Fated Souls by Becky Flade Read Free Book Online Page B

more sketches than she knew what to do with, shared stories with him, but he didn’t respond, couldn’t even if he wanted to. The one that could but wouldn’t had gone back to actively avoiding her after their shared meal in the diner. When she’d returned to the inn, he’d left a note for her at the front desk.
    Feel free to use my stables at your leisure. Simply call Sly first to confirm. A
    Since her first visit to the Gael stable, Maggie had learned that the road that passed Aidan’s home continued directly to the stable before dead-ending and she could easily park there. In truth, she had suspected as much on her first visit to the stable or she would’ve seen Sly’s vehicle in front of Aidan’s home. But she had wanted a chance to peek in his windows and walk his grounds before essentially sneaking up on the two men inside the stable. Now she simply drove straight there, parked, and shouted a greeting before entering. Sly lived above and she did not relish the idea of catching him in his boxers, or worse, while retrieving the morning paper or a cup of caffeine.
    She’d gone riding several times now, and as much as she loved it, she always left disappointed at seeing Aidan only from a distance. Short of stalking him, something she refused to stoop to, she had no avenues left to pursue. She couldn’t force him to tell her what she wanted to know. She didn’t know where he transformed, assuming he even did. She hadn’t been able to discover even a trace of evidence to suggest she was close to the location. She’d stopped by his home in the evenings, after dark, and the lights were on, his truck parked out front, and sometimes she could hear the television or music playing inside, but he never answered the door and she never saw him through the windows. Yeah, she’d peeked. She tried in the mornings, but missed him then as well.
    She tried to tell herself that she was being obstinate. Perhaps he wasn’t a werewolf. Maybe she’d somehow managed to pick up and connect with a strangely domesticated wild wolf in the Chengwatana Forest that had eyes the same unique shade of green as Aidan Gael’s. A man who was clearly attracted to her and who also shared some sort of earth-shaking soul-questioning connection with her. But both events were unrelated and coincidental. Okay, that sounds preposterous, even for me, she chided. She knew what she knew, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
    “I’m not going to be able to stay here much longer. It’s getting too expensive for an unemployed gal like me to continue on what has essentially become a vacation.” The wolf looked up at her with forlorn eyes. “I don’t want to go; I’ll miss you so much. It’s not even like I can promise to call or write for Christ’s sake. Your alter ego refuses to acknowledge what I know is true, and I can’t very well send you letters care of his address. How would I address them? Dear Wolf?”
    She snorted and the wolf huffed out his patented chuckle. She ran her fingers through his fine pelt. “I should’ve given you a name. I can’t call you Aidan, because … well, I just can’t.” The wolf growled low in his throat, a sound of disapproval, not of anger. “And apparently you don’t like that idea either.”
    Maggie shifted her weight and the wolf stood, stretching his long body out. She tried to unzip her bag and it wouldn’t budge. Again. “Goddamn it, I’m stuck in this freaking thing again.” She slowly stood and then shimmied her body so that the bag slithered down to pool at her feet. “I’m heading in early tonight. I’m going for a ride in the morning, and the last time I was so tired, Bessie almost threw me, and Bessie is a very gentle mare. I have to get a few hours shut eye in a comfortable bed.” The wolf licked her hand goodbye and bounded into the darkness.
    • • •
    Aidan stood just outside the doors of the stable and listened to Maggie sing quietly to the horse as she combed its mane. He