NICK
CHAPTER TWO
I’m restless.
Something changed in the air last night, and I’m not sure what, but I swear my inner wolf is practically pacing inside my chest.
Contrary to popular belief, werewolves don’t have two separate entities in their head. It’s not man vs wolf—it’s man and wolf. But today, it almost seems as if half of me is ripping apart at the seams.
“Nick?”
I’m snapped from my thoughts by Mr. Trembly, the werewolf who taught me chemistry in high school. He called my cell this morning over a leaky faucet, and I rushed over despite that strange feeling in my gut screaming that my entire world had been flipped on its head with no notable reason why.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Trembly.” I shake my head, begging my mind to calm. “You said your faucet has been leaking since last night, and it won’t stop no matter what you try?”
“That’s it, son.” The way he looks at me hasn’t changed since I was seventeen. Annoyance, general grumpiness, and a slight hint of affection he can’t hide. “Want to pull your head out of the clouds long enough to take a look at it?”
With a small smile, I nod and walk into his bathroom. Despite the man’s smugness, I don’t expect this to take me longer than five minutes. Mr. Trembly talks a big game, but the man has absolutely zero handiness skill. If anything, I’d suspect he probably loosened the pipe instead of tightening it.
I started doing odd jobs like this in high school for extra cash, and somehow, it turned into a full-blown handyman business.
If anyone needs anything in this town, they call me.
I’m thankful that the people of Lunamois trust me, even if I’m a little overwhelmed by the number of calls. But I can handle it.
“He made it worse, didn’t he?” Mrs. Trembly asks, walking in as I tighten the pipe with my tools.
I huff a soft laugh. “Yes, ma’am.”
Her little laugh is full of affection for her mate, and that familiar ache rips through my chest. Despite it being over thirty years, I just can’t give up on the hope that one day I’ll find my own mate.
It doesn’t seem likely.
“How’s it lookin’?” Mr. Trembly asks, making his way into the room.
Mrs. Trembly wraps her arms around his waist and pecks him on the lips. She doesn’t say a word, but his shoulders visibly melt under her attentions.
I slide out from underneath his sink with a grunt and pack up my things. “It should work just fine now. Needed to replace an old part.”
I absolutely did not, but I gotta protect the old man’s pride.
We shake hands, and after only twenty minutes, I’m back in my truck driving along Main Street with music blaring—the louder, the better. I need it to quiet the thrumming in my head.
Normally, I’d pull into Tea Leaves, the local café-slash-bakery, and grab some coffee from my best friend Georgie, but I don’t have enough time before my appointment with Mayor Vale in his office at City Hall.
I would have if I hadn’t gone to Mr. Trembly’s, but I don’t know how to say no, so here we are.
Mayor Cole Vale…despite this town being mostly werewolves, our mayor is an undisclosed shifter. And a recluse. Getting a call from him is rare enough that I cleared a few hours from my schedule to make sure we could meet.
Vale is calm, capable, and sure of himself. He puts this town and its needs first, even above his own. But he definitely could learn how to socialize properly.
Soon enough, I’m pulling up to the City Hall. I remember a younger, more foolhardy version of myself coming here after a high school football game and egging the place. Vale wasn’t the mayor at the time, of course, but his vampire uncle was.
Any time I see him—rare as it is—I swear Vale side-eyes me like I might try again. As if having a fully grown vampire chasing after me wasn’t enough of a deterrent.
I still have nightmares about the way his uncle’s fangs practically popped out of his head.
I push open the bland window-paned door, walk down the hallway, and step into the basic waiting room. Vale doesn’t have an assistant, so it’s just an empty desk and a bunch of chairs.
“Nicholas,” Vale says, opening the door to his actual office. His black hair slicked back, gray eyes assessing my general state of being. Even just for a simple meeting, he’s in a crisp button-down and black slacks. “Good of you to come.”
With a sweeping arm, he gestures for me to walk inside. A single painting hangs above his desk of his uncle—to which I have to suppress a full body shudder—and the rest is immaculately cleaned but bare.
I nod. “What’s up, Mayor?”
“We’re waiting on one more person, but, well…I’m in need of your services.” His eyebrows crease, as if he is annoyed that he has to interact with me. Considering he acts that way with everyone, I’m long past taking it personally. “More specifically, Lunamois is in need of your services.”
I ruffle a hand through my dark hair, trying to hide the smile on my face. I like knowing I’m the first one he thought of to help, that I’m useful. Needed. “You know I’m happy to help.”
“This year is the town’s seventy-fifth anniversary.
Many people have told me that they’re expecting some sort of celebration, so I’ve decided to have an event in the park downtown.
” He shivers, his shoulders riding up almost up to his ears as if completely repulsed.
“I’ve hired an actual event planner—the person we’re waiting on—but I’ll need you to build a stage for the musical act. ”
Has it really been seventy-five years? Sometimes it feels like this town has been around forever.
Plenty of supernaturals happily live amongst humans, and humans on the whole don’t mind it either.
