Lone Wolf (Wilde Brothers Ranch #6)- Scarlett Grove Page 0,6

enough to have that kind of home life, but she had managed to get into a charter school, where she’d continued to attend even as she went from foster home to foster home around the area. That school had been one of the few good things in her childhood. She’d gotten a good education and made good friends. Without that chance, she didn't know where she would be.

In the reception hall in the lodge, the bride and groom had their first dance. Marcy looked so happy and content with her groom. And for a moment, Annie felt envious. It was an emotion she never allowed herself to feel for very long—because she knew how pointless it was. As soon as she started down that path, it was a slippery slope toward destruction. The only way that she had been able to achieve her success was by taking responsibility for herself.

She'd been dealt a poor hand in life. But she would be damned if she would allow that to define her. In fact, she felt grateful that she'd somehow managed to have a determined outlook. Her father’s destructive habits had ended in his death, and she’d watched her mother fall apart from despair. She would never be like them. She would never let anyone else destroy her. That was why she had to stay alone and detached. As long as she was in her own space, she could control her own destiny.

After the couple completed their first dance, they sat together at the bridal table, and the waiters brought out the meal. Annie sliced into her roasted chicken and looked out at the room. Marcy had done an amazing job planning the wedding. And now that all the work was over, it was time to enjoy the outcome.

Amelia and Tricia had been joking about their matches on mate.com. Neither of them had a one hundred percent match. But they were having fun messaging the shifters they’d been matched with.

After dinner was over, the happy couple cut the cake then fed each other their first bites—in a civilized manner. Annie hated it when couples smashed each other in the face with cake. So humiliating. But Marcy and Brad weren’t like that. They just gave each other a little nibble. It was corny, but cute at the same time. Then Marcy was ready to throw her bouquet.

All the single ladies lined up, cheering, laughing, and shouting that it would be them to catch the bouquet. Annie tried to slink off into a corner, but Amelia and Tricia grabbed her by the arms and tugged her into the crowd, pushing her up to the front. Marcy chucked her bouquet over her shoulder. It flew through the air like a football. Annie had to reach up to block it, or it would have smacked her right in the face. On instinct alone, she reached up and grabbed the mass of flying flowers before it could do any damage to her hair and makeup. She looked down at the bouquet, knowing the implications.

Everyone cheered. Marcy pointed and shouted, “I knew it!”

Annie's face grew hot with embarrassment, and she shook her head, pursing her lips. She tried to smile, clenching her teeth, but she knew it came out more as a grimace.

“You're next,” Amelia said. “You should sign up to mate.com. Shifter men—whew! They are hot, let me tell you.”

“Too bad none of them are a hundred percent match,” Tricia said.

“I know. But a girl can dream, can't she?”

Annie stumbled away from her friends and looked down at the bouquet of expertly arranged flowers. They were so beautiful, it made her heart ache. She sighed, looking out the window at the sunset and the glowing moon glistening over the lake.

She seriously needed some champagne. Or maybe something a little stiffer. She went to the bar and ordered a drink. She set her bouquet on the bar then sipped the drink and watched everyone dancing and laughing. Everyone seemed to have someone—someone they knew and trusted—or they wanted that connection.

She ordered another drink and drained it quickly. Maybe her friends were right. Maybe she should sign up for mate.com. Maybe if she was the fated mate of a shifter, it would take away all those awkward moments of not knowing what to say or not knowing how to connect. Maybe there would be a way to cut through all the noise inside her head and really find a key to the locked door of her heart.

She slipped her