Cronan is angry. Angry that after years of waiting, he's mated to the one wolf he never wanted.
Fen is stuck. Stuck in a state of purgatory that he doesn't know how to escape from.
After learning of his mate's crimes, Cronan never expected to see h...
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Lola was bouncing off the walls. Adoption day was in full swing and I was desperately trying to weave my way through the crowd to keep up with her. She was twirling, skipping, singing—anything she could think of. Fen was following behind me with Abel in his arms, both of them much calmer than Lola but clearly amused by her energy.
"Slow down, Lola!" I called out, trying to make my way through the throngs of people. "You're going to knock someone over."
"But it's adoption day!" she squealed, doing another twirl that narrowly missed an older couple. "Everything's amazing today!"
I smiled despite myself. I couldn't blame her for being excited—it was a big day. Fen caught up with me, adjusting Abel on his hip.
"She's like a pinball," Fen commented, watching Lola zoom ahead, her enthusiasm lighting up the entire room.
"Tell me about it," I muttered, dodging a few more people as I tried to keep up with her. "I don't know how she has so much energy."
Fen shrugged, a soft smile playing on his lips. "She's happy. And after everything, she deserves to be."
As if on cue, Lola collided with somebody's leg but caught herself before she could fall. I moved over, pulling her back slightly before glancing at the person she hit.
"Sorry—"
The words died on my lips when I noticed a man who looked eerily similar to Nolan staring at Fen and me. I glanced back at my mate who appeared to be fine on the outside, but after all the time I had spent with him, I could see the subtle shift in his demeanor.
So this was the former alpha I'd heard about.
The green-eyed man beside the alpha Eli referred to as Nixon smiled at us. "No need to apologize," he said smoothly. "It's a busy day, after all."
"Yeah, adoption day," Fen responded, his tone polite but distant. He adjusted Abel, who was now peering curiously at the stranger from Fen's arms. "Lots of excitement."
"We're gonna get adopted!" Lola confidently told him. "We have a meeting to go to!"
The green-eyed man smiled down at her. "I hope it goes well."
"It will," she assured him before glancing back at me. "Come on! We can't be late."
"We're coming," I told her.
Glad to have an actual reason to end the conversation, I let Lola pull me along and gestured for Fen to follow which he had no problem doing.
I noticed, however, that even when we passed the men and were a good distance away, his body remained tense and something told me it wasn't because of that conversation.
"Fen—"
"We're here!" Lola shouted.
"Here!" Abel tried to squirm his way out of Fen's arms, but Fen's grip remained ironclad.
