Page 36 of Lycans & Lattes

“Enough!” I heard Wyatt slam a fist onto the table, making all the cutlery clang.

What was it with this werewolf family and hitting tables?

I’d only made it two steps out the door before he cut in front of me. “Willow, stop. Please. I’m so, so sorry.” He took my cheeks in his hands, fury still raging in his eyes. My anger softened as I rubbed a hand down his arm. “Please don’t let them get in your head. You’re all I want.”

“I meant what I said. I’m not going anywhere, Wyatt,” I assured him, rising on my tiptoes to kiss him. “They don’t scare me. Now, go back in there and⁠—”

“No, we’re leaving together.”

“I understand, but you’ll make it so much worse if you leave now. And think about Lulu and Liam. Your mother seems very determined to ensure one of them marries into your family.” He chuckled at that and brushed another kiss on my lips. “Go,” I pushed. “I’ll be okay.”

He paused, looking between me and the doorway. “I hate it when you’re right.”

“No, you don’t,” I teased, and he gave me one last kiss, that told me all of the heated thoughts flashing through his mind, before he forced himself to turn back inside.

His body warmth left me too soon, and the chill rattled my teeth as I wove through the crowds back to the apartment, only stopping to give directions three times before taking out my keys and letting myself into the Witch’s Brew.

I didn’t bother to turn on the lights, navigating from memory alone toward the stairwell. Mindlessly, I trailed my hand across the countertop, feeling surprisingly buoyed despite the chilly reception from Wyatt’s family. If that was the worst of it, I could handle it just fine. It would get easier over time.

Suddenly, my hand hit cold steel and I jumped.

I quickly reached for the undercounter lights and switched them on. The fluorescence flickered for a second, my heart racing as my eyes landed on it: a butcher’s knife placed in the center of the countertop.

No note. But it was message enough.

With trembling hands, I pulled out my phone.

Harlow answered on the second ring. “You know I hate phone calls. Why didn’t you just text⁠—”

“Hey, Harlow?” I asked shakily.

“Yeah?” My little sister immediately jumped to high alert. “You okay? How was the dinner at Wyatt’s mom’s place? Did something happen?”

“You didn’t happen to leave a knife in the middle of the countertop, did you?”

“No?”

“Okay,” I squeaked, my body tingling with nerves. “I think . . . I think someone’s been in here.”

16

Wyatt

When I went back inside my family home, I was prepared for fangs and fur to fly, but for some miraculous reason, everyone had decided to act as if the Willow incident had never happened. I wasn’t sure if it was a miracle, a time warp, or them planning an attack later and more privately . . . probably the latter.

My mother focused on Lulu and Liam for the rest of the evening, but only after asking Aisling a half a dozen times if she’d ever consider dating women. Say what you would about Sandra Sullivan, but she wasted no time in pivoting to the next potential match for her children. Unfortunately, much to Mom’s chagrin, Aisling was regrettably straight and not a match for Eloise. It seemed everyone at the table was going to get a chance to be in the hot seat.

Dessert lasted far too long and all I could think about was getting back to Willow. These early days were maddening. I could barely stand to be sat across the table from her, but she’d held her own and given my mother something she needed: perspective.

No one outside of my grandfather or me had ever defied Sandra openly. And while my sister and mother butted heads often, I was always the one to fight Eloise’s battles when it came to our mom. Not because Eloise couldn’t defend herself, but because to my mother, the alpha’s word was final.

After I helped my aunt and cousin clear the table, I bid everyone but Gregory goodbye. He and I would have words later, but I only had one priority: I needed to get to my mate.

I took off from Mom’s house, then cut through the haunted wood and across the silent pumpkin patch before making a beeline for the Witch’s Brew. I’d just hit the well-worn walkway and slowed to catch my breath when I felt a dark presence tailing me.

I paused, sniffing the air as I looked back to the mist-shrouded path leading out of the haunted wood.

Something was there, and it was watching me from the shadows.