Page 4 of Same One
“I know of you. You’re from one of the Packs around here.”
“Mmm.”
She clutched her purse across her chest and hugged it tightly as she walked.
“I’m not going to rob you.”
“I know,” she said, but her tone was uncertain.
“What do you know about werewolves?”
“Lots.”
“Apparently not ‘lots’ because you gave me your back and fled.”
“I wasn’t fleeing. I was the one walking to my house here. You are the one pursuing.”
“With a wolf, you should never give them your back—”
“I know!” she snapped. She flashed him an angry glance and said it quieter. “I know.”
This woman had so many walls up, and was clearly uninterested. The lady in the coffee shop had been wrong about her finding him attractive. She was all bristled up and shutdown, and him being near her was making it worse. Tabian could tell.
He stopped walking and let out a soft sigh, accepting defeat. “I’m going to let you be. It was nice to meet you—”
“Can I have your number?” she blurted out, rounding on him.
Never before had he been so stunned. Tabian hooked his hands on his hips and shifted his weight to the other side. “Look, I don’t know how this stuff works with humans.” He shook his head and admitted, “I’ve never gone out with one. I mean, we have a human in our Pack. She’s paired to my Alpha, and she’s cool as hell, but before her?” He shook his head. “I’ve never even hung out with one. Never wanted to. You’re all confusing.”
“My stepson would like to meet you,” she said.
Oh shit. Tabian swallowed hard, his mind racing. If he was sixteen years old, then Tabian would’ve been fifteen when the kid was born…He’d slept with a couple girls his freshmen year in high school, but they were werewolves. “Uuuh, do I know this kid?” he asked carefully.
“No. Obviously.”
“Right.” His heart was pounding out of his chest right now. “And his mother is…”
“Passed away.”
Oh geez. Who all was he sleeping with back then. He was a delinquent at fifteen. “And her name was…”
“Why do you need to know?”
“Is the kid mine?” he blurted out.
Tru looked slapped, and every bit of reserved anger slipped from her pretty face. “No. He’s the son of my ex. He just likes werewolves and wants to meet one.”
“Oh.” Tabian wheezed a breath of air out of his lungs and folded in half, gripping his knees with his hands. “Oh, thank God.”
“You thought you had some kid you don’t know about?” Her voice had jacked up an octave.
“Well, I don’t know! I told you, you humans are confusing!” He grabbed his t-shirt over his heart. “Can werewolves have heart attacks?” he murmured to himself. “I might be having one of those.”
“You were really calm about that,” she pointed out.
“Well, I’m not trying to shoot the messenger. And I was a dumb kid who didn’t use enough condoms. I guess a little piece of me wouldn’t be surprised.”
Blink, blink. Her eyes were so pretty. With clarity in her tone, she told him, “No, I’m not here to tell you that you have some surprise kid.”
