on, why don’t you just tell me?”
Casey was about to argue, but a look from his dad quelled him. He resigned himself and related the story, trying to gloss over the more intimate details. His dad listened wordlessly.
At the end of the story, James let out a long breath. He’d had numerous conversations with his son regarding women over the years, about behaving responsibly and treating them respectfully, but nothing seemed to sink in. He knew his son wasn’t cruel to any of the women he’d dated, but before now, Casey could never have been considered considerate or loving, and James often despaired at his behavior. Not that Casey was any worse than the other young wolves; they were all horny shifters, ruled by their libidos, as far as James was concerned. He, perhaps, couldn’t understand Casey’s behavior as well as he could if he were a wolf shifter. Pumas were different animals altogether.
But, seeing his son looking a little forlorn melted his heart. He squeezed his son’s shoulder reassuringly. “It’s gonna be okay. You’ll find her, son.”
He was still a little doubtful. “How can you be so sure?”
“I have faith in you, champ.”
Casey smiled, immediately feeling reassured. “Thanks, dad.”
James stood up and stretched. “I better go to bed; your mom’s either asleep or about to come and find me.”
Casey smirked. “I’m guessing asleep, I think I can hear her snoring. The window frames are almost shaking.”
His dad playfully slapped his head and headed out. He stopped at the door and looked back at his son. “Look, when you do find her, my advice is that you actually slow down, and talk to her before you jump into bed again… figuratively speaking.”
Casey felt his cheeks flush and nodded as his dad said goodnight. He found his grandma’s casserole and set off for his cabin.
He shook his head, and decided to stop worrying over what had previously happened with his mate. Yes, thing could have gone better, yes, he could have acted more like a gentleman, in particular he winced about forgetting birth control the last time they were together , but that was in the past. All that mattered was the future. He just needed to find his mate, and then he was sure that everything would fall into place.
She must be feeling the mating pull too, and by the time they met again, like him, she would be so excited to see him that nothing else would matter. His wolf yapped excitedly. Yep, things could only get better.
Chapter Eight
16 th January
Deanna tapped her pencil against her desk. Nothing was happening . Nothing much ever did happen in the small town. Oh, they had their moments, now and then, but on a day-to-day basis, the most exciting thing to happen was when an elderly bull shifter would run around naked, or when the Tanner boys would find some way to start raising hell.
The Tanner boys were the most mischievous wolves in the whole Grey pack, and given how much competition they had, that was really saying something . Most recently the three youngest Tanner boys were suspected of breaking into the houses on the fancy-pants, rich housing estate and taking swims in their pools. Usually, all that was left behind was a pile of wet towels. At one house, one of the perpetrators had actually made themselves a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but they left a note, and enough money to cover the ingredients they used. Thoughtful criminals .
Then there was the Mayor’s house… The Mayor hadn’t considered the situation serious, until they broke into his house. One of the perpetrators left a Baby Ruth bar in the bottom of his pool. Apparently they had been watching Caddyshack recently . The Mayor was hopping mad. Deanna wished she had seen his face when he found it; she had a hard time not hooting with laughter when he was around. The only thing that quelled her was a stern glare from Alec; he didn’t find the situation funny at all.
God, she wished she had something to do. Even all her