I couldn’t even think of him as a wolf.
“It’s a killer,” I replied between breaths.
He glanced past me. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect to see you back after you ran out on Sunday.”
His face could turn into a snout. His teeth to fangs. His fingers to claws.
The usual easiness wasn’t emanating from him. Was I acting weird? Then again, I literally ran from here two days ago, ignoring his wave on the way out.
A vice tightened around my lungs. “About that. Is Alarick around?”
Hairy picked up a keg from the curb, grunting with the effort.
Two days ago, I would have believed the act. “Do you need a hand?”
He grunted again. “I’m fine. You’re in luck. Alarick is in his office.”
The soundproof away from the public eye office. “Thanks. And sorry about the other day. I had a meltdown. A few things have been happening.”
Hairy averted his eyes. “Sure. No problem.”
Hmm. I had some distance to recover there. But the Luthers could suspect all they wanted. I had one goal—get my job back.
I strode after Hairy.
Mandy waved from the bar, and I unlocked enough to return the gesture. My pulse pounded, and I made sure to keep my breathing heavy, clutching my side as I adjusted to being inside a space with paranormal monsters.
I could do this.
Lifting my chin, I crossed the room, ignoring the gold stage I’d once stood on in total ignorance. The pounding in my ears faded as I pushed into the dark hallway.
Alarick was visible through the window at the far end, typing at his desk.
I wiped my clammy palms on my shorts, recalling Rhona’s words about adrenaline.
Think about the forest. River water, pine needles, and sunshine. I inhaled, more than aware he could likely hear the sound from inside.
I knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
Alarick lifted his head as I entered.
“Andie.”
Heat flushed my cheeks, and I averted my eyes. “Alarick.”
“I was hoping to see you again. I feared you might have left the valley.”
Because he’d watched my apartment the last two days? If that was the case, I really couldn’t conceal where I’d been.
I forced myself to take the seat closest to him. He leaned back in his office chair, and my gaze dropped to his dark jeans. He followed my look, and our eyes met after.
Fresh blood poured into my face.
Fear wasn’t the predominant emotion anymore. Disgust and shame sounded about right.
“Things got out of control last time I was here,” I said to my hands. “I stayed with my uncle and cousin for a couple of nights to decide what I wanted to do.”
He rested a hand on the desk.
What did that mean?
“I assume Rhona and Hercules Thana are your relations?”
Bringing that into the open was the right move. He wasn’t surprised one bit. Which meant he hired me knowing that too.
That boded well for him accepting me back here again.
“They said you’d know them. From laser tag.” I looked him square in the eye.
Honey eyes. So unusual.
Irises that belonged to a wolf.
Alarick’s smile stretched wide. “You could say that.”
He’d never been particularly forthcoming aside from compliments and in our business dealings. I knew so little about this guy. He wore jeans when he wasn’t on shift. Every worker in the casino obeyed him without question.
His intense mystery had intrigued me as much as it drove me away, so I couldn’t appear overeager now.
“The only way I can stay in the valley is if I have a job,” I said. “The other night, when I found out this was a casino, I let my personal life cloud my judgement.”
The werewolf interlocked his hands on the desk.
I brushed my hair back. “I feel a kinship with this valley. There’s nothing left for me in Queen’s Way. But to stay here, I need a job.”
“Why don’t you like casinos, Miss Booker?” Alarick asked.
Did he have to watch me so intensely?
I frowned. “Does that have anything to do with getting my job back?”
“It does if you have a gambling addiction I need to know about. Despite what you think of me, addiction isn’t something we enable here.”
Sure it wasn’t. “I don’t have a gambling problem.”
“When I offered you a compromise on Saturday night, why didn’t you take it then?”
I pulled my gaze from his unsettling focus.
“I’ll put it another way,” he said low. “Why, when you dislike casinos and your uncle owns many businesses in the valley that could employ you, would you choose to return here? Particularly after what happened between us in this office and your reaction afterward?”
His manner was unobtrusive, mild even, but the wolf was turning over rocks in search of my secrets. When I had nothing for Alarick to discover, his calculation wasn’t a problem.
“I lied to you.” I clasped my hands together like his.
His brows rose. “When?”
“Logan and I broke up on Saturday night. I wasn’t with him when I came here and we… well, when I rode your leg until we both came.”
His eyes flared and air hitched in his throat.
Got ya.
Mandy told me I only really needed to know one thing about sigmas. Looking back on the conversation, she’d absolutely been describing werewolf hierarchy, and I wished I’d quizzed her more, yet she did let slip one crucial bit of information.
When a sigma sees something he wants, he takes it.
Alarick wanted me.
I didn’t know exactly what for. Assumedly, it had to do with fucking the tribe over. But whatever the plan was, dealing with me got him off in a twisted way. He enjoyed having control over me because he knew it would enrage his opponent.
“I wanted you to know that,” I stared at my hands, “because afterward, it wasn’t fair of me to pile my personal issues on you.”
“I’m not sure you could ever be accused of that.”
