Chapter 4

Adonis

     I nearly kissed Aubrey, then I made that comment about popping and my eyes can’t stop traveling over her beautiful thighs and sweet face. It drives me wild when she looks at me through her long lashes and bites her lower lip. How am I going to do this?

     “Your father has an excuse to come visit finally,” I say over lunch.

     “He talks about you often. It’s not that he needs an excuse. It’s that he needs a vacation. He is always working on some new project or design,” Aubrey says as she twirls her fork in the linguine.

     “He’s the boss. Taking vacation isn’t easy when you run a business, but if he had the right people in the right places, he should be able to visit his best friend,” I reply.

     “He should,” she says and smiles sweetly. “Maybe, I can get him to visit.”

     Something tells me Aubrey is a bit of a Daddy’s girl. If I were a lesser man, I would bend Daddy’s princess over my desk and fuck her before our meeting, but I am not that kind of guy.

     Aubrey looks at me with that coquettish look before sucking her linguine into her mouth and licking her shimmering pink lips. I know the shimmer is from lip gloss. It matches her neatly manicured nails too perfectly not to be. It seems my best friend’s daughter is a flirt, but an honest one.

      “Aubrey, you know how old I am, right?” I ask.

      “Yes! You are forty nine, just like my father,” she replies. 

     “I’ll be fifty in a month,” I say. “Do you realize some of your actions could be considered flirting or seductive?”

      “Oh! Really? Are they working?” She asks.

      She knows what she is doing!

      ‘I want Aubrey to keep flirting! Don’t fuck this up!’ Shaddow says.

      ‘Shut Up! She’s Jack’s kid!’

     “I think you know that answer,” I say.

     “I think you and your wolf are discussing how well it is working,” she teases.

     “Who is of what opinion?”

     “I am your father’s best friend and your boss,” I say as evenly as I can.

     “I see. Wolfie wants to play, does he?” She says. “Does Wolfie want to catch the little fox?”

     “Mmm, Kitten, when I catch you, you had better be ready for what I want to do,” Shaddow says through me as he shoves forward and I have to fight to gain control back from him.

     “Oh Wolfie, such sexy promises from such a delicious voice!” She purrs,

     ‘Shaddow! Give me back control!’ I order my wolf.

     ‘You will fuck this up!’ He snarls.

     “Wolfie, do you believe in second chance mates?” She asks.

     “Yes!” Shaddow says, then I pull him back.

     “They used to happen, but none have been heard of in over a century,” I say. “They may as well just be a myth.”

      “My mate rejected me,” she admits. “I want that kind of bond.”

      “I do too, but my mate died a week before your Parents’ wedding,” I admit.

      “You haven’t thought of taking a chosen mate?” She asks.

      “I have, but I need someone worthy of the position and those are hard to find,” I say.

      ‘Exactly! So, don’t fuck this up!’ Shaddow huffs in my mindspace.

     “ I wonder what it is like having a mate who doesn’t hate you…” she says in such a sad tone, I want to hold her and comfort her.

      “Whoever would reject you, must be delusional to think you are anything but perfect,” I say, honestly.

       “You don’t know me. You don’t know why I am used to being bullied,” She says.

       “I imagine species-ist werewolves and racist humans all had a field day with you,” I sigh. 

       I wish I could erase the hurt in her eyes. I wish I could hold her and make her feel safe and cared for…but I would cross a line I can’t come back over if I do and I know it.

       “Yeah, that is a lot of it,” she says, but remains quiet after that.

       We finish lunch and then our meeting.

        I show her the ballroom and she takes a few photographs with her phone and says she will brainstorm with me tomorrow. 

        At the pack house, I announce the Mating Ball and introduce Aubrey to the pack. I also announce the success of the initiatives we have in place to break down the species-ist attitudes in our region.  

      “There is still a long way to go, but the more accepting we are of all shifters and hybrids the better it will be for our kind,” I say as I end the speech.

      “I know some East Coast Alphas who could learn a thing or two from you,” Aubrey says as she accompanies me to the dining hall.

      “Anyone in particular I need to talk to?” I ask.

      “No one I would waste my breath on, “ she says with a pout.

      “Is it personal?” I ask cautiously and read her expression.

      Oh! She was mated to and rejected by an Alpha! That is one crazy Alpha! Everyone knows Alphas are stronger with their fated mates. Chosen mates are okay, but fated mates strengthen us and he threw that away! He threw HER away!

      ‘We could choose her,’ Shaddow says.

      ‘I can’t entertain it,’ I reply.

      ‘You already thought about it more than once,’ he replies, calling out my bluff. 

      I have been thinking about it. I have thought about it ever since I saw her perky ass bent over in my reception area. There must be a special ring in purgatory for men like me!

      We eat in pleasant silence, but I don’t miss the whispers of my pack members at my choice of seating Aubrey where my Luna should sit. 

     After dinner, I offer her my arm as I escort her upstairs.

    “I owe you a story,” I say in the elevator.

    “So, you do,” she says with a soft smile. “Tell me your story and I’ll tell you one of mine.”

   “I would love that,” I say and I am reminded, again, that I can’t cross that line as much as my dick wants to.

    “Where should we talk?” She asks.

    “I would suggest the rooftop garden. It’s private but not so private we would cause a scandal,” I say.

      “I believe I have already scandalized you by merely existing,” she replies.

      That may be true, but she doesn’t deserve the ire it might create if I had her alone in my apartment all night. 

      We find a bench nestled amongst fragrant blossoms and sit together.

      “Your father had this roommate,” I chuckle. “He thought he was something hot. Some Beta from out of state. This guy was a partier and thought he was better than the ‘nerdy’ Kitsune. I decided I was going to show him up. Your father begged me to drop it, but I wouldn’t. I went to the party he was at and brought your father along. The guy was showing off for these girls and the prettiest one, a foreign exchange student, turned our way the instant we walked in. Of course, our Roman Soldier uniforms at their ‘toga’ party caused a stir, but your father walked away with the pretty foreign exchange student and married her after graduation. They upped their toga game from bed sheets to attempts at accrual togas after that.”

    “That is both disturbing and sweet at the same time,” she laughs and brushes the piece of hair that constantly falls in front of her eye aside.

    She looks at me and does that biting her lower lip thing and I brush my thumb over her lip and simply say ,”Uh-ah!”

     “I’m a little shy about my story. It’s embarrassing,” she starts. “I’m going to tell you a story about two very different but very close twins.”