“Say you’ll do it.” The words came fast. I couldn’t hold them back. “Say you’ll consider it.” Say you’ll take me. Her eyes met mine. They were weapons. Blades. They pinned me in place.
“Yes.” That was the only word that mattered, and she said it. The sunlit room became our cathedral, a holy place where we were the only true believers. Where nothing else could exist but us. Where we would write our story, long and hot and full of fire.
“Good.” I said the word slow. Savored the taste of it. My wolf was roaring in satisfaction that we were providing something that our mate wanted. It seemed ridiculous. She wasn’t my mate. But something deep inside said shewas. “Let me see what I can arrange. You might be able to start in a couple of days.” I leaned back, trying to regain my control. Trying to mask the burn in my gut as I texted the school principal.
“Really?” She glowed. Her energy set me on a course I couldn’t reverse. A course I didn’t want to reverse.
“There will be a few things to work through, but I can make it happen.” The morning light seemed too bright, our own privateuniverse expanding with each breath. “I’ll take care of the paperwork.”
“I don’t understand how you can offer me this. I thought you owned an auto dealership.”
I patted her hand. “Let’s go to the school and I’ll explain more about how things work with the Iron Valor Pack.”
The sign for Bridger Hardin, Sr. Elementary loomed like a goddamned threat as we pulled in. Sawyer looked out the window at it, and I didn’t need to have a bond to tell me her nerves were high. She tried to hide it, but I could tell by the way she wrung her hands together. I parked and put a steadying hand on her knee.
“Wait, Bridger Hardin Elementary. Is the school named afteryou?”
“My grandfather actually, thus the ‘senior.’ When I donated the money to build the school, I wanted it named after the greatest man I ever knew. Hunters killed my father when I was very young. My granddad stepped up and even though he was older, he was a stand-in father to me and my siblings. A damn good man.” She listened so intently as I told her about him.
“I’m sorry about your father, but your grandfather sounds like a wonderful man. The kind of man anyone would love to have as a father figure.” She spoke quietly. The look on her face led me to believe she didn’t have the same paternal experience. Tonight I was going to insist she came clean with me about who she actually is.
As we entered the brightly lit building, I caught the hard edge of footsteps before the woman they belonged to appeared. My ex-Karen’s eyes swept from Sawyer to me with careful control, but I knew what ran beneath the surface. “Bridger,” she said, lips tight around my name like it was something she couldn’t quite swallow. “Good to see you again.” This is the woman who had dreamed of being my mate. After six months with her, I knew that would never happen.
Sawyer stood with a wariness that bordered on vulnerable, the other female bringing out some instinctive caution that would make things interesting for us all. I introduced them, and Karen’s look turned appraising. She paused for a long, assessing moment before speaking. “You’re here about the teaching position?”
Sawyer nodded, the blush in her cheeks giving more away than I knew she’d want. “Bridger told me you’re looking for a music teacher. I’m Sawyer.”
“Yes.” Karen folded her arms and gave me another unreadable glance. “I’m the principal, Karen Day. And he tends to make decisions for the school at times.”
“Karen,” I said, letting the weight of my voice carry more meaning than my words, “I know she’s the right choice.”
A cold spark lit her eyes. It sent an almost visible shift through Sawyer, who absorbed it with wide curiosity and remained uncertain of her footing. “Well, you should see the music room. Follow me.”
I let Karen take the lead and trailed behind with satisfaction cutting through my veins. We reached a long hallway lined with brightly colored doors. The tour moved forward with the kind of tautness I was growing to enjoy. Karen’s composure frayed a bit when she spoke again. “Will you be living with the pack full-time?”
Sawyer glanced over her shoulder, eager for the chance to express what she hoped I’d hear in the response. “That’s my plan.”
“That’s a lot of commitment for someone new to the area,” Karen said, each word deliberate and charged.
“Commitment is what she’s all about,” I said, feeling the tension bite like a chilly wind.
“I see.” She opened the door to the music room and stepped aside for Sawyer to enter. Her tone held an edge that could have cut diamonds. “It must be very serious, then.”
I followed Sawyer in and ignored Karen’s last barb. The walls stood adorned with instruments and a stack of blank sheet music.Sawyer drank in every detail, an unguarded brightness shining from her in clear defiance of the jealousy I knew burned from Karen’s side of the room. She walked up to the piano in the middle of the room and sat. Her fingers flew across the keys as she quickly played a haunting and familiar melody.
“This is perfect,” Sawyer whispered, pure awe in her voice as she stood.
“We do things right here,” I replied, directing my comment to both of them and knowing only one would get it.
Karen’s mouth tightened before she could speak again. “You must be eager to start.”
“I am,” Sawyer said, and my wolf sang with her excitement, rough notes that went clean through me. “Will you show me the rest?”
Karen’s reluctance pushed through a thin layer of professionalism. “This way.”
Sawyer turned and followed the direction, giving me a look that sent a flare of satisfaction through every nerve.
We ended the tour with more tension than we’d begun with, and it sparked like live wires the second Karen found another chance to pull me aside. “You’re taking a risk with her,” she said, keeping her voice low. “You don’t know if she’ll stay.”
