Knight could smell his cousin Leslie the moment he stepped off the elevator. She was waiting for him in his office. He sighed to himself and discreetly sniffed himself. He had showered, but it had been a quick shower at Sue’s. He had left his underwear behind and was going commando in the suit and shirt he’d worn yesterday. He had hoped he could make it to his office unnoticed by her so that he could change his shirt and put a tie on at least, but no such luck. He just hoped that Leslie wouldn’t smell Sue on him. Knight really didn’t need to be teased mercilessly by his cousin today.“Good morning, Mr. West,” his assistant Polly greeted him as he went by.“Good morning.”“I’ve left your messages on your desk.”He nodded a thanks to her and kept walking. He braced himself and entered his office. Leslie was sitting in his chair, swiveling around slowly while she looked at something on her phone.“Well, hello there, you whore,” was how she greeted him.Knight sighed and put his briefca
To: andrew.s@fangandclaw.comFrom: west.k@fangandclaw.comSubject: You current assignment. There are some things I would like to discuss with you about your article on the werewolf hotels. Please stop by my office when you have a minute. Knight WestEditor-in-Chief, Fang and Claw Magazine. Sue read over the email several times, her heart firmly lodged in her throat. Her first thought was that it was so professional and impersonal, like what had happened between them had meant nothing, which it very well could have to Knight. Then she remembered the email she had sent Sarah and the shit storm that had followed.He could just be acting super professional so as not to draw the wrath of HR Lady, Sue thought. No one wants another seminar.Steeling herself, Sue got up from his desk and walked over to the elevator. Maybe Knight really did just want to talk about the article. She hadn’t been there very long
Knight wasn’t typically a homebody. He owned a spacious apartment in the city not far from work, but he rarely used it for anything other than sleeping. His cleaning lady, who he had yet to actually run into, had the easiest job ever. Still, he found himself feeling apprehensive as he put his bag of groceries down on the counter and started preparing dinner.He had grown up in the kitchen alongside his grandma, soaking up all of her culinary knowledge. He didn’t often make the effort to cook, but when he did, he went all out.He bought some fresh pasta sheets from the supermarket, not having the time or energy to make that himself, though he would never tell his grandma.With some calming classical music playing softly in the background, he painstakingly crushed and sautéed garlic bulbs with some finely chopped onions and added ground beef and a thick tomato-and-basil sauce. By the time his doorbell rang, the filling for the ravioli was
It was half an hour later that they sat down at the table and started eating. As Sue took her first bites of the ravioli, Knight couldn’t keep his eyes off him. The wolf in him felt elated when Sue closed her eyes and moaned. He felt proud that he had provided for Sue in such a satisfactory way. While they ate, Sue must have noticed the way Knight was watching her so closely. So she finally stopped eating and gave him an amused look.“Why do you seem to like feeding me so much?” Sue asked. “I mean, you look genuinely happy at the sight of me eating.”Knight shrugged dismissively. “It’s you accepting the food. It’s a wolf thing.”“No, don’t do that. You aren’t allowed to do that. From now on, you can never answer a question with a simple, ‘it’s a wolf thing,’” Sue insisted as she speared another ravioli on her fork.Knight sighed and rested his elbow on the table before leaning his head on it. “It’s hard to e
After taking a quick and efficient shower together, in which Knight cleaned Sue thoroughly with a sponge, the two of them dried off and got into bed. “So,” Sue said, speaking quietly in the darkened room, “will I be fed again in the morning?” Knight grinned at her cheeky tone. “Sure, considering I didn’t exactly feed you much tonight.” Sue frowned and turned onto her side to face the werewolf. Knight sounded annoyed at himself over the way their night had progressed. “Is something wrong?” “No,” Knight quickly assured her. “It’s just a werewolf thing.” “Oh my god. I told you already, no using that as an excuse for everything,” Sue cried. Knight turned onto his side, too, so that they were looking at each other. “It’s the feeding-you thing again. I put my own needs before yours. It makes me...uncomfortable.” “What are you talking about?” Sue asked. “You barely ate anything before I jumped you.” Sue grinned at Knight’s obvious care for her and rested her hand on Knight’s waist.
