The Wolf With The Silver Smile (The Silver Series)

by Samantha Bates

"Perfect we needed some help with admin in the club where we bumped into each other. Would you be interested?"

  Would she be interested, hell yes? "Definitely, when would I start?"

  "Immediately if possible, my husband is always so busy in the office. If you could take some pressure off that would be great." She knew she should ask questions, but the food arrived and it smelled incredible. She would be amazed if Lucky could eat everything she had ordered, and then Morgan realized that Lucky had no intention of eating it all.

  "Damn I always order too much, my eyes are bigger than my stomach. I don't suppose you could help me?"

  Morgan did help her, she tried to slow down but she was so hungry that when she finally finished eating she felt sick, her stomach was now heavy and content. "Hello Morgan."

  The woman was waving a hand in front of her face.

  "Sorry, were you saying something?" She had just zoned out, now she was warm and full, the exhaustion had hit her.

  "Would you like to come and meet Ben, my husband? You will need to give me a few minutes to tell him about you but then... Well you can start. Do you have any questions?"

  "Um do you know of any where that I can live? I am really good around the house and can cook."

  "Actually I do, did I forget to mention that my husband can be a workaholic and there is a small apartment at the back of the club…Before you say anything, you would be the only person with a key it's completely secured with a bathroom and kitchen."

  Morgan startled at the offer. "Why would you do this? I am not stupid enough to think that an admin job comes with an apartment."

  This sounded too good to be true and she had learnt that most things that were too good to be true, came with dire consequences.

  "Good question one that tells me that you are not stupid, hear me out before you think of leaving. You have spirit which I admire. I am also a great judge of character and I like you. I know that right now you need someone to be kind to you and believe it or not, I am pretty kind. But believe me if you are not up to the job then my husband will fire you, although he will also make sure you are not destitute. I won't force you to take the job but it's there if you need it."

  "Do you really need someone to do admin?" Morgan wasn’t sure whether or not to believe her, maybe it was a trick.

  "Sure do, I have been doing some of it but to be honest I am pretty awful and Ben doesn't want to upset me by saying that."

  Morgan was hoping this woman was genuine, she didn't know what else she could do. "Okay, I will meet your husband."

  "Great shall we head to the club?"

  As she paid and they left she saw Lucky looking at her. Morgan knew she looked a mess, she had cut her own hair and the red was too bright but totally unlike her. Her jeans were all dirty from where she'd fallen after she left home in a hurry, her bag was too large, essentially she looked like a homeless person. Morgan laughed out loud; Lucky just looked at her sideways noting the outburst.

  "What's funny?" Lucky looked at her quizzically.

  "I was just thinking about how I look, you do realize that you have just given a job to someone who looks like a homeless person."

  "Really I thought I had given a job to a small, bright young lady who I will admit does need a shower and clean clothes. Actually you are just about the same height and build as my daughter who has stupid amounts of clothes, I could drop you some round tomorrow if that's okay."

  "Is that true or are you just being nice to me again."

  "Oh it's true but I warn you, Beth wears nothing but skirts and dresses."

  Skirts and dresses, she had never worn either, she owned jeans and trousers, tops with long sleeves so skirts and dresses sounded marvelous.

  "That would be good."

  As they went inside it looked kind of dark, she had never been in a night club before, she imagined it needed to be dark when it was open. It wasn't as she had pictured, not that she had spent much time picturing nightclubs. All she knew about night clubs were that they catered to the depraved people who engaged in all sorts of things in these clubs, like orgies or gang warfare. Oh god what had she agreed to, she didn't want to see orgies or fighting.

  "Uh Morgan take some slow breaths."

  She had stopped halfway up the stairs, her breath coming in short gasps; Lucky came back to her and rubbed her back.

  "Tell me what's wrong?"

  "I can't do this; I have never been in a nightclub before. I don't think I can be around the type of people who come here, I want to but I can't."

  She could feel Lucky staring at her while she took deep breaths. "Hey you don't need to worry; if you are doing admin then you will mainly be working when the club is closed."

  Morgan started to breathe again. "Really? Maybe I can do this" Morgan took a deep, slow breath, her voice when she spoke was weak and quiet. "That's better, thank you. I'm sorry about that."

  She was so embarrassed; yet again her disability had made a fool of her. Morgan didn’t think that this strong, vibrant woman would understand the impact her disability had on her life.

  As they went through to what she thought were offices she caught a glimpse of this huge man, who was shouting at someone on the phone. She had made a gigantic mistake, he looked down right terrifying but she didn't know how to leave without upsetting this woman. "Is there a bath room I could freshen up in?"

  As Morgan prepared her escape, her mind noted that Lucky didn't appear scared by the shouting, in fact she seemed almost amused.

  "Of course there is honey it's down there. The place is pretty quiet this time of the day so you shouldn't bump into anyone else. I will explain to Ben while you are in there."

