Page 2 of Auctioned Wolf Bride

I was comfortable as an absent. I’d accepted it years ago and could normally be pretty positive about it. At least until situations like this.

The hurt quickly turned to anger, and I bristled. I was tired of being judged by being an absent and not who I was as a person. It had happened all my life, and I was sick and tired of it.

And then the rumors about him started to reach me. About all the girls, how he was impossible to tie down and had no interest in anything long-term. It turned out that the intelligent, tech-loving shifter I’d met was a bit of a bad boy. That cemented my opinion of him.

So I made up my mind to try and avoid Tannen as much as possible. That turned out to be harder than I’d anticipated. Thanks to Rand, it seemed like he was over here every other day. It drove me crazy. The one person in the entire town I wanted to ignore had to be Rand’s best friend.

The other problem was that as much as I tried to deny it, I was still hopelessly attracted to him. My wolf reacted whenever he came over, wanting to be near him, to rub against him… to do more than that. And it didn’t help that I still caught glimpses of the sweet, caring Tannen I’d first met. Part of me wanted him, and I was determined not to let that ever happen.

“Thea?” Astrid asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“What? Sorry,” I laughed. “Got lost there.”

“I was asking if you wanted to pop open a bottle of wine and have a popcorn and movie night.”

I grinned. “That sounds fantastic,” I said.Anything to stop thinking about Tannen, I thought.

Chapter 2 - Tannen

The autumn air brushed against my skin as I walked to Rand’s house. It was a perfect day. On top of that, things had been mostly quiet as far as looming dangers ever since Astrid came to live with Rand. Maybe this was the time the Silver Wolves finally actually got to retire.

I glanced out at the trees, already itching to get out and run. My wolf was begging to come out, pushing at me the way he always did when he got impatient.

Not long now, I told him as I walked up the walkway to Rand’s house.Just seeing if Rand’s home, then we can get going.Honestly, my wolf wasn’t the only one who was eager. It had been a while since I’d been able to shift and hunt. It would be nice to get out.

I knocked on the door and waited, looking out at the orange and yellow and red leaves, my wolf itching to stretch his legs and run. It had been too long since Rand and I had spent time together, just the two of us.

The door opened, and as it did, I caught the smell of honey and lemon. I recognized it, and my wolf perked up at the scent as Thea poked her head out.

“Oh. It’s you,” she said.

The frostiness in her voice took me by surprise. Thea had always seemed like a sweet girl. I wouldn’t have expected that sort of reaction.

She pushed the door open a little bit and tilted her head. “What’s up?”

I meant to answer, but I got distracted for a moment as I looked her up and down. I’d never really been into curvy women—I’d always preferred slender and athletic. But something about Thea made her shape more alluring. She’d turned out to be an exception to the rule.

She noticed me staring and frowned, her shoulders tensing.

“I was looking for Rand,” I said, glossing over what could otherwise have been a rather awkward conversation. “I was going to see if he wanted to go on a hunt.”

“He and Astrid are out on a date,” she said.

“Any idea when they’ll be back?” I asked.

Her full lips quirked upward. “Depends on how well the date goes,” she said. “You know how those two are.”

I snorted. “You’re not wrong,” I said. Rand and Astrid were notoriously always butting heads. It was their bizarre way of showing affection.

“Any chance I could wait around for him?” I asked. “I wanted to talk to him about something.”

She hesitated, something like frustration flickering across her face.

I raised my eyebrows. “Come on. It’s not like I’m a random stranger.”

She let out a long exhale through her nose, then nodded and stepped out of the way.

“Thanks,” I said.