Annette walked back to the setting room, heading to the receiving room. The door to the lift was closed, and the light above showed it was moving downward. She could not find any keypad on the elevator; there was no fingerprint scanner. That means the elevator can only be accessed by card. There was no way out of this apartment. Shit.She ran her fingers down her face in frustration. Damn. She decided to explore the apartment since Xavier had not said anything was off limits, so she did not see anything wrong with snooping around a little. She returned to the living room: instead of taking the door leading to the hall, she took another door and walked into what appeared to be a large and luxurious kitchen.It was equipped with white cupboards and granite countertops. Luxurious appliances and stainless steel pots and pans were hung up on the wall. The island in the middle of the room was stunning; bar tools lined each side. Stepping out of the kitchen and into the sitting room. The
Annette jerked awake. Something had woken her up; it was the sound of breaking glass and growling. The sound was loud and intense. She sat upright on the bed, pushing her hair away from her face. The room was bathed in darkness; the moonlight shimmering in through the window was the only source of light in the room. The sun had long set. She had only wanted to take a nap after the messed up day she had.She must have fallen asleep. How long has she been asleep for?"Motherfuckers."She heard someone cursing. It seems to have come from one of the rooms down the hall. Who was it? Was it Xavier? Was he back? He sounded furious and annoyed with something. Annette thought was racing as she slipped from the bed and pushed to her feet. Leaving the room, she walked down the hall; her bare feet made no sound as they came into contact with the thick plush carpeted floor as she went in search for the origin of the sound.As she walked down the hall, she realized that the noise was coming from
Fuck. He was so muscular and ripped. He towered over her; her head barely reached his shoulder. His body was tensed, and both of his hands braised on the kitchen sink. His head was bent, his silk hair cascaded over his forehead. Annette reached out to pick one of the cotton balls from the kitchen sink; she was determined to help him. His wounds were dripping blood; it was a gruesome sight.But before her fingers could come in contact with the cotton balls, Xavier's hands shut out like a cobra, grabbing her hands, and stopping her. His sudden movement made her lose her balance. She was stunned by it.She placed her hands on the countertop by the sink to steady herself."I thought I asked you to leave, Annette?" "Please, Xavier, let me help. I want to help you patch up your wounds, please." she said, literally begging him with her eyes., trying to convince him. Xavier gave her a hard stare, studying her face. Perhaps it was to check if she was sincere or something, but she didn't car
That kiss. The kiss they had shared. The way he had kissed and held her was the only thing running through her mind as the limousine glided down the street to the event. She still felt the sensation of his lips on hers hours after it had happened.Her thoughts were racing, thinking of what happened in the last two hours.After the incident that occurred in the kitchen, Annette raced to her room, not forgetting to grab the shopping bag that Xavier spoke of. Not so long after that, a make-up artist had come to assist her in getting ready for the event, just like Xavier had said.She learned from the make-up artist that the event was a gathering of werewolves, which is done every year, and this year it was to be hosted here in London.The make-up artist told her that she was to accompany Xavier, their alpha, as his date, gushing that it was an honor to accompany the alpha.Annette was relieved to hear about the event because she had always wanted to attend one. As a teenager, she believ
Annette was grateful for Xavier's hand wrapped around her waist, steering her way from the hungry and thirsty cameramen who were furiously taking pictures of every move they made.Xavier ignored them all, his team of bodyguards flicking both sides of the red carpet, creating a path for them to walk through. It was intense. She has never been to this type of event before; even while her aunt had been married to Xavier's uncle, they had always been kept in the dark. She bet even the outside world had no idea they existed; that was why it was too easy for the Michaelson to get rid of them.Xavier had left her side the second they stepped inside the banquet hall, leaving her to her own devices. The room was filled with werewolves at every corner, gathering and discussing in small groups, groups she did not belong to as she was human. As she stood amongst them, she felt like a specimen in a science project, studied and observed but not spoken to. This was not what she had expected, not e
"He sure does. And he is so handsome." Another woman in the group responded in adoration."I tried to convince my daughter to go after him, but that stubborn girl said that she was waiting for her fated mate. How long am I going to wait before I start having grandchildren?" the woman lamented with a sigh."Well, my daughter is infatuated with him. She said that she had sex with him once and is hoping to get married to him. She requested that my husband send a marriage proposal for an alliance to the Michaelson, which he did. We are currently waiting for the Michaelson feedback," said the second woman, pride dripping from her voice. "I basically want him for myself, if only I were still young," the last woman continued. Her friends were stunned by what she said. "Open your eyes, Juliet; my daughter had him first." The three women started to argue and drag over who was good enough for Xavier before moving forward away from where Annette stood by the buffet table, the soft classic mus
