by A Lonergan
When someone knocked on the door, Nalia was ready. My claws exploded from my fingers and a growl echoed around the little bathroom.
“Hey, it’s me,” Tracey’s voice squeaked on the other side of the door. I knew one of the Guardians was here and waiting for me to get to school but I had been too lost in my own thoughts to realize that my friend was with them. I could have concentrated on my hearing and known she was with them. I could have used my sense of smell and identified her immediately but between me and my wolf, we were on edge.
I shook my hands out but the claws stayed. Finally I gave up and dried myself off, claws and all. I wrapped the towel around myself. My hands trembled as I opened the bathroom door. Tracey was seated on my bed, with her backpack on the floor. Her bright eyes were filled with concern then worry as they took in my claws.
“Are you scared living here by yourself?”
I shook my head. That was the last thing I was afraid of. “No, I just have a lot on my mind.”
Tracey leaned back on my pillows. “Do you wanna talk about it?”
“How do I get these to go away?” I held my hands up and Nalia sighed in my head.
Sorry, I’ll let go now.
Just like that, the claws were gone and my fingers were back to normal. Tracey frowned. “Tell me what’s going on in that pretty head of yours.”
“I’m not afraid of being here alone, I’m afraid of being here when my parents get back. I feel like I’m putting them in danger because I can’t control what is happening in my life.” I dug through my dresser to keep my hands busy.
“That’s why you applied to all those internships,” Tracey muttered behind me.
All I could do was nod my head as I pulled out a pair of jeans and a sweater. Even though I’m not cold, keeping up appearances is important when the temperature outside has dropped. Tracey is all bundled up and I know she wasn’t cold either. “Yeah, but none of them have called me back and my parents will eventually come home. It’ll probably be sooner rather than later.”
“Why do you think that?” The bed let out a squeak as Tracey moved.
I don’t worry about privacy as I drop my towel and get dressed. She’s seen me nude enough times and I know she isn’t weird about it either. “Because they caught Knox on the camera. Now my dad is going to get super protective and my mom will be all up in it like she’s living vicariously through me.”
Tracey snickered and I finally turned around. She’s perched the edge of the bed and looking at her hands. “We might have some jobs around the pack lands that you could apply for. We closed down a lot because of the rogues and what’s going on with Carden, but there are always behind the scenes positions open.”
My shoulders fell as I sighed. It could solve all of my problems but… “I would say yes, but I want to get a job because of my value, not because of being a wolf or being your friend.”
Tracey nodded her head like she knew that’s what I was going to say. “I can keep an eye open for you and send you job listings if you’d like.”
I accept it because I know I have no other options. When my parents get home, I need to have a game plan.
Because we skipped school, Tracey dragged me to the pack lands. She starts with using the excuse of the Guardians being tired or something silly like that. If Knox heard her say that about him, he would be entirely too upset. He would possibly never admit defeat or exhaustion. I had seen him jog down my road a few times. The first time I had seen him, he told me he had run twelve miles. He wasn’t even sweating.
When I open the car door I could feel the shift in the air. Something exciting was happening. There was a buzz in the air that hadn’t been there as long as I had been a wolf. I looked at Tracey with suspicion and she shrugged innocently.
I kicked her door closed as someone cleared their throat behind me. When I turned around Alice, Rafe’s mother, was standing there.
“It’s been too long since you’ve been back to the pack!” She exclaimed excitedly. Her dark hair was pulled back from her face in a tight braid and she wore dark jeans and a tank top tucked into it.
No need to pretend here. I thought to myself.
“Hi, Alice, I have missed seeing some of the faces around here.” And a voice in my head interrupted to say especially one in particular. This time I couldn’t tell if it was Nalia or myself. I ignored it. After a few seconds, I found myself looking for Rafe. He was usually the first one to come out and give me a hard time when I would get to the pack lands but today he was nowhere to be found. I had to fight to keep the frown from my lips.
As if Alice could read my thoughts she smiled. “Rafe had some pack business elsewhere for the day.”
I nodded my head like that wasn’t what I was thinking but the blush spreading across my cheeks gave me away. I was about to dart away when her hand touched my elbow. “Can we speak for a moment?”
Worry ran down my insides but I tried to cool it before Nalia freaked out again. That was the last thing I needed to happen. “What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you were still looking for a job,” Alice grinned at me and the worry I felt a second ago amped up a notch. Tracey raised her hands behind Alice and shook her head before she mouthed, I had nothing to do with this.
I bit the inside of my cheek. I was but I didn’t want to admit it to her. I still had the same reasoning I had given Tracey flitting through my head. “Um,”
Alice took a step back as if she could smell my anxiety. Then it hit me, she could smell it. I just wasn’t in touch with my wolf enough to realize it.
We could smell their emotions too, if you’d let me. There she was.
“I told Tracey I didn’t want any help with that. I know you all mean well, but…” I trailed off, unsure of how to continue.
Alice frowned this time. “Tracey didn’t have anything to do with this. I’m confused. You did drop your resume off at our headquarters downtown, didn’t you?”
