s a nice park,” Nico said. He curled his arm around Elise’s waist and drew her to his side, his thumb hooking through her belt loop. The fake casualness was so transparent it was almost insulting.
Delainey’s mouth dropped open a little, and she narrowed her eyes. But the couple were grinning at each other like fools, and Delainey and Reece might as well not have existed to either of them.
“You know, I heard there’s an ice cream stand opening up over by the zoo,” Elise said, and batted her eyelashes. She looked almost like a Disney princess. Reece was relegated to the role of Dull Villager, and he didn’t like it.
Delainey’s hands had come to rest on her hips, and she rolled her eyes toward him—but not at him. It was strange to know he was on the exact same wavelength as Delainey.
