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When they finally left, Zi turned to me. “What’s happening? What was I invited to, and why do I need change?”
“There are so many ‘cousins’ in our family that when we have get-togethers, the best way to hang out is playing Loteria. It’s like a Mexican version of bingo. It’ll be so much fun. Don’t worry about the change, I’ll have Dad hit the bank on his way home,” I explained excitedly as we walked toward our offices.
“Are you sure I should show up? It sounds like a family thing,” she asked worriedly.
“Zi, the word family has nothing to do with blood in these packs. We’re a mishmash of adopted, acquired, and blood family.”
“Acquired?” Zi asked. I booped her nose when we reached our office doors.
“Acquired. Friends, best friends and people you’ve gone through so much with that there’s no other word to describe them other than family, and you, my friend, fall into all three of those categories for me.” Zi’s eyes began to water a bit, and then she punched me in the arm.
“Stop trying to make me cry before everyone shows up,” she growled and slammed into her office.
“I love you, too,” I sang through her door before I walked back into mine.
Chapter Twelve
Cory
I was stuck in the downtown office for hours after Evergreen called me in to discuss the new theory he had about the attack and the way things were going, I was going to be here until closing time.
The meeting with Evergreen was fruitful, and I was happy we were one step closer to finding the mole, but my executive assistant cornered me when I walked out of the meeting to review a bunch of outstanding documents. I admit that I’d been neglecting the paperwork, but for fuck’s sake, Sophie was a werewolf. She knew why I hadn’t been here the last two weeks.
She interrupted my internal whining when she walked through the door of my office with another bundle of documents in her arms, making me groan.
“Don’t look at me like that, Alpha. I know you have a good reason for not being here for a while, but that doesn’t mean the stuff you need to get done disappears. I need to take advantage of your office visits when I can,” she said as she placed the documents in front of me. “I got Miss Roswell to confirm hours worked since their head of HR won’t arrive until next month, and I made sure accounting will pay them on time, but they’ve been after me to have the contracts signed by you before month’s end. They are sticklers for rules, and we’re not supposed to pay anyone on the payroll until their employee files are complete.”
Fuck. That was almost two hundred new hires that we’d welcomed over the last two weeks. This was going to be a long fucking day.
By the time I left the office, my neck was sore, my back hurt, and my wrist felt like it wanted to fall off. I was hungry and grumpy, and Tenoch had been bitching about missing Evie all day.
I initially didn’t know what to think of last night. I didn’t think she knew what effect her words had on me or how close I was to running to her bedroom and begging her to let me take her. It was all innocent and in good fun for her, maybe, but I ended up with the biggest case of blue balls in history, worse than when she’d kissed me in the hotel. At least then, I knew she was under the effect of the drug, and she didn’t remember any of it the next day. Now, how was I supposed to look at her and tell her I had finished myself off thinking about her punishing me if I didn’t obey? Or that I was close to telling her I was waiting for her to come spank me; that I had to take a cold shower after because I still couldn’t get her off my mind.
In the end, I figured it was the spell Zi had cast playing with her mind, and the best thing to do was not mention the little play we had. Now here I was, almost twenty-four hours since we talked, and I was afraid she would act weird around me because I didn’t show up. Jo better have given her that food, or I’d kill him.
I took off my suit jacket and undid a few buttons as I left. I wanted to run home, but I wasn’t leaving my truck here. I walked out of the building and toward the parking garage we owned across the street. Tenoch’s hackles raised, and I could feel eyes on me. I looked around but found no one. I trusted my wolf and my gut, though, so I got into my truck and headed home without stopping anywhere.
They’re getting closer, Tenoch growled.
I don’t see anyone, I said but still pressed my foot down on the accelerator. I was only five miles from the first camera point for the pack. All I needed to do was cross it and I’d be okay.
Two miles later, I heard the sound of metal against metal before my truck rolled over a few times as something massive hit it from the passenger side. It took me moments to get over the disorientation. I could feel my left arm was broken, and my body hurt everywhere. I tried to shake the dizziness but found it hurt and stopped. I checked my head, and my hand came away red.
Tenoch, you with me? I asked.
Yes, but fuck, that hurt. We need to get out of here, he growled.
I stumbled out of the truck. There was another truck in the middle of the road. The front was fitted with massive bull bars so there was hardly any sign of it having hit my truck at all. Four people stepped out of it, and they didn’t look friendly.
Run, Cory. They’re not human. They are not wolves, Tenoch warned, trying to push forward and force a shift. A shift that would hurt like a motherfucker with a broken arm.
We can take them, I answered.
No. Pay attention to that smell. They smell like Uncle Helios. They’re ancient. We don’t know what they are capable of doing, he growled.
The men weren’t moving yet. They were just staring my way. I tried to look at them in the dark and see if there was anything I could recognize about them. Aside from the smell, one of them looked familiar, but I couldn’t pinpoint why. Before I could figure out what to do, one of them blurred from my sight and appeared right in front of me within a fraction of a second. A punch hit me square on the chin, sending me flying backward. I landed with a huff, but before I could move, the man was at my side again in seconds, and I felt a kick to my side.
I let Tenoch forward, and we shifted as we were flying in mid-air, my scream of pain turning into a roar, and Tenoch landed on his feet and was ready for the next attack. The man pulled out a set of brass knuckles with sharp claws attached to them.
