“Not an enemy. So don’t make me one,” Ethan said evenly, his expression and posture calm and poised.
My eyes narrowed to slits, but I didn’t try to kick him out.
This guy was way more capable and dangerous than I’d first given him credit for. And although he didn’t seem to be a threat to me right now, things could always change in the split of a second. It would be best not to let my guard down.
“Who the hell are you and what do you really want?” I hissed, demanding to hear the truth.
There were not a lot of people who knew how to obtain a blood contract, and even less who knew how to create one. Outside of very powerful or extremely evil demons and magic wielders, there wasn’t anyone else who traded in them. Unfortunately, I had no idea which category Ethan fell into.
And if he was one of those people who dealt in the dark arts, then I wanted to avoid him as much as possible.
“I told you who I am. My real name is Ethan Payne. I don’t have any ulterior motives, and I’m here to give a legitimate job offer to you.”
I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest sceptically. “And I’m just suppose to believe that?”
“Jasmine. I hope you don’t mind me calling you that…,” Ethan started. “Let me be frank with you. I’m interested and willing to pay for your skillset because I’ve heard a lot of good things about you, and this shouldn’t come as a shock to you – but I expect results. Results I think you can produce. Now, I’m offering a generous compensation package for your services. If you’re not interested in taking it, I can go elsewhere.” He finished, not at the least bit ruffled by my outburst.
I grunted, but unfolded my arms, losing a bit of the hostility on my face.
Ethan continued to speak, acting like we were having a simple chat over coffee. “Word on the street is you’re searching for someone. With the money I’m offering you and the precious scrying mirror – this would undoubtedly open new avenues for you in your search.”
“Oh, good. So you’ve done your homework then, I see,” I said derisively. “Come on. Tell me – what else do you know?”
Ethan smiled, and there was just a hint of smugness. “Is there more to know?” he asked innocently.
I scowled, which only made his smile widen into a grin.
“Are you referring to the fact that you’re a kitsune – a fox faery – a húli jīng?” He remarked, almost offhandedly as he waved his hand dismissively in the air.
His words made me suck in a shallow breath.
Those three names made my heart stop several beats. “You’re definitely not human are you?” I asked warily, a dreadful hunch growing in the pit of my stomach.
“Does it matter, Miss Wyatt?”
Yes, it does, you smug asshole. Grinding my teeth together, I rubbed the knuckles of my balled fist with the thumb of my other hand, hiding the action underneath my desk.
How the hell did this guy know so much about me? I wondered, finding solace in the knuckled ridges on my hand. Especially, when all I knew about him was basically his name.
I narrowed my eyes, hardening my gaze. “You know, many people have died trying to expose that piece of information about me.”
“I’m not surprised,” Ethan smiled faintly, completely seeing through my lie. But he had enough tact not to point it out.
“Miss Wyatt, trust me – you don’t want to make me your enemy. Rest assured, I will not spread this secret of yours anywhere.”
I looked back at Ethan mistrustfully, but at this point, I had little other choice but to take his word for it.
Don’t worry buddy. If you try to expose me, I won’t hesitate to put an end to you. Afterall, this was my most closely guarded secret, and I would make damn sure it wasn’t going to get out anywhere.
Everyone else just thought I was some average fox shifter with a gifted nose… The truth was, I was actually from the bloodline of an ancient species of faery.
My kind were virtually extinct, and there were many individuals and organizations who would love nothing more than to get their hands on me. So you can understand why Ethan knowing my secret would set my alarm bells off on high alert, and trigger my survival skills to kick in.
Sometimes you had to fight to survive. It was a dog-eat-dog-world out there.
“What if I decide to reject your job offer?” I asked, unwilling to completely submit.
“Then I wish you the best of luck in finding this person you’re searching so desperately for,” Ethan replied snidely.
I glared at him. Wow. This asshole seemed to have a real talent for pissing people off.
“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?” I snarled, fingers twitching with the temptation to glamor him on the spot.
Ethan chuckled, seeming to read my mind. “Take a look at the contract. You have twenty-four hours to make a decision. I’ll be back to collect the document tomorrow either way.”
With that final statement, Ethan picked up his briefcase and stood up.
“It was a pleasure meeting you,” he said, throwing me a devastating smile.
“I wish I could say the same,” I retorted without shifting from my seat, making it clear I was not going to bother walking him to the door.
Ethan didn’t respond, instead I saw a sparkle of amusement flicker across his dark, striking, chocolate brown eyes.
Dammit. Even as I scowled, I had to admit he was incredibly handsome, and I was sure as night follows day, he was well aware of this.
This only served to make me dislike him even more. When it came to guys, there was nothing worse than a charming asshole.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said.
With suitcase in hand, he turned, and with a straight back he strode confidently out of my office, leaving me to stare at the contract lying on my desk, brooding over what to do.
