Rowena Flores has problems...and we're not just talking about her anger management issues. After cursing her cheating ex-boyfriend, this home goods cashier's life is turned upside down when a pack of werewolf shifters accuse her of being a murdering...
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There was nothing like being face-to-face with your cheating ex-boyfriend to make you feel a little uncomfortable. They were seated around a small table, teacups set in front of them. An older woman Maybelle introduced as her grandmother, Darlene, sat with them.
In all the romance shifter books Rowena had read, she'd never heard of a shifter losing their hearing. Darlene had short gray hair, wore thick glasses, and would slam her palms on the table, rattling the dishes, each time she became frustrated because she couldn't hear.
"I told you to speak up!" Darlene grumbled. "I can't hear a blasted word you all are saying. Did you call the alpha's girlfriend a bit—"
"Darlene," Reed said, shock in his voice. "I told you twice already. Rowena is not the alpha's girlfriend. She's my ex-girlfriend."
Darlene harumphed. "I may wear glasses but I'm not blind, boy."
"So," Maybelle said, her voice attempting to cut through the awkward silence like a butterknife through a tough steak. "You two haven't talked since the break-up?"
Maybelle was smiling at her as she poured more tea from a teapot shaped like an elephant's head. Rowena had never tried tea in her life. She sipped the bitter brew and grimaced. Her drink tasted like sweat and grass. She hadn't realized she'd spoken aloud until Darlene stared at her.
Darlene leaned forward, adjusting her glasses. "Did you just say your tea tasted like sweaty as—"
"Grandma Darlene!" Maybelle interrupted.
"So, you have a thing for elephants?" Rowena asked Maybelle, trying to ignore the laughing alpha next to her. Her shoulder was still in pain but she refused to let Cross use his saliva to heal her. At least her face was no longer bruised and swollen. Her oversized shirt covered the gunshot's bandages.
Maybelle shrugged. "I love elephants. My dream is to someday ride an elephant in the wilds of Africa. Maybe one day."
Darlene shook her head. "As old as you are, you should've gone on your honeymoon when you were married."
Maybelle was married? Rowena hadn't met her husband. She gave the older shifter a questioning look.
"My husband, Roger, passed away years ago. Shifters live a long time but he was shot by a hunter," Maybelle explained.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Rowena said softly.
Darlene made a grunting sound. "I told you not to marry that one, Maybelle. He was old enough to be your father and it wasn't his first marriage. He was always too busy working. He didn't even get you—"
"That's enough, Darlene," Cross said, using his alpha voice.
The older woman muttered something about young alphas not respecting their elders.
Cross sighed. He had been glaring at Reed the moment they walked into Maybelle's home, where Reed was temporarily staying.
"I'm sorry to hear your house burned down," Rowena mumbled to Reed.