  Morgan went into the bathroom and washed her face, she tried to do something with her hair but she had made a mess of it. Now it was choppy and uneven round her neck. Feeling a bravado that appeared form nowhere, she decided there was nothing she could do but go and face her new boss and hope that he didn't eat her alive.

  As she headed down the corridor she could hear them both about her. Her heart was beating so fast that she thought she might faint, stopping she knew that she needed to control this. Unfortunately the man didn't seem happy with his wife so Morgan prepared to be sent on her way.

  "Hold on let me get this right. You leave to get food, you forget to bring me any food yet you managed to find me a new personal assistant, and offered her an apartment."

  "It does sound kind of funny." Why did Lucky still sound happy when he sounded annoyed? Wasn’t she scared of his wrath?

  "Yeah it does sound funny, now tell me why?"

  This should be interesting; Morgan also wanted to know why so they at least had something in common.

  "There is something so sad about her Ben; she is terrified, hungry and tired. Yet what I feel from her is such kindness. She is running from someone, she didn't even want me to know her name; all I got was her first name. I know you trust my instincts Ben and if I'm wrong then… I don't know, how about I promise to make it up to you?"

  The man named Ben sighed. "Fine we will do it your way. I don't suppose you would just accept some money Morgan?" Oh god he was talking to her as though he knew that she was outside, how?

  Morgan inched her way to the door wanting to run; only she would have to pass his office to do that. So instead she inched her way round the door slowly. "Sorry what did you say?"

  She was right; he was enormous with shoulder length brown hair, and stunning blue eyes. He looked strong and powerful, wearing black jeans with a black t-shirt that just emphasized how big he was.

  "Morgan here's the deal; my wife here wants you to work for me. Now for some reason I trust my wife's judgment so if you want a job it's yours."

  "I do thank you." Why didn’t she say no and run? She breathed out slowly trying to calm her beating heart.

  "Don't thank me yet you will be here in the offices, the apartment is yours if you want it, but I will work you hard. I do shout and swear so get used to it, but no-one and I mea
n no-one will treat you with anything less than respect when you are working for me. We run a clean establishment and I will keep it that way. Now from what Lucky says and judging by your appearance you are running from something or someone."

  Morgan started to protest but he put his hand up. "Let me finish, you can be called any name that you want here, although I would stick with Morgan. However for tax purposes my accountant will need your real name. I said hold on and let me finish, you can give it to me or directly to the accountant but I can promise this, if you are not causing any problems your real name will remain fully confidential."

  Morgan was lost; she didn't know what to do. To give this man her name could destroy her, yet on the other hand she had to start somewhere, and as scary as this man looked he was at least being upfront with her.

  "Let me also add Morgan, that if you are able to do the job satisfactorily, working for the Silver Corporation will also provide you with security. I make sure my employees are treated well and will not tolerate anyone threatening any of my employees."

  She knew she had to take a chance. "Before I give you my name I need you to know that if anyone comes looking for me, then I will leave. I will not let anyone else be hurt on my behalf, but thank you."

  "You will not have to worry about anyone getting hurt."

  She felt better having warned him. "I will give you my name."

  Morgan looked at Lucky, she didn't want to upset her but she also needed to keep her name as discreet as possible. She felt her stomach churn, she couldn't cope with this type of dilemma but yet again Lucky saved her.

  "It's okay Morgan I don't need to know it."

  She nodded her head in relief and turned back to this man who was addressing her. "Now as my devoted wife has forgotten to feed me, could you please go back to the burger bar and bring me some food. After that Lucky can show you the apartment, and you can take the rest of today to settle in. I expect you to be here waiting at eight am."

  "What do you want to eat?" Looking at him, Morgan wouldn't have been surprised if he had ordered a cow. "Elliot will know my order."

  As she left Morgan breathed a sigh of relief, she had encountered a giant and had come out unscathed. By the time she returned, Morgan had convinced herself that Ben would eat her instead of the food and her body was coiled with tension. She was wrong, he gave her a $200 advance, apparently she would need food and some decent clothes to work in.

  Lucky took her round to the small apartment, although it wasn't very small, it was lovely, with its beige walls and splashes of color in each room, it was a tranquil apartment. In the lounge one wall was royal blue, matching the oversized sofa and widescreen TV. In the bedroom there was a four poster bed against a crimson wall. In the second bedroom or study there was a sofa bed and desk. The kitchen had some features that she had never seen before like a TV coming out from under the wall cupboards, some sort of coffee machine and a dishwasher that looked way too complicated. The bath was enormous and had jet washes which Lucky pointed out to her.

  "This is way too much. Why would Ben agree to this? Why doesn't anyone live here?" Morgan was genuinely confused.

  "Because I asked him to do this and he likes to make me happy. Don't worry he is a pussy cat or maybe a puppy dog would be a better way to describe him, although I wouldn't tell him that I said that. This used to be Ben's bachelor pad before he met me of course, since then it's been pretty empty."

