The chemistry between them rises to steamy levels, but is the promise of a lifelong mate strong enough to unmask the true desires of a wolf?
Chapter 1
Today was Natasha’s first day as the newest lab employee at Reverie Technologies…and she was late. She was so tardy, she’d probably be fired the moment she stepped foot in the building. Not only did she underestimate the traffic volume by thinking the roads would be free and clear, but she also didn’t count on there being a major three-car accident at the intersection. So of course, she’d just ruined any hopes of making a good first impression with her new boss. Not to mention, she’d probably get an ear full of “I’m disappointed in you” from her dad who, coincidently, was the person who’d gotten her a job at the company in the first place.
She blew outward in frustration as she turned into the parking lot and discovered an abundance of free spaces. Well, at least she didn’t have to play the equivalent of musical chairs in search of a space like she did back at her old job. She’d already fought through three intersections of traffic, cutting off cars like nobody’s business while getting more than enough dirty looks in the process. But at least she had reached her destination in one piece, which was a sure sign that her life wasn’t destined for total destruction. The past six months had been nothing but a string of bad luck for her. Her only saving grace had been learning that she didn’t have to worry about how she was going to pay her bills or eat. But hell…this job wasn’t even promised with the way things were going. She was a mess! Who showed up late for their first day on the job?
Natasha Bennett. That’s who.
She parked her Honda CRV into the nearest vacant space she could find, grabbed her handbag, and rushed from the SUV. The parking lot had been recently repaved and freshly painted. The strong fumes from the new asphalt nearly suffocated her as she trotted up the sidewalk. Bright rays of the morning sun blinded her and the chill in the air pushed against her face.
Near the revolving glass doors, she spotted some employees frantically rushing inside. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one that had been held up by the car accident up the street. Although, that didn’t make her feel any better at all. She was almost certain her new boss wouldn’t give a damn about why Reverie’s newest employee and an executive’s daughter was late on her very first day.
Natasha put some pep in her step while thinking of ways to explain her conundrum to her new boss. Just up head, a tall man in a blue uniform was taking his sweet time getting to the door. He held his motorcycle helmet in one hand and what looked like his lunch sack in the other. He had a buzz cut, a thick, solid neck, and broad shoulders. Although his gait was slow, his boots hit the pavement firmly and with purpose. Natasha hadn’t even realized that she’d slowed down her pace to check out his nicely shaped tight ass until she was only a few feet behind him. He wore short-sleeves, even with the bite of winter hovering in the air. Both arms were tattooed and muscular. His skin was perfectly sun-kissed.
All of a sudden and without warning, he stopped abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk and spun around. Unable to anticipate his sudden change of direction because she was so mesmerized by how good he looked from behind, she ran smack dab into his chest. He held her in his arms to assist her in keeping her balance. She pushed off his hardened pecs, but not before getting a whiff of his cologne…or scent. Whatever it was, he smelled as though he’d just taken a shower in cinnamon and amber infused body wash.
“Oh God. I’m so sorry,” she mumbled. “I was in a rush. I didn’t realize you were turning around.”
“No need to apologize.”
His voice wrapped around her like a blanket.
He continued, “I thought I heard someone behind me. Wasn’t sure why I…”
His voice trailed off and that was when his eyes began to bathe her in admiration. His gaze swept her from head to toe. He took his sweet time assessing every feature on her face.
Did he recognize her? Certainly not. She’d barely been in Aspen Valley a month.
Blushing, she took a step back to allow them both some personal space.
“Do I know you?” he asked, his nose flaring.
Natasha shook her head. “I don’t think so. Today’s my first day. I’m already late.” She chuckled nervously.
“I can help. I work here too. Which department are you working in?”
His voice sounded positively carnal and just…beautiful. The deep timbre wrapped around her like a thick wave of fog. His skin was a deep bronze, almost the same shade as copper. His face was clean-shaven. His bone structure was refined and chiseled.