Was that an insult or compliment? “In saying that, I just got out of a long-term relationship, and rebounds aren’t a great idea.”
He stiffened. Didn’t like being reduced to a rebound?
Snort.
“What we did felt incredible. I’m sure you can feel the intensity between us, too, but a term of me returning to work is that our relationship remains platonic. I feel out of control around you. Like I’m capable of doing anything you ask. It worries me that you wouldn’t hire me back for my music but because you see me as a piece of ass to use and take whenever you want.”
Yep, I had a diploma in dirty talk. Couldn’t say I ever used it in this messed-up way, but the effect was undeniable.
Alarick jolted in his chair. Gaze on my lips, he blinked several times, hands disappearing under the desk as he moved slightly.
My guess? He just adjusted his boner.
He cleared his throat. “I assure you that isn’t the case. Your music is unlike anything I’ve ever heard.”
“Even so,” I said demurely, lowering my lashes.
The only thing hotter than a woman a man could touch whenever he wanted? An untouchable woman—and the reason for revealing more skin for this meeting.
I’d drive him so mad with this twisted perversion of his, he’d be blind to my movements against him. Or at least willing to excuse them for a sultry smile or hot look.
“Of course,” Alarick said hoarsely. “Will you let me know if your stance changes?”
I smiled shyly. “I can do that.”
“That brings us to your employment.”
It was like I hadn’t just painted a picture of him using my body whenever he wanted.
“You didn’t answer my other question.”
I folded my arms. “Look. I’m not a fan of personal questions. I t
hought you’d received that loud and clear a while ago. Do I need to answer that question?”
Alarick tilted his head. “Yes.”
My eyes narrowed, and a gleam entered his honey eyes.
Maybe the fact werewolves existed, and I sat across from one, should simplify the human pains of my life, but this still wasn’t an easy thing to do. Splaying my ribs open to infiltrate the pack made it a fraction more palatable. But, actually, anything the werewolves knew about me could be used as ammunition later.
The clenching of my jaw wasn’t an act. “Then listen good. I’ll say this once. The information isn’t to leave this room.”
His darkening gaze was a stabbing reminder of what he could become.
What he was.
“One week ago, I discovered my uncle and cousin existed—” I let him savour that titbit. “—but in my experience, people don’t give a shit. That’s why working for Herc is out of the question. If our relationship turns to shit, I can’t be financially reliant on him.”
I’d never, not ever muttered those words aloud. The clawing in my chest wanted out.
“Give me the job or don’t. If that explanation isn’t enough, you aren’t getting more.” Standing, I glanced at the exit.
“Thank you.” Alarick remained seated as I edged toward escape. “Words like that aren’t easy. You’ve shown me how much you want this job.”
Uneasiness stirred in my gut. That comment could be interpreted two ways. “Only if you can keep your distance. Even if I have trouble keeping my hands off you. And I never have to enter this office again. Those are my conditions.”
“Done. We saw a 2 percent increase in spending on top of our best-ever Saturday night here. How does seventy dollars an hour sound?”
Like you just showed me how much you want me to have this job.
Alarick really, really wanted me here.
If he at all suspected I was here on behalf of the tribe, why agree? Was it his sigma nature or something else entirely?
Did Alarick know something I didn’t?
“That sounds perfect.” I pulled up my big woman pants and extended my hand to the werewolf.
He held it tight. “I believe in full transparency, Miss Booker. This is a business, and consistency is a driving force of any successful venture. This is your second chance, and I don’t offer chances beyond that. Play like you did on Saturday without interruption by a disgruntled ex, and we won’t have a problem.”
Nostrils flaring, Alarick released my hand, and I curled my fingers against my bared midriff.
“That’s fair,” I said in a steady voice. “There won’t be any problems.”
He nodded, as though no other answer could have been given and returned his attention to the computer screen. “We’ll see you on Thursday evening at six.”
I turned on my heel, clinging to control. Because I—quite literally—wasn’t out of the wolf’s den yet.
“And, Andie?”
Stomach churning, I paused in the doorway. “Yeah?”
Alarick fixed me with an inscrutable honey look. “Welcome back to The Dens.”
14
The temptation to drive straight to the manor was real.
And entirely stupid.
I walked back to the apartment, trying to contain the emotional fallout of the conversation with Alarick.
I had to act normally, but as necessary as that was, the coiled energy in me wanted no part of it.
I flung open the apartment bay windows. The bathroom sat to the right of the front door, the bedroom to the left. Really, aside from a door cutting off the bathroom, the entire apartment flowed from entrance into the kitchen, dining, lounge, and through a wide arch into the large bedroom.
Leaning on the glass table, I spread my fingers wide.
You did it.
I shot a text to Rhona and Herc.
I’m in.
Terrifying summed up what just happened, yet with the first meeting over, maybe the terror aspect would fade.
I set “Something Like Olivia” by John Mayer to play and turned to my suitcases.
Time to move in for realsies.
The excitement of moving to the valley had taken a massive hit, and my anticipation had shifted to determination since, but life didn’t wait patiently for feelings. I was an old hand at faking it until making it—who knew that forced training would come in useful.