Knight had not woken up in a good mood. He hadn’t slept well at all and his usual morning coffee didn’t taste quite right, even though the barista insisted that everything was the same as always. Including that first night at Sue’s, and the following night at Knight’s, the two of them had shared a bed for four consecutive nights.Above everything else that was pissing him off that morning was the knowledge that the only thing different about last night was that Sue had stayed at her own place.Knight hadn’t thought it a big deal when Sue told him that her new friend Andrew—who apparently worked for him, but Knight couldn’t have picked out of a lineup—had asked her to have drinks with him.It was ridiculous that after just four nights, Knight was so used to having Sue’s body beside him, and her scent in his nose, that he couldn’t sleep without it. It pissed him off, in fact.As the morning wore on, he managed to shake his bad mood a little. He found that focusing on work, the routine
Sue woke up on Saturday morning wishing she could stay there for the day. She cracked open an eye and glanced over at the clock on her nightstand, squinting her eyes at it to be able to read the time without her glasses.It was nearly eleven. She closed her eyes again and rolled over to the other side of her bed. It was empty. That shouldn’t have been strange, but it was. She had only been...whatever they were...with Knight for less than two weeks. She shouldn’t be so used to the werewolf sleeping beside her, but she was.She knew that she should get up, maybe pack a bag for her stay at the werewolf hotel. She should also take a shower and do some laundry.Guess I should get up, she thought to herself even as she buried deeper down under the covers. Just five more minutes can’t hurt.The next time she opened her eyes was because she received a text alert on her phone. She reached over to grab it and saw that another forty minutes had passed.“Shit,” she said as she rubbed her gritty e
The early afternoon sky was warm on Knight’s skin as he waited in line at the coffee cart. He knew Sue well enough now to know that the human had trouble getting up in the mornings. Even though it was already past noon, he was sure that Sue was still dragging her ass. He had tried calling Sue to let him know that he was coming over, but her phone had been engaged. He knew to order Sue a coffee filled with enough sugar to kick-start her brain. As he waited behind two young women, he started thinking that he should probably discourage Sue from all the sugar she eats. It was then that he realized he wanted Sue to be around for a long time.A surprised smile spread across his face as he stepped forward to place his order. He split the difference and ordered an only mildly sweet coffee for the human. Just as he was paying, he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. He slid it out and glanced at the screen before answering it.“Hey. I’ve been calling you,” he said as he put their drink
Christmas had never been a time Sue looked forward to. While most people were with their families, having fun and enjoying each other’s company, Sue was with her mother, making small talk and feeling like she didn’t belong. She would try and get to her house as late as was acceptable and leave as early as she could. Her mom certainly never tried to talk her into staying any longer.It wasn’t until the year before, her first Christmas with Knight, that she had actually started to look forward to it. Christmas Day was spent with the family, but Christmas Eve meant another pack party. Although Eden and Julia had taken care of most of the planning, as usual, Sue had asked them to give her one thing to do. She didn’t care what it was, she just felt like she should make a start on being a better alpha mate.This year she had been put in charge of Christmas-themed cupcakes and cookies. It was easy enough. She had found a good bakery and all she had to do was pick them up on the day. As she m
By the time Sue and Joey got back to the apartment, Sue was feeling a lot better about things. Spending time with her little brother tended to have that effect on her. It was funny, considering that Sue used to hate him when he was a spoiled little brat of a toddler messing up Sue’s room.“Knight’s not here,” Joey said disappointedly. Sue followed Joey into the kitchen when Joey found a note and held it out to Sue.I have some things I need to take care of. I’ll explain it all later. Meet you at the hotel.I love you.Knight.XxxSue sighed and folded the piece of paper up. “I guess he had to work.”Joey frowned at her and sat down at the breakfast bar. “Things are okay between you, right?”Sue watched her little brother grab a banana from the fruit bowl and unpeel it. Knowing Joey as she did, Sue knew he was probably just eating it because it was there, rather than the fact that he was actually hungry. She didn’t really know how much to tell Joey about what had been going on between
Knight hadn’t been to see his grandpa’s grave since the funeral. He hadn’t thought it was something he would take solace in. Yet, there he was, on his own, in the dark.It took a little while to find the grave. He remembered his grandma saying that they had to wait for the ground to settle before his tombstone could be placed. Instead, there was a wooden cross with a plaque glued to it. It simply read his name.In life, Lenard West had been such a big character, to see his grave like this, with no more than a measly wooden cross on it was like a stab in the gut. Everything in life died, logically Knight knew this. Still, to him, it didn’t make any sense that his grandpa, once the strongest man he knew, was now no more than ashes in the cold ground.He dropped to his knees in the slightly damp grass and felt a wave of nausea in the pit of his stomach. He might not be able to hear his grandpa talk back to him, but Knight could still talk to him, and he could probably guess what he would