“I appreciate it but that’s okay,” she breathed. “I was told to just report to the receptionist on the first day.”
Her heart was pounding, but she didn’t know if the reason was that he was breathtakingly stunning or that she was in a hurry and had just had the wind knocked out of her. His piercing ash-gray eyes had her frozen in place as if it was the most natural thing for her to do at the moment. The potent fragrance of cinnamon and amber corrupted her train of thought somehow, and she forgot about being late. Something about him was certainly odd, but not in a negative way. When he cocked his head slightly to one side, his irises narrowed almost to the point where they turned to vertical slits. His eyebrows furrowed in deep thought and his ears perked upward. In that instance, she knew what he was.
“You’re a shifter,” she whispered, almost unsure.
He seemed taken back by her revelation as if she shouldn’t have been able to identify him so quickly.
“I am.”
“I’m sorry if you were trying to keep that a secret…” she said, looking behind them and in the direction of the revolving glass doors.
“I wasn’t. They know,” he confirmed, nonchalantly.
“I went to a school with a very high shifter population. One of the best schools in this region actually. The founder of the college is like you. He’s a shifter. It’s almost too easy now for me to tell even when someone like you isn’t willing to identify himself or herself like that. I notice the subtle hints. Your eyes gave you away, and I just had this feeling…”
“Not many people are patient enough to pay attention to the subtle signs,” he replied.
Her gaze found his mouth and his lips were tilted up in a sensual grin. She could have fainted on the spot over how arresting he looked.
“So um…I’m late. Excuse me,” she said, breaking their gaze and reluctantly pushing past him.
After breaking free, Natasha nearly ran to the front doors of the company. She bypassed the revolving doors, yanked on the adjacent door handle with sweaty palms and nervous fingers, and made a beeline for the receptionist. A young woman was seated behind the desk, answering a phone and routing calls on the switchboard.
After Natasha introduced herself and explained that this was her first day, the receptionist said, “Oh, you’re Paul’s daughter, right?”
“Yes.”
The receptionist smiled. “Congratulations on the job and nice to meet you! I’m Clara. I’ll call your boss down to come get you.”
Natasha would’ve preferred to have not started her week being identified as the daughter of an exec who worked there, but she figured she was doomed to be associated as such from that day going forward. This wasn’t even a permanent job and it was up to her to move on. As soon as she found something that suited her more, she’d do her damnedest to get a job on her own in this town. But for now, Reverie would do.
As Clara punched some buttons on her little switchboard and informed Natasha’s new boss that she had finally arrived, the dark, mysterious stranger that she ran into on the sidewalk sauntered through the door. He eyed her like a hawk and didn’t even try to hide his interest in her. His attention should’ve made her uncomfortable all over again, but this time, it didn’t. Thank God. She was already frazzled enough as is. He assessed her with more of a curious, enigmatic gaze. Considering the intensive exchange between them, Natasha had a feeling that she’d be
seeing more of him. And for some odd reason…the idea of running into him again made her feel anxious.
Chapter 2
Jacques dragged a towel down his sweaty face, and then he took a quick glance at the man on the other side of the makeshift fighting ring. The opponent was a wolf shifter just like him, but they were bound by the underground fighting rules for the human-owned operation, so at no point in time could they present their wolves during the fight. His opponent’s underlying scent told Jacques that the guy was also a member of another wolf pack.
The lighting in the old warehouse was non-existent and all Jacques could see was the guy dancing and shuffling around on the dirt floor in animated anticipation of the second round. He was putting on quite a show for the crowd, but the way Jacques saw it, all that did was use up energy reserves. But that was exactly what Jacques wanted his opponent to do. During the first round, he’d gotten a good whiff of the guy and could tell right away that he’d been fueled up on some kind of performance enhancement agent. A hefty dose, at that. That only meant that Jacques had to work smarter to beat him. No amount of agent or drug would keep Jacques from winning this fight. He had goals to fulfill. Bills to pay…
The crowd of viewers jeered and heckled in the background. More bets were exchanged. Even a side fight or two had broken out outside the ring. But Jacques wasn’t concerned with anything else but the beat down and knockout he would deliver in exchange for cold hard cash.
