Undercover Alpha: BBW Paranormal Werewolf Romance by Zoe Chant

a big dog. He actually looked more like a wolf than that animal Jason had asked about the night before. He panted happily at the end of his leash.
    “No animals last night, right?”
    “Yeah, this is more getting him used to the place and the way it smells. Something goes wrong, he can help us smell it back to the source.” Ian scratched behind the dog’s ears. “You can pet him if you want.”
    “What breed is he?”
    “He’s a Malamute,” Ian said.
    The dog looked up at her. It looked fiercely intelligent. Too intelligent. Something in her mind was going off like an alarm bell. “Don’t they have brown eyes?”
    “Yeah,” Ian said. “Usually. Owner got this guy for a damn good price thanks to those baby blues. Probably some recessive gene, or some husky back in the family—”
    No, she thought. It’s not possible. It can’t be.
    Those were Jason’s eyes. It was Jason’s fur under her hand. She was sure of it. As sure as if he was standing in front of her.
    What was going on? Was she losing her mind?
    “Lucy? Everything all right?”
    She ignored Ian and kneeled down to face the dog. The wolf. Jason. “Your name isn’t Remus,” she said, low. “Is it?”
    The dog whimpered a little. His tail was wagging. Jason. It had to be. And he was trying to make her happy.
    What the fuck.
    “I’m…I’m going to my apartment,” she said. “I’ll see you guys later.” She didn’t even realize she’d said it that way until she was halfway into her car, but she didn’t care. It didn’t matter. She had to get away from—from whatever the hell had just happened. Now. She shut the door behind her and didn’t look back any more than she had to.
    She was halfway to her apartment before her brain finally found the word. Werewolf.
    “They don’t exist,” she said, into the car.
    How had she been so certain? It didn’t make any sense. She’d known the man for less than a day. And what kind of man—even if they were a werewolf—would let themselves be led around on a leash?
    By the time she actually got to her apartment, she’d decided that it had just been her imagination. Maybe she was overtired. Maybe she was dreaming. She pinched her wrist for the hell of it, but nothing happened.
    She checked her phone. There was a text from a number she didn’t recognize.
    Hey it’s Jason, your dad gave me yr #. Sorry I missed u this am. U OK?
    Why wouldn’t I be? she thought. You didn’t even see me this morning…right?
    She wasn’t sure how to answer, so she left the phone on her kitchen counter while she found her art supplies. Some watercolors, a pack of paper—not her best stuff, but she didn’t really want to carry that back and forth to the house—and some more pencils. She grabbed a few books off the counter.
    She’d missed her own apartment, her own space. She loved her family but she loved her space, too, and her building was quiet and sunny. It was on the ground floor and opened out to a little deck.
    Maybe she’d just take some time to sketch, get in a better headspace. She could stop thinking crazy things about werewolves and hot blue-eyed men. Just go out in the backyard in the sun and draw for a while.
    She opened up the back door…and then shut it again.
    There were—she wasn’t sure how many animals in her little courtyard. Too many. And they definitely weren’t alive. She ran to her phone.
    There weren’t any other messages. She called Jason’s number.
    He picked up on the first ring. “Lucy?” He sounded worried. “You okay?”
    “You…you need to come to my apartment. The…the animals. There’s—there’s animals here too.”
    “Okay,” he said. “Do you—do you feel safe? Are you all right?”
    “I—I think so,” she said. “But…they’re gross. And—”
    “I’m on my way,” he said.
    “Okay,” she said. “Thank you.” Just hearing him make the promise made her feel better. Safer.
    How did that make any sense? She’d seen him as—
    As a wolf.
    She’d