chapter 2

Swallowing a groan, Wolf nodded. “Yep, and they plan to decorate all our yards apparently.”

His brother chuckled and shook his head. “They’re lucky they’re cute. How do you feel about

that?”

Shrugging his shoulders, he forced himself not to scowl. “You know how I feel about it. Fucking

hate it. But I’m not going to ruin it for them.”

Maddox nodded as he looked down at the ground. It was one of those conversations that Wolf

hated having and he knew his brothers worried about him around this time of the year.

“I know you have some really dark shit inside you when it comes to the holidays, but maybe now

with the Littles around, you could try to create some new and better memories. At least then it might

become a bit less painful each year,” Maddox said.

Yeah, he had thought about that, too. But Wolf was pretty sure the memories from his past would

always haunt him.

Turning back to his truck, he checked the back seat for his laptop and then the floor, frowning

when he came up empty.

“What are you looking for?” Maddox asked.

“My laptop. I must have forgotten it on-site. Shit. I probably need to go get it before it’s covered

in snow and I have to have Colt build me a new one.”

Looking up toward the darkening sky, his brother nodded. “Yeah. Might want to do that quick. It’s

going to be dark soon and I’m pretty sure it’s going to start snowing any minute.”

Wolf grunted. “You going to work at the club tonight?”

“No. I closed early today. Don’t want my employees to be out and about in this weather.”

“Good plan. I need to go grab a jacket and my keys and make sure the InstaPot is done cooking

before I go. I’ll catch you later.”

Maddox lifted his chin and smiled. “Just think about trying to enjoy the season this year. The

Littles will definitely want their favorite uncle Wolfie to be a part of everything.”

Turning back toward Maddox, Wolf grinned. “I’m the favorite?”

Chuckling, Maddox flipped him off. “Only because you look like Jason Momoa and you’re a big

teddy bear when it comes to them.”

It was Wolf’s turn to flip his brother off, though he found himself chuckling as he walked back

inside.

Shit, it was freezing out. The snow had already begun falling by the time he had left his house. The

large fluffy flakes were coming down thick and fast, and the sky had turned from gray to black. Even

with his windshield wipers going on high, it was still difficult to see.

The building he’d been working on was mostly just beams and concrete floors. It was going to

become an office building near downtown Seattle. He preferred building houses since that was

something he could put some of his own style into, but he couldn’t deny the money that came with

building corporate businesses. It was often hard to turn down one of those corporate jobs.

Leaving his truck running with the heat on, Wolf jumped out and went into the building, knowing

exactly where his laptop should be. Using the flashlight on his phone, he walked toward the back

corner where he had a table set up to hold their blueprints and computers.

As he stepped closer to the table, he heard a sharp intake of breath. Looking around, he narrowed his eyes as he moved his flashlight in every direction. It wasn’t uncommon for homeless people to

find abandoned buildings or houses to sleep in at night. Since this building didn’t even have a roof on

yet, he didn’t think anyone would want to stay there. Maybe it was an animal of some kind.

When he didn’t see anything, he turned toward the table again and walked closer, seeing his

laptop sitting where he’d left it earlier in the day. Just as he grabbed the device, he heard a soft

meowing noise come from under the table.

Stepping back, he leaned down with his flashlight and saw a kitten curled up in the arms of a

woman with the biggest set of brown eyes he’d ever seen.

“I’m sorry! Please don’t call the cops!” she whimpered, backing herself farther into the corner.

As she moved, his flashlight shone on her face, revealing several dark bruises on her cheeks.

Rage filled him at the sight, and he let out a string of curse words.

“What happened to your face?” he demanded.

Her eyes widened even more as she tried to curl into a tiny ball in the corner.

Realizing he was scaring her and she probably wouldn’t talk to him or let him help if he didn’t

ease up, Wolf squatted down, hoping if he appeared a bit smaller than his normal six foot five build

that she might talk to him.

“I’m not going to hurt you. Shit, you don’t have a jacket. It’s fucking freezing out here, little girl.

Here, take this and wrap yourself up,” he said, setting down the laptop and removing his jacket.

He held it out for her to grab, but she stared at the material as though it might burn her if she

touched it.

“Please take it. You’re going to get hypothermia,” he told her.

“I’m sorry,” she said through trembling lips.

When he realized she wasn’t going to take the jacket from him, he let out a steady breath to calm

himself. He needed to get her somewhere warm.

“I’m not going to hurt you but I’m not going to let you stay here. You’ll freeze to death. My truck is

out front, and I have the heater running. Come out of there,” he said as firmly as he could without

sounding scary.

Her lips already had a tinge of blue to them that made him wonder how long she’d been in the

building. Was she homeless? Where had the bruises come from?

Figure all of that out later. For now, get her somewhere warm and safe.

“If you don’t come out, I’m going to have to crawl under there and get you, and that will be a

challenge for a guy my size.”

Her dark eyes studied him, scanning over every inch of his face before meting his gaze again.

“You won’t hurt me?” she asked.

“I promise, I won’t hurt you. My name’s Wolf. Which is probably not helping you feel safe but I’m

a nice Wolf. I promise. I’m not the kind of Wolf that will hide in your grandma’s bed,” he joked,

hoping to ease her fear a bit with some humor.

A small smile pulled at her lips. Looking down at the tiny kitten in her arms, she stroked its head

with one of her thin fingers.

“Can I bring the kitty? It was crying in a dumpster and I got it out. I don’t want to leave it,” she

said in a small voice.

Wolf nodded. “You can bring the kitty. Come on.”

He held out his hand for her and smiled when she gave him the cat instead of taking his hand. Ever

so slowly, she crawled out from under the table.

Even though she was bruised and partially blue, something about the woman made everything inside of Wolf feel alive. The top of her head barely came to his chest. She was just a slight little

thing, but her big round eyes and raven-colored hair made it impossible to miss her.

Grabbing his laptop from the table, he walked slowly with the kitten held close to his chest. The

woman didn’t have anything with her, which bothered him. What the hell was she doing out here? He

had so many questions. While he wasn’t a very patient man when he wanted answers, he sensed he

would need to figure out how to slow down and go at her pace because she was obviously terrified.

She followed him out to his truck and he hurried to open the passenger side door for her. Setting

the cat on the seat, he turned and picked the woman up without so much as a word and deposited her

into the warm cab. She looked at him with a shocked expression as he closed the door behind her.

Calm down. Don’t be so rough. She doesn’t know that she’s safe with you yet.

Walking around the truck, he climbed into the driver’s side and tapped several buttons on the dash

to get the heater blasting and the seat warmers turned on.

When he finally looked over at her, he sucked in a breath. Her bruises were much worse than he’d

originally thought. There was also a large cut on her chin.

“You need to go to a hospital. You might need stitches.”

“No! No hospital! No!” she yelled out, scooting closer to the door.

Lifting his hands, Wolf nodded. “Okay, okay. Calm down. No hospital. I won’t take you to a

hospital.”

She studied him for a moment, her eyes big and scared. “Promise?”

Jesus, fuck. Why the hell did Littles always have to ask that? If he promised, he’d have to figure

out some other way to get her medical care.

She’s not a Little, dipshit.

He wasn’t so sure about that. But he couldn’t just assume.

“I promise. What’s your name?”

“Lucy,” she said in a small voice.

Shit. He was so fucked, and yet he knew nothing about this woman.

You know all you need to know.

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