“What do you need the money for, Bryn?” a man asked as he rounded the corner.
Sophie sucked in a breath as the man from the pub walked into her house. He was the last person she expected to see. Though, considering this town was smaller than her hometown, not an improbable event. But what the hell was he doing here?
Bryn whirled on him. “None of your business.”
“Oh, you’re very mistaken about that, young lady,” he growled. “Tell me what you’ve been up to, and why there’s a human in your great-gran’s cottage.”
Man, how is it that a Scottish accent is even better when the speaker is all growly and irritated?she thought, a shiver of heat gliding down her spine.Wait. Did he just call me human?
Then she remembered Gail had mentioned wolf shifters at the castle, which would explain all the looming and growling. The bear shifters who lived in her area could be rather growly at times, too. Maybe it was a shifter thing.
“Stop it, Dad.” The teenager stamped her foot. “You’re embarrassing me.”
“Dad?” Sophie squeaked. Now, that was even more unexpected than the shifter reveal. She would have bet money he was a loner who lived somewhere high in the mountains, as far from people and civilization as possible. But it seemed he’d somehow charmed a woman long enough to get her with child. Huh.
“Yes,” Bryn’s dad said, turning his glower on her, his black brows drawn together like thunderclouds over dark hazel eyes. A shiver ran down her spine. “Torin Matheson, Alpha of theWolfcraig pack, owner of the cottage you’re standing in, and laird of the land you’re trespassing on.”
6
TORIN
The fuck was she doing here?he thought as he hauled his daughter away from the cottage. “What the fuck is she doing here?” he growled at Bryn, resisting the urge to look over his shoulder at Sophie Norwood. His mate. She was here, in his territory. As irritated as he was at the whole situation, his wolf was overjoyed to have her so close by.
Bryn glared at him. “What do you think she’d doing here? She’s rented great-gran’s cottage for the next two weeks.”
“You need to get rid of her. She needs to go.”
A pair of young male shifters passing by froze at their alpha’s growl, most likely hoping he didn’t see them this close to the castle when they were supposed to be up in the west hills on patrol. A quick glance in their direction, and they scampered off like their tails were on fire.
Bryn’s wellies crunched over the castle’s circular gravel drive, her annoyance obvious with every step. “Well, that’s not going to happen,” she scoffed.
He caught her upper arm and pulled her to a stop by the fountain at the center of the drive. A statue of a snarling wolf stood rampant as an arc of water spouted from its mouth intothe wide basin at its feet. Aquatic plants cascaded over the wide lip, the surrounding ring of grass green and lush.
“She needs to go, Bryn. I don’t want an unknown human on the grounds or anywhere else around here during the Games.”
“And what does it matter if she’s here, Dad? You already pretty much told her you were a shifter when you introduced yourself as our Alpha.”
“I didn’t say that,” he grumbled. Did he? He’d meant to say he was the laird, to solidify his position as boss so when he told her to leave, she would. Dammit. Just being in that woman’s vicinity messed with his head.
“You are losing it because you absolutely did.” She rolled her eyes, the go-to indicator for teenagers everywhere of the absolute cluelessness of grownups, especially those of the parental persuasion. “Besides, she wants nothing to do with the pack or anyone up here at the castle. She’s here ‘cause she needed a place to lay low. Told me she plans on reading, napping, and taking long walks far away from men.”
Why did she need to lay low? Was she in trouble? His hackles rose at the thought of his mate in danger.First things first, he thought with a shake of his head. He focused on his daughter, now sporting a mullish, stubborn look. When she got her back up, she looked so much like her mother. His heart clenched. Cath didn’t know what she was missing, and she never would. His daughter, gorgeous, headstrong, and far too smart for her own good.
Which brought him back to why she’d rented out the old cottage in the first place.
“Bryn, you know if you need funds, you only have to ask,” he said, giving her upper arm a gentle squeeze. He tucked his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Why do you need money, anyway?”
She heaved a very put-upon sigh. “You’d’ve said no. You always do.”
Was he really that bad? She had what he considered to be a rather generous allowance. How much did she need anyway? A couple of quid when she went out with friends, enough to buy trinkets and other things girls needed. It’s not like they lived in a big, expensive city. She could walk into any shop in Wolfcraig and charge whatever she wanted to his account. He tried, but what did he know about the needs of teenage girls? “You don’t know that.”
“I do, Dad.” She looped her arm through his, steering him around the fountain, away from the castle, putting some distance between them and the sharp ears of nosy pack members. “You watch me like I’m about to pack a bag and disappear forever like Mom. And you’ve gotten worse the older I get. So, if I came to you and said I wanted to go to London with friends for a weekend, you would have said no.”
When he opened his mouth to protest, she held up a hand.
“Look, Dad. I love you, but you’ve got to get over this distrust of humans. Not everyone is like Mom.”
Out of the mouths of babes — or teenagers, in this case. He huffed and shook his head, though she had a point. But he wasn’t ready to acknowledge it.