But there’s something about being in a community that understands why you need to take a couple of days off work every month, or why you can’t be around Brenda in accounting, who wears too much perfume.
Hence, Lunamois. The town that accepts anyone with open arms, originally founded by Vale’s own family. Although my grandparents followed him only a year later, and my family has been here ever since.
A lance of pain shoots through my chest at the fact that I’m the only one left. After my parents died and my brother left…I rub at the spot, hoping to chase away the ache.
“Sounds fun. When do you need it?”
“Three weeks.”
My eyebrows jump into my hair. “Three weeks, huh? I guess I'd better get on that, then.”
I have no idea how I’m going to add this to my already intense schedule. At some point, something’s gotta give. I can tell I’m close to the tipping point—and it’s my sanity that’s going to break.
“And of course, you’ll assist anyone who needs help with their booth.”
“Right.”
“Or with electrical if they need it.”
“Uh huh.”
“Or with parking.”
“Vale—”
“They may also need your help with equipment—”
I hold up my hand to stop his rambling. “It sounds like you’d appreciate it if I worked on pretty much anything that the planner requires.”
He huffs a breath. “I would appreciate that, yes. She’s an out-of-towner and I have no idea how she’ll do, but Clover insisted.”
Old Lady Clover—our town seer—doesn’t do anything without a reason.
“Clover did wh—” the question hangs on my tongue unfinished. I’m hit with a scent so spicy and sweet my body practically floats off the ground.
Mate.
My ears perk up as I scent the building. Mate. My mate is in this building. The mate I’ve been convinced didn’t exist after thirty-two years of not finding her.
But where?
I close my eyes and inhale. Cinnamon, vanilla, and a touch of nutmeg. She smells like my favorite fall desserts, and my mouth waters at the fact that I’m simply in the same area as her.
I open my eyes as Vale’s office door opens, the scent intensifying. A smaller woman with lush curves, a nipped waist that opens to wide hips and thighs I could sink my teeth into tentatively steps into the room. Shiny brown hair cascades down her back like a waterfall as she smiles at both of us.
My heart drums in my chest with all the irregular excitement of a man confronted with everything he’s ever wanted.
“I’m sorry if I’m late. I got a little lost,” she says, her musical voice lilting over the words. “My name is Isabella Gregory. I’m the event planner.”
“Nick Martin,” I reply before Vale can say anything, my voice rough. I’ve finally found my Goddess-given soulmate. She’s here.
Perfect green eyes—the color of leaves as the sunlight pours through them from above—find mine. They widen, the cheeks beneath flushing with color.
Now that I’m closer, now that I’ve zeroed in on her, I can smell it. She’s human.
Which means she probably has no idea what’s happening right now. If she were a werewolf, we’d already be out of the building and in my bed. But no, with a human, I have to be careful. Slow.
Fuck.
“Nice to meet you,” she says softly.
“And I’m Cole Vale, mayor.” Vale’s eyes cut to me with a knowing gaze. He’s too observant for his own good. “I appreciate you making the trip all the way up here from Seattle, Isabella.”
She nods, tearing her eyes from me. The loss is intense. I want her entire focus on me, despite how absolutely ridiculous that is. “Of course. I appreciate the opportunity. Can you tell me a little more about the event?”
Vale nods, fingers twitching slightly before he puts them behind his back.
“My family founded this town seventy-five years ago as a place where paranormals could act fully as themselves. Be open. Werewolves may be the dominant kind here, but we are also home to vampires, fairies, sirens, shifters, and even our own seer. We would like to celebrate our town and our community. It’s in three weeks, and I expect you two to make it happen. ”
Considering Vale isn’t telling her anything I don’t already know, I spend the short exchange simply staring at her.
Isabella.
Even her name is something classically beautiful.
“I’ll email you what I have so far, but to be honest, it isn’t much,” Vale says, breaking me from the hold she has on me.
And she isn’t even trying. “You’ll mostly be on your own with this one, but that’s why Nick is here.
He’s the local handyman and all-around fix-it guy. He’s going to be your lifeline.”
The wolf in me preens under her attention. It makes me push out my chest to show her I’m a good mate.
I didn’t realize my base instincts would be so hard to control.
“Here is my business card.” I pull out my wallet and grab one of the little white rectangles I hardly ever use, handing it to her.
She takes it, fingers brushing mine for only a second. A second I know I’m going to be replaying for the rest of my life.
“Thank you, Nick.” Those eyes are back on my face, and I’m lost in them, lost in the promise they hold. Lost in the idea that maybe I won’t be spending the rest of my life alone.
Maybe.
“Would you be interested in going over to Tea Leaves with me? I haven’t gotten my morning coffee, and we can use the time to go over some details?” I ask, excitement and nerves causing my voice to shake in a way it hasn’t since high school.
She smiles, a bright thing that illuminates every single dark spot in my chest until I’m sure I’m on fire. “Sounds perfect.”