Free Werewolves in Love 1: Kiss and Kin by Kinsey Holley Page A

back inside, they found Lark gone.
     
    ***
     
    TJ had the margaritas ready when she got there. She dumped her things in the apartment’s tiny second bedroom and threw herself down in the vintage eighties Papasan chair TJ wouldn’t throw out no matter how many people pointed and giggled.
    Mumbling her thanks when TJ put the glass in her hand, she waited while her best friend settled on the sofa. She closed her eyes, but she felt TJ’s stare and sensed her anticipation.
    “Well,” TJ eventually said softly, “I always figured if you and Taran got together, you’d call me, we’d giggle and squee, and then we’d analyze every single thing he said and try to figure out what would happen next.”
    She didn’t answer.
    “We still need to figure out what happens next, don’t we?” TJ continued.
    She nodded.
    “Lark, sweetie, you have to say something here.”
    “He told me I’d run,” she mumbled.
    “What did he mean by that?”
    “He said if I knew how much he wanted me, I’d run like hell.” Her voice quavered as her throat tightened. “He was right.”
    “Can you tell me how you feel? Are you sad, scared, pissed off, confused?”
    “Yes.”
    TJ smiled. “Okay. Are you even a little happy? The guy you’ve been in love with for ten years wants you, and—”
    “Yes. It makes me happy. It made me happy; I mean, for about twenty hours it made me delirious. I thought my whole life had changed.” She laughed bitterly. “And I was right.”
    “So. You’re happy he loves you, pissed off and scared because you didn’t have any warning—”
    “Who said he loves me? I’m his mate. He doesn’t have a choice; it’s not like he picked me for me .”
    On her way to the kitchen for refills, TJ stopped and turned around. With one hand holding the pitcher and the other one planted on her hip, she said, “Please tell me that’s not what flipped you out. Please tell me you understand the difference between a man and a werewolf.”
    “Werewolves fall in love with women who aren’t their mates, don’t they?”
    “Sure, all the time. Most wolves never even find a mate,” TJ called over the blender. “But wolves who do find mates say it’s love—it looks like love and feels like love and hurts like love. Only difference is, a mate bond lasts forever, and human love often doesn’t. Scientists say even for humans, love is partly a physiological reaction, so do you really want to get hung up on details?”
    TJ poured her a new ’rita and sat back down on the couch, sipping her own.
    She didn’t pick up her glass right away. She sat cross-legged and cross-armed in the large chair, growing more morose and annoyed by the minute as she realized her most trusted adviser insisted on approaching this whole issue rationally.
    “I don’t consider it just ‘details,’ Teej. I’ve known him almost my whole life, and he’s never acted like he wanted me, or even liked me. He’s always treated me like an irritating little sister and now he figures out I’m his mate, all of a—”
    TJ slammed her glass down on the coffee table so hard some of the icy green concoction jumped the rim and puddled on the finished wood. She paid no attention to the mess.
    “Lark. Are you going to argue with me about wolves and love and bonding?”
    She blinked in surprise. “Oh, my God.” Her heart dropped down to her shoes, and her face burned with shame. “I’m a selfish fucking bitch,” she said through her hands. “I’m a stupid, insensitive asshole. I can’t believe I didn’t even stop to think about you and Josh. Oh, Teej…”
    “Stop it, sweetie. Just stop,” TJ murmured, sighing. “I wasn’t trying to make you feel like shit. I was reminding you I know something about this. I want you to look at this calmly. You need to figure out what you’re really feeling here.”
    She raised her head to see TJ looking at her with love and sympathy, and she wondered what she’d done to deserve such a best friend.
    “You