After showering, Knight got dressed and went into the kitchen to put the waffle batter in a container in the fridge so that he could use it later. On the counter, Sue’s phone gave a little trill indicating that a message had come through. Knight hadn’t meant to look at it, but the message flashed across the screen. It was from Andrew.Hey. Hope you feel ok after last night. Listen, if you want to talk any more give me a call. I’m sorry Knight’s been working so much lately, and I hope things get better between you two soon. Here’s the number of the couple’s therapist we used, if you want it. Talk soon.Knight read it through quickly before the screen went black again. He felt an instant surge of anger go through him.Couple’s therapy? What the hell had Sue been telling him?He angrily swiped the phone from the counter and marched into the bedroom before tossing the phone onto the bed beside Sue.“If I didn’t like you talking to Leslie, my own cousin, about me, then why the hell would y
Knight had been feeling so bad about the fact he had been working so much the past week that he made sure to get home early. In the week since the fall gathering, Knight had hardly seen Sue. He knew it was his fault, but it couldn’t be helped. Still, he knew he had to make it up to his wife. He had spent the day working nonstop so that he could get home at a reasonable hour.What was early for him was still a full day’s work for anyone else. It was nearly seven when he let himself into the apartment. He had a bag of take out with him and a bottle of wine.“Sue,” he called out as he shrugged off his jacket. He didn’t need to wait for a response. His hearing and sense of smell would have picked up on something by now.He walked into the kitchen and put the bag of food on the counter. As he had been staying late at the office lately, Sue had been driving herself to and from work. Her car was in the underground garage, so Knight knew that his mate had come home after work.Pulling his pho
It was pretty late by the time Sue and Knight got back to the apartment. The car ride had been unusually quiet and tense. Sue had tried to make some effort at conversation, but she was tired and fed up. It was obvious that Knight was still mad at her for spilling the beans to his mom.When they came through the door, she half expected Knight to say something, to finally bring it up, but obviously that wasn’t his way.“Knight, I’ve said I’m sorry,” she said as Knight went to walk past her to go to the bedroom. “Like a hundred times.”That was obviously an exaggeration, but her point remained.“Sue, just let it go, please,” Knight said with a weary sigh. “I just want to go to bed.”“No,” Sue practically shouted. “You can’t. We’re not supposed to go to bed angry.”Knight turned on her with a look of annoyance marring his handsome face. “Where did you read that? The Big Book of Marriage Clichés?”“It’s okay that you’re mad at me.”“I’m not mad at you,” Knight practically barked.Sue found
Since his grandpa’s death, Knight had missed the old man every single day. Being at a pack party without him was a whole new kind of pain. Lenard had been so full of life. He was always at the center of every group, telling stories while everyone else hung on his every word.There was a light missing there today.Knight walked through the throng of people, trying his best to make small talk and act like he was interested in everything they were saying. After deciding he had mingled enough for the time being, he went looking for his cousins. If he was ever tired of people kissing his ass and telling him exactly what he wanted to hear, his cousins soon put it right. Particularly Leslie, who delighted in tormenting Knight.He found them over by the fortune telling machine that his grandma hired every year from a carnival supplier. As a kid, the thing had always given him the creeps. It was a glass booth with a creepy wizard-looking mannequin inside. You held on to a metal rod, and it pum
As they made their way back outside, Sue took the lead, walking faster than the others in an attempt to escape the awkward situation. She spotted Jared and Leslie over by one of the apple bobbing stations, and she made a beeline for them.The two of them were with Jared’s daughter, Marie, but it was the adults who were doing the bobbing.“Having fun?” she asked as she got closer to them. She looked behind her, sparing Knight a glance. She felt a bit bad about abandoning him to his mother and grandmother, but she couldn’t take Julia looking at her like she had taken her baby boy away from her again.“Jared made a joke about me having a big mouth,” Leslie told her. The hair around her face was a little wet, but Jared was absolutely soaking. “So I dunked him in it.”Sue laughed as Jared shook his head like a dog.“Do we win anything if we get an apple?” Marie asked.Sue didn’t know the little girl very well. She had only spoken to her a few times. While she was fine with kids, she wasn’t
The West pack had four official meetings every year, one for each season. The one they had in autumn was during the week of Halloween. A big party was thrown at the estate with games and various other attractions outside. Sue had been to a couple of their parties so far but not the Halloween one. It was going to be the first pack gathering since Lenard’s funeral and the first gathering under their new alpha.As the alpha’s mate, Sue still didn’t really know what her new role was, if any. Knight’s mother and grandmother had organized everything. If she was honest, she was grateful that they hadn’t asked for her input so far.“So, things not to mention to your mom are the fact that we got married and the fact that you’ve not only met your real dad but have also been hanging out with him and his pack,” Sue mused out loud as Knight parked the car outside his grandma’s house.Knight turned and gave her a look. “No, I’m going to tel