An attendant shoved a bottle of water in Jacques’s face, but he pushed it away and stood up again. The timer was counting down. The second round was set to begin. The crowd grew quieter. Anxiously waiting…
Jacques put his fists up, his attention on his opponent’s eyes—ready to anticipate his every move and his every intention. The moment the bell rang, the opponent rushed at Jacques, swinging first with his right arm and then his left. Jacques dodged both and returned with a quick jab and then a right uppercut. His opponent blocked the right uppercut with his forearm, but the hastened attempt knocked him slightly off balance.
On and on, they fought in the ring with the crowd closing in and hollering each time a fist made contact.
Jacques focused on the opponent, learning his vices and his weaknesses. When he laid out the bait, his opponent jumped right on it. He came at Jacques, dishing out a swift left punch that nearly clipped his chin. Jacques leaned back on his favored leg and then used most of his body weight to rebound forward. Jacques’s left hook connected with the opponent’s gut. He heard the air blast right out of his lungs. The opponent lost his balance and, apparently, his strength to punch back. Jacques brought his right fist up in a sharp uppercut that caught the opponent on the side of the face. The guy was out before he hit the dirt. The dust still hadn’t settled by the time the crowd cried out in support of Jacques’s victory. The sole referee in the ring checked on the opponent, jostling him conscious again. The opponent grunted and tried to hoist himself up on his knee, but failed miserably. He probably didn’t even have the strength to shift if he really wanted to. This was the end of the road for him. At the direction of the referee, the attendants rushed in to carry the unconscious opponent from the ring.
Of course, Jacques could’ve lengthened this out another round, but he was tired of the dancing around and entertaining the crowd. He’d worked a twelve-hour shift at the day job today and he was eager to get home to his bed. He knew the crowd was looking for a show, but he wasn’t that kind of fighter. He went in, knocked a motherfucker the hell out, collected his cash, and got out. It was that simple.
Jacques was relieved when the official master of the ring confirmed the victory. He pulled off his punching gloves, and this time he accepted the towel and the jug of icy water they handed to him. Just before the crowd closed in on him, he picked up his bag of belongings and went to collect his winnings.
“We need more thoroughbreds like you. Do you want to stick around for a later fight?” the master asked. “Pot has been tripled and the night is still early.”
“Naw, I’m good.” Jacques shoved his winnings into his duffle bag.
“We’ll see you around the same time next week, right?”
“Yeah, probably,” he replied, just before moving toward the locker rooms where he showered and changed. On the way out, the guards moved aside without a word as Jacques made his exit.
As he approached his bike, some of his wounds had already begun to swell and tighten. The bruises were more annoying than painful. All he really wanted to do was go home and hit the sack. Maybe he would see the sexy, irresistible redhead again tomorrow. And maybe this time, he’d formally introduce himself. When they had run into each other on the sidewalk, she’d captivated more than just the man. She had stirred his wolf’s soul. He’d never forget her scent of ginger and mint. Like a memory, her aura was now deeply ingrained into his subconscious.
Chapter 3
When Jacques spotted the woman in the cafeteria who he’d been dreaming about all night, he couldn’t resist the urge to talk to her again. Her attention was focused on something in her lap. Her head was down and her long, auburn hair cascaded over one shoulder.
If it were any other woman, Jacques might’ve resisted the urge to chat, but from the very first day she’d run into his arms out in the parking lot and the days after that where he sensed her in the building, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. The day he met her, he’d been in the worst mood ever, but after seeing her smile, that expression had changed his perspective on everything.
