Granite by Ronin Winters Page B

real at the devastation directed to her, from a woman who was also a werewolf, but in her case, it was a choice she made. A surrender to the male she loved.
    Not an act of violence. Not thrown on the bed, head pushed down and hips pulled up, and not the rip of teeth in her throat so razor sharp for one moment, she thought they’d dug in a multitude of blades.
    “I’m so sorry.”
    The doorbell rang now, stripping away the memories she’d started to become surrounded in. Giving herself a small shake, Frost rose to check through the peephole, not surprised to see Bella on the other side. Knowing hiding was futile, Frost opened it.
    “How are you doing?” Bella was a force of nature. Shorter than Frost and a lot curvier, she owned the room as she walked into it, looking around at the minimalist décor and by the look on her face, not really approving of what she saw. “You didn’t come for your follow-up.”
    “I figured that if anything showed up in any of the tests, you’d call to tell me.” Of course, that wasn’t why Bella wanted her to come. Bella wanted to try to get her used to the werewolf world. Wanted her to meet the ‘pack’. Wanted her to feel like she had a place.
    Frost didn’t feel churlish enough to tell Bella flat-out it wasn’t happening. Bella didn’t deserve the brunt of Frost’s roiling emotions. Bella had done everything she knew to take care of, not only Frost, but for every woman hurt by Jacobson. At least, the ones who were there that night.
    Frost wasn’t sure if they would be able to do anything for the women who had been taken away before the wolves had rescued them.
    Bringing it back to the present, Frost continued. “I’m kind of shocked your mate let you so far away from your house.”
    Bella shook her head, sitting on the couch. “What do you mean, let ? And could I get some water, please? I’ve been making rounds for awhile.”
    There went any hope of a quick turnaround. Bringing the water, Frost sat down next to her, waiting for the true reason of this visit to be spoken.
    Bella didn’t disappoint her, not that Frost thought she would. Bella wasn’t that good at subtle. “It’s not good for you to be hiding away.”
    Even as she’d been expecting those words or something like them, the rush of pure rage still startled Frost. The damn wolf that now resided inside her crouched down, growling and flashing fangs. “All I’m doing is living my life.”
    “I’m not trying to be disrespectful to you. I’m not going to tell you I know what you’re going through. I have no clue.” There was a forthrightness to Bella that Frost had responded to from the beginning, a genuineness without pity that let Frost get through those first few days with her dignity intact and let her be strong enough to leave to get back to her life. “And me saying ‘I’m sorry’ isn’t anything close to enough, though I mean it when I say it.”
    The clock on the fireplace ticked as Bella paused and took a sip of water. The rage calmed to a bristling sensation, prickly but not out of control. Frost asked, “How are the other women doing?”
    There had been twelve women in all, and it became apparent that all of them had been scouted before they had been grabbed. None of them had family or was in a serious relationship. Most were in college or grad school. None of them were in circumstances where they would be missed or would be searched for if they went missing.
    Which in itself was a depressing thought.
    “Except for you, they’re all staying with the pack until they figure things out.”
    “Staying with the pack isn’t the only way to figure things out.” Frost had this need to defend herself though there was nothing censorious in Bella’s words or attitude. “I’m glad if it works for them, but I don’t think it will work for me.”
    “I don’t think it would either, but this hiding yourself away can’t work. It came to be in a horrific way, but you’re a wolf now. The wolf