BlairI could feel much needed warmth seeping through my aching body from the central heating of the office building and I involuntarily let out a sigh of relief that quickly turned into a grimace as a bolt of pain seared through my bruised ribs like a knife slice.I cringed and gritted my teeth, my hand coming to rest over my left side as I stifled a moan, breaths escaping my nostrils in small whistles as I struggled to breathe through the pain.In, out …. In…out. I counted silently, making the breaths as shallow as possible so as not to jar my bruised ribs. Bit by bit, the pain receded and I sat as still as possible, dreading the next wave. Soon, I could feel my eyelids getting heavy, the warmth and sheer exhaustion that came from a lack of sleep taking over.With a slight shake of my head, I fought it off and carefully straightened in the comfortable chair. Even though my body needed rest to speed up the healing process, I couldn't afford to fall asleep now. What kind of impression
BlairWithout waiting for a reply from either myself or the stunned receptionist, Lucy spun on one perfectly balanced heel and strode away briskly. For a second, I stood there, unsure of what to do until Sadie gave a light nudge.“Go on,” she gestured with her head in towards Lucy’s retreating back, handing me a visitor’s pass. “Good luck.”With muttered thanks, I hung the ribbon around my neck and hustled after Lucy, ignoring the jarring pain that dogged my every step. My sneakers, once pristine but now ragged and grimy, made a squeaky sound on the floor in tandem with Lucy’s clatter, the sounds echoing off the white walls of the hallway.My mind raced with a million thoughts as I caught up with her, hope clashing with trepidation as to what she wanted from me. I blinked as we passed through and entered a brightly lit open office space furnished with floor to ceiling windows and skylights that let in the natural light in addition to the dozens of artificial lighting on the ceiling. R
BlairNext Monday“Ms. Strand, I’m so sorry.” Embarrassed to have been caught sleeping on what was supposed to be my first day on the job, I apologized profusely, while silently offering a plea to the moon goddess that I had not just blown my chance.Ignoring the lingering pain, I shot to my feet, nervously trying to smoothen the creases out of my outfit - a light green pinstripe shirt which I’d paired with black pants, and ballerina flats. Except for the shirt - which was one of the only two I owned at the moment, everything else was the same as I’d worn last week and the only clothes I had in addition to a pair of tights, hoodie and sneakers. The clothes had all cost a fortune and bought from high end shops but due to overuse in the last month, they had begun to show signs of wear and tear.I’d given myself a haircut - and botched it badly. To conceal the uneven edges, I’d put the entire mess up in a bun at the back, but of course, in my short nap, a few strands had slipped free and
BlairHuge…The single word echoed in my head as the gorgeous, dark haired, viking built like a tank, barged into the office. I auto switched into defense mode as my instinct reacted to the presence of what it considered an alpha male.I shrank back against my seat with a gasp, trying to put some distance between us. My fingers gripped the armrests until my knuckles turned white as every nerve inside me screamed to escape.“What the bloody fuck am I hearing about a new employee, Lucy?” His voice, deep and gravelly, came out in a growl and made the hairs on the back of my neck rise.I was put in mind of a predator, a large, formidable one and the thought only served to ratchet my anxiety several notches up. Now, I couldn't help but wonder if Mac Walsh was Lorekind. Humans didn't breed them that massive.I wanted to bolt, but his large frame was between me and the door.Shit.“I thought we agreed at the last meeting about not hiring more staff?” Mac crossed his arms across his chest. “A
Mac I was still in a shitty mood from my ten hour flight. My wolf, Aries, absolutely hated being out of touch with solid ground and stuck in a metal contraption that was an airplane, soaring thousands of feet in the sky. Each time I had to take a flight, it was a constant battle of wills inside me, and even though I usually had my way, Aries never gave me a moment’s peace during the entire flight, making his displeasure known in my head until I was an irritable, miserable fuck by the time the plane landed. Because of this, I avoided taking flights whenever I could. Lucy usually would go on those business trips that necessitated flying. But a trip to Washington for the quarterly shareholder meeting was something that requires my presence and was unavoidable if I wanted to keep the funds flowing. Added to that, the meeting had been a bloody waste of time and I’d hated every minute of the time I’d spent trying to convince those stodgy farts to shell out the funds Gen Pro needed. All th
BlairI stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. A pale, dark haired girl with haunted brown eyes that looked enormous set against a face made gaunt from hunger and malnutrition stared back at me. I studied my sunken cheeks and chapped lips sadly, thankful that at least, the swelling was gone and the bruises mostly faded.Grunge emo chick.Mac’s words echoed in my head and I let out a sigh. To think my life had come to this, where a bastard like Mac Walsh could casually level insults my way and assume I was a drug addict because of my physical appearance.Not that I blamed him, I did look exactly like he’d described, I’d give him that, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. I’d endured years of verbal abuse from Resse that I thought I’d developed a thick skin, but somehow, Mac’s words cut me deeper than I cared to admit.My lips trembled as unwanted memories swarmed me, triggering tendrils of anxiety that tightened a vice around my chest squeezing until every breath was a struggl
