Read Online The Werewolf Meets His Match (Nocturne Falls Book 2) by Kristen Painter - Free Book Online Page A

he might take pity on them and let them stay.
    At the very least, he might not make them go back to Tennessee. Back to Clemens Kincaid.
    That’s all she really wanted for her and Charlie. Freedom from the tyranny of her father. But getting that freedom was going to come at Hank’s expense, no matter which route she chose.
    She closed her eyes and inhaled, then blew out the breath slowly and opened her eyes again. She could at least give life with Hank a shot. He seemed like a decent man. Maybe he’d understand.
    Maybe.
    And if he didn’t, running was still an option.
    Her mind made up, she stood, tucked her phone in her pocket and went back to the kitchen to lose herself in the chores of putting the rest of the groceries away and baking a cake.
    The oven had just come up to temperature when Hank charged through the front door, nearly scaring the daylights out of her. She jumped, jerking the mixer out of the bowl and splattering chocolate cake batter over herself and half the kitchen. He’d barely been gone an hour. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
    He looked stern. Not that that was so unusual. “We need to talk.”
    “Apparently.” She put the mixer down, leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. She couldn’t imagine what was wrong, but a small twitch of concern settled in her belly. “What’s got you all worked up?”
    “You. This…arrangement.”
    And there it was. She nodded. “Just hit you, did it? Blew your mind with a moment of, Oh crap, I’m marrying a Kincaid?” She sighed. “I feel ya. I really do.”
    “No.” He huffed out a breath, big bad wolf style. “I know you’re in love with another man. I can’t marry a woman who’s going to resent me and make my life miserable for something I can’t help, so we need to work this out now .”
    She stared at him, wondering how he’d come to that conclusion. “Um…what?”
    “Are you saying you’re not in love with someone else?”
    “I’m saying there’s no other man, and I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    He growled, his eyes sparking gold. “Do not lie to me. I hate lies. I heard you on the phone. Heard you asking for Charlie.”
    “Calm down, Merrow.” She frowned, but her stomach rolled with a greater anxiety. The secret she’d been sworn to keep was on the verge of surfacing and it was very clearly too soon. Duty or not, Hank probably didn’t like her enough at this point to forgive her for the whole thing. “For someone who hates lies, you sure have no problem eavesdropping, huh?”
    That took the vinegar out of him. “Just tell me the truth. What am I getting into?”
    She closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath. She could tell him the truth without revealing everything. It was the only way to hang on to her hope for a better life. The only way she might avoid her father’s wrath and a lifetime of looking over her shoulder. She tensed in anticipation of his reaction. “Charlie is my son.”
    Hank’s shoulders dropped and his face went slack, the frustration draining away. “You have a kid? Where is he?”
    “At my parents.” Anger had begun to simmer down deep. A little of it was because Hank was judging her for something he’d only overheard, but the bulk of her anger remained directed at her father for using Charlie as a pawn. And for being such a crappy human being.
    A few beats passed before he spoke. “Why didn’t you say something? That’s an important detail, don’t you think?”
    Her anger hit a boiling point but Clemens wasn’t there for her to lash out at, so Hank got the brunt of it. “My son is more than a detail and I didn’t tell you yet because we’ve barely learned each other’s first names. Maybe I was going to tell you at dinner.” She wasn’t. “Ever consider that?”
    “No,” he muttered.
    He didn’t deserve her ire, but she couldn’t stop herself. There was too much built up emotion in her and it needed an outlet. “I get that you think your