Jess logged in quickly to the airline’s website and booked her ticket to Florida. She would go see her mother. Yes, that was perfect. She was in Florida, and that was a long way from here and far from him. Her mother was on husband number six or so—surely she would know what to do about this mess.

Jess called Ms. Lansing’s phone at work and left her a voicemail. She hoped that Ms. Lansing could not scent a lie. Oh, for crying out loud! He guessed that; nobody could smell a lie. He was insane. He had to be, because if he weren’t, she would be soon. Jess sat down on the kitchen chair and put her head in her hands. James. A werewolf? Why not a vampire? How about a mummy? What about that pin-faced monster man in the movies that gave her nightmares when the commercials kept playing? Shoot. Those things were not real!

Jess stomped into her bedroom and finished packing. A week with Mom should do the trick. She could lie low, cool off, and figure out a way to disappear for good, because she was not his. She did not belong to anyone especially someone who thought he was a werewolf. What a disaster. If they had kids, would they be children or puppies? Oh God, stop thinking about it, it’s not happening. Jess went back to the computer and printed her boarding pass. Her flight left in two hours. Time to leave. She grabbed her laptop bag after closing it, shoved her boarding pass into her pocket, and grabbed her suitcase. She locked the door up tight and hurried to the Civic. Unbelievable. Absolutely. Unbelievable.

She finally found a man, a beautiful, thoughtful, gorgeous man, and she was hopping a plane to get away from him. She had to, though, didn’t she? He was going to turn into one of those monstrous, huge, snarling, vicious beasts on the late-night horror flicks. Sweet Jesus. She shifted the Civic into drive and drove at breakneck speed to the airport.

As she walked through the terminal and checked her bags, she began to calm down. Jess settled on one of the chairs at her gate and texted Lolly.

 Family emergency, don’t know when I will be back. At the airport now, about to hop a plane, see you when I get back. Tell Father Mike sorry I can’t help Friday.

Jess turned the phone off and shoved it into her pocket then took a deep, cleansing breath. This was best. She could get her head straight and she could do it without him putting any more weirdness into her universe. Wow.

Jess followed the crowd onto the plane and took her seat. She buckled in and leaned her head back then blew out a breath. Closing her eyes, she tried to quiet her thoughts.

“I know just how you feel. I hate planes, too.” A man sat down next to her.

He was young and good-looking, but he did nothing to her insides. He definitely didn’t set her soul on fire like someone else. Stop it! Jess stared out her window at the wing after giving him a small smile.

In two hours and forty-two minutes, she would land in Orlando. Run home to Mommy. It was not home, not really, but she supposed that home was wherever her mother was this week. Jess napped during the flight. The man next to her tried to talk to her at first, but he gave up when she kept staring out the window. Men. Did you really need one? Some women led very fulfilling lives without one, but Jess knew she wouldn’t. She wanted a family, a husband, kids, a picket fence, and a dog. If she married James, she would have a dog. She scoffed.

It was all she’d wanted since she was a preteen. It was about the time her mom married husband number three, or was it four? He’d wanted that, and he gave it to them. For the first time in her life, Jess felt stable, safe, and secure. They lived in the same house for more than a minute. It had grass and was in a nice neighborhood. Her mother stayed home and made cookies. Jess had her first slumber party in that house. She was beginning to come out of her shell and she’d made friends. Then a car ran a red light downtown, killing Gary as he crossed the street, and they’d started moving around again. Jess crawled back into her shell and didn’t come out again until recently when she stuck her head out to look around. Look where that got her. Into a horror story, that’s where. Wasn’t it? Isn’t that what one would call this? The man of your dreams is a big scary monster, or crazy, or both. Maybe it was called a nightmare, or a punishment. If he was a big scary monster, though, how could she…how could she love him? Did she? Did she love James? There was definitely a spark. She felt safe around him, as if she may have a backbone after all. At least, she did until the werewolf thing.