Pulling clothes from the cases, I arranged the garments in the drawers and on the rail wardrobe. The methodical work helped rid my body of the last tension from meeting with Alarick.
Afterward, I sat at the dining table, jotting down a supermarket list. The house stuff was back in Queen’s Way, which sucked because I had apartment set-up costs to cover now. Pantry staples, a mop and vacuum, ironing board and iron. Maybe I should ask if the manor had spares of stuff because spreading these costs over six months would be hard, and cleaning items were necessary.
I studied the list and put an asterisk next to the items I needed today.
The envelope from Alarick contained one hundred and eighty-two dollars after tax. I had five hundred dollars left from my savings that I’d refused to break into. I laid out the cash and counted out one hundred dollars for an emergency fund. Two hundred for rent. Fifty to cover Marie’s cleaning, and fifty for petrol. That left two hundred and eighty-two dollars.
Hesitating, I put another one hundred into a savings pile.
I’d spend the money from Alarick on groceries and the items on my list.
A Fleetwood Mac song had just started when my phone rang.
“Roy, how are you?” I answered.
“Good, but look. I drove past the house to put out the For Sale sign. You have some smashed windows. I walked around the back to check the whole house. It’s two at the front. Nothing inside is damaged.”
Mothershitter. I could guess who’d done that. “Which windows?”
“The lounge windows.”
The biggest ones. Logan, you complete and utter bastard. “I don’t suppose you could cover them up somehow?”
“Already on it. I had some old house signs in the boot, but that won’t stop squatters who really want to get in. And… well, there’s an open home on Thursday too. People don’t like to think they’re moving into an unsafe area.”
I dropped my head into my hands, rubbing my forehead. “I’ll see that they’re fixed by then. Thanks for letting me know, Roy.”
“You got it.”
I had to sell the house and fast. The interest was crazy and in mere months, the house sale wouldn’t cover the debt. “Any early bites?”
“Nothing yet, but the house went up yesterday. The market is slow right now, but the house has a lot of potential. We just need to find that one person who loves it.”
Which meant blah, blah, I have nothing.
“Fingers crossed,” I said, gaze heavy on the cash laid out on the table.
“We’ll hope for a result soon,” he said happily.
Hanging up, I strangled my phone. After mentally smashing the apartment, I released a breath.
My house insurance excess was one hundred bucks and, from past experience, I could guarantee the premium would increase by a ridiculous percentage after the claim. I emptied my savings into the pile with Marie’s cleaning fee, and emptied the emergency fund onto the pile too.
“Bitchhole,” I said to the money.
If Logan broke the window once, this could be an ongoing problem, and that was something I couldn’t afford. Would he really kick me like this while knowing finances were tight?
Depended how much he hated me right now.
Judging by the last message… a lot.
I pulled up the cutlery insert in the kitchen drawer and placed the rent and petrol money inside before replacing the insert on top. I wanted as minimal money in the bank as possible until the house was sold, and Mum’s debt cleared.
I snatched up my purse and shoved the rest of the cash in along with my phone, then grabbed my lar
gest backpack for groceries. Poor Ella F. I couldn’t drive if not absolutely necessary.
The teller in the tiny hole-in-the-wall bank didn’t comment as I deposited the cash. I immediately paid Marie online, and then called the insurance company, paying the excess over the phone.
Would I like to pay the difference in premium now?
Yes. Clearing bills when money was available was the way to go. Cash may not be around in one month. My shoulders relaxed as the call ended. They’d send a glass repair contractor tomorrow.
Crossing the road, I found an empty bench seat facing the river and scrolled through my contacts.
Shit. I needed some good news today.
Jiani. I’d never met her. She was once Mum’s best friend—according to Herc.
She’d just returned from a trip to Bluff City.
Exhaling slowly, I pressed the green button. Herc said her two closest friends were hurt by Mum leaving. This could very easily make my day worse.
Maybe I should hang up.
“Hello, Jiani speaking.”
Her voice was clipped and no-nonsense—kind of militant. The complete opposite to Mum’s light, carefree tones.
I took the dive. “Jiani, hi. It’s Andie here—Ragna’s daughter. Herc gave me your number.”
A pause. “Andie. Nice to meet you. Herc said that you wanted to learn more about your mother.”
Did I ever. “Is now a good time for you? I can call back.”
“As good as it’ll ever be. I won’t deny that hearing Ragna’s daughter was in the valley dredged up a lot of painful memories.”
“I can imagine, and I’m sorry for that. You know she recently passed?”
Another pause. “I heard. So young.”
“When she died, I discovered the Thanas—and that Mum was born here. She never mentioned Deception Valley. I only heard stories about her parents. So, really, I’d love if you can tell me anything at all.”
She blew out a breath. “I lost my mother five years ago. Our parents’ pasts aren’t something we appreciate until too late, but I’m unsure where to begin if I’m honest.”
Shifter Wars: Supernatural Battle (Werewolf Dens Book 1) Page 15