I kneaded my temples with the tips of my fingers, feeling a headache coming on.
I only had twenty-four hours to decide what to do. The clock was ticking.
❖ ❖ ❖
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SNEEK PEEK: FINDING MY MATE
(SHIFTER MATES BOOK 1)
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“Are you sure the kid’s information was good?” Hiding in the shadow of a large oak, I silently cursed my terrible nighttime eyesight even as I rolled my eyes. Glancing only briefly at Todd, my pupils narrowed on the bored skepticism painting his face.
“Alpha Jackson believed him. That’s all that matters. Just keep your fucking eyes peeled, Todd – you know I suck at this shit.” A snigger was all that met my annoyed snap, and my eyelid twitched in irritation. Todd was the absolute last person I wanted to be on sentry duty with, no matter how bad the threat. He could’ve been the last leopard shifter in the world, and I would rather go in almost completely blind.
“Don’t be such a sourpuss, Derek. It’s unbecoming of a noble lion.” My lips curled back into a fierce snarl at that, but the faintest of shimmers across the park stole both mine and Todd’s attention. Stiffening next to me, he leaned forward, and my nostrils flared as the still wind of late Spring settled on the flat field. “Shit – that little bastard was right. I see a wolf – two wolves.”
“Scouts? They must know we know.” Mumbling softly, I squinted but couldn’t make out more than broken silhouettes, and my heart twisted in its cage. I wasn’t meant to be on recon; my talents were best used in full frontal assaults.
Not only was this a shitty post, but I was stuck with Todd. Super.
“They’re not doing anything…” My ears twitched at that, and I pursed my li
ps into a thin line as my mind churned. “Why aren’t they doing anything?”
I had no answer for Todd’s rhetorical question, and he wasn’t really expecting one, too focused on the scene I couldn’t see clearly. This was a moonless night; it was a brilliant move, since wolves could see much better in the dark.
But the problems with having a pack of just wolves far outweighed that advantage. Their attack, from what I knew, was sloppy and hasty and doomed to fail. Their assumptions were based on prejudices and numbers. I had heard their female Alpha was stupid, but I never imagined she’d be this stupid.
“There are more –” Pointing towards the opposite end of the park, Todd drew my focus from my own thoughts as he spouted his. “I think 30, maybe. Aren’t there supposed to be more?”
“Yes.” The soft breeze brought a barrage of scents, just about as many as Todd had suspected, and I lifted my lips to suck them into my memory. “A lot more.”
A bare, delicate smell clung to my nostrils, and I tore my eyes off the silhouettes across the park to gaze down the street. None of the street lights glowed bright enough to reach this far deep into the sparse trees, but I could easily make out the figure weaving between them. Narrowing my gaze into slits, my mind turned out explanation after explanation, but none of them seemed right.
The shimmer of a long, toned, tan leg caught the yellow glow of the lamp, and I tensed as the obviously feminine figure stepped under the flood of light. She wore nothing but booty shorts, her body glimmering even as my gaze went right to her small, perky breasts. Saliva pooled in my mouth, my tongue tingling to drag up the long, slender column of her neck. Arousal flooded my veins and seeped from my pores, and I took a short step out from behind the oak only to be held back by a firm grip on my forearm.
Tearing my eyes off her, I glared at Todd even as he shot me a confused look.
“The fuck are you doing, Derek? There’s nothing over there – you couldn’t see it anyway.” Panic caused my heart to stutter at his harsh whisper, and I whirled back around – but she was still there. Standing, tall and alert and poised, she stared at the ground even as she lifted her arms. The shadows of her fingers danced across the pavement, and I ground my teeth at the urge to see them spasm in pleasure.
“Derek!” Todd’s angry snap reverberated up my spine, and I forced my eyes off her a second time to gnash my teeth. He jumped back, stepping on a pinecone whose crunch echoed across the park like thunder in the silence. “Shit!”
Even as I turned back to the street, my heart pounded hard not because of the possibility of being made, but the wide, hazel eyes that were staring right at me. Adrenaline surged through me, replacing my blood with a tsunami of hormones that gorged my cock. Despite the distance between us, I could see the shock that flittered across her features; the shock that parted her lips and caused her eyelashes to shudder when she struggled to blink.
“Dude – what the fuck are you looking at?” Todd’s angry grumble sounded in my ears, but this time, I couldn’t look away. She held me trapped, and I sure as fuck wasn’t going to try to free my stiff muscles. The coarse hairs on my body stood up on a thick layer of welts, and my cock strained against my jeans with a painful pulsing that begged for relief.
