Chapter 151

“Thank you, Head Wolf Antoine. It was certainly touch-and-go for a while there, but in the end, it was a war well fought.”

I rolled my eyes as Andrew schmoozed yet another political ally over the phone. It had been like this all day since we got out of bed: a political ally, friend, or family member would call to congratulate Andrew on the re-election, and Andrew would have to cheerfully make small talk with them, no matter if he didn’t like them or wasn’t on good terms with them. It was rather puke-worthy to witness, but I knew that he had to do it in order to maintain his image.

“I agree, it was a great idea for Crystal to volunteer at the werewolf homeless shelter near the end of the campaign.”

He eyed me and made a gagging gesture with his mouth and finger. I giggled quietly.

“I think it really boosted people’s opinion of the both of us to see her giving back to the werewolf community.”

Andrew’s brow twitched as he listened to Antoine’s response.

“Well, the gunman was more unfortunate, in my opinion.”

His hand clenched into a fist.

“Personally, I don’t really care if surviving these attacks gave us the sympathy vote. I would rather that people stop going after my girlfriend.”

Andrew breathed in deeply through his nostrils and exhaled slowly through his mouth.

“Yes, of course, no offense taken.”

I sat forward on Andrew’s bed, ready to grab Andrew and calm him down if needed.

“Certainly, Head Wolf Antoine. I should go as well. Thank you again for calling.”

Andrew rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger.

“I’ll see talk to you before the next meeting. Goodbye.”

He hung up his cell phone and heaved a heavy sigh. Stuffing the phone in his pocket, he sat on the bed next to me.

“This certainly has been a day, hasn’t it?” he asked.

I shrugged.

“They mean well, I suppose.”

“They mean to bolster their own political standing.”

Andrew shook his head and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

“I just can’t wait until we can have some time alone together,” he continued.

“Well, we could spend dinner together, just the two of us,” I said, smiling coyly.

“Actually, we already have plans.”

I cocked my head at him.

“We do?”

“Yeah. We’re going to Amour tonight.”

I grabbed his free hand and started playing with the fingers.

“Well, why didn’t I know about that? Is it some sort of secret or surprise?”

Andrew didn’t look me in the face.

“We aren’t going to be dining alone.”

“Oh? Who will be joining us?”

“Lisa and Bob,” he mumbled.

I dropped his hand, my mouth agape. I launched up from the bed and started pacing in front of Andrew, narrowly missing stepping on his toes.

“Lisa and Bob?” I said, aghast. “Why are we dining with them?”

“They invited us, as a way to congratulate me for the re-election,” he said as though that explained everything.

“But Bob—”

“I know what Bob’s done,” Andrew said, his voice sounding strained and pained.

I stopped pacing to face Andrew. His face attempted to stay neutral, but I could see the corners of his lips twitching downward and the crease of his brows.

“I don’t want to eat with him any more than you do,” he continued, “but he’s a political opponent who has extended an olive branch to us. We can’t just turn that away. It will damage our image irreparably.”

I mentally cursed. Of course, Andrew was right. Bob probably knew that we couldn’t turn down the invitation, either.

“Fine,” I said, plopping down on the bed next to Andrew, “I’ll go.”

I just hope that we won’t regret it.

At Amour that night, Andrew and I sat next to each other in a booth with Bob and Lisa sitting directly across from us. Two bulb-like glass candle holders sat, lit, on the table between us. Bob and Lisa ate bouillabaisse, while Andrew and I had an order of boeuf bourguignon.

After the obligatory toasting to each other’s health and Andrew’s recent win of the Alpha King election, we dined in uncomfortable silence. I occasionally glanced up Lisa, secretly—and jealously—admiring her flawless good looks, designer dress, and on-point makeup. She made me feel underdressed, even in my best outfit.

I felt Andrew place a possessive hand on my thigh and grip my leg tightly. I looked over at him and saw that he was glaring down Bob. When I stole a glance Bob’s way, I was horrified to find him leering at me.

I cleared my throat.

“Something on your mind, Bob?” I asked as I sipped at my stew.

Bob shook his head, his gaze never leaving me.

“Nothing, really,” he said. “I’m just amazed at how far you’ve come since I picked you up outside of the women’s prison.”

