Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 38003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
She loved her mother so damn much. After hearing those howls every full moon for months on end, Poppy didn’t begrudge her that kind of happiness.
The main person to make her life a living hell was standing right in front of her. Klaus. The egotistical bastard who had made her high school life insane.
She hated him. There was no way she ever had a crush on him. Not even a little bit.
Many young women had found him attractive and would kill for the shot at being his mate. Not her. She was never in line to see him in the hallways. Hated how he entered a room and they’d swarm around him like he was some big, hot-shot celebrity.
She had never told her mother about the names she got called. Never told her mother about the bullies either.
“Shit, Poppy, I didn—”
“That was one as well. ‘You’re only good enough to clean the shit the pack leaves, Poppy.’ That was one I liked.” She tilted her head to the side and looked at him. “Care for me to go on? I’ve got a long list, and I’m more than happy to get started. This could be fun. Rehashing the past decade of school.”
He moved closer to her, and she stepped away, keeping her distance. If she wasn’t careful, the pack was going to take note.
After each initial transition within her pack, the alpha forced all of his fresh wolves to do a minimum of labor around the pack. They lived in a small community, complete with humans and wolves.
There were wolves mated to humans, and so it had formed a wonderful place to grow up. They had everything that any other town had, a long town square, lots of homes for families, single pack members, and everyone else. Businesses that needed help. Jobs that needed to be done.
They were not a big town built on tourism as they only had a big forest to lure people in. No lakes or waterfalls. Just a lot of space taken up by land and trees. Quite dense as well, so not even the ability for campers, but what they did have was successful online businesses, which was why she was working in her mother’s gift shop. She made everything from jewelry to personalized items.
She had one of the most successful shops in town. They lived in a nice house, and she imagined that was why no one made waves for her mother. Anna was never hurting anyone. She was a very strong and independent woman.
“I think we need to talk,” he said.
“No. What you need to do is leave this shop before my mom gets off the phone and asks why you’re here, again. I honestly don’t know why you keep on coming.”
“I can’t just ignore this, Poppy.”
“I’ve been ignoring it for three days.” She smiled at him. “And trust me when I say this, I am fine.”
He ran his fingers through his black hair. His eyes seemed to be bluer than she remembered. Why did it matter what color his eyes were? She had never taken the time to look at them. They were just freaking blue. Nothing else mattered about the shade of color.
She hated feeling stupid.
“What if I’m not fine?” Klaus asked.
“Then I suggest you figure this out on your own.”
“I could just go to my dad,” Klaus said.
This was what she was afraid of. If he went to his father, she would have no choice but to accept the mating between them together. She’d have to give this a chance.
“If you were going to go to your dad, you would’ve done it already. You would’ve told him. That’s not a wise choice. I wonder why you’ve not told him.”
“Ugh, you told me not to, remember? You said that if I went to my dad, three nights ago, you’d make my life miserable. I also don’t need my dad to fight my battles for me. I can do them all on my own.”
“Whatever you say,” she said.
“You’re so fucking infuriating. There are other women right now who would be sucking my dick and begging me to mate with them.”
She slammed the clipboard she’d been holding down on the large stack of boxes she was trying to inventory. “Then go and fucking find them. Let them line up and service your damn needs, Klaus. It’s never going to be me. Not ever.”
Poppy hated that because they had become mates, or their wolves had recognized each other as mates, she actually felt … something. This was the worst feeling ever.
Deep inside her heart, she hated Klaus. He was a horrible person, and she wasn’t going to be that woman who accepted him into her life so easily. Not just because they were mates.
She couldn’t deny the shot of pain that went right through her at the thought of him being with someone else.