The Wolf’s Forbidden Mate by Layla Silver

Chapter 5 — Travis

The bell chimed as a chilly breeze filtered through the open door, allowing a family of four to wander inside the lobby of the shelter. I sniffed the air. It was a human family. Once the chill passed, the four of them—a pair of parents and two middle-school-aged children—stood in front of the counter expectantly.

I smiled warmly. “Welcome to Paw Pride Shelter. I’m Travis. How can I help you today?”

“We would like to adopt a cat,” the woman replied. “What do you have?”

“We have a lot of cats who are ready to be adopted. Are you looking for any specific breed?”

She shook her head as the younger of the two children, a boy with auburn brown hair hanging in his eyes, yanked on his mother’s jacket. “No, we’re not—Stop it, Jack.”

“Mommy, I want a big cat.”

She smiled warmly. “I’m sure there are lots of big cats.”

“Plenty,” I agreed. I grabbed a clipboard that had adoption papers clipped to it and nodded for them to follow me to the door next to the counter. “If you follow me, I can show you around.”

Jack raced ahead of his parents and through the door as soon as I opened it. His mother darted after him, chiding him for being so impatient. I chuckled under my breath as I led them through the exam hallway toward the back of the building where all the cats were housed.

“We have one really big cat here, a Maine Coon,” I said as I opened the door and ushered them inside. “She isn’t great with kids, so I’ll take you to the adult cat room.”

We passed Minx who growled when the older of the two kids tried to poke into her cage.

“Careful,” I called over my shoulder. “She might swat you.”

“Why would you have her up for adoption if she’s not good with kids?”

I swallowed a retort and said instead, “Some people adopt from us who don’t have kids.”

“I see. Do you have any easy cats to care for? We’re not home a lot.”

Red flags popped up in my mind when I heard that. I tried not to worry too much about it. After all, cats were already relatively independent. They needed to be fed and cared for regularly, but they often groomed themselves and were easily amused in the right conditions without too many humans around.

“Most cats don’t need a lot of attention. I’m sure we can find the right match,” I assured as I motioned to the adult cat room.

Once we were inside, the two boys darted around the room, trying to catch the cats. I looked at the parents and said, “Though they don’t respond well to being chased.”

“Jack! William! Stop running around,” the mother demanded.

The father lingered near the door, appearing bored by the entire ordeal. The more time I spent with this family, the less I wanted to give them a cat. Even though we were pressed with bills and needed all the help we could get, I didn’t trust them to care for an animal that needed their space respected.

Jack grabbed one of the cats who yowled when he tried to lift the cat. I shook my head. “Parcy doesn’t like to be lifted like that.”

“Then, why would you show us these cats?” the mother inquired. “And who names a cat Parcy? That’s an awful name.”

“Any cat you adopt today is open to having their name changed,” I replied. “And I ask that you respect them while you’re here. They like having visitors, but they also like having space to warm up to you.”

“That sounds weird,” the father commented. “I mean, it’s a cat. How much space does it need?”

“Enough to roam around and play,” I responded, a hint of annoyance edging in my voice. “They need the right food, the right litter, the right kind of toys.”

“That sounds like a lot,” the mother said with a chuckle. “Can’t we just get a cat that doesn’t need so much? I don’t want to spend a lot feeding a cat.”

I blinked at the parents who were attempting to coral their kids from the center of the room toward the door. The cats had all scattered and were either hiding in the trees in the corners of the room or underneath chairs. They didn’t like this family at all. While Minx had always been finicky with new people, I should have taken her warning growl as a significant sign that this family wasn’t any good.

I sighed and squared my shoulders. “Maybe a cat isn’t the right pet for you. Perhaps a gerbil would be more suitable.”

“The boys want a cat, so that’s why we’re here,” the mother said pointedly.

“They don’t seem to understand how to treat cats, so I won’t be able to let you adopt one today.”

She made a face like she had been sucking on a sour candy. “What? That doesn’t make sense. Why even bring us back here?”

“I was hoping you would be a good fit, but now I can see you’re not.”

“Well, that’s rude,” the father said as he puffed up. “Come on, Eileen. We can go to another shelter.”

Good luck with that.

I raised my eyebrows as I watched the family head toward the door. I trailed after them to make sure they didn’t bother the other cats and then lingered behind the counter as they rushed out the front door. The chilly breeze returned along with the chime of the bell, smacking my hot face that probably had turned redder than a beet with how upset I was feeling.

Once the door was shut, the silence of the lobby returned and I sighed as I set the clipboard down. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans.

“Did they adopt?”

I looked at Oliver who was cradling one of the kittens we had rescued. He had a bottle held up to the kitten who was suckling desperately at the milk available.

I shook my head. “No, they were rotten and rude.”

“We can’t afford to be picky.”

“Regardless of everything, I don’t want the cats to be in the wrong hands.”

Oliver frowned sympathetically. “I know, Travis.”

“They deserve to have a good home.”

“I agree with you. But with the way things are going, all the cats are going to be homeless soon—and us, too.”

I frowned at the counter, my countenance turning as sour as that woman who was here with her bratty kids. I pressed my palms flat to the desk and stared at the computer. I poked the keyboard to clear the screensaver on the monitor. No new emails. No call-backs about the fundraiser. It didn’t seem like anyone cared.

