3

The gym room was glorious. It had everything you could need. I used my free time lifting some light weights and running on the elliptical. I didn’t end up seeing Colt again but figured he was behind a desk somewhere in the pack house.

While I was finishing off in the sauna, a small, dainty woman dressed in a pair of black pants and a polo pushed the door open and entered with a tray. She had some Fuji water bottles in one corner, some hand towels in the next corner, and three bowls, one with some fresh berries, one with mixed nuts, and one with little cubed cheese took up the other half of the tray. “Here you go, dear,” she says as she sets down the tray between us. Her silver-gray hair, pale blue eyes, and warm aura made me feel like I was sitting with my nana.

“Hi, I’m Layne.” I take a hand towel and wipe my hands so I can indulge in the hodge-podge charcuterie board she brought me. It was so thoughtful of her and looked absolutely delicious after my workout.

She smiled and held out her hand, “I’m Ms. Bryant. I keep the pack house in check, provide Alpha Colt with his meals, tidy up the house, and everything else in between. I wanted to come down and introduce myself, bring you a little snack, and let you know if you need anything at all, do not hesitate to ask. I’ll also be sure to give you a daily schedule of your and Alpha Colt’s activities, so you are prepared. Can I put it under your door each morning?”

“I’m easy, whatever works for you, Ms. Bryant.”

She smirks and tilts her head at me. “Honey, I think you’re anything but that. This month should be interesting.” She finishes as she turned to head back to the kitchen.

Well, okay... That was weird. I exit the gym room and as I walk past more windows showing me my mountain view, I think to myself, that this month is going to be easy money. A gorgeous pack house with a great view, new clothes to pick from each day, and a sexy guy that I’m definitely not going to fall in love with, because that would break my own rules. I check the time as I strip my gym clothes off to hop in the shower. I have just over an hour to get ready to knock my mismatched socks off my hot rich alpha.

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Colt knocked on my bedroom door quickly and entered right after without pause. Uhm, okay. I guess you don’t need an invitation into my bedroom, not that I would ever say no to him. He drags his eyes up and down my body, and then back up again, and I’m pretty sure that means he likes what he sees. He looked just as well as he was making me feel… in a fitted black suit, with a bright white shirt on underneath with his top button undone. Showing me just enough neck that it was teasing enough for me to want to... no I wouldn’t do that. My eyes flashed silver. Mine.

I was wearing a dusty pink cocktail dress. The V-neck expertly accentuated my cleavage, as the fabric from the straps crossed and wrapped right underneath my bustline. This had to be the most elegant and expensive dress I’ve ever worn. I wore a tight petite chain with three tiny pearls that only reached right underneath my neck. The dress fell right above my knee, edging and teasing the line of not too long to be boring, but not too short to be slutty. It is the first time in forever that I felt beautiful.

“Wow,” was all that Colt said, eyes shining bright and his oh-so-sexy grin lighting up his face. He looked at my outfit and picked the tie that matched me the best. I smiled and internally lov-, liked the fact that we were matching. Even though I didn’t think he needed a tie. He looked hot without it.

I bit my lip, feeling my panties get wet. I tried to stifle away the scent of my arousal by squeezing my thighs together. As Tayven said, I like fucking, but Goddess damn had it been a minute. I had been relying on my vibrator and dildo for a hot minute. I haven’t been with anyone since Blade, and even that wasn’t that often. Or rather good either.

He came up to me and reached out to adjust my necklace adjusting the clasp to be at the back of my neck. He leaned in close and inhaled at the base of my neck. “Goddess, you smell like sunshine and strawberries,” he said as he dragged his lips up to my ear. My whole body reacted like I stuck my finger in a socket. Tingles from the tips of my head all the way down to my toes. “You look stunning, Layne.” He kissed my cheek again. Fucking tease.

“Let’s get going so we’re not late,” I suggested.

Colt smiled at me and reached out for my hand, leading me out of the room. I snagged my handbag right before I exited. He led me to the limo out in front of the packhouse as the gentleman opened the door for us to get in.

Once we were settled in and on our way to our event, Colt poured us both a glass of champagne. We both clinked our glasses, but before either one of us lifted to take a sip, I paused and asked, “What are we toasting to?”

       “How about cheers to becoming friends and enjoying our time together?” He smiled and set his warm hand on my leg. His gaze dropped to my lips, and I found myself biting my lower lip again under the scrutiny.

         “Friends with benefits, Alpha?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow, noticing the way his eyes flashed gold enjoying the fact that I had sort of submitted, yet challenged him at the same time.

His gaze was laser-focused on me so much so that I can feel my skin burning up wherever he looks. “Goddess, I fucking hope so,” he whispers and slightly leans in.

To diffuse the sexual tension threatening to drown us, I lift my champagne glass to my lips and take a long sip. Colt leans back, not so subtly adjusting his pants from our game. He eyes me, and gives a slight nod of his head before returning the sip with a smile.

We arrive at an equally stunning packhouse, not too far from where Colt’s is. Everyone dressed lavishly, drinking and enjoying themselves as they waltz through the large entertainment area.

        “What do you do?” I quietly whisper to him realizing I have no idea what type of business he works in. Other than ward off the wanna-be’s, I didn’t dive deep into the conversation.

         “I’m the CEO of a company,” he said so casually while waving down the bartender. He handed me another glass of champagne while grabbing his lowball glass filled with the amber liquid I despise.

         “Would I know the company?” I asked trying to hide my nose cringing at the smell.

         “Most likely,” he smirked, quickly followed with, “What’s wrong?”

