“Mama.”
“She a human?”
“Yeah.Kinda.”
“Got a backbone?”
“Like a steel rod dipped in Jersey attitude.”
She hums.
“Good.You need someone who won’t take your broody bullshit.Just don’t go scaring her off with that Lone Wolf posturing.”
I grunt.
“And for the love of the gods, clean the upstairs bathroom, would you?Just because you don’t use it doesn’t mean it doesn’t smell like wet dog and flea shampoo.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“You better.I raised you better than to let a nice girl stay in a bachelor den.”
“Mama, it’s not like that?—”
“It better be exactly like that,” she cackles.“Or I’m calling Myrtle and telling her to bake another batch of those aphrodisiac cookies.”
“Mama!”
“I’m just saying, don’t be stupid.If this girl sees you for what you are and doesn’t run screaming?You hold on to that with both paws.”
She hangs up before I can argue.
And just like that, I’m standing there, blinking at my phone and feeling very, very exposed.
Hell.
This might actually be something, but for fuck’s sake, I’m not talking to my mother about it.
I mean, big deal.She needed a place to stay.
I’m the Sheriff.I’m providing a service.It’s practically my job!
Of course, Megan,er, Agent DiNapoli, thinks I did it for convenience.For logistics.
Truth is, my Wolf is losing his fucking mind.
He’s pacing, snarling, drooling—basically climbing the walls of my skull like a rabid animal in heat.
Claim her.
Bite.
Mark.
Mine.
And he’s not subtle about it either.He’s not the refined, mystical kind of Shifter soul you read about in fairytales.
Nah, he’s more like that snarly alien parasite from Venom—all instinct, no filter, and zero chill.
