Tori’s POVSo, he was prone to errors of judgement after all, the Alpha I despised so much. And he still wasn’t off the hook. Maybe there were other pack books, the ones Aiden wasn’t permitted to see.Should I volunteer to take his place? It might seem suspicious this soon.“Take no notice of what she said. Miss Pearl’s the jealous type.”“Well, you lied to me. Why all the cloak and dagger?”“Because I didn’t want you to worry about running into my ex mistress.”“So you set it up?”“Hardly. But Jewel has a way of finding things out.”“And auditing Aiden’s work. What was that about?”“I didn’t give you a head’s up in case you panicked.”I sighed. “You know me too well.”“So, are you up for some fun at ‘Remus’?”“Depends what you mean by that,” I said. “Will Glenn not feel slighted that you left his party?”I’d been wondering about that, as well. How come the Beta hadn’t made the connection between the date and Alpha Calvin showing up unexpectedly? Maybe he was the self-effacing type an
Tori’s POVFull dominant mode. I recognised the signs. Yet all of them were different. Travis, with his innuendoes; Oscar, mostly silent; Calvin, hard to read; and Alex, the bully.“I’ll do it,” I said, “but only because I need to fully understand to be able to help the others.”This time I was lying to myself. And this wouldn’t bring me any closer to finding out if he was the monster responsible for the demise of Black Gold. All it would do was help me to see if I’d recovered from the other traumas of my past.It bothered me that I’d not been able to watch the second demonstration for long.“The scene will last no longer than twenty minutes. During that time you are highly unlikely to need a safe word, but use the traffic light system. Red for stop, yellow to pause, green if okay to continue. At no point will I use a gag. However, you will speak only when I ask you a question. Call me ‘sir’ and I will sometimes address you as ‘pet’.”“Am I your plaything, sir?”“Ah-ah, pet, what did
Tori’s POV I’d just finished prepping lunch – homemade soup with croûtons – when the intercom rang. Ellie picked up, heroically since she still had her duvet wrapped round her slim frame. “It’s him,” she whisper yelled. I rolled my eyes. “You’ll have to be more specific, Els.” “The Alpha.” Sometimes, she could be hard work. Two could play this game. “Why would Alpha Joseph be coming here?” “There’s no way. Achoo!” “Goddess bless you.” An awful thought struck me. “It’s not Tobias, is it? You know, the rival.” “Tori! Is there something I should know?” I gritted my teeth. “Grant him access, whoever he is.” “Are you sure?” “You should know better than to keep an Alpha waiting,” I scolded. When she uttered the words, “Come on up, Alpha Calvin,” before making it possible for my nemesis to ascend to us, I froze. Was this some kind of wind-up? Ellie hopped back to the couch and reached for a tissue. I waited for the cheeky grin in vain. Then I was answering the door to him in
Tori’s POVMy stepbrother kept me waiting. I was on my second espresso by the time he showed up. I needed the fix.“Lookin’ good,” he said, taking the seat opposite.I didn’t care for the knowing smirk.“Cut to the chase. And stop staring, will you? The waitress is coming.”He ordered a soda and fries. Maybe I could leave when his food came.“You ignored my messages. Why was that, Vicky?”His intense green gaze was meant to intimidate. And he knew what I felt about denim.“Because I’m not playing your games any more, Alex.”“Yet you’re here now.”Unbelievably, he took out a comb and began to sweep back his light brown hair. He knew what buttons to press.“So, how is Fran? Have you seen her?”“Not recently, no. Can we have some ketchup here, lady?”I was rapidly losing patience.“Your text said you had news.”“I do, sweet thing. But it comes at a price.”This was how he operated, the old carrot and stick approach.“Will you please stop checking me out, Alex? It’s creepy.”“Aw, can’t I
Calvin’s POVSometimes it felt like two different people were warring inside me.No offence, Thaddeus.We need our mate.Tell me about it!It annoyed me that I’d shown weakness by turning up at Tori’s flat following my selfish and self-indulgent treatment of her the night before. Yet I still had my concerns about her vulnerable state and, though I’d left a message on her phone saying she should take the day off, I was antsy enough to visit her place.There was no reply when I pressed the buzzer.Then I was fortunate enough to spot her climbing into a cab and raced back to my car. Where the fuck was she going?At least this area of Maunville wasn’t as rundown as some of the other parts, though it had its fair share of seediness.When I saw her go into that café alone I was so tempted to join her. Fortunately I waited in time to see her with another man. For some reason my wolf took a dislike to him.I felt like I was intruding now and was about to drive off when Thaddeus counselled me
Tori’s POV I’d never opened up to someone so honestly, so completely, other than Ellie. And this was Alpha Calvin, once my number one suspect, my employer, and now my saviour. He’d even kissed me, for love of the Goddess! Or, rather, it was mutual. Having him on board with the investigation was beyond my wildest dreams and I would pay any price to achieve that. Yet, somehow, I sensed that things would be different with this man. “Shouldn’t I sign something, even if it’s an NDA?” I pressed. “Are you still trying to delay heading downstairs with me?” “I just want to do the right thing.” “Do you trust me?” “I think so.” “Not good enough. Tori, can I trust you to use your safe word if something becomes too much?” Well, he’d definitely turned that one on its head. “Count on it,” I said. It was obvious he was going to get me naked. If I could become comfortable with that, even with a virtual stranger like him, who knew what other obstacles to pleasure may disappear with time. “Do