My eyebrows pulled together. “Did Rafe know I went downtown and intercept it?”
Alice laughed and shook her head. “No, Rafe probably wouldn’t like it very much if he knew I was offering this to you, actually.”
A bit of satisfaction flickered through me at that.
She’s telling the truth. Nalia confirmed in my head.
“We are in need of an accountant but not at our downtown location. We need someone here, at the Manor, to help with all of that.” She put her hand on my arm and led me into the Manor before us. I didn’t know what to say.
“Wait, what is your headquarters called?”
Alice opened the door for us and motioned me to follow her. Down the hall behind the stairs is a massive office. In the left corner, there was a massive dark wood desk that held two Mac monitors and a filing cabinet underneath it. There were two folders spread out on the desk. “CP Industries.” The bright red CP flash through my memory and I want to kick myself for not putting it together sooner. “That’s more of our international sector that deals with other packs in other countries. We are a lot more than we seem here, Jade.”
She opened the first folder and handed me the first page. Listed down it were businesses in bold that the Crimson Pack owns and operates. “As you can see, we need more help than what we have.”
I nodded my head as I looked over the numbers and all of the names. The library, the fire station, grocery stores, gas stations. I blinked slowly and put the paper on the desk.
“I would hate to shoot myself in the foot but I’m not sure I’m qualified for this position.”
Alice walked around the desk and sat in the plush black velvet chair there. It looked brand new. “You are more than qualified for this position. It doesn’t require much.” She slid the second folder toward me. “In this one, you will see your salary as well as an agreement for you to live here on the property.”
It's like she wrapped up all my fears and insecurities and fixed them all with a big fat bow on top. When I opened the folder, I couldn’t help b
ut let it slip from my fingers. The number was entirely too high and they’re letting me live on the pack lands without being a pack member? This is too good to be true.
“I’m not a member of your pack.” The words tumbled out of my lips before I could stop them.
Alice only smiled. “Well, the first has to do with you being a Sigma, which I had no idea before. You won’t ever have to pledge to a pack unless your wolf needs it. There are many benefits to pledging forth but I can understand your hesitation. More than anyone else, I wish I could understand why my son does the things he does, but unfortunately, I can’t see into his mind. I trust you, as does the rest of the pack. You have a place here. A place you can run free and not have to worry about shifting, as well as enough money to pay for the rest of your degree and some extras.”
Why hadn’t anyone told me I was a Sigma? How did she even know? Was it all another guess? Did I even want to bring it up with the rest of this bizarre interview?
I swallowed thickly before I could answer. “I don’t need charity.” Something iced over in her gaze. “This isn’t charity. I know your parents have money. I know you are used to getting mostly everything you have and not having to work for it.” She leaned back in the chair and steepled her fingers together. She was a businesswoman now. “I require hard work, but I know you can provide it and the home I will provide you with, as stated in the contract, hasn’t seen a good day in ages. I do take care of my own, but I don’t do it out of the kindness of my heart. I require effort around here. Unfortunately for us but fortunately for you, we haven’t had an accountant in ages. I’ve been doing most of it around here, but I don’t have the schooling background. The kids around here don’t want to go to college and would rather leave for work or just be lazy. The last accountant was my husband and you know he is no longer with us.”
I nodded my head. This is what I wanted. I wanted to be taken seriously for my skills, for what I had to offer to a team. I blinked back the moisture in my eyes as the businesswoman in front of me melted away.
“So what do you think?”
The smile spread across my lips before I could stop it. “I think I would be stupid to say no.”
“I think you’re going to fit right in around here.”
Chapter 50
Rafe Crimson
The stupid errand my mother had sent me on had been a dud. There were no rogues on the other side of the town, even if the scent was slightly there. She had lied without lying. She was the best at it. She knew how to manipulate the truth to her advantage. It was why my father had been so intrigued by her when they first met. It was what kept him from walking away when he preferred blondes over brunettes.
It wasn’t until I returned to the Manor and heard typing in the office down the hall that I knew the reason for the trip. She had given father’s job to someone. She had interviewed them without my leave. A growl rumbled down my throat. She had probably brought a human here and she knew things were strained. The last thing we needed was a human lurking around. But then the scent hit me and I knew the damage that my mother had brought down. Sitting behind my father’s computer was Jade Rivers. She didn’t bother to look at me as she typed away.
“What are you doing in here?” My voice sounded harsh even for my ears.
She didn’t bother to look up. She kept typing away as one of her hands slid a folder to me across the desk. I opened it up and then closed it slowly. The number in there was for someone with a degree, not- not Jade. I blinked as I tried to get my thoughts together but I couldn’t.
My mother was waiting for me in the kitchen. I clenched and unclenched my jaw. “You had no right.”
My mother rolled her eyes. “You have no right. You are the Alpha, yet you know nothing about business. I have to do what I have to do in order to keep money flowing to our people. What would you have me do?”
I crossed my arms over my chest to hide how hard I was shaking, “How about you don’t meddle?”
