Free The Witch Who Cried Wolf (Cry Wolf, #1) by Sarah Makela Page A

me, for crying out loud. We walked to the front door.
    “I’ll talk to you later. You know what you need to do. Release the fear.” The door shut behind Jessa, and I locked it, resting my forehead against the painted wood.
    Jessa’s words resonated through me. Release the fear. That was all good and well, but when a werewolf charged at you, not being afraid was ridiculously hard. Ethan had kicked the beast in the face, courage and determination in his eyes. Then again, he was a soldier. They had to be tough.
    No excuses. Excuses would only hamper my growth.
    Thoughts of last night filtered through my resolve. Had Ethan made it home okay? I shouldn’t have allowed Greg push us apart when Ethan had been on my doorstep. I’d been too worried about what Greg would think to insist on taking Ethan home, especially after all the blood he’d lost. There was no way the salve could’ve totally healed his wounds.
    Jessa started her car, and I glanced out the window to see her pulling away. One more relationship poised on the brink of ruin.

Chapter Nine
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Ethan
    T his dinner with Mia and her parents tonight was making me nervous, especially after all we’d been through yesterday. I grimaced. Regardless of what had happened, that didn’t change our relationship, even if I knew I wanted more than what we were. I didn’t want the commitment and being with her still felt forbidden.
    Besides, I still had no clue why she was in danger. There had to be something she hadn’t told me. If I didn’t talk with her soon, this whole thing might get swept under the rug, since I doubted we’d be discussing it at the dinner table.
    Getting my jeans and shirt on, I decided to go for a walk. That would attract far less attention from Nolan than going for a drive. Besides, Mia didn’t live that far away.
    When I knocked on her front door, no one answered. I frowned, glancing back at her car, which was parked in the driveway.
    Somehow, I doubted she wasn’t home. I rang the doorbell a few times, then I knocked again.
    “What is it now?” she grumbled behind the closed door. Her eyes widened when she opened it and saw me, and she took a couple steps back. “I, uh....” She wore a pair of tiny shorts and a tank top. Her hair was ruffled from sleep and she didn’t appear to be wearing a bra, from the way her nipples hardened as the cold air blew inside her house. “Ethan!”
    “Mia.” I nodded, trying my best to keep my gaze at eye level. The hard peaks on her chest were tempting the hell out of me. The need to brush my fingers over them and hear her moan my name beneath me had my dick swelling. Damn it!
    This was getting ridiculous. Either my hormones were going into overdrive again, or the secret ingredient in the healing salve had been a stupid love potion. Why would she have concocted a love potion, then added some to a healing salve that she’d used on herself ? It didn’t add up.
    “What are you doing here?” Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked around my shoulder as if expecting to find me with someone else.
    I frowned. “After last night, I wanted to swing by to see if you were okay. Besides, we were both stressed, and we didn’t get a chance to really talk about what’s going on.”
    Grimacing, she pulled away from the doorway. “I’m fine. Just a few bumps and bruises.”
    A few of the bruises in question looked like handprints on her upper arms. That fucking asshole. From the way she’d reacted, I had a feeling....
    Her gaze drifted down to where I was looking, and she gulped, retreating deeper into the house. I followed and shut the door behind me. “Those were.... He was just....” She grabbed a blanket from the couch, wrapping it around her shoulders. “It was tense last night. He overreacted.” She looked indecisive for a moment. “I don’t know.”
    I took a few steps toward her. My anger retreated at the look in her eyes. “You don’t have to defend him to me. What he did