Jess deplaned and went to wait for her bag then rented an economy car. Her mother would take it as a personal offense if Jess asked for a ride after giving her a four-hour notice that she would arrive. She did not want her mother pissed off during the whole stay. Jess would already have to tread lightly because her mother was nothing if not moody.

Jess followed the GPS since she’d never been to her mom’s latest house. Of course, she hadn’t been to the last four houses either. Her mother was restless a lot. This husband may keep her in one spot since he’d never been out of Florida except while he was in the Army. His name was Tim. Jess wouldn’t meet him this trip unless he came home early from his fishing trip to Miami. Her mom told her that Tim would be gone for a month. Jess thought that was strange. Her mother and Tim were only married for a couple of years, but he was taking a month-long fishing trip. Her mom said that he did it every year and always had; it was just him and his friends. Mom didn’t mind. It gave her time to hit the casinos in Baton Rouge. She took frequent bus trips but luckily didn’t have one scheduled for this week when Jess called for help.

“Well, well,” her mother said from the top of the three steps leading to the front door of the small Spanish-style house. “Look what the cat dragged in! Come on, bring your stuff. It’s as hot as hell out here.”

She had that right. Jess blew out a breath. It was muggy and in the high eighties at least. She looked the same as the last time that Jess saw her mother.

She was still the same size, still wearing jeans and T-shirts, but her red hair was a little grayer. Her mother was as outspoken as Jess was quiet. They got along well enough, but they were truly opposites personality wise. Jess pulled her suitcase out of the back seat and dragged it on its wheels behind her. Her mother held the door open and let her pass by after a quick hug. The house was a lot bigger inside than it appeared outside.

“Go all the way through. You get the guesthouse. Tim converted the garage into half guestroom and half office. Go straight through and out the doors in the kitchen.” Her mother was right behind her now. “You’ve put on weight,” she said from behind Jess.

“I guess so, Mom. You haven’t seen me since I graduated high school,” Jess hurled back.

“Did you come all the way to Florida to rehash my missing your big college graduation?” her mother complained.

“No, Mom, I didn’t. I wasn’t saying that. I was simply pointing out that it’s been almost eight years is all. Are these the doors?”

“Yes. Out there. It’s unlocked. I will wait here and make us some tea, put your bags down and come right back.”

Jess nodded and did as her mother said. They’d resumed the same close relationship they’d had when Jess was younger. A lot of the time it was only them, and her mom had always acted more like a big sister than a parent. They didn’t talk often, but when they did it was always about their relationships or the lack of them. Jess and her mom were comfortable with each other and they picked up right where they left off with the jabs that sisters sometimes throw at each other.

The guesthouse was about fifty feet back, and it did look like a garage from the outside. Jess went in the side door and was pleasantly surprised. The first half was an office. There was a drafting table with blueprints and architecture tools. Jess remembered her mother said that he was some kind of engineer or something. Through the second door, there was a sunny yellow bedroom-living room combo with emerald-green carpeting. There was a couch with end tables and a television, but there was also a queen-sized bed and bedroom furniture. There was a small bathroom behind one door and a closet behind the other. Jess put her suitcase at the foot of the bed then hurried back to the house.

Her mother was sitting at the kitchen table drinking her iced tea and smoking a cigarette. Jess didn’t miss those. She closed the door quietly behind her.

“This is a nice house, Mom.”

“Yeah, it’s not bad. He won’t put my name on it, though. He says that it’s been in his family forever and that when I start looking for husband number seven, he’s keeping it.”

So, Tim was smart and thinking with the right head, Jess thought. Good for him, because if her mother was good at anything, it was divorce.

“He built that guestroom by himself. He spends a lot of time out there working.” She put her fingers in the air to put quotes around “working.”

Jess was beginning to like Tim, because her mother had not seemed to mature any in the past eight years.

“What’s your man ordeal? I’ll bet I can solve it in a cigarette or less.” She winked at Jess.