"You don't know much about werewolves and what we are capable of, do you? I can assure you that although he hasn't looked your way, he is aware of your every movement. He has been focused on you all evening, and I can tell that you are special to him." Laura said, so sure of herself."And how would you know that?" Annette asked in disbelief. She eyes had been on his the whole time and he hasn't looked at her once."I am a werewolf; I can sense it." Laura said, looking around the room as if in search of something or someone, Annette wasn't sure."You don't believe me, don't you?" she asked, turning back to look at Annette."Ok, let me prove it to you; come with me." Laura said, taking Annette hands and dragging her, Annette had to scramble to keep up with her."Where are we going?" Annette asked as they walked across the room to a small group of men who were engaged in a conversation."Just watch and learn. Sometimes you have to poke the bear, but in our case the werewolf in order to g
"The fuck? I am going to kill Lau.."His words were cut off by a deep and deadly growl that came from behind them. It was so frightening that she almost lost her footing. The sound screams danger.Annette turned to see Xavier striding towards them, a murderous look in his eyes, his facial appearance contour, sharp with his wolf."Aldric," he growled, his lips pulled back in a snarl. His body tensed with uncontrollable anger as he tried to prevent his wolf from taking over."I don't care if you are also an alpha, but touch my woman again, and that will be the last thing you do."Annette scurried away from Peter in bewilderment. She is familiar with the name of the alpha of the pack in Scotland, Aldric Peterson. Perplexed, she looked at him again.What was Laura thinking? She looked around and spotted Laura making a beeline to where they stood, still on the dance floor. The music has long stopped, other guests in the room giving them curious looks."Even I was clueless to what was goi
Annette managed to avoid Xavier for most of the day by escaping to the library. Not hard when he also appeared to be doing his best to avoid her. Probably didn’t want reminded of his mistake. The more she thought about it, the more she became convinced what they’d had was just a bit of fun for him. That she was just a human plaything to be put aside when his duty to mate for the pack came calling. Asshole. She’d thought that about him so often in the last few hours, she should really append it as a prefix to his name. Scowling, she realized she’d re-read the same six sentences of her book for the last hour or so. With a sigh, she closed it and stood. It was a new one by her favorite author, one she hadn’t gotten around to reading yet, so to find it on the shelves of Xavier’s library had been a surprise. In fact, there was a whole shelf dedicated to romance, so someone in the house must be a fan.Not Xavier though, she couldn’t see him reading anything so frivolous. Perhaps somethi
Of all the screwed-up, shitty situations to find herself in. Still fuming, Annette stormed through the manor like all the hounds of hell marched at her heels. She had no real idea where she was going, and to be honest, she really didn’t care. All she wanted was to get as far from Xavier as physically possible. Her expression was like thunder, so dark and ominous that the staff scattered before her, even though they were full werewolf and she, apparently, was not. At the moment, though, she really didn’t care. One more asshole mentioned pack law and she’d tear them a new one, werewolf or frigging not.By the time she’d worked her way down to the kitchens, her usual refuge in times of stress, her anger had turned to misery and a hard knot formed in the back of her throat. Hearing voices ahead, she ducked into a storeroom and pulled the door shut. Leaning against it, she closed her eyes. As a human she hadn’t been good enough for Xavier, she’d known that— accepted that. But to find out
“You were dying. What would you expect I do… Leave you there?” His expression was hard, like a whip. “Give me some credit, Annette. I wouldn’t let you die. Not while you’re in my care.”He hadn’t answered her question. His expression said he wasn’t going to. Anger flared and a snarl rumbled in the back of her throat. It wasn’t a human sound; that made no sense, but she was too pissed off to care.“Dammit, Xavier.” She slammed her hands into his broad chest and shoved. It was like trying to shove a cliff but he rocked back on his feet, surprise in his eyes. “Just give me a straight fucking answer.”He grabbed her wrists, yanked her up against him as he turned, pinning her between him and broad desk. The heat simmering through her veins turned volcanic, supercharged, and shot through her veins. Her body went pliant in his grasp, her curves against the hard muscled planes of his larger form. Damn traitorous thing.“Answer?” His voice was no less a snarl than hers had been. “I’ll give