BlairA similar heat flared in Mac’s eyes, and from the depths of his chest, I heard a deep rumbling that came out as a growl. His arms tightened around me, possessive and passionate and for one moment, I caught a glimpse of the beast within him, ferocious and magnificent all at once.For the first time in months, Trish stirred within me, I could feel her agitation because she was me and I was her, but it wasn’t an agitation borne of terror, no this was different. It almost felt… joyful?I heard a word and realized it came from my own mouth and even more shocking were the words I uttered, words I never expected to utter again in this lifetime.I went cold all over as shock rocked through my entire body.“No…” I shook my head in denial. Placing my hands on his chest, I pushed and mercifully, he let me go, so abruptly that I almost lost my balance again.His arm reached out to cup my elbow, but I shrank from him and to my absolute horror, I whimpered in fear, my arms coming up to shield
MacDespite my best efforts, the scene with Blair in the hallway kept playing over and over in my head as I drove towards the ranch. I had gone after her, haunted by the hurt I’d seen reflected in her eyes as she hurried away from my office. I might be a bastard, but I still had a shred of a conscience left and I knew I had gone too far and that an apology was in order.I had just rounded the corner when Blair had bumped into me at full speed, her tiny form bouncing off mine and if I hadn't reached out and grabbed her, she’d have definitely landed her ass on the floor.I still couldn’t figure out why I had reacted to her the way I had. From the moment our bodies had come into contact, my senses had flared into hyperawareness, my beast had craved to have the woman in my arms.And it hadn’t just been me that had felt it. I’d seen the flare of arousal in Blair’s eyes, the way she’d titled her head, lips parted, longing for satisfaction. That look had almost been my undoing. I’d nearly gi
SkylarBy the time I got over my shock to hear Mac's furious voice and struggled to my feet, he and Holly were already engaged in a heated argument.Holly's face contorted with anger as she glared at Mac. "Are you kidding me? You think I'd intentionally hurt her? We were just practising Taekwondo, which, by the way, she asked me to teach her. This was just an accident!"A flare of surprise crossed Mac's face and he looked at me, searching for confirmation. "It's true." I said, my words still coming out in a stutter since I was still out of breath. "She was just showing me some basic self defence moves but then I tripped and took us both down."Mac looked like he'd been kicked in the gut. He passed a hand over his face and I heard him mutter a curse under his breath. "I didn't know what was happening. It looked like you two were fighting and she was -"Holly scoffed and rolled her eyes. "If I wanted to kick her ass, I would do it some other way.Mac broke off mid-curse to glare at Hol
SkylarA week passed with me doing nothing more than sleeping, waking up, eating the enormous portions of food that Mac insisted I consume, then spending the rest of the day lazing around either watching TV, playing games or reading novels on the brand new cellphone Mac had bought for me.I had offered to take over the cooking or cleaning or whatever chores that needed to be done, including shopping for groceries, but Mac had expressly forbidden me from doing any such thing saying I still needed to rest and get my strength up. So I obeyed. However, I was starting to feel restless, the result of now having so much pent up energy in need of an outlet. Sitting still became a challenge, so I would occasionally explore the huge house. I found a pool at the back and spent quite a bit of time sitting on the edge, dangling my feet in the heated water, wishing I had learned how to swim. I was alone in the house. Mac had decided to drop by the office today after extracting a promise from me th
MACShe smelled of vanilla and wildflowers, a combination that up until now, I'd had no idea was capable of driving me wild. And it had just topped the list of my all time favorite smells in the entire universe. And it was even wilder because up until a few seconds ago, I didn't know I had such a list. But I did now. And Sky's scent, fresh from a bath and looking deliciously content, was the number one.I adjusted my normally comfortable jeans, the material now felt very constricting with how hard I was. It had taken a great deal of self control to keep myself from reaching out to touch her soft, supple skin, I'd barely stopped myself from finding out if she tasted as good as she smelled and as sweet and heady as I remembered.It hadn't helped to know that she probably wore nothing underneath tha