“Well, I’m not sure how to put it really.” Jess sipped her tea, and her mother lit a new cigarette off the first one. “He’s different than me. He’s a cop.”

“Dump him. Cops carry guns, Jessie, and you know how they freak you out.” Her mother looked angry about it.

“You say that like they shouldn’t freak me out.”

Her mother shook her head. “Not at all, honey. They freak me out too since… I avoid them at all costs. I made Tim get rid of his. I don’t blame you for being afraid of them. You should be afraid. A gun took our family away,” she finished quietly.

Jess nodded. “What if I love him?”

Her mother made a noise that sounded like a snort. “Love,” she spat, and took a swig of her tea. “Love is a chemical reaction. What you need to know is this, are your feelings for him bigger than whatever it is about him that you object to, and is there anything that, if you could, you would change?”

Jess swallowed.

“Well?”

“I don’t know.” Jess cracked her knuckles. “There is one thing that I would change, but nobody could change it. Not even him.”

Her mother glanced at Jess’s cracking fingers. “Don’t do that, dear, you’ll get arthritis, and so it’s a moot point if nobody can change it.”

Jess nodded.

“Can you accept it?”

“He’s a cop, but he just got promoted to captain and he says that he won’t be shooting at anyone or getting shot at and that he doesn’t have to carry a weapon.”

Her mother brightened.

“The other thing is personal for him and I can’t tell you about it, but I don’t know if I can…”

“Is he really small? You know…down there?” Her mother squinted at her and wiggled her pinky finger.

“Mom! I don’t know…we haven’t…” Jess blushed furiously.

“Oh for Christ’s sake, Jessie, you haven’t slept with him? This isn’t serious at all, then. Why are you here? Why did you run away like a child?”

Jess cringed and knotted her hands together in her lap.

“You aren’t in this ankle deep yet. Walk away if he has you this freaked out already.”

“He told me the something, then he told me to think about it, and then he said, ‘You are mine.’”

Her mother’s mouth twitched, but she said nothing, so Jess continued. “That was the final straw. I mean, he gives me this incredible story that freaks me out, then he says, ‘You are mine.’ That scared the crap out of me, almost as much as the something, so I ran away. I just need time alone to think about all of this and process it.”

“Like Tim. He’s processing on a fishing boat. Sometimes people just need time alone to get out of their heads. The solution will come to you, Jessie, but you always were in your head too much. You need to get outside of it more often.” Her mom winked. “It also probably wouldn’t hurt if you found out what he’s sporting downtown, too.”

Jess gasped, and her mother crowed with laughter. “Now, it’s almost time for bingo at the senior center. If you want to come, you are welcome. If not, I will be home around eleven. Okay?”

Jess nodded.

“Don’t worry, it’ll come to you.”

Jess’s brows furrowed.

“Your heart and head will make it very clear to you how you feel and what you should do. Come play bingo. Maybe it’s your lucky day.” Her mother stubbed her cigarette out in the ashtray.

“I think I’ll pass, Mom. I’d like to stare at four walls and mull stuff over.”

“See you later, then. Help yourself to the fridge. There’s leftover lasagna if you want it.” Her mom got up and put her tea glass in the sink, then went down a hall that Jess had not explored yet. She assumed it went to the bedrooms.

Jess got up and carried her glass to the guesthouse with her. She turned the TV on but kept the sound low and opened her suitcase to find her pajamas. She pulled out the four outfits that she brought and found her nightshirt at the bottom. She hung up her clothes, then crawled into bed with the remote. She changed channels until she found something mind-numbing to watch.