Calvin’s POVI was determined to take it slow with her, yet she aroused the beast in me. The way she stripped told me she was anticipating a pleasurable outcome to our evening. I knew I would enjoy keeping her on her toes. That was one reason I proposed the time-limited activity.So far everything had been tame. I decided a few mind games were in order. Her eyes opened very wide when I told her about the concealed camera. She must have known about the viewing room from the schematics. Unless she hadn’t had chance to study them.I’d felt someone providing a sympathetic ear to my subs ought to know the layout of each dungeon. She had an advantage over Naomi in that some of them had seen her crawl to me, but I couldn’t allow her to let me down in this.“Do I still owe you that favour, Calvin?”She was panting now, hoping to wriggle out of this one by reasoned argument; I’d promised when I collected it would be in private.“Naturally. This is you rewarding me for helping you. Delay any fu
Tori’s POVAnticipation only heightens the senses, like when you salivate over the prospect of your favourite meal, yet being blindfolded was not something I liked. It was an endurance test usually followed by pain of one sort or another. I couldn’t associate it with anything else.Some tension can help with arousal but not when you’re expecting to be hurt with no mercy ever shown.Perhaps I could get over that phobia in time and with a dominant who knew what he was doing if I plucked up the courage to tell him about it.I used to find rollercoasters an exhilarating ride. Until one of my friends fell from a carriage. He was lucky to be alive. That kinda mirrored what Alex had done to me, made me believe sex is dangerous rather than exciting.Calvin had a vastly different approach. I was glad I no longer hated him.That wasn’t quite true. He was annoying me. The whipping I had anticipated didn’t progress beyond the slight sting of the flogger. Instead he went for the larger prize, taun
Tori’s POVIt turned out I’d fallen asleep in the middle of making my statement to the WA investigator. That was a relief. I didn’t really want to share our special moment with anyone, not even my bestie and her mate-to-be.Calvin told him we’d continue this another time but I was determined to see it through and answered all his questions. I’d even impressed myself.Then we were on our way home, to the flat at ‘Remus’. I could hear the distant sounds of clubbers having their special kind of fun down below as we made our way upstairs via his private entrance.“I’ll tell them to close up early, shall I?” he asked, not even bothering to glance at his watch.“Don’t do that. I’m tired enough to sleep through anything.”“I noticed.”I told him about my weird dream and he seemed amused. Then he received a phonecall which put a dampener on everything. Isabel hadn’t made it through the night. I couldn’t believe it. What must he be feeling?“I’m coming with you to the hospital,” I said.“She’s
Tori’s POVI kept reassuring Ellie she had a decent figure. We even giggled about the nipple pasties and barely-there thong she shouldn’t have to reveal if she took it slowly as we rehearsed.“Travis is going to get the shock of his life,” she said.That answered that one. Not that I’d ever wondered about the contents of her lingerie drawer. As for her sometimes hard-to-believe superstitions, I rarely paid attention to them. My own thoughts were that the Moon Goddess either favoured you or didn’t, yet I couldn’t believe Selene would have a down on someone all their life.I felt my luck was about to change and was in a buoyant mood as I joked around with her backstage.Alpha Tobias had nodded to me but chosen not to approach. Perhaps that was something to do with my frosty glare. A little guilt courtesy of yours truly couldn’t harm before I told him I forgave him for his part in my near downfall. And Calvin’s.The mesh dress didn’t make me self-conscious in any way given that I was goi
Calvin’s POVI still couldn’t believe Rhodes had achieved bail. Then I realised in all the confusion nobody had actually accused him of being behind the destruction of Black Gold. My bad. I’d been more concerned with Tori’s welfare and Issy’s condition.Rose had done a disappearing act after giving her statement. I was still hopeful of finding her or that she would make her way to us. I knew Tori was fretting about it.To say I was glad she wouldn’t be stripping – a one night only trial venture we’d persuaded Toby to stage in an attempt to lure him out of hiding – was an understatement. From now on I wanted my Luna under wraps and all to myself.I thought she was going to have to step in last minute when our proposed lookalike caught a bug. As we were having a heated debate the night before, Ellie came up to us.“Can I have a word, please, Alpha?”I froze, my thoughts going instantly to my sister.“Please tell me she hasn’t deteriorated.”“Isabel’s improving day by day.”“Then what is
