Howl

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Sophia’s sensitive ears picked up the sound of the front door of the house opening and closing even while she was locked in her office, asleep on the couch. After a week of Emma staying at her house, Sophia had learned to adjust to a more human schedule, which was unfortunate as Emma usually came home in the afternoon right when Sophia and any normal wolf wanted to be asleep. Sophia forced herself to sleep earlier in the day, closer to the time when Emma left, so she could be awake when she came home. Of course, it also only took her two days to start locking the door to her office and sleeping on the couch so she could get a little extra sleep.

The worst part about having Emma staying was the rest of the pack needed to stay away more, and Sophia found it strange to not have people in and out all day long. She did at least have her parents to keep her company, plus Jason and Lukas, but it just wasn’t the same. She even found herself missing Talon, but she refused to call him. She wanted him to get nervous and then have some quality time to think about his actions. She also wanted to set her plan in motion before he came back, and for that, she needed Emma.

Like any wolf, Sophia knew that the best way to get a wolf to do something they didn’t want to do was get their mate to ask them. Emma might not have known just how important she was to Lukas, but that didn’t matter; Lukas would do anything to please her.

Over the course of the week, Sophia had spent as much time with Emma as she could, hoping to get closer to the woman. Not only was it necessary for her plan, but she was like family. Although she wouldn’t become part of the pack unless Lukas decided to join, Sophia still felt as if she should welcome her like a new member of the pack anyway.

Sophia got up from the couch and rearranged her clothes so that they were no longer twisted around her body and smoothed them out as best she could, wanting to give the appearance that she had spent the day working in her office instead of sleeping. Once she looked alert, she stepped out of her office to see Emma heading up the stairs.

“Hi Emma,” she said with a big smile. “I was thinking about going out for a quick bite to eat. Want to come with?”

“Um…” Emma was caught a bit off guard. Sophia had definitely been friendly with her, but she just wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.

“I’m buying,” Sophia added, hoping to entice her with the thought of free food.

“Sure,” she agreed. “Let me go put my stuff upstairs and I’m ready to go.”

“Great! I’ll go find those damn car keys!”

Twenty minutes later, Emma and Sophia found themselves in a Tokyo Joe’s restaurant. They placed their order and took a seat. It was relatively dark inside the restaurant, which Sophia liked, as did most wolves. Bright light was irritating, but too dark made it difficult to see, especially in human form, when their night vision was not very good. Because Tokyo Joe’s was dimly lit, it had become a popular place for wolves.

“There was a reason I wanted to bring you out,” Sophia said when their food arrived.