“No, how the hell should I know how many can take a bite?” she admitted. And she didn’t have a clue. She knew werewolf carefully controlled who they bit, that they had to have permission from the pack alpha. Her auntie, wanting to sink her claws deeper into the Michaelson fortune, had petitioned Richard to turn them. All of them. She hadn’t even thought to ask her son and niece whether they wanted to be a werewolf or not. All she’d seen was a way to ensure she kept her place and access to the money she liked so much. Annette would have; she knew that without thinking. Anything to learn more about werewolf and perhaps get closer to Xavier. But the request had been denied by his father. Repeatedly. Eventually even Josephine had gotten the message. They weren’t good enough to be werewolf. A message which had been driven home hard and fast, and she still felt the sting of today.If she wasn’t good enough, why had Xavier transformed her?“Why?”Even standing on the other side of the desk
Annette couldn’t be a werewolf. No way, no how.Sure, she’d woken up after her near death experience with abilities she hadn’t had before. Things like seeing smells, vision like a hawk, and hearing so accurate she could pinpoint a mouse farting three rooms away. So far though, there had been no hint of fur (apart from her legs, which were in desperate need of a shave after a week of inattention). New abilities though, didn’t mean she was a werewolf. She’d read somewhere that people who suffered head trauma sometimes gained completely new skills—like being able to speak a new language, play an instrument, or suddenly became an uber-smart math whiz. Acquired Savant Syndrome or something. Yeah, that had to be it. The accident that had nearly killed her had obviously left her with some side effects. A frown creased her brow. No one would tell her much about the accident either. All they would say was that she was lucky to be alive, and if she wanted more details then she needed to spea
He wasn’t strong enough to let her go. He couldn’t have her, but still he couldn’t release her to start a new life without him. Dammit. He closed his eyes, the weakness shaming him. He should send her away, but he couldn’t. Not yet. A presence behind him made him open his eyes and look up. He didn’t need to turn. The wolf, always alert, had already picked up the scent of another werewolf Male, with the unmistakable frisson only generated by another alpha, and a familiar scent.George. His second cousin, or something like that, on his father's side. An alpha himself, he’d joined the army right out of college and returned last year, bringing valuable medical training they sorely needed. Sure, Xavier could hire a private doctor, but there was nothing like a battlefield surgeon who understood how the werewolf body worked. “Any signs?” he asked over his shoulder.“Nothing yet. I have Ruth watching her for any changes.” George joined him at the window. Taller and broader in the shoulder,
Xavier had been born into money, old werewolf money, and from the moment of his birth only the best had been good enough. The most expensive toys, the finest clothes, and the most prestigious schools, were all things that were his simply by the happy accident of being who he was. His food had been prepared by a Michelin starred chef and his tennis coach had been a former champion… Nothing was too good for the Michaelson heir. Looks had followed. Puberty changed angelic boyhood features into something harder and more masculine. His body once gangly, feeling not quite his as he navigated with all the hapless manner of a teenager, filled out and brought the werewolf genes into play. Add in the animal magnetism of his newly emerging wolf and he’d never had a problem getting women. Instead, it was more a problem getting rid of them. They’d thrown themselves at him even back then, a situation his teenaged self had reveled in. Girls, women… Hell, his first time had been with a middle-aged
Death wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. There was a distinct lack of bright lights and absolutely no sign of the pearly gates or thankfully, the other place.Death was…quiet. Peaceful. Comfortable.Too comfortable.Expensive feather bed kind of comfortable.She was pretty sure the afterlife was more harps and clouds than feather beds, so what gave? The more she thought, the more sensation slipped through the blackness. Her body on the soft surface beneath, the pressure of a warm duvet above. Perhaps this was Heaven 2.0, a version never reported in near-death experiences. Anything was possible, right?That didn’t explain the voices that filtered through the fog to reach her ears.“Should’ve left her to die,” a sharp female voice said. Instantly, Annette disliked it and its owner. The whiny, petulant tone said bitch. “There’s no way the pack will accept her. She’s a transformed wolf. She will never be anything more than a beta. And hell knows, we have enough of them.”Pack. Transform
Xavier crashed through the door to James’s studio with more brute force than finesse. Knocking the splintered wood out of the way, he strode into the open-plan space. It was still as trashed as the first time he’d seen it, but instead of the smell of drying clay, the smell of blood and fear crawled into his nostrils. A bellow of rage exploded from his throat and he launched himself across the studio, following the distinctive feminine scent that hung in the air. Annette’s scent. He’d been called as soon as she’d left the apartment and thanks to an eagle-eyed guard, they’d managed to call to the right cab firm to get the address she’d been taken to. They might as well have saved themselves the call. He should have guessed she’d come back here. Reaching the destroyed door to the bathroom, he braced himself against the door frame as the scent of blood became almost overwhelming. Annette’s blood, he realized, as his keen gaze picked out the slumped figure in the bathtub. A moan rattle