Free Claiming the She Wolf by Louisa Bacio

weeks felt right, so easily they’d fallen into a routine—but he also worried about her safety in that big ol’ house all alone. No wonder her brother didn’t want her staying behind.
    It was more than bad luck. Someone had purposely been sabotaging the construction. Thinking about her, an attractive woman— his woman—without protection, got his hackles all raised up.
    Before he headed to Gee’s, there was one stop Yas had to make first. He’d been avoiding it the entire time he’d been in Los Lobos. Now, when he was more down than ever before, why did he choose to go? Hell, he didn’t get it. But if his time was about up in this small town, then he wanted to see the home he’d grown up in and his family had fled.
    The house was located on the other side of town. The farther he got away from the core of revitalization, the more rundown the remaining buildings became. Finally, he reached the end of the drive.
    Wilderness encroached on the property. The main structure of the house remained, but it was missing the front door, and the windows had been broken out. Typical.
    Could his family have moved out, and no one ever inhabited since? The gate hung on one rusted bracket. And he’d thought Tala’s house had been unkempt.
    A huge tree hung over the side of the house, and as he passed, Yas caught sight of chains and rubber submerged in the greenery.
    His heart stilled. It couldn’t be.
    Memories of a tire swing or pushing his toddler sister while she giggled crowded his mind. How was it possible he’d forgotten? Until now.
    Foliage crunched beneath his boots as he pounded a path to the front. He rubbed his palm against the trunk and gazed upward. It made a mighty fine swinging tree.
    The sound of a bird hawking drew his attention to the house followed by a staccato of memories of his mom throwing plates at a man, screams, and fire. He tested the wood of the stairs and made his way up, blinded by the past and hopeful for the future.
    Running his fingers over the bannister’s peeling paint, he factored how much it would take to make the home hospitable again. After more than twenty years abandoned. He imagined his mom tending to the flowers. If left unattended, would they grow? The answer was yes, unbounded. And grow, and grow.
    Inside, a damp muskiness filled his nostrils. So much of this wood would have to be knocked down and replaced. If he were staying in town, he’d probably start working on the house in his spare time.
    In fact, who said he had to leave? Just because Tala didn’t want him in her life didn’t mean he had to run out of town with his tail between his legs. She might change her mind eventually, when she figured out that he wasn’t the threat.
    Seeing their old home threw him into even more of a funk, and he had to get out of there quickly. Sure as shit he’d be doing some late-night visits to Tala’s place to ensure everything was fine. Too soon, Yas arrived at Gee’s Bar. One look at his face, no one asked many questions. After picking up a room key, he settled in upstairs. The joyful chaos of the bar was in stark contrast to the quiet solitude of where he’d been staying. He kept waiting to hear Tala’s sweet voice as she called him to dinner. Instead, the rumbling of his stomach made him stop pouting long enough to go downstairs for a meal.
    Gee acknowledged him with a nod, and the server slipped a plate of food in front of him. Paul raised his eyebrows and looked at the empty chair. Paul didn’t utter a word, but Yas knew what the guy was asking. Where’s Tala?
    “Just me. She tossed me out. Damn that woman. She wants to be so independent, even when no one’s trying to take her freedom away.”
    With a shake of his head, Paul commiserated with Yas. He lifted his palms upward and shrugged his shoulders.
    “What am I going to do? Not hightail it out of this town and forget about her. She dug her nails into my soul, and now she won’t be able to get rid of me so easily. I’ll