Rebecca Royce: Angel’s Wolf

The door to the kitchen swung open, slamming against the wall behind it. A man stomped out of the kitchen and Angel caught her breath at her first sight of him.

“Oh dear,” Nancy muttered. “Looks like he gave him hell anyway.”

“Who is that?” Angel could hardly utter the words.

“That’s Parker.” Nancy said his name like it made her sad to do so as she shook her head. “He washes the dishes.”

Parker was tall, maybe the tallest man Angel had ever seen. Well over six and a half feet tall, he towered over everyone else in the place. His hair was cut short, military style, and he had dark eyes to match his dark hair. Built like a linebacker, he had a presence the likes of which she had never encountered before. It was like he took up all the space in the room just by being in it.

His features were hard, like his dark eyes, and she shivered as he walked further into the room.

Every part of his visible arms seemed to be marked with some kind of tattoo.

She wished she was closer so she could see what they were.

Taking a deep breath, he seemed to jump backwards a step before righting himself.

His head darted left and right as he tried to identify what he smelled. Angel was familiar with the look; she did it herself whenever she couldn’t find what triggered a response in her.

And she had a pretty good idea what he was smelling. He had caught her scent the same way she had caught his. Yep, there was no question about it. The huge hunk with the scary eyes and the pissed-off demeanor was her mate.

She narrowed her eyes at her wolf. No way. No how .

We do not determine these things. They’re made in the heavens. Just because the pack you were raised with distorted the natural way that doesn’t mean you get to just decide you don’t want anything to do with it .

Angel raised an eyebrow. Wanna bet?

As if he’d zoomed in on what he smelled, his head turned and he stared straight at her. Angel caught her breath. The linebacker wolf, who might be her mate if she let it happen, didn’t seem any happier about seeing her than she was to see him. In fact, he made a growling sound in his throat that stated his opinion clearly: he hated the idea.

Angel’s cheeks heated as she watched him turn around and storm back into the kitchen. She hadn’t necessarily wanted him but he had outright rejected her on sight. She rubbed a hand over her face.

Sure, she wasn’t looking her best. She’d been on the run for weeks and she was tired.

Bone-weary tired. But she’d spent the night before in a motel and she was showered and clean.

In the past, all the men had found her attractive enough.

Was she so ugly he’d dismissed her out of hand?

Her heart pounded hard. This was unacceptable. She was Angel Kane. He didn’t get to turn around and walk away like he didn’t know she was his mate.

“Poor guy. He’s never had it easy.”

Angel turned her fuming attention back to Nancy who grinned from ear to ear, thanks to Angel’s magic making. “Oh no?”

“No.” Nancy shook her head. “He can’t speak.”

Angel knocked over her coffee. “Oh, sorry!” Jumping up, she grabbed the napkins before Nancy could and started cleaning up her mess. “Did you say he can’t speak?”

“Not a word.”

Angel tried to digest this news. Her mate was mute? “Is there something wrong with his vocal cords? Has he seen a doctor?”

“No, it’s not a physical thing. I mean let’s face it—the man is a prime specimen of health. He doesn’t appear a day over thirty even though Bob swears he’s got to be close to forty now.”

Angel could have explained that to Nancy. Wolf shifters didn’t age past thirty until they mated.

They could live forever looking like they were thirty years old.

“Go on. If it’s not physical, why can’t he speak?”

“Oh now, I don’t like to gossip…”

“Of course not.” Angel touched her arm. “You can trust me”

“Bob says that a social worker came to him with Parker twenty years ago. Told him he was twenty years old and he needed a job.” Nancy stared down at her. “According to Bob, the man said Parker was smart and capable but hadn’t uttered one word to communicate with anyone ever.” Picking up the dirty napkins, Nancy glanced back at the kitchen. “He does a good job, lives upstairs for a deduction in pay, and never utters a word. All I can think is something bad must have happened to him.

Something so bad he can’t—or won’t—speak.”

Nancy finished talking and turned to go back to the kitchen.

That seemed kind of dramatic to Angel. Stopped speaking all together? No, he was a wolf, even if his co-workers didn’t know it. There was something magical going on here and, even if she didn’t want to mate, she wasn’t leaving until she found out what it was.

Maybe she could help. Yes, that would be her gift to him. They wouldn’t mate—he didn’t seem to want to anyway—but she would fix his magical issues before she left to go out west.

Yes, that was a plan. She nodded her head feeling good about that.

Two repugnant odors wafted through the door and she darted to her feet. Oh no. How had they caught up to her so fast?

Julian and Houston stood staring at her from the doorway of the diner, like they’d stepped out of a Wild West movie side by side ready for a fight.

This is not going to be good .

Her wolf growled. We can take them .

In the diner? In front of all of these people?

Her wolf paced inside of her, itching for a fight. Angel tried her damndest to not lose her cool. If she had to shift and fight, it would be outside. Still, maybe there was a chance left to reason with Cole’s deranged enforcers before she had to resort to violence.

“Listen boys, I get it. Cole sent you after me. He wants to look tough. He told you whichever one of you got me, could keep me as a mate.”

She raised her hands hoping they weren’t getting too many stares from the other patrons.

Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dumb were not the brightest wolf-shifters to ever grace the planet. The fact that they worked for Cole, who only made women servants and didn’t rape them, as opposed to Zack who kept his females locked in the basement, made them only slightly less disgusting to her.

“You really don’t want me as yours. I’m not worth it. Truth is, I’m a big pain in the ass.”

Houston nodded and she wanted to deck him. Okay, maybe her priorities were warped but she didn’t want him agreeing. Screw him. He was an imbecile. He had the nerve to think anything but highly of her?

“We agree.” Houston rubbed his chin. “That’s why me and Julian, we think we’re gonna share you.”

She looked between them. Neither of them was taller than her five foot ten frame.

Julian had red hair and freckles that might be cute on someone else and Houston had blond hair and blue eyes. They didn’t do it for her. Not in the least.

Her wolf might be right. She could probably take them.

“You’re going to share me? Doesn’t that kind of go against the grain in terms of mating? Isn’t the purpose of mating to own me?”

The door to the kitchen swung open and she had one second to scent him before Parker was in front of her and picking up Houston and Julian by the back of their collars.

Three seconds later and they were both out on their behinds in the parking lot.

Parker turned around, not even glancing at her, and walked back into the kitchen.

Angel was so confused. What had happened? She turned to follow him and walked into Nancy instead.

“Don’t worry about that. Bob has a standing policy, if anyone bothers a customer, we’re to kick them out. Parker handles this type of thing all the time.”