Chapter Four - Taking Advantage

Amy's POV

Alpha Kane was no match for one with my talents, honed down the generations. The slave collar wasn’t even the restricting kind, so he clearly hadn’t done his research, though it did have punishment buttons. Let him try.

Lulling him into sleep, the kind he wouldn’t want to wake from in a hurry, I debated with myself. Should I risk a trip to his office or content myself with searching his bedroom? I’ve never been a ‘safety first’ kind of girl so I set off on impulse, a ready excuse forming in my head.

I told the guard outside his office the Alpha had sent me to wait for him there. It was more believable than the alternative option. Why would he send a slave to retrieve something? His Luna would be a different matter.

Why did that particular thought keep intruding?

Maybe I’d had a lucky escape, though Kane couldn’t be all bad. Lisa had spoken of him in glowing terms. If only I felt the same about Jake.

The door wasn’t locked and the guard didn’t even need to punch in a code. If I were in charge the security system would be the first thing I overhauled. Well, maybe not. There was a more pressing matter and I was honoured to have been chosen for this task.

Alpha Kane’s desk was too obvious a place to look, though I began my search there. With any luck he would have written down the combination for the safe. Who was I kidding?

Dull financial ledgers were picked up and discarded before I spotted the laptop. But there was no handy post-it reminding him of his password and I didn’t even bother to boot it up.

Then I noticed the bookshelves and my mouth began to water. A tell-tale itch started on my scalp and I knew I was close. Some of the volumes were behind glass. They looked ancient and intriguing but I was here for only one. As I saw the lock, my excitement grew, and I began to hunt frantically for the key.

Smashing the glass would attract too much attention and it wasn’t as if I was about to use the escape route mapped out so carefully for me by Ariadne. Not even if I found the source who had witnessed all that went wrong.

I tried several bunches before admitting defeat. It didn’t even seem as if this bookcase was ever opened. The glass sparkled and shone nevertheless, though I guessed that was down to the Omega who cleaned here. Presumably Chrissy.

What happened next hit me out of left field. I knew I was on borrowed time anyway and had just finished putting everything back, maybe not in the right order, when I heard the guard say, “Alpha Kane’s not there, Beta Jarvis.”

I gulped. I’d never met this particular high ranking pack warrior, though he had a reputation for thoroughness and a dogged ability to pursue a miscreant until justice was served. Perhaps I should discuss the poor security situation with him. Then it dawned on me: maybe there was a camera in the Alpha’s office and I had been filmed. No wonder the guard was so nonchalant about letting me wait inside.

The werewolf who entered had short brown hair, a well-trimmed beard and the kind of intense green eyes which could see all the way to a person’s inner wolf. I felt my knees grow weak and I really hoped I had remembered to don my top.

Misha rolled her eyes. She knew I wasn’t keen on this whole mate thing. Not until the natural order was restored. Well, a girl could drool, couldn’t she? I really hoped Jarvis wasn’t an asshole, like Kane.

“What are you doing here, girl?”

I became tongue-tied for only the second time in my life. The first was when Jake bought me the triangular pendant with the symbol etched inside. I was drawn to it from the moment I saw it in that antique shop in town. You might say it had called to me. Mom said I was fanciful; everyone knew better now.

Ariadne was keeping it safe for me and I felt naked without it.

Naked. I gulped, trying not to think about my skimpy outfit and the impression I must be giving.

Improvising quickly, I pretended to faint. The Beta’s reactions were astounding, given that I was giving off slave vibes. He caught me before I hit the side of the desk, though I was aiming for a soft landing on the deep pile carpet.

Then it happened. I was encompassed by an all-pervading smell, of dark chocolate and nutmeg, of pine and dewy grass.

Mate.

Misha was ecstatic, but I couldn’t allow myself to embrace this now, even if he felt the same.

What was it about males whose names began with ‘J’ and bad timing?

“Is the Alpha coming?” I managed, sticking to my cover story.

“Salted caramel, with a hint of ginger and,” he sniffed the air. “Apples. Red ones to be precise.”

Oh no. That bit about the apples rocked me. Was I on Alpha Kane’s radar as well?

“He asked me to wait for him here, but it’s been ages.”

“What’s your name?”

Here it came. Rejection. I would just have to steel myself and take it.

“Amy Jordan,” I said, “originally from the Black Hills pack.”

“Mate.”

I felt the blush start to heat my cheeks. Should I reject him? It would be the start of empowerment, but I really didn’t want to.

“I’m sorry, are you talking to me?”

He seemed to come to his senses, though my question had been a stupid one. Of course he was, unless someone was hiding in the small cloakroom. I must stop getting paranoid.

“I saw you on the video link and thought to myself, ‘What’s that slave doing there’?”

I fingered my collar.

“You have to help me,” I said. “Alpha Kane will be so mad.”

“Where is he anyway?”

I shrugged. “How should I know?”

“I’ll rephrase the question. Where was he when you saw him last?”

Why did men treat women as if they were dumb? Was it because of the way we looked?

“In his bedroom,” I said, lowering my lashes and beginning to toy with my braid.

“We have to talk to him. Urgently,” he growled, and I saw that his eyes were glowing golden, a sign that his wolf was present.

Felix. Misha sighed. I am in lust.

Whoa. Stop that right now.

This was one complication our network didn’t need.

“No, please, I’m scared of him.”

“Did he make you come down here without your top?”

What? I looked down at myself, only to discover it was true. I’d been in such a hurry to leave I’d forgotten to put it back on.

I nodded, trying to look woebegone.

Jarvis wanted to loan me his denim jacket but I refused, claiming I would get into trouble. Speaking of claiming, he wanted me to admit I felt the mate bond, too. I thought fast. Not wanting to lie to him, I reached a compromise with myself.

“Can we keep it a secret?” I begged, aiming for guileless and just about pulling it off. “Before I came here I was an Alpha’s daughter. Now, because of my brother’s actions, Alpha Kane has made me his slave. Oh, didn’t you know? Jake abducted Lisa.”

“I’ve been out of state for a while.”

I wriggled out of his loosened hold. “I really ought to get back,” I said. It was the truth. Alpha Kane would be like a wolf with a sore canine if he woke and found me gone. Reaching up, I touched his cheek, choosing to ignore the tingles which made me want to shiver. “Please, Jarvis, let me go.”

“I’ll caution you later,” he growled, and I saw that the guard was checking on us.

Now for the tricky part.

I skipped up the stairs, lighthearted when I should have been down. He wasn’t good enough for my kind. That’s what I told myself.

Barging through the door, I realised my mistake. The Alpha was standing at the foot of the bed, still shirtless, an angry frown on his face.

“Where the fuck have you been, slave?” he roared.

“D – don’t you remember, master? You sent me downstairs to order us some supper.”

“A likely story.”

“Well, we did work up quite an appetite,” I said, chancing my arm.

I was eager to know if my spell had worked. His grin made me feel nauseous, especially when he said, “Ready for round two?”

How was I going to extricate myself from this one?