Page 44 of Adored By the Wolf

What I overheard was amazing. They were both competing over Millie, and she had no idea they were both shifters! She probably didn’t even know shifters existed.

I thought about the vial Finn had given me this morning. It had a grayish hue to it, and if what Finn said was true, drinking the concoction would make that person go insane. A plan was starting to form in my mind. Bruno came to the diner every day for lunch, and Jacob had mentioned taking Millie ice skating. All I had to do was make sure Bruno drank the contents of this vial. He was bound to shift in his state of insanity. I couldn’t help smiling. Millie would be so scared out of her mind that she’d go running for the hills.

Jacob

The next weekend,I was humming a tune as I walked with Millie down the streets of Sugarville. The shops had added some final details to their Christmas window decorations, just in time for Christmas Eve in two days, and I knew she would love seeing all the lights and festive window art.

“Can we go in here?” she asked as we approached the entrance to the town’s general store.

“Of course.”

Trudy, the store owner, always went all out decorating the store for Christmas, and this year was no exception. Right at the entrance were little light-up houses representing a small replica of our town. Each building was handmade, and Trudy had added many over the years. It was always my favorite display to visit during the holidays, and seeing Millie’s face as she walked around the display made me glow with pride.

A thought came to me, and I walked to the display case. Trudy always made extras of the store fronts for the tourists who came through, and I picked up a miniature replica of Rosey’s Diner.

“I’m going to get this for you,” I said, handing Millie the little diner.

The look she gave me made me feel ten feet tall. “I love this! It’s going to have a prominent space on my mantel.”

When she finished looking at all the details Trudy had put into the display, we walked hand in hand down the street, admiring the decorations and festive displays.

“Thank you for today,” she said.

“It’s my pleasure.”

“No, really, thank you. This is . . . ” She let out a contented sigh. “This reminds me of a time when my whole family would hang out together for Christmas. Mom would decorate the whole house with lights. It was like living in a fairyland. Every year, Mom and Dad would give me a glass-blown Christmas tree with my name and the year engraved on the bottom. That lasted for ten years before they started traveling. Those were my fondest memories of Christmas.” She squeezed my hand and stopped me in our tracks. “But today is a very close second. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” We continued walking down the street while I reveled that she would share that story with me.

“I’ve never ice skated before,” Millie said.

Her words brought me back to our surroundings, and I noticed we were standing at the edge of the town rink. “Do you want to try?”

“I’d like that as long as you’re there with me.”

I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face. By the time we were putting on our skates, I was glowing inside and out. I held her hand as we walked to the rink. “It’s good it’s snowing right now. The ice won’t be as smooth.”

“Is that a bad thing?” she asked.

“No, it’ll provide some friction so the ice won’t be too slippery. And it might act as padding when you fall.”

She gave me a wobbly smile. “Don’t let me fall, okay?”

“I won’t. And that’s what the seals are for.”

“Seals?”

“Yeah, big plastic seals we give beginners who don’t know how to skate,” I said, picking one of them up in the pile by the entrance to the rink. Seeing her confusion, I added, “You push it in front of you.”

“Oh! I was wondering what those were for.”

“For you, milady, because I promised I will never let you fall.”

“Ah, my knight in shining armor.”

We both laughed while entering the rink. Millie picked it up pretty well but refused to let go of the seal. I didn’t blame her. I remembered when Mom had taught us how to skate and the bruises I had from continuously falling over. I couldn’t sit for days afterward.

“I think I’m good for today,” Millie said, skating toward the entrance. “Shall we grab dessert somewhere?”