Tori’s POVI couldn’t believe ex Alpha Joseph hadn’t grasped that fact already. What exactly had Calvin said to him down at ‘WAX’? Something about me switching packs and nothing more? I have to admit I was out of it at the time, surviving on instinct and adrenaline alone.Did he have selective memory, or was it simply because the one who held a weapon could reinvent the world his way?Maybe it was his final attempt to make a power play given all that he had lost. Security certainly didn’t have him on a blacklist as he wasn’t deemed to be a threat.For similar reasons I was still wary of Alpha Tobias, Jason less so.But neither of them were about to shame me in public.Not if I could help it!Yet the former leader of Waning Moon held all the aces.We must tighten security if nothing else. At least this may convince Ellie finally to switch packs. I’d said to her she ought not to be around Lance too often but that didn’t seem to work.What must she think of me now?I found out in the nex
Calvin’s POVI hadn’t seen fit to tell Tori we would be in sole charge of the club on this occasion. There was no way Naomi was in any state to open up and my security guys had never doubled as Doms. I’d considered remaining closed for the night and then I thought, what the hell. We needed to loosen up, not necessarily performing a scene, but just keeping a watchful eye on things.I’d told her we wouldn’t be going downstairs but was hoping she would consent.I doubted I would see Moore for a day or two. Oscar and Travis were excused though would have obeyed my order had I seen fit to issue one. So this would be a night for the members and occasional visitors. Plus, I wanted to see once and for all if my decision to surrender control was a wise one. Maybe my mate and I needed this, to let off some steam now and again.Of course we could always do that anyway. I wouldn’t be barred from my own club. I knew I needed to sound her out about this, too.First things first.We went in the back
Tori’s POVI was chewing my lip now, hard enough to draw blood. Calvin discouraged me with a comment before continuing, “Hit me with it.”“I need to be bait again. Before our mating ceremony. That should give your sister time to recover.”“I hope so,” Guy said. I’d forgotten he was there, he was so quiet. And those eyes were the closest to amber I’d ever seen.“Me too.” I felt shy suddenly, wondering if he was the kind to judge me for my past.His next words went some way to reassuring me. “You are so brave and unselfish, Victoria.”“Thanks,” I said. “But I’m a weakling really. I just punch above my weight occasionally.”“Don’t believe her,” Calvin told him. “She’s in denial about her own qualities but we’re working on it. Aren’t we, princess?”I wasn’t sure how to take that so I shoved him, playfully, hurting my wrist. I’d forgotten how rock solid he was. I made a joke of it.“Have you been working out?”“Some,” he admitted.“On your own, I hope?”“I’m the faithful kind. I haven’t be
Tori’s POV The smell of burning roused me. Then I saw Fran. She was beside herself with rage yet crying, too. “What are you doing here?” I murmured, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. “Finishing what he started. Except I’m useless at it.” “Alex? You’re better than him.” “No, I’m not. Because I was contemplating doing what he arranged for someone else to do. You might say he saved me from myself. Mom knew I was bad. She always said … Oh, never mind. I’d better go. I’m not wanted here.” “Don’t be hasty,” I said. “Let’s talk.” “What is there to say?” “You have Naomi now. And me, for what it’s worth. I never stopped thinking about you all the time you were missing. I don’t blame you for any of it. Truly.” “Really? And what about this?” Her gesture took in the singed furniture and blackened carpet. It was strange how the sprinkler system had malfunctioned. Correction, it was belated. “I’ll say I did it,” I panted, climbing out of bed and trying not to think about how much I resemble
Calvin’s POVShe was back where she belonged, in my arms – in my bed. I treated her with reverence, taking note of how Guy was with Issy, and soon enough Bethany reached out to Thaddeus and my mate was ready to be – well, mated.At the ripe old age of twenty-eight it was about time I settled down. And it was all thanks to the efforts of Jason Moore who helped us when we needed it most. Without him, who knew where Tori would have ended up.I wanted to take her somewhere romantic after the ceremony, maybe to the forest where we’d go for that run after all. Yet I had to be practical. My sister’s condition remained serious and I was reluctant to be away from Still Water for long. Though ‘Remus’ could be run remotely and participation was not something I was interested in unless it was with my Luna, in private.We had a whole lifetime to spend together and needed to start on the right footing. Better late than not doing so at all!I still needed to ask her about if I’d pushed her too far s
Tori’s POVThere was no way I was ever going to stay with Alex, though I managed to convince him of that while pretending I had my time of the month. That wouldn’t have stopped him once, but his mind was full of triumph initially - until I told him about the ticking time bomb inside his head.I really doubted that Calvin and Moore had the remote but managed to convince him otherwise.Then it was a matter of counting the hours until the doctor arrived.Alex had gone for a lie down leaving George watching me. I knew I had to be wary of him. Yet after a while I couldn’t resist.“Why do you bother? Following him, I mean. You could do so much better.”“Convince me,” he said.“How?”“Make it worth my while and you and I will go on a little trip.”“Not when I’m bleeding.”“A glimpse of your tits and I’m all yours.”Lucky us.Play nice, Bethany. He may be our ticket out of here.Yet I was sick of being preyed upon by these lustful shifters. And the mate bond – I’d been marked, for love of the