My body tensed.

“Well, it does feel like an eternity ago now,” I said blandly.

“Yes, I’m sure that it does,” Bob responded, “especially with all those attacks on you.”

Andrew’s hand tightened on my thigh. Even Lisa stiffened beside Bob, lowering her spoon of fish soup back into the bowl.

“Bob, love,” she said gently, “now is probably not the right time to be bringing this up. We are celebrating my father’s re-election, after all.”

Bob patted Lisa’s hand.

“Of course, sweetheart,” he said. “I’m just pointing out what a miracle it is that Crystal has gotten so far in life, considering that she is an ex-con who so many people are trying to kill.”

Andrew’s fingers dug into my thigh, but I jumped in before he could speak.

“Ex-con is a bit of an exaggeration.” I stared Bob directly in the eye. “I was just trying to protect someone whom I loved at the time, after all.”

Bob tensed this time, and his eyes narrowed.

“Yes,” he said through clenched teeth. “Well, I guess that’s all in the past. So long as there aren’t more attacks, you’ll be just fine.”

A gleam in his eye sent shivers down my spine. I grasped Andrew’s hand below the table.

“Don’t worry, Bob,” Andrew said, his voice firm, “there will be no more attacks on her. I’ll be sure of that.”

Lisa and I returned to our awkward, silent dining as Andrew and Bob stared at each other, neither wanting to yield in their game of dominance.

Early the next morning, I was awoken by a call from Terri. She told me that it was an emergency and that I needed to get to Ever After Weddings immediately. I tried to pry more details out of her, but she only insisted that I had to see for myself.

When I pulled up to Ever After Weddings, I arrived at a crime scene.

Two police cars were parked in the middle of the street. Yellow caution tape had roped off the broken windows of my shop. Spray-painted in deep crimson across the front door were the words MUTT LOVERS.

My heart beat prominently in my chest as I approached the nearest officer. My hands shook, and I could barely move my feet. Fortunately, Terri was already talking with him and immediately saw me as I drew near.

“Crystal!” she said, waving me over. She turned to the officer. “This is Crystal Blanchard, the majority shareholder of Ever After Weddings.”

The officer turned to me and tipped his hat in greeting. I recognized him as Officer Dunnigan, my arresting officer who had been oddly polite.

“Good morning, ma’am,” he said. “Thank you for coming in so early.”

“Thank you for coming by, too,” I replied, still a little dazed by the image before me. “I’m sorry, but I don’t quite understand what’s going on. What happened here?”

“Well, ma’am, it seems that someone has vandalized your property,” Officer Dunnigan said simply.

My mind turned to the interactions with Bob from the night before, his emphasis on the attacks against me. My hand curled into a fist.

Bob.

This had to be his handy work. Who else would want to do this to me?

“Do you have any leads on the perps?” I asked, cringing as I used the word “perps”.

Officer Dunnigan nodded.

“Actually, we do,” he said, pointing to the jewelry store to our right. “The store next door has a security cam faced in this direction. We took a look, and it seems to have caught the perpetrators on video.”

I swallowed against the hard knot forming in my throat.

“And?”

“About three young adult males, Caucasian, all wearing ‘Vote for Bob’ t-shirts and ‘Mutts Suck’ bandanas across their necks.” He huffed in disgust. “We caught two of them a couple blocks from here, and they’ve given up the hiding place for the third one, who we should catch pretty quickly here.”

My brow furrowed.

“Did they say if they were working for anyone?”

Officer Dunnigan shook his head.

“Other than ‘what’s right and pure’ and ‘pureblooded werewolves everywhere,’ no.” He rolled his eyes, as though that were the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard—and I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been.

“So, they’re not working for anyone else at all?” I asked suspiciously.

“No…why, did you expect them to be?”

I shook my head fervently.

“No. I just don’t want this to happen again, that’s all.”

Officer Dunnigan eyed me for a moment, then nodded.

“Well, I’m going to need you and Terri here to come with me to the station to fill out a police report. That okay?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll just get into my car and follow you there.”

As I walked to my car, I couldn’t help but feel that this was all too easy. Something else was coming, something bigger—and I wasn’t sure that I was prepared to handle it.