I'm Not Afraid of Wolves (The Cotton Candy Quintet Book 4) (12 page)

Four weeks later

It required a lot of practice and a lot of time getting Sara up to speed with the mermaid routines, but her first performance went flawlessly. I couldn’t be prouder of her.

The five of us were in full costumes and we held onto the side of the aquarium in the arena, our routine finished. We had twirled, spun, and dove in perfect sync.

It was a great performance, not only to the audience, but to ourselves. Why hadn’t we thought of having five mermaids before? Adding Sara to our roster just felt perfect.

Why did I ever doubt my team’s ability to perform on par with the old mermaids?

Because you’re a control freak, Christine.

I might have to change that permanently. As I waved at the audience, I made that promise. I was going to live every day to the fullest.

The lights blinded us to the audience, but I saw the cameras flashing beyond it. I could also see Sara’s face. It held pure joy. There was no other word for it. For the first time in a long time, she was at peace. Her eyes glittered with excitement as she faced the cheering crowd.

It also helped that she was away from the toxicity of the pack and her old life up in Atlanta. Not that the pack was bad, but she had been so traumatized by the events, I didn’t think she’d ever set foot inside of Atlanta city limits ever again.

For now, she was staying in my tiny one-bedroom apartment in downtown Jacksonville, which was completely fine. She was welcome to stay as long as she needed in order to get her feet underneath her. That first full moon after her transformation into a werewolf was hard. We’d both transformed and went running out in a state park. But she told me that she wasn’t going to let it define her. She was Sara Driver, professional mermaid now. Admittedly, being a professional mermaid didn’t pay as well as her job at the PR firm, but that didn’t matter anymore.

She was home. And I think after a while, I could segue her into a PR role as well so that we could get the word out about our work and ocean conservation. In that case, the performing-mermaid part was an added bonus.

Emily had called her once since our camping trip. She had moved to Austin to get away from everything. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that there were shifters in Austin too. It was a pity, because I really liked her. I hoped she found what she was looking for.

I winked at Sara as we all slid back underneath the waves, muffling the sounds of the audience. We swam underneath the surface, only surfacing when we were on the other side of the curtain that cordoned off the stage side of the tank to the backstage part.

Neptune was waiting for us, a huge grin on his face. He was clapping, his applause drowned out with the audience’s. But I knew that he was extremely pleased.

“Wonderful job,” he exclaimed, helping Murphy out of the water. He coughed and covered it up with his hand. Now that I knew the reason for the coughing, each one felt like a pang to my heart, like each one was a grain of sand in his time left with us. The both of us had decided not to tell the others about his illness. Why would we? All they’d do is fret and worry, wasting the precious last few months of his life

I knew that would happen because that was exactly what I was doing. I tried not letting it get to me, but I felt like I was losing a father and the one person who had helped me through the worst times of my life.

“How’d I do, Boss?” Sara asked as I helped her out of the water. She was still having trouble getting in and out of her silicon tail, so we always ended up dragging her onto dry land and helping her out.

“Perfect,” I said. “You did wonderful.”

She beamed at me. Yep, this was going to be a great transition for her. Not to mention, when we went on tour again in October, she’d get to see parts of North America that she’d never been to before.

I couldn’t wait.

“Ms. Driver,” an usher named Rachel said, putting her hand lightly on my arm. Ever since the news that I’d been promoted to Senior VP of something-or-other, everyone I had once been acquaintances with now called me that. It made me cringe, but I didn’t correct her. “There’s someone here to see you.”

I shimmied out of my tail, careful not to tear the silicon. “Who is it?” I asked.

Rachel shrugged. “He wouldn’t say.”

I grinned at Sara. “Probably another local reporter on recruiting a fifth mermaid.” The local papers always latched onto any news story about us mermaids—it was great for family articles. “I’ll be right back. If he’s hot, do you want me to get his number for you?”

“Maybe for yourself,” Sara shot back as I got to my feet. I tied a floor-length sarong around my waist—it wouldn’t do for a kid to see me without my tail. Things like that ruin the illusion.

I headed out from the backstage area towards the dressing room.

And paused as soon as I saw him in the hallway.

“Colton,” I breathed.

“Hey,” he said softly. He shifted a bouquet of flowers in his arms as he closed the distance between us.

He looked…
good.
Dapper, even, in a plaid shirt and a pair of tight jeans that his legs filled out oh-so nicely. I forced myself to focus on his face, which was shaded by the brim of his hat. Part of his right ear was missing, but that gave him a roguish look. I liked it.

I was suddenly conscious that I had shown up in my bikini and sarong, but I guess he’d seen more than that last month.

Still I crossed my arms. “Good to see you,” I said honestly, even as my heart skipped a beat. “Did you see the show just now?”

“I did. That was…quite the performance,” he said, giving me a wolfish smile. “Who knew that cats liked the water so much?”

I laughed as the awkwardness melted away. “Big cats like water. And apparently wolves,” I added. “Did you see that Sara’s now a professional mermaid?”

“I did. She did great. You did…awesome.”