***

“What do you mean ‘she had a family emergency and she’s gone’?” James asked Lolly. It had been four days since they’d spoken. She wouldn’t answer her cell phone, she wasn’t answering email, she wouldn’t open the door at the apartment, and she wasn’t at work. He’d run into Margaret Lansing. God, what a disaster! He had no idea that she was Jess’s boss. He should’ve scented her. That woman was an absolute nightmare. He’d taken her out once when he’d first started with the department here, and she stalked him for months. She stalked him. He was supposed to stalk his prey, not the other way around. He’d been harsh and cruel when he finally couldn’t take it anymore. She eventually moved on to Duane. He kicked her to the curb and quick. When he went to find Jess, Margaret was in Jess’s office looking for something. When he’d appeared at the door, she thought he was there to see her. When he explained he was looking for Jess, he knew it would be a bad idea to tell her Jess was his girlfriend. Margaret would retaliate against Jess. He protected his mate and said that she’d witnessed a crime, then ducked out and made a quick escape.

James had a feeling when she wouldn’t answer the cell for the first few days that she’d run, but he gave her the benefit of the doubt. Lolly just confirmed it. There was no family emergency, but Lolly wasn’t knowingly lying to him either, so that was what Jess had told her. He’d slept with her jacket for the past four days. Her scent was driving him wild. The mating urge was getting stronger by the minute. His body knew that his mate was found, and it didn’t care about family emergencies, fear of wolves or that she was a human. All it knew was that it wanted its mate.

“I’m sorry. That was the only text I got. I’ve texted her back and I’ve not gotten a response. I think she turned her phone off.”

James nodded.

“If I hear anything, though, I will be sure to let you know if you will do the same?”

“I will, Lolly. Thanks.” He took his coffee and left the coffee bar. He could feel Lolly’s eyes on his backside, and that made him grin a little. Lolly had a thing for backsides. She’d watched his in the rearview mirror when he’d stopped her. He knew because he reviewed the video from the camera mounted on the dash trying to see Jess’s beautiful face. Then at the gym, while Jess stared at the wall, Lolly watched the men running, bending over and stretching. He should set her up, she was nice, but she would have to ditch that damned perfume. He needed to get away from that sickening cloud, and fast. His nose was going nuts.

James hurried back to his desk across the complex and texted his pack. Their one objective was to track her down and bring her back. Within five minutes, he had a text from Austin.

Found her. Orlando, Florida, residence belonging to one Tim Bearpaw, age sixty-two, and one Loretta Bearpaw, age fifty-three. Loretta Bearpaw aka Loretta Peters, Loretta Bankhead, Loretta Jones, Loretta Browne, and Loretta Madison. She’s Jess’s mother. Driving a rental, red Corolla, parked at the following address and has been for four days, according to the tracking chip in the engine. The address followed.

James immediately booked a ticket to Orlando, sent an email to his superior that he had a family emergency, and shut his computer down. Technically, he was on administrative leave. He’d been to the office every day, but if this took longer than the weekend when he was officially due back, they should know. He would be standing in front of her within five hours. James exhaled sharply and hurried out of the complex. He had to get this straight. She was his mate and she belonged with him. It would be so much easier with a she-wolf. He would simply say, ‘You are my destined mate,’ she would say, ‘Yes I am,’ and that would be it. How boring. He grinned.

Jess was a challenge. He hadn’t expected that from her, but he was finding that it piqued his interest. His wolf wanted to chase her. The prospect of that turned his blood to lava. Wolves loved to track and hunt. She didn’t know it, but she was doing exactly what the beast needed her to do.

There was an inner strength in her, one that he hadn’t expected but was beginning to respect. She was stronger than he’d first thought, but not she-wolf strong, Jess would still need protection. To most it looked like she’d run, bailed, bolted. She had. She’d run from the biggest predator on the planet, a man staking his claim. That took balls. To stay alone, go alone without a protector or a safety net. To walk away without help when you are a submissive human female, she had nerves of steel. She was better off with him, though. He could offer her safety. She had the scent of loneliness about her, and he could offer companionship. Her home was two rooms, a living room-kitchen combo, and a bedroom-bathroom combo. He could offer her better shelter with grass and a garden, not concrete and brick. Now he only had to convince her that she was better off with him than without him. Once he did, she would never want to run again.