“You don’t see her?” My eyes widened as my mind finally started to work again, and I licked my lips heavily under furrowing brows. “You can’t see her…”
“Who? There’s no one there, Derek. What happened to keeping your eyes peeled, huh?” The relief that hit me was a punch to the chest, and the woman cocked her head in silent question. She was so graceful, just with that one movement, and I clenched my hands into fists at my sides. Blood blossomed a metallic plume in the air, but even that wasn’t enough to scrub her light scent from my nostrils.
“Beautiful…” Purring the praise, my lips stretched into a wide smirk at the red tinge that spread across her skin. She can hear me. “I see you…”
“See who – you crazy dick – fuck this.” I barely registered Todd’s grumble as the woman stiffened, and for just a fraction of a second, I wondered if I had gone crazy. My partner couldn’t see her; in fact, I didn’t think anyone could if no one had by now. She was standing under the only light source available for twenty yards front and back.
What’s more, she was practically naked and not trying to hide it – holding herself with confidence that struck me as more than skin deep.
“Derek’s finally lost it, Alpha Jackson – he says there’s a woman, but I can’t see her… No – he’s totally gone – he probably can’t even hear me right now… There’s just thirty or so of them – No…I don’t know where the rest are. These guys don’t seem to be intent on doing anything. I don’t know why they’re here – I got no idea.”
“What do you know, huh?” Mumbling more air than noise, my lips trembled with the need to find hers as they came together. Her bright gaze left mine only for the briefest of seconds as she looked around, and my cock strained as her long hair rustled in the breeze. Long legs carried her with firm strides towards me, and only by some miracle was I able to keep my eyes on hers.
“Woah – woah – Alpha… I’ll call you back.” The closer she came, the more detail I could see – the perfection of her nose even as scars ripped down her outer thigh. A strong fist beat on my back, and I whirled around to snarl only to stop short at the grave sneer on Todd’s face. “They have humans. Look.”
Snapping across the field, I squinted, but there was no need when a huge flood light blared down on the group. The white light designed to illuminate a baseball field changed the direction of the shadows, but they no longer mattered.
There couldn’t have been more than a dozen wolves, and they surrounded a group of scared humans still in their pajamas. Fear that had been masked by the darkness filled my still lungs, and all thoughts of the woman fled from my mind. Standing in front of the group, Alpha Liza stood like one of those fanatical church pastors with a holy, righteous expression painting her face.
“Shit – this is bad.” Todd and I were trapped in the shadow of the oak; Liza knew we were here, but she obviously didn’t know where as she scanned the area. Her trying to act smart would’ve been hilarious if it wasn’t dangerous, and I ground my teeth as my fingernails dug deeper into my palms.
“No shit, Todd.” My mind whirred at a dangerous pace as I snapped back at Todd, and he lifted his lips in a snarl that simply rolled off my shoulder.
“What are we going to do? She’ll see us coming no matter which direction we go.”
“Is that the human Chad?” The soft, melodic voice caused both of us to freeze, and my eyes flew to the woman to find her staring blankly at the group. Casting me a sidelong glance, her beautiful lips dragged in a frown under furrowed brows. Unease swirled in her gaze, but a clamor across the field stole all of our attentions.
A rather brawny man tried to strong arm his way to the front of the group of terrified humans, and he looked pissed.
“Hey! If you don’t let us go, I’ll fucking bitch slap you into next week – you crazy cunt! You messed with the wrong motherfucker!” Loud and obnoxious, the human Chad – shouted above the scared whimpers of the humans around him. I counted at least three children, but there were probably more in the middle – and every other person was a woman or teenager. Flickering to the woman, an intense shot of adoration rushed into my chest at the absolute shock that rippled across her expression.
She was so cute.
“Did you hear me, you bitch! I said – ” Chad was cut off, and I turned my attention back to the scene to watch him crumple to the ground. My sensitive ears picked up his curses, and my hard on shriveled as realization slammed into me. He’d been rammed in the balls, and I couldn’t help but sympathize.
But my eyes should’ve stayed on the woman.
Books By Rylee Winters
Shifter Mates Series
(Complete)
Finding My Mate (Book 1)
Protecting My Mate (Book 2)
/> Dragon Marked Series
Dragon Lords Blood Contract (Book 1)
Dragon Lords Blood Pact (Book 2)
(Available for Pre-order)
Fated Mates Series
Bartered to the Fae Lord
A Little Bit About Rylee
Rylee Winters is a lover of fantasy and magic. She loves to write romance stories about strong, kick-ass heroines and hot, bad-ass but sweet guys.
Oftentimes, she can be found walking dazedly about, distracted by her imagination and daydreams of faeries, elves, shape-shifters and all sorts of magical possibilities.
She loves to read, and one of her favorite pastimes is sitting down to a good book with a steaming, hot cup of tea.
Send her a message to say ‘Hi’ or let her know what you think of her books – she loves to connect with her readers! =)
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