The good part about this was that he’d already made—and won—almost enough money to pay off the debts left over from his grandmother’s funeral expenses. After she passed away, he hadn’t hesitated when it came to being the one responsible for laying her to rest and settling her affairs. Most of their blood relatives had left Aspen Valley years ago. Jacques’s alcoholic shifter mother had left him with his human father when he was only thirteen months old to “get rich” in Nevada and had never returned. And not too long after that, Jacques’s father decided that he wanted no part in raising a shifter son, so he left him as a toddler with Grandma Kent. Jacques couldn’t even remember what they looked like or the sound of their voices.
As far as Jacques was concerned, his only parent had been Grandma Kent. Sure, Grandma Kent made sure he became acquainted with other shifters his age while growing up, but he barely knew his own blood. On his mother’s side of the family, the Shalane’s had once been the most trusted Omega family of the Aspen Valley Wolf Pack, but sometime before Jacques was born that honor was given to another Omega family that demonstrated better loyalty and moral judgment. Even to this day, whenever anyone mentioned the Shalane name, the family’s legacy was never brought up. Legacy was important to Jacques but not as important to Jacques as respecting the one and only woman who’d cared for him when no one else would take him in. And for that, he was indebted to her.
In order to afford to keep up with his own bills and pick up her final expenses, he had returned to the underground fighting arena. In fact, he had a wad of cash from last night’s win folded up neatly in his wallet. He never thought he’d be back in the arena. Fighting was something he’d done as a young boy to relieve stress. And it just so happened that the stress had mounted following the passing of Grandma Kent. Fighting and winning took care of the bills. The funeral home had kindly accepted an I.O.U. and the hospice group had allowed him a few months to come up with the money to pay all of Grandma Kent’s past due bills. There was light at the end of the tunnel. He just had to hold on and fight on…and soon, he would get there. He would get his prize.
Just a few days ago, he’d come to the realization that the light at the end of the tunnel was a person. A woman. And possibly his mate. There was no other explanation for why his wolf was adamant about tracking her whenever he scented the relaxing combination of ginger and fresh mint. He’d never acted this way before, lusting over a woman who was out of his league. But Natasha had changed his outlook on everything. Was c
laiming her as his own obtainable?
Because he was on the security team at Reverie Technologies, it didn’t take long for him to navigate the new employees list and discover that she’d been the only woman who’d started work on the same day he ran into her. She’d already been working for Reverie for three days, and each day around one o’ clock, she’d come down from the labs, buy herself a BLT sandwich and a Pepsi, and sit in the furthest corner over by the glass windows overlooking the courtyard. Most of the time, she read, but on some occasions, she appeared to be worried about something.
On this day, Jacques’s wolf urged him on a little more. He bought 2 BLT sandwiches of his own and went over to say hi.
“Is this seat taken?” he asked.
She jumped sharply and the paperback book she’d been reading slipped from her fingers and fell on the floor. He picked up the book and handed it back to her, but not before stealing a glance at the glossy cover, which showed a man’s steely torso with sweaty rock hard abs.
“Hi,” she said, breathlessly.
“Hi. I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.”
“No.” She shook her head. “The seat isn’t taken. Please sit down.”
He grinned. “You sure? The book looks really…suggestive.”
She blushed and rolled her eyes, and then she stuffed the book in her purse. “I borrowed the book from a friend. I was just reading to pass the time.”
Jacques sat down and unwrapped his sandwich. “Of course. I read too when I’m not out running or training or something. Non-fiction mostly. Lots of history.”
“Interesting.” She smiled. “I’m Natasha.”
“I know.” He took a huge bite out of his first sandwich. It wasn’t his first or even second meal of the day, but he was still hungry.
She narrowed his gaze. “You know?”
“My apologies.” He held out his hand across the table. “I’m Jacques Shalane Kent. I work in Reverie’s security office. And outside of it, of course.”
Aspen Valley Wolf Pack (The Complete Series) Page 37