“Have you heard from anyone?” I asked even though I knew the answer. “About the auction?”

“Nope. Not a peep.”

“Great.”

Oliver offered a reassuring smile. “But it’s only been a couple of days since you put out those flyers.”

“I was hoping we would get a good response from the art community.”

“Artists are finicky. They’re like cats.”

I laughed. “Sure are.”

“I’m going to finish feeding these kittens.”

“Alright, Oliver.”

As soon as he disappeared, the bell chimed and prompted my attention. As the breeze invaded the lobby once more, a gorgeous woman appeared with it, her black curls hanging around her face and flowing down her shoulders in long, tight tendrils. Her gray eyes swept over the lobby, appearing calm, curious, and intelligent. When they landed on me, she smiled warmly in greeting, the corners of her mouth digging into her cheeks as she stepped forward.

I was enchanted. Nothing else existed in that moment. Oliver was gone. The cat shelter fell into the background. Even the things I had been handling on my desk—the clipboard, the adoption papers, the keyboard I had been tapping idly before this woman walked in—were all insignificant compared to the radiance of her grin. My eyes drifted to her body, drawn to the accentuated curves of her form.

I swallowed hard as my eyes flicked back to her face.

Her mouth moved and I blinked to clear my thoughts, putting on my best customer service smile as I said, “Hi, I’m Travis. How can I help you?”

“I’m Waverly Morran. I want to help with the shelter.”

“You want to help…?”

She held up a flyer. “With the auction?”

“Oh!” I smiled sheepishly as I gathered papers. They weren’t important papers. I just needed something to do with my hands. “Right, of course. I’ll need you to, uh…”

“Is it alright if I help you out secretly?”

I paused. “Why’s that?”

“Well, my pack disapproves of me wanting to help, but I want to help you out. I love cats. I wanted to adopt one at some point. That didn’t go so well with my family.”

“Your pack?”

Her smile went from charming to nearly sinister for a split second. “I’m a wolf.”

I chortled as I nodded. “Right, I should have guessed.”

“I’m a seamstress. I make a lot of different types of plushies and things like that. I figured I could make a bunch for you and you could sell them.”

“You want to donate plushies to us to sell?”

She nodded, wrapping a lock of hair around her finger and twirling it tightly. She uncurled it, curled it again, and then repeated this process as I stared at her. She raised her trim eyebrows as if to ask if I was still mentally present.

I was—I just couldn’t stop staring at her.

“Are you an angel?” I blurted.

I turned about thirty shades of red as I dropped my eyes to my hands, to the desk, to the papers I had swept around. What the hell was I even doing with these papers? I shook my head and searched for the donation form. I found it hiding in one of the file folders next to the computer monitor.

Waverly laughed. “I’m not an angel. I’m just a wolf.”

“Right, you’re a wolf. I have a donation form for you.”

I tried to push the thoughts that were surfacing from the depths of my soul. Kissing a wolf? That probably wouldn’t go over well with Allegra. I mean, it would just be a kiss. Nothing more than that. Who says I can’t crush on a wolf?

“Travis?” Waverly’s voice was like a lifeline in an angry sea. “You should probably hand me the form now.”

“Right.” I released the paper to Waverly who smiled with a sort of understanding that tickled me. I was embarrassed, but it also felt fine to be embarrassed around her. Why did I feel that way? “So, you can just give us your general information. I mean, you can make up a name if you want to keep things secret. I can remember your actual name.”

“Can I just put my initials?”

“That’s perfectly fine.”

Oliver nudged me. I nearly jumped out of my skin. There weren’t a lot of people who could sneak up on me given my natural abilities, but Oliver was light on his feet for a big guy—and there was the fact that I was distracted.

“I’m going on break soon. Do you need anything?”

“No, thanks.”

He winked. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

I sighed with exasperation as I turned back to Waverly. She seemed too preoccupied with the form to have heard Oliver. When Oliver was gone, I sank into the chair behind the desk and tried to focus on the computer. No luck. Waverly brought the form back to me and leaned against the counter. Her perfume met my nostrils then, a delightful mixture of brown sugar and vanilla. I smiled weakly.

“Is there anything else I can do to help?”

I hummed thoughtfully. “What do you have in mind?”

“Well, I have to run back home and work on a plushie for a client, but I can talk to you about ideas tomorrow night.”

“Want to meet at my place?”

She smiled while her eyes dropped to my lips briefly before meeting my gaze again. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

I smiled. “Great. Let me give you my address.”

She gave me her phone number and I texted her my home address. It was far enough out of the way to give us a sense of privacy from prying eyes. No one would see us together in town which was important. I knew how delicate the pride was about wolves. And even though there had been a union between panthers and wolves before, I didn’t want to test the waters by getting swept away with someone like Waverly.

Even though I did want that.

I cleared my throat and shrugged. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow around…?”

“7:00 PM?”

“Sure, that sounds good.”

She nodded as she studied the screen of her phone. “Oh, it’s only a few minutes from here.”

“I like to stay close.”

“But far enough out of town to avoid the general mayhem there.”

I chuckled. “Sure.”

“Alright, Travis. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, Waverly.”

She grinned as she bounced away from the counter. As she reached the door, she threw a glance over her shoulder. Was that blush in her cheeks? She waved and then swept out the door, leaving me in a sea of thoughts about her full lips.