BlairI took my time drinking a sip of the steaming hot coffee Lucy had made, doing my best to delay the moment when I had to look up into the three pairs of eyes watching me. I especially wanted to avoid a pair of black eyes that were currently glaring daggers at the top of my head.My head still felt fuzzy, but I could still recall what had taken place in that alley. A shiver ripped through me at my too close brush with death andI couldn't really remember how I'd gotten to Mac's office or even being held in the shower. Or how he'd even found me in the first place. The last thing I remember was talking to the shifter in wolf form who had saved me from the vampire. The next thing was waking up in a bathroom, with these three. Lucy had filled me in on how Mac had found me passed out in the alley, and how he'd helped me beat the cold, but I couldn't really recall any of it.I brought my fingers to my neck, wincing at the tenderness. There would be some ugly bruises later on for sure. T
BlairWhat had I done?I yanked my hands away, my cheeks bright red with mortification and stumbled back a few steps, my mind still reeling from the scenes that burned through my mind like a bad movie.What the hell had possessed me to act like that? I didn’t even want to begin imagining what had been going through Mac’s mind while he’d tried to fend off my unwanted advances. Wasn’t that that sexual harrassment?Now I understood why Mac was so irritated with me, nearly chewing my head off. It wasn’t just because of my reckless behavior, but the fact that I’d basically thrown myself at him while he was trying to help me. It was a miracle I still had a job at this point.“I’m sorry.” I mumbled, wishing I could somehow spontaneously combust. I continued backing away, eager to put a lot of distance between us. He just stood there, watching me, his gaze now unreadable. I wished I could tell what he was thinking, then was glad I couldn’t because I wasn’t sure I would be able to handle it. “
Mac“We were able to trace the vampire’s scent all the way to Larkey Avenue. And from the looks of things, that’s his usual haunt, given the number of mysterious deaths and disappearances that have taken place in the last couple months.” Jace informed us, his expression solemn. “According to police reports, a young woman was found dead in one of the alleys around that area. Time of death was placed at four this morning.”My hands clenched into fists and I gritted my teeth, a growl rumbling in my throat. Like I had figured, that creature must have used that poor woman to heal his wounds. Filthy fucking bloodsucker.“And the vampire?” I asked.Jace shook his head. “No sign of him yet. But I stationed two men to keep an eye out.”“My guess is he’s gone into hiding to recuperate from the injury.” Blake added. “Plus, he probably knows that you’ll come after him and will lay low until he deems it safe again.”“I agree with Beta Blake.” Jace said. I saw Blake wince out of the corner of my ey
BlairCW: AbuseAfter eating all I could, I carefully wrapped up the leftovers and tucked them into my bag. I would have them for dinner later once I was settled at the shelter. My stomach felt pleasantly full and the greasy food had done wonders for my mood.It was ironic really, how happy I was over junk food now, when a mere couple of months ago, the sight of it was enough to strike terror in my heart. Terror, because if I so much as put on a pound of extra weight, Reese would punish me for it. I thought back to the team of dieticians and trainers constantly on hand to ensure I maintained a strict diet, to keep my figure as close to perfection as possible.I remember how once, we’d been out to dinner with some of his business acquaintances and the restaurant had served us some complimentary desserts. His friends had urged me to try it and I’d given in and taken a bite - a tiny one. Throughout the dinner, my mate had been his
BlairCW: ViolenceI stared out the window of Mac’s car, staring unseeing at the passing scenery. I groaned inwardly, cussing him for being so damn stubborn and myself for running out of excuses. Well, technically, on my end, it was a combination of cowardice and me quickly realizing that the more excuses I came up with, the more I was giving him cause to be suspicious about my living situation.So, here we were, sitting in silence save for the radio playing music softly in the background, headed towards Scarborough which was where I’d told him my ‘friend’ lived. I frantically searched my brain for a way to get out of this situation without messing things up.“Do you live alone?” Mac’s question broke the tense silence between us.“Yes.” I answered without looking at him. I was too preoccupied with coming up with a solution. I clutched my bag to my chest, my hands laced together, fingers fidgeting.If I was lucky, I could dir
Mac“You’ve gotta be fucking with me.”I stared at the blank screen and I tried to hold onto my temper. I really did try. But the fucking system had screwed up the results of my chemical test. I’d finally given in and decided to give SAS - the system Blair had set up a try, especially since the others couldn’t stop singing its praises enough. I had carefully followed the step by step instructions, I was sure there were no mistakes on my end.But of course, something had gone wrong, the machine had spewed some bullshit long ass error message and the screen had gone blank. Which meant that the hours I’d put in, the late nights and sleepovers at the office had gone down the drain. If I’d just stuck to my usual method, none of this bullshit would be happening right now.Maybe if I hadn’t already been in a foul mood, I would have been able to remain calm. But last night, Blake had reported that he’d been called out to a shifter pack
BlairI got out of the rain and into the reception area, shaking off drops of rain from my hair. Outside, the rain continued to pour steadily, with no signs of letting up.“Hey, Blair.” Sadie smiled at me in surprise from behind her desk. “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you come in this late.”“Yeah, the rain held me up.” I replied. I grimaced at my damp clothes and went to stand under the vent in hopes of catching a little warmth. The rain had started suddenly while I was on my way to work and it had come down to a choice between arriving at my usual time, but soaked to the skin, or taking shelter at a nearby convenience store to wait out the rain. I’d chosen to do the latter.“Here, dry yourself off,” Sadie came around her desk, holding a roll of paper towels.“Thanks,” I smiled in appreciation and took the towels. Sadie had always been super nice to me since I’d started working here.“Would you like some coffee? We’re out o
Blair“When’s he ever not mad?” Peter said with a chuckle and rolled his eyes. “He’s like -”“I did not overreact!” Mac’s voice rolled over us like thunder and everyone stopped what they were doing and fixed their attention towards Lucy’s office. The door stood ajar so I could spot Mac’s big frame standing in front of Lucy’s desk.We couldn’t hear Lucy’s response, of course. No one could quite roar like Mac.“Uh oh, there he goes again.” Ellie said in a singsong voice.I spotted Owen sitting at one of the desks close to Lucy’s office with his head in his hands and excusing myself from the group, I walked over to him.“Owen.” I said and he raised his head. Noticing me, he smiled and straightened.“Good morning Blair. What can I do for you?”“It’s about my wages -” I began, the cut off when I caught part of the conversation those two were having. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the topic of discussion w
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