         “It’s nothing,” I quickly lie, but the memory of my father drowning his sorrows in whiskey and research leads my trail of thought to the hospital and the money he owes Blade. Dumb brain. Stop it. Pretty sure he could read me even though we’ve known each other all of one day. I’ve never been good at lying.

         He rolled his aura out just a tad while lifting my face to make eye contact with him. His eyes flash gold and says, “I’m not going to ask again, Layne. What’s wrong?”

         I try to nonchalantly explain, “I don’t like the smell of whiskey,” trying to play it off as if it’s not a big deal like he’s making it out to be. He returns the glass to the bartender and asks for a rum and coke instead.

         “You didn’t have to do that for me.” As we turn from the bar, I link my arm around his, noticing many she-wolves eying my Colt. I mean Colt. He’s not mine. But mine.

         “It’s no big deal, anything to make it easier for you. Now let me introduce you to some others,” he said so warmly. So comforting like he didn’t just put his wants behind mine. Goddess, he’s so sweet.

         I follow his lead, even though I feel so out of place. I don’t belong in lavish mansions with sexy CEOs. What am I doing here? I hear bits and pieces of conversation around me… what they want to invest in next, where they are going for vacation, and what packs have the best lands for expansion. I could feel tons of eyes on me as we walked through the room. Some of the gazes from the men were lusty, some from the women were jealousy, and some were just curious about who the new woman was on Alpha Colt’s arm.

         He continues through the room until he seems to find the group he was looking for. An older woman, maybe late forties, still beautiful as ever. Natural platinum blonde hair and soft brown eyes. She’s standing next to an older carbon copy of Colt. If this was any indication of what Colt would look like older, fuckkkk me. They were talking with two younger gentlemen, looking around mine and Colt’s age. One in a crisp navy suit with a patterned shirt underneath, the other in a dark gray suit with a black shirt underneath.

         “Layne, this is my mother and father. Luna Isla and Alpha Cale. And this is my Beta Gunnar and my Gamma Clay. Everyone this is Layne,” he says pointing at each person respectively. He reached out to shake his dad’s hand and went in to hug his mom.

         “Nice to meet you, Alpha and Luna,” I say as I bow my head and show my neck as a sign of respect. Colt returned next to me and put his hand on my lower back right above my ass. I forgot the back of the dress was open leaving my back bare and the jolt I felt from the skin-to-skin contact was making my wolf purr with excitement. He was tracing patterns with his fingertips on my back making me shiver and I instinctively leaned in closer to him.

         “Lovely to meet you as well, Layne,” his parents both replied one after the other. A similar reply came from his Beta and Gamma. Now that the introductions were out of the way, I could see the men itching to dive into business talk. I could overhear something about a contract with a pack that was for five million dollars, and his dad seemingly thought that was rather low for everything that he was supplying the pack with.

         “Son, a contract with the security equipment you’re supplying is alone five million, let alone with the reputation that Moonlight Security has you could easily double almost triple that.”

         HOLY FUCKING SHIT. I’m contract mates with Colton Rhodes, CEO of Moonlight Security. They are the number one provider in pack security and safety across America. Right when I came back to Earth, I notice a few scantily dressed she-wolves from the hosting pack swarm Colt, Gunnar, and Wyatt. Fake boobs, bleach blonde streaky hair, and dresses that leave little to the imagination and not in a good way.

         “Honey, I think there are few alphas over there that would like to speak with you, Gunnar, and Wyatt,” I pointed aimlessly to the opposite side of the room while making eye contact with dragging my eyes to the she-wolves behind them to make my point.

         He hugged my waist, kissing my cheek responding, “Always keep us in line, Laynie.”

         I shivered to hear my childhood nickname coming from his mouth. How did he know? The connection that was forming was dangerous. Like we had known each other for years. I nuzzled into his neck relishing in this feeling. “It’s a tough job, but I’m glad you picked me to do it,” I teased back.

         He kissed my neck and dragged his lips to my ear, “Mmm, thank you,” he said so softly I would’ve missed it if he wasn’t so close. Turning back to his parents, he says “We’ll see you next week, Layne and I need to get going,” as he links our fingers together.

         His mother quickly rebuttals, “Oh no, Colt, we want to spend more time with you and Layne. You both can join us for Sunday dinner. We haven’t had one in so long.” She was totally guilt-tripping him and it was totally working on Colt.

         He sighs and relents, “Yes, mom, we’ll be there.” He gives her a quick hug before she can ask him to do anything else and we head to the bar hand in hand.

         “Can I get another rum and coke please,” Colt says to the bartender as I laugh at the reason for the drink order. He faces me and asks, “What’s so funny?”

         “Do you always do what your mom says?” I say laughing even harder.

         “Oh, shut up. You could’ve saved me back there. You’re supposed to help me out.” His eyes darken yet are filled with humor and playfulness.

         I moved to whisper something in his ear and found myself unsteady in my heels. He caught me close against his body with his arms around my waist and my hands wrapped around his shoulders. His eyes flash gold before they darken with lust as we both lick our lips, our gazes locked on each other and our hands sharing warmth with each other. The entire room faded into the background like they didn’t exist. I could feel our hearts beating in sync with each other as if they were one.

         Bum… Bum… Bum… Like our hearts were trying to pick up speed to beat faster than the other, yet content in being in perfect harmony.

         “You’re trouble, Laynie.” He leans in closer, our noses now touching each other. We’re so close to each other. So fucking close.

         I deflect the growing sexual tension building by leaning back and taking a seat on one of the closest bar stools, “Well, you’re a mama’s boy, Colt.”

         “Soooo that’s how we’re playing? Game on, Laynie,” he says as he shoots me a panty-dropping smirk and winks.

         Oh fuck.