Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 38003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
“Fine.” She understood.
With her mother asking questions and another pack coming, she was screwed.
They both tensed up as they heard the bell above the door ring.
Klaus surprised her even more by kissing the top of her head, and then he snuck out of the back. Poppy rushed to lock the door behind him.
She returned to her mother, who was calling her name.
“Honey, why were you not in the shop?” Anna asked.
“I, er, I thought I heard something.”
“Poppy, how many times do I have to tell you not to do something like that?” Anna moved past her, going to the door, sliding the lock open, and checking out in the alleyway.
Klaus was long gone.
Anna tutted. “It was probably just a squirrel. Your senses will be all over the place. It has only been three days, but trust me, as soon as you get a handle on everything, it will all make a whole lot of sense to you.” Anna moved toward her. “Honey, are you feeling okay?” Her mother put her hand on her forehead.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You’re burning up and sweaty.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Just a little warm, don’t you think?”
“It is summer.” Anna didn’t look happy.
Poppy hated the lies and deception, but what more could she do? She wasn’t going to tell her mother that she had found her mate, one she couldn’t stand. Also that said mate had stopped her from losing control, hurting herself, and possibly even destroying her mother’s shop, causing a lot of damage.
There was no reason to alarm her mother or to upset her.
No reason at all.
****
“You need to stop following me,” Poppy said.
“I’m not following you. I wanted to go into this part of the forest. Last time I checked, you didn’t own every single piece of forest.” Klaus was lying. He didn’t need to go into the forest.
He was following Poppy., Had been doing it for the past few days. Would probably still be doing it for a lifetime. Klaus wasn’t going to apologize for that.
She shook her head and sighed. “You’re being a pain in the ass.” She put her hands on her hips.
Damn it, he loved those hips. He hadn’t gotten the chance to touch them the other day. It was a good thing he’d been stalking her. Otherwise, she would’ve been up shit creek with her wolf coming out in an enclosed space.
A new transition is always problematic, as he should know.
After his first transition, he had multiple occasions when he turned into a wolf. His father had to Alpha his ass, to get him to comply, which was hard to do, considering he carried the alpha gene as well. It was built into him to rebel.
His father put up with so much, but Klaus knew it was important to follow the orders of the alpha at all times.
“That I am, but don’t worry, you’ll be grateful for it as well.” He winked at her, and he saw her lips twitch. “I saw that.”
“Shut up.”
“You won’t be able to hate me for long. We’re not wired that way.”
“I don’t think it matters how we’re wired, Klaus. This, between us, is not happening.”
“Do you like lying to your mom?” Klaus asked.
“Don’t even talk about my mother. I mean it. I will gut you this time. Alpha’s son or not, I will hurt you.”
He held his hands up. “I want to keep my guts. I don’t… Look, I’m sorry for all the shit I said before. I don’t— It wasn’t me.”
Poppy whirled around toward him. “And you think it is supposed to make it all better?”
“I said I was sorry.”
“Do you even mean it or are you just saying that to … I don’t know, make me forgive you so we can go on with our lives and be happy mates?”
“I do mean it. I do.”
“Wow, yes, I can totally hear how sorry you are.” She rolled her eyes and turned away from him.
He gritted his teeth, angry with himself. This was fucked up.
“Poppy, tell me what you need me to do. Tell me what I can do to make this easier for us. I hate lying to my dad. He even believes Lionel’s pack might have my mate for me.”
“Stop it. Okay? Just stop. I’m already getting that from my mom. How important it is to find a mate. How amazing it would feel to finally know who he is. I have never lied to my mother. Never. Not once in my life. I’m close to her. She is my best friend.”
Klaus put his hands on his hips and frowned. “Then tell me why I was never punished.”
Poppy stopped, her back ramrod straight.
She wore a beautiful dress that fell to her knees. The dress fit her through the tits and waist, flaring out, but as she moved, he caught sight of her ass. How had he not realized how curvy and sexy her ass was?