  "What did he mean about protecting his employees? The thing is, if anyone comes looking for me, I will leave. I won't cause any trouble and I won't put anyone else in the position of fighting my battles, they would lose and then I would feel horrible on top of everything else." The words just tumbled out of her mouth and although they were right she couldn't risk anyone else getting hurt on her account, in her mind, she wasn't worth it.

  Lucky sat down. "Now I know you don't trust anyone right now but let me tell you something. If you need to run fine, but before you do that you ring me and tell me what is really going on. Give us the chance to help you, if after you've told me your story then you still feel that you have to run, then that's fine. But even if that happens you won't be running like you have been, I will find you somewhere to go. Okay?"

  She wasn't sure what to say as her eyes filled with tears and this time they spilled down her face at Lucky's kindness. "I don't know what to say?"

  "Just promise me."

  For a minute she couldn’t answer, just stood there nodding her head. Morgan wasn’t used to someone being kind for no reason. "I promise."

  "Now don't spend that money on clothes put it away for a rainy day, I will come back with some later. I will also bring a friend of mine; Yvonne is great at cutting hair and can sort out the mess you have made. I will also bring you some food I suggest that while I am gone you have a bath and get some sleep." Then she left.

  ****************

  As Morgan eased into the hot bath feeling more relaxed than she ever had, she sighed as the jets soothed her aching muscles, her hair finally felt clean and soft. She did exactly as Lucky told her and fell asleep as soon as she hit the pillow. She had made sure the place was secure and just to be certain of it, Morgan pushed a chair under the door stopping it from being opened from the outside.

  She woke up startled, she had been dreaming and they were not nice dreams. This upset her more than anything else had, until now her dreams had been her safe place. Initially Morgan thought the dream had woken her but someone was knocking on the door. Startled Morgan jumped up and then remembered where she was, she made her way to the door.

  "Hello?" She didn't dare open it.

  "Morgan it's Lucky." Breathing a sigh of relief, she moved the chair out and unlocked the door.

  "Hey are you okay. You were sleeping, sorry." Morgan could see two people behind Lucky. Both were still young, one had long curly hair, wearing jeans and a purple sweater with a long black coat over it, the other had short dark hair, wearing jogger's and a long sleeved green top. All had bags with them.

  'This is Yvonne who I told you about (the one with short dark hair) and this is Sylvia, Ben's mom."

  Morgan just nodded and moved to let them in. She didn't need to say anything because Sylvia talked enough for them all, she was opening the shopping and putting things away. Yvonne got out one of the bar stools. "Morgan would you mind if I did something with your hair?"

  She didn't want anyone to touch her, yet she knew that her hair was a mess so she nodded and sat down while Yvonne spoke. "What would you like me to do?"

  "It doesn't matter really, but I want to keep the color." It was the only thing that offered any level of disguise.

  Yvonne was getting scissors and brushes out of this rugged plastic box. "What about if I keep the color, but add another to it. When I am done you won't even recognize yourself."

  Morgan didn't truly mind on the basis that if it could disguise her even more that would be beneficial, so again she nodded.

  While Yvonne was fiddling with her hair, Sylvia was sorting out some clothes that Lucky had brought with her. Lucky was filing her nails, Morgan waited until when Sylvia had left the room before she spoke.

  "How can Sylvia look so young if she's Ben's mom?"

  She saw Lucky peer at Yvonne and then shrug. "I will tell you as long as you do not freak out. As Ben said, you are utterly safe here."

  Morgan had a feeling she did not want to know and she was right. Lucky went on to explain that Ben was a shape shifter and the leader of some sort of wolf pack, apparently being a shifter or being mated to one, meant that the aging process slowed significantly. Morgan could feel herself panic, she was breathing faster while her heart was jumping. "No you don't, calm down Morgan, and breathe."

  "How do you do that, it's as though you know what I am feeling?" Morgan said it in one breath and knew that she sounded weak.

  Again she wished she hadn't asked when Lucky went on to say that she could feel other people's emotions, and therefore she knew when Morgan
was panicking, she felt as if she had entered some sort of twilight zone. According to Lucky she did not need to fear the wolves, they were like humans most of the time although that explained how Ben had heard her outside of his office. Sylvia came back and all three of them proceeded to explain the life of a wolf shifter living in a pack.

  She had known that other species lived openly in society, though she had never met anyone from another species and had been constantly warned about the dangers of mixing with them. This in turn had led to her current state of absolute terror.

  As Morgan looked in the mirror after Yvonne had finished she was amazed, her hair was to her shoulders at the front, but the back was cut into a neat bob ending at the top of her neck, sort of inverted. Yvonne had added black streaks through the top of the red. They then somehow managed to convince her to model some of the clothes they had brought with them, Lucky was right about the size, they fitted Morgan perfectly. She had been worried that Lucky would bring short skirts or revealing dresses, although they felt short to her when she looked in the mirror she was pleased to see they came just above her knees.