“I’ve been considering taking on an assistant,” Angus said.
“You really don’t have to,” Zoe said.
“Nonsense. It sounds like the perfect solution. Why don’t you stop by the shop tomorrow morning and we’ll get you started?”
Zoe let out a deep breath, knowing that if she really wanted to start over, this was a perfect opportunity for her to get on her feet as a woodworker.
“I’ll be there,” Zoe said.
“How is the baby?” Willow asked Poppy.
“He’s teething and generally testy, but that’s normal for six-month-olds. We couldn’t be happier,” Poppy said looking up at Angus adoringly.
He kissed her forehead and they shared a tender moment between them right there at the table in the middle of the noisy bar. The sight of it made something crack inside Zoe’s heart and she suddenly felt terribly sad.
“You two are so lucky,” Zoe said without thinking.
“We owe it all to Mate.com,” Angus said, pulling Poppy closer to him. She smiled and giggled in agreement.
“Why don’t you two to sign up for Mate.com?” Willow said to Zoe and Heath.
“I’ve been thinking about signing up,” Heath said. “Now that I’m done with my training and have been accepted as a cadet onto the Bear Patrol, it might be the right time.”
“What about you, Zoe?” Willow asked, raising an eyebrow with the slightest smirk on her lips.
Willow was a romance author who wrote about the lives and loves of shifters. Everyone knew that Willow took her inspiration from the people on Fate Mountain. Suddenly, it dawned on Zoe exactly what Willow’s ulterior motives had been all along. She was trying to get Zoe and Heath hooked up with their own mates so that she could butt into their business and then write stories about them. She loved Willow to pieces, but that was the absolute last thing that Zoe was interested in being a part of.
“It’s not the right time for me,” Zoe said.
“Of course it is,” Willow said, grabbing Zoe’s phone off the table.
Her sister-in-law navigated to the Mate.com website and downloaded the app onto Zoe’s phone right in front of her face. Zoe made a grab for the phone, but Willow just yanked it away again until she had brought up the screen that allowed new users to create a profile and answer the questionnaire.
Mate.com was one of the many inventions her genius brother had created to make himself the piles and piles of money that he enjoyed. Zoe was not interested in being one of her brother’s clients. She couldn’t possibly find a mate when she still owed Dima so much money.
“I can’t. Not right now.”
“Well, just in case you change your mind, you have the app on your phone.”
“Really, mating is the last thing I want to do.”
“You never know, Zoe. Maybe your mate is already waiting for you somewhere on Fate Mountain,” Willow said with a smile.
After they had each had a pint, Willow drove them back to the institute. Zoe and Heath made their way to the dormitory section of the compound and Willow drove home. Zoe said goodnight to Heath as she made her way to her room, mulling over the night’s events in her mind.
Angus had agreed to take her on as an apprentice. She knew she should be more excited about the prospect of studying with Angus Grant. As she walked into her dorm room and sat down on her twin size bed, she kicked off her shoes and sighed. Zoe just wanted the past to disappear. She wanted to believe that she could be like Willow and Heath and Angus and Poppy and all of the other wonderful people living on Fate Mountain.
Maybe if she just allowed herself to believe that she was free, she’d feel better about herself. Maybe she could just take a little break from the truth and pretend that she was just Zoe Bright, woodworking apprentice and Fate Mountain resident.
Zoe pulled her phone out of her purse and navigated to Mate.com.
4
Rollo sat on his leather couch watching CNN on the big screen TV in his living room. He liked to stay up-to-date on what was happening on the national and international stage. From his experience as a law enforcement and military officer, he knew that events happening in the world could trickle down to a local level. Since the Shifter Equality Act had been passed, things had been looking up for shifters on the whole. The end of the war had brought a lasting peace to most of the world and to his country.
Rollo felt gratitude for being able to witness this time in history when shifters could make themselves known to the world and could live their lives in peace. It was a great time to be alive.