I chuckled at his word choice. I’d also been a mermaid for ten years, so of course I had the routine down pat. But he didn’t need to know that. I would let him think that I was “awesome”.

I nodded at the flowers. “Are those for me?”

His eyes sparkled for a moment before my question sunk in and jumped as if noticing them for the first time. “Uh, yeah. These are for you.”

He handed the bouquet to me and I graciously took them, inhaling deeply. “You know these are tiger lilies, right?”

“Yeah.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets, which, for a big man, made him seem like he was being sheepish. “I looked around for mountain lion lilies, but those don’t exist.”

“They’re beautiful.”

“
You’re
beautiful.”

“I never pegged you for a romantic.”

He shrugged. “I figured I should at least try. Because of how we left things.”

That sobered my mood, and I sighed. “Listen, Colton…”

“I never should have expected you to stay,” he blurted out. “That was rude of me.”

“I should have handled it differently, though.” I sighed. “I should have stayed and made sure they could stand on their own. They need a leader. It’s my responsibility. I just…”

He put his broad hands on my shoulder and beckoned me to look up at him. “You’re needed as a leader here, too. Besides, they’re doing well. I think they’re having trouble adapting to a life without an alpha, but they’re doing all right. I’ve been working with them. I think they’re picking up a mountain lion shifter’s way of life.”

That was true. I’d been in contact with them a few times over the last month. I told them that they could call me at any time and I’d help out. Even though I wasn’t their leader, they still turned to me for advice. I guess I was going to have to get used to leadership, what with Neptune’s death imminent.

I brushed that thought from my mind. “And you?”

His face fell. “I’m not doing so well,” he admitted. “Been doing a lot of soul searching. I quit my job as a park ranger.”

I blinked at him. “What?”

“I realized that I’d been stuck in the same groove for too long. That, as a pack alpha, I wasn’t giving myself the chance to live fully. Stephen’s death had impacted me a lot, but he wouldn’t want me to feel trapped.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You feel trapped? Out in a state park?”

He shrugged. “There are different kinds of cages than ones with bars.”

Very true. I licked my lips. “Are you sure about that?”

“It’s been done.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I turned in my two weeks’ notice last Monday. I took a job at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.”

I frowned. “Where’s that?”

“About forty-five minutes northwest of here. Across the Georgia state line.”

I let out a breath, trying to erase the skipping of my heart. Because it was racing so very fast. “It’d be two hours with Jacksonville traffic.”

He leaned into me. “Still. It puts me that much closer to you.”

“Why?”

He grunted in irritation and combed his hair. “Are you going to make me come out and say it?”

I gave him an innocent look. “Say what?”

He sighed. “I…like you. And don’t go thinking that I up and quit my job to move here because of you. It was for me and finding myself, I promise.” That wolfish grin was back. “The chance to ask you on a date was an added benefit.”

“And what does Siouxsie think of this?”

He laughed. “Oh, she was livid that I abandoned the pack and put her back in charge of it.”

“She’s the alpha now?”

“Yep. And she ain’t happy about it. She wants you to call her so she can chew you out for corrupting her grandson.”

“I’d like that.”

Truthfully, I would. His grandmother helped save my life, and I liked my brief time with her. And, standing here, I realized that I could most likely see her again, if whatever this was between us blossomed.

“So about that chance for a date…” I said carefully.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

“Me ask?” I laughed. “I thought you were a gentleman.”

“I had the impression that it didn’t matter who asked who out. Besides, I’m new in town, I wouldn’t have the foggiest idea of where to take you out.”

He had a point there. “All right, then. Colton Donnelly, would you like to go to Olive Garden with me?”

He made a face as I hooked my arm through his. “I was hoping someplace more romantic.”

“There’s nothing more romantic than unlimited salad and breadsticks.”

He laughed. “On one condition, and I consider this research for knowing what I’m getting into.” I raised an eyebrow. “You tell me what happened between you and Mr. Were Mountain Lion.”

He meant Shane. I’m grateful to say that the memory of my past didn’t hurt so much anymore.
I guess the events out in the Georgia wilderness made me stop regretting things. And even though it was an incredibly prying question, especially from a man I didn’t know very well, I told him.

“He physically and emotionally beat me for the two years that I was a mountain lion with him,” I said flatly. “I challenged him to a fight in front of his friends. As werecats. He didn’t think I would win, but I showed him up. Told him if I saw his crummy face again, I’d do worse. Humiliated him in front of his friends and I haven’t seen him since, except for the divorce proceedings.”

It felt like a weight was off my chest.

He looked down at me, impressed. “I thought you were pretty spectacular out there. You’re a fighter.”

“Oh yeah,” I warned. “I’m not afraid of mountain lions, and you can be damned sure that I’m not afraid of wolves.”

He looked down at me, his blue eyes sparkling. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Sci-fi junkie, video game nerd, and wannabe manga artist Erin Hayes writes a lot of things. Sometimes she writes books.
She works as an advertising copywriter by day, and she's a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author by night. She has lived in New Zealand, Hawaii, Texas, Alabama, and now San Francisco with her husband, cat, and a growing collection of geek paraphernalia.
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