Skylar I was beginning to think that the streets would have been a less stressful option. By the time dinner was over, I really wasn’t sure I could take much more tension. Holly, who had made her dislike known from the very beginning, now positively despised the very sight of me. When I had finally fully calmed down from my panic episode, Mac had ordered Liam to go home and despite my protests and Holly’s objections, he had refused to budge on his decision. So Liam, after another round of profuse apologies for scaring me, had left. Holly had glared at the two of us, spun around on her heels and stormed upstairs to her room, making sure to slam the door so hard the frames rattled. Which had left me and Mac. I was in near tears from mortification at this point and all I wanted to do was slink away and find somewhere to hide. I forced my
Mac Despite all her assurances to the contrary, I still couldn't quite shake the feeling that Sky did not like the room. First, there had been that fleeting look of dismay that crossed her expression the moment she'd stepped into the room, though she'd quickly covered it with compliments. Even though those compliments somehow fell flat. The most enthusiastic she had been was when I showed her the walk in closet. She'd perked up, and had given more than a cursory look around the small, dark space, seemingly more impressed by the tiny, windowless closet than the extravagant room attached to it. I'd been on the verge of offering her a different bedroom, even though I'd chosen that one because I'd figured she'd appreciate the view and the natural light streaming into the space, arguably the best in the house, save for the main bedroom - mine. And yet, Sky had merely glanced at the window wall, in fact, she seemed to actively avoid it. Still, since she'd assured me it was fine, I'd swal
CW: Mentions of violence and bloodSKYLAR****Flashback*****The darkness seemed to close in around me, amplifying my fear and making it difficult to navigate through the dense forest. Every rustle of leaves or snap of a twig sent shivers down my spine, as I imagined Resse and his loyal pack members closing in on me.I pushed myself to go faster, ignoring the searing pain in my body. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, fueling my desperate escape. But as I ran, a nagging thought crept into my mind - how long could I keep this up? How long until exhaustion overtook me and I became an easy target for my pursuers?Suddenly, a low growl echoed through the trees, freezing me in my tracks. My heart pounded in my chest as I strained to locate the source of the sound. Panic welled up inside me as I realized I was not alone. Another werewolf, a member of my own pack, had picked up my scent.I had no choice but to keep moving, hoping to outrun them. But my injured body protested, threatening to
SKYLAR“Hey Holly,” Mac said. Still holding onto me, he moved towards the steps to the girl in the doorway, pulling me along. I followed reluctantly, still wary and barely recovered from the nasty shock. We came to a stop in front of Holly, his height easily dwarfing hers as he looked down at her, his expression stern and assessing. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”Holly merely shrugged off his question, her gaze pinned on me. Once more, I forced myself to meet her gaze head on, while wondering if her mother - Mac’s partner was inside the house. I also wondered about the identity of the shifter - though I was certain it wasn’t the as yet to be known partner since that wolf had been male.Female shifter’s wolf forms were usually smaller and more delicate looking than their male counterparts, even the alpha presenting females. So, it was safe to assume there was somebody else in the house. And that made me very, very nervous.“Who’s this?” Holly asked,
SkylarTears welled in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks at Mac's open and easy acceptance of the truth and whatever last reservations I had melted away as I sobbed, feeling like a heavy weight had just been lifted off my chest.It felt…freeing to finally have someone who knew a bit more about me, who understood, who accepted me without question."Hey," Mac leaned forward, a tissue in his hand that he'd produced from goddess knows where, which he used to gently wipe the tears streaming down my cheeks. "Please, don't cry, okay? I didn't mean to upset you."I shook my head and smiled. “No, no, I’m not upset. I’m just…” I searched for the right words and settled on, “relieved that I can finally tell someone the truth.”Mac smiled in understanding and looked so boyishly abashed I couldn’t help but laugh. “Ah…well. I’m happy to have your trust.” His expression turned serious and he sobered. “I promise you, Skylar. You’ll be safe with me and I won’t break your trust.”“I know.” His words re
BlairI froze at the question, something slamming against my heart. A small sound slipped through my lips and I shut my eyes for a second, wishing I was anywhere but here, pinned by that all too knowing gaze. But of course, I was all out of wishes because when I opened my eyes, Mac was still staring at me, arms crossed and his jaw set stubbornly and I knew there was no avoiding the humiliating conversation we were about to have.“Of course I do,” I avoided his gaze and shoved the last of my stuff into the bag and zipped it up. “I wouldn’t be leaving here if I didn't have somewhere else to go, would I?”“I dunno,” He rubbed at the scruff of beard on his chin and raised an eyebrow. “You tell me.”I flushed at the implication of his words and cleared my throat. “I do have somewhere to go.”He cocked his head at me and regarded me in silence while my fidgeting simply got worse. Then with a determined grunt, he hooked a large hand under one of