Her laughter was diabolical but her words weren’t. “She applied at our HQ downtown. I came across the resume in my email. I didn’t even know it was her for a second. She is qualified for the position.”
Guilt ran down my spine and left a bad taste in my mouth. “She’s going to be living in Gran’s old cabin?”
The amusement that had been in my mother’s eyes was now gone. “Your Gran has been gone for a long time. You know that little cabin didn’t offer her much.”
I shook my head. That wasn’t the point. “What if she comes back?”
“There are ten bedrooms in this Manor. You act like we couldn’t make room.” My mother placed both of her hands on the island and leaned forward. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be. What about Jade? What about what she needs?”
Something broke inside of me at that. “She won’t pledge to our pack. She needs nothing from us.”
Mom shoved off of the counter and marched to where I stood. “Don’t start all of that. You are the one that forced her to be a part of all of this. If you could have kept yourself from doing that, then you wouldn’t be dealing with all of this.”
The crack inside of my heart started to grow. There was going to be a gaping hole soon enough. “She was going to die.”
Her shoulders drooped and she wrapped her arms around my waist. She was a good foot shorter than me. “Oh, honey. Sometimes things are meant that way. We can’t prevent everyone from dying before we think it’s their time.”
“Would you have me die too, then?”
Chapter 51
Jade Rivers
After three days of going over everything in the Crimson Manor’s computer system, I felt like things were off to a good start. Alice Crimson had done a good job in the place of her husband over the years but I didn’t know how I could possibly accept the amount of money they were offering me, especially since some days I wouldn’t be working. I would go over documents, analyze budgets but then what would I do for the rest of the day? Alice had to leave on official pack business and the contract didn’t state whether or not I was working full-time.
I leaned back in the velvet chair and looked at the empty space around me. Alice had said that I was allowed to decorate it any way I wanted and with my salary, the budget was large. I closed my eyes and spun around.
“Uh hem,” I knew it was Rafe before I opened my eyes. I could smell him all the way from here. Pine and whiskey. My two favorite things before my life went to shit. “Are you okay?”
I nodded and went back to the computer. Did I need to look like I was busy? Technically Rafe was my boss too.
“Ya know that you don’t have to be here all day, right?” I didn’t even bother with looking at him. What was the point? I had heard what he had to say until he had stormed out of the house. I had felt the animosity coming off of him in waves as he realized that I was the one his mother hired to take his father’s place.
“I didn’t know how many hours your mother wanted me to work. The amount of money she is paying me would suggest that I am to be here twenty-four-seven.”
“You only need to be here when you’re doing work and if you want to bring it home with you, that’s okay too.”
I looked at the two monitors in front of me and wrinkled my nose. Yeah, that sounded easy enough. He laughed at my expression and walked around me. His scent wrapped around me and this time it made me dizzy as he bent over beside me. He was just a few inches from me but I couldn’t breathe. I was scared of what I would do if I inhaled his scent again. Since when was it this heavenly? I had been this close to him before, hadn’t I? A click sounded before he yanked open the bottom drawer on the filing cabinet.
“Mom upgraded all of our software and everything last year and she thought she needed a laptop. Everything is all synched so you don’t have to do anything but find your work and do it from home if you wish.” He placed the MacBook Pro on the desk beside me before he retreated to the other side of the office again.
“All you had to do was t
ell me you didn’t want me here, I would have found a way to work around your schedule.” I shrugged my shoulders like my heart didn’t hurt. Like all of this wasn’t hurting me, but my throat felt thick and my eyes burned. I swiped the laptop off of the table and stormed from the building. I didn’t need his excuses or his wonderful scent. All I needed was the job and I could now do it without having to see him.
Tracey was reclining on my bed when I got home. I tried to not throw that laptop at her as I collapsed into the office chair in my room. “What a surprise.”
“We are going out tonight,” Tracey grinned and sat up from my bed.
I rolled my eyes. “I have work I need to do.”
“Rafe will let you get away with one night off, it’s Fridayyyyyy.” She dragged the word out while she flipped over on my bed. Her curly hair hung from the side and brushed the ground.
I groaned. The idea of going out did sound nice, but I didn’t want to go to a party. I would have to set ground rules or I wouldn’t feel comfortable. “What do you have in mind, because I am not going to any parties around here.”
Tracey smirked. “We are going downtown. No more house parties.”
“So clubbing instead?” I didn’t know if I liked that either but I did like the idea of getting out of the house.
All Tracey could do was wink as I disappeared into the bathroom. I looked at myself and sighed. I looked sad and worn out. There were fading bruises under my eyes from all the sleep I had lost and my cheeks were somewhat gaunt from not eating as much as I needed to.
I leaned against the counter before I splashed cold water on my face. It did nothing to help perk me up.
You should go. I think we both need it.
Nalia was right. We did need it. Even if it meant dancing till my feet hurt. I hoped it also meant lots of laughter. I didn’t want to worry about boys and wanted to spend time with my best friend. I yanked the door open and leaned in the doorframe. “Fine, but I don’t want to pick out my outfit. I want you to get me ready.”
