?


    "Well?" M asked, as if she were somehow sensing my trepidation. "How did you and Enzo meet?"


    Where could I even begin? Enzo and I had met at the bar on the night that my ex-boyfriend cheated on me, we had a one night stand, and then proceeded to spend the following months not only pining for each other, but also battling werewolves, making undead friends, and fighting in wars that neither of us signed up for.


    "We... met in college," I said, choosing to keep it simple. College was neutral, uncontroversial, but even as I said it, I knew I was holding back an entire universe ofplexity.


    "In college? Really?" M smirked, swirling her wine around in her ss. "That''s what you''re going with?"


    I nched. "Well, it''s the truth."


    M grinned. "Aw, c''mon. There has to be more to it that you''re not sharing with us. Every romantic story I''ve ever heard is filled with sweeping gestures, love at first sight, and at least one serenade under a window."


    My cheeks tinged a light shade of pink. The scrutinizing way M looked at me made me feel like I was a specimen under a microscope. Our real story was tooplicated, too intimate, too supernatural to be discussed over a casual dinner conversation.


    Suddenly, Enzo intervened. "We actually met at a bar. I know, I know, it''s not a Disney movie, but it''s the truth."


    "A bar?" M feigned surprise but her eyes twinkled with a kind of knowing mischief. "I could never picture finding my soulmate while dodging spilled beer and bar fights."


    Enzo shrugged, taking the remark in stride. "Well, crazier things have happened. We met and had an instant connection, and the rest is history." His eyes met mine, and he squeezed my hand under the table, but I could sense a hint of hurt in his eyes at my vagueness.


    M leaned in closer. "So, Nina, you''re telling me that you found this ''instant connection'' in a bar? I never took you for that kind of girl."


    I looked at Enzo, who shot me a supportive nce, then back at M. "Yes, I did," I said, my voice lower and more timid than I wanted it to be. "And I''m d I did."


    M set her wine ss down. "That''s so interesting. I must say, I''ve never been the type to pick up men in bars, but..."


    "I didn''t ''pick him up," I said, feeling my wolf bristle again. "But we did meet there."


    M opened her mouth to say something else, probably another snide remark. But before she could, Tim chimed in, his voice carrying across the table in that signature charismatic tone of his.


    "Well, I think it''s a nice story," he said. "I met my wife at a party in college, so it''s not all that different. And look at us now... Married for twenty years, two kids, and a couple of dogs to boot."


    "Hmm," Enzo said, ncing at me again in that way that told me that he was a little hurt still. "We''ve got one kid on the way. Maybe it''s time to add a dog to the mix?"


    With that, the conversation continued to flow again, and I finally felt like I could breathe. Realizing that I needed a moment to myself, though, I excused myself from the table, telling Enzo I would be back in a minute.N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive ? material.


    The restroom felt like a river of calmpared to the thinly veiled tension of dinner conversation with M. I bent over the sink, taking deep breaths, letting the coolness of the marble surface seep into my palms. I felt the early waves of morning sickness crashing in, tightening my stomach. I turned on the faucet and sshed cold water on my face.


    "I don''t trust her," my wolf spoke up, breaking the silence in my head. I looked up at my reflection in the mirror, my eyes momentarily taking on a golden sheen, a subtle manifestation of my wolf.