Clementine I walked into the salon feeling a little nervous. A kind woman with blue-grey eyes smiled at me. “Hi, I was wondering if I could book an appointment to cut my hair,” I rushed out. I felt the tears in the back of my eyes, and my lip started to wobble. “Hi, honey! Of course, you can. I have time now if you want?” “Oh yes! Please!” “My name is Steph.” She offered her hand for me to shake. I reached out and shook her hand. “Clementine. Clem.” I studied Steph, who was middle-aged and reminded me so much of my mother. She had the same wheat-coloured hair and a short stature with a petite figure. Steph led me to a chair and wrapped a black smock around my neck before running her fingers through my hair. “What would you like done?” “Just shorten it. It usually sits around my shoulders, but my mom got sick, and I got distracted.” “Oh, honey! I’m so sorry.” She reached around and gave me a quick hug, her eyes tearing up ever so slightly before she continued to run her finge

Liam Ryan and I nabbed a booth around lunchtime and ordered a couple of burgers with a side of Gary’s infamous poutine. As soon as the beers flowed, we laughed and joked, and it was as if the fight at the training grounds never happened. Ryan’s sister Sophie came in with a bunch of textbooks and one of her friends, Stacey. It was apparent they had come in to study together, but when Sophie noticed us sitting there, that plan hit a roadblock, and Sophie and Stacey joined us. The textbooks were pushed to the side and forgotten as the beer flowed. Sophie was cute. She had light brown hair that waved into the middle of her back, blue eyes, and the warmest smile you’d ever seen. The light smattering of cinnamon-coloured freckles on her nose and over her shoulders popped against her suntanned skin under her white shoe-string camisole. She looked me over with those big blue doe-like eyes, but even I wasn’t enough of a jerk to break the bro-code, no matter how hot Sophie was. Stacey on the o

Liam My phone buzzed against the table. And I looked down at it. Clem: 911. ANGRY REDHEAD. And it buzzed again a few seconds later. Clem: Let me know if I need to create a diversion so you can escape. I looked up and over at Clem curiously, then saw who she was referring to. Cassie walked up to the bar and had just started conversing with Clem. Lucian frowned and tuned our hearing over to listen in. “Hi, what can I get you?” Clem asked politely. “A glass of Sav Blanc and you out of my way.” “I’m sorry?” “You’re Clementine, right?” Clementine picked up the bottle of white with poise as she gracefully poured the woman a glass of wine. “I am.” “Good.” Cassie picked up the glass, took a small sip, and then threw the wine all over Clementine. I snarled and jumped out of my seat, then was next to Cassie in a flash. “What the hell is going on?” Clementine removed her glasses which were covered in wine. Her hair and face were soaked. Ryan was behind the bar before I could blink,

Liam I opened Clem’s door and held out my hand for her. “No backing out now, Clementine,” I growled playfully. She gingerly took my hand and frowned before letting go and stared at the house as if it was a murder location in a horror movie. I smiled and shrugged my shoulder in the direction of the house, making her reluctantly take a step toward the party. It didn’t take us long to find Ryan, who was cracking a beer and chatting with another warrior in the squad. He did a double-take when he saw Clementine. “Wow.” He wolf-whistled. “Look how well she scrubs up! Damn, girl!” A splash of pink coloured her cheeks, and she looked mortified. Her dress was amazing; there was no doubt about that. It was a crisp black number that wrapped and hugged her curves, and sat just above her knees, showing off her stunning legs. She looked fantastic, and Lucian had been yipping and panting in my head since the moment I saw her when I arrived to pick her up. However, I didn’t think she wanted to d

Liam Clem was in a panic. I could smell her stress. It was making Lucian mad, and he wanted to shift to protect her. The burning sensation had started across my skin. “Clementine!” I growled as I grabbed onto her arms and made her stop pacing long enough to look at me. Her eyes were wide in fear, and her face was paler than usual. “What the hell is going on?” she whimpered. “You tell me. You’re the one acting like a crazy person.” Lucian grumbled at my approach, but I needed to get the girl to speak, and not just to herself. I needed her to talk to me. Even though I had no idea what she was stressing about, I naturally wanted to calm her down. I wanted to fix whatever was causing her stress. I wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be okay. I reached out for her, and she took a minuscule step back, but that one step felt like a chasm. She raced forward, picked up her bag, and slid her sandals onto her feet, her lime-green toenails winking at me as she did up the buckles