Uncaging Wolves (Shifter Country Wolves Book 4) by Roxie Noir Page A

head, then leaned on the glass counter.
    “Gavin was a guard at Cascadia State Men’s Penitentiary.”
    His eyes searched hers for long moments. Scarlet felt her heart twist in her chest, like she was being wrung out on the inside.
    “So you fucked in a broom closet for a while, and then you got out and decided it was meant to be?” she asked.
    Chase grinned.
    “Basically,” he said. “It worked pretty well.”
    “Why are you here?” she asked, not meeting his eyes.
    “I wanted to see you again,” Chase said.
    Scarlet felt like something inside her was crumbling, some sort of structure falling down, all at once, and she didn’t know how much longer she could take it.
    “Well, you saw me,” she said. “And I have a feeling that you didn’t come here at six in the morning without Gavin to ask me to dinner, so would you mind leaving?”
    “I don’t think you’re the girl you were when you went to jail,” Chase said, leaning over the counter. “I know people can change.”
    “Leave,” she whispered.
    His eyes searched hers for a long moment, and then Chase nodded once, turned around, and left.
    As soon as he was gone, Scarlet put her head on the glass counter and tried desperately not to cry. She was still at work, and the morning rush would be starting soon.
    What just happened ? She thought. Why did he come here?
    Is that it? Is that all I get?
    It was the most broken she’d felt since she’d come back home.
    That was February.

    One week later, she received a letter from the Cascadia Department of Corrections that she had a new parole officer. She read the letter twice, then three times, trying to sort out how she felt.
    After a long time, she decided it was better if she just didn’t see them for a while. Maybe it would stop hurting eventually.

    In March, the eggs on her windowsill hatched, and Scarlet spent hours watching the two adult birds feed them. They’d realized that she wasn’t a threat, so she could get as close as she wanted on the other side of the glass.
    One day at work, with all the ovens on, Scarlet took off her long-sleeved shirt and wore just a tank top, forgetting about her tattoos.
    When Annika, the women who owned the shop, saw them, she stopped for a minute.
    “What?” asked Scarlet, pouring batter.
    “I’ve never seen your tats,” Annika said, still looking.
    “Shit,” Scarlet said, looking down. “I forgot, it was so hot in here. I’ll put my shirt back on.”
    Annika snorted.
    “You’re fine in the back, I don’t care,” she said.
    “I want to get them removed, but it’s expensive,” said Scarlet. “So for now, it’s sweaters.”
    “Have you thought about a coverup?” asked Annika. “You could get another tattoo over those.”
    Scarlet set the mixing bowl on the counter and looked at her two tattoos. They seemed to get uglier with every passing year.
    “I hadn’t,” she thought.
    “I’ve heard the guy at the Midnight Gun does good work,” Annika said. “I have a friend who got this god-awful tattoo of a Chinese character when she was seventeen, and he did a great job covering it. It wasn’t cheap, though.”
    “Midnight Gun, huh?” said Scarlet. She opened the oven and slid the cake in carefully, then shut it, set a time.  
    “Tattoo shops always have good names,” Annika said.
    “Sounds like I need a raise,” Scarlet said.
    Annika laughed and brushed hair out of her face, smearing flour across her forehead.

    In April, the baby birds lost their down and began to grow feathers, and Scarlet knew she was going to lose them soon.
    One morning, she looked out, and there were only two. She didn’t have work that day, so she sat in her bed for hours, watching each bird hop to the edge of the windowsill, its parents watching, until it finally leapt.
    When the last one went, she burst into tears.
    It was only a few days later that she was washing dishes after dinner and looked out into the back yard, only to see an unfamiliar wolf scampering