It had been two weeks since the show-down with Maybelle. She hadn't seen any of the Howler pack, including and especially Cross Howler.

What a jerk.

He called her his baby, his soulmate, and he asked her to be his consort but the minute Maybelle and Wyatt had been thrown in shifter jail, he'd ignored her.

Definitely a jerk.

Rowena was back at work, ringing up customers at Sweeter Homes. Her boss, Rolando, was purposely giving her all the morning shifts.

"This is payback for missing so many days without a good excuse," he'd told her.

"I'm kicking him out of our book club," Rowena muttered, referring to Rolando.

Gina, who was in the next line laughed. "I found a great new book. It's another shifter book but get this-it's about penguin shifters!"

"Penguin shifters?" Rowena asked. "Why would anyone write about penguin shifters?"

"Penguins are cute!" Gina argued. "Haven't you ever seen Happy Feet?"

Rowena was still staring at her friend when she noticed items moving forward on the conveyor belt. She started scanning the items as they came in, not bothering to look up as she gave her standard greeting. "I hope you found everything okay."

She didn't get a response but that was normal. Customers sometimes ignored her greeting. It happened enough that she stopped trying to smile and engage them in conversation. She quickly scanned each item.

Twizzlers

Popcorn

M&Ms

More popcorn

A DVD of The Wizard of Oz

A DVD of Return to Oz

Rowena glanced up to see Cross waiting in line to pay. Her mouth opened slightly before she swallowed and looked away.

"You're getting The Wizard of Oz and Return to Oz?" she couldn't help but ask.

Cross grinned. "A woman I want to date really wants me to watch them."

"They're really great films," she insisted. "I'm sure that woman will like them."

"They are?" Cross asked thoughtfully, lifting one up and staring at the book cover. "Rowena, would you like to watch these DVDs with me?"

"Like, on a date?" she asked hesitantly. "Me?"

He gave a single nod. "Yes, I can even buy you dinner beforehand. I don't know if you know this or not, but I'm a millionaire. I'm only telling you this in case you want to date me for my money."

Rowena gave him a withering look. "You want me to date you for your money?"

He shrugged. "I'd rather you date me for me, but I'll take you how I can get you."

"I'm surprised you're here," Rowena admitted. "You haven't reached out to me in two weeks."

"Two weeks, thirteen hours, and seven minutes," he corrected. "I was waiting for you to call me. Abby finally convinced me that you were the type who wouldn't make the first move."

"What?"

He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention. Gina obviously was. He lowered his voice. "Everything you went through because of me not protecting you that night. You had to take on Maybelle alone. I figured you'd think we weren't worth it even if your abuela said we were soulmates."

Her brow puckered as she took in his words. "You were waiting for me to call you?"

"Yes, but then Abby told me no woman likes to make the first move. So, here I am."

"For the record, it doesn't matter if you're a male or a female-no one likes to make the first move. Period. What happened with Maybelle was insane but it didn't bother me as much as you think it did."

"It didn't?"

Rowena shook her head. "You need to learn, Cross. I'm a tough chick."

"Definitely tough. Kind of crazy too," he mumbled.

She smirked. "Sometimes. Women like me keep men on their toes."

"So, what do you say?" Cross asked. "You, me, and Dorothy Gale?"

Rowena grinned. "For your information, I'm not into threesomes."

He chuckled. "Neither am I." He leaned forward. "Go out with me."

Before she could answer, Abby came rushing into the store. "There you are! Cross, I've been looking all over for you!"

"What's wrong?" Cross asked, pulling out a card to pay for his movie night items.

"Hi Ro," Abby said, waving. "I'm so glad my brother finally got his head out of the sand to ask you out. Did you say yes?"

"She was going to before you stopped by. What is it?" Cross was using a no-nonsense alpha tone.

Abby leaned forward. "They're back."

"Who's back?" Rowena asked as she watched Cross close his eyes in annoyance.

"Our parents," Abby answered. "And our brother, Selig."

"Your brother's name is Selig?" Rowena couldn't help but ask.

"Our father lost a bet," Cross supplied as if that explained everything.

"Someone else came too," Abby whispered.

"No." Cross shook his head.

Abby nodded. "She's back, Cross. Angelina is back."

A ball of discomfort uncoiled in Rowena's stomach. "Who is Angelina?"

Cross picked up his bag of items, ignoring her question. He turned to Rowena. "You're my soulmate, Rowena. So, tonight? I'll pick you up at seven and we grab dinner then have a movie night?"

Rowena nodded. He smiled and gave a nod before turning to walk away.

"Cross, who is Angelina."

He hesitated. "She makes no difference."

Rowena wasn't going to let him escape that easily. "If you want to start something with me, we have to do this right. Be honest and have open communication-at least that's what all the self-help books say. Tell me who she is."

He exhaled deeply before answering.

"My ex-fiancée."

NOTE FROM SHEHOPES: Thank you soooo much for reading!!! Oh my goodness I had so much fun writing this story. I hope you enjoyed it.

Book II is now complete!

Thank you again for reading and below is a pick of the cover for book 2. If you aren't already, please give me a follow here on Wattpad so you get all the updates of new stories I'm posting.