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“Sorry, I’ve been distracted. I didn’t hear you coming,” he said.
“I have a light step,” she replied, voice as flat as her expression. “Can I come in?”
“Of course.”
Her face and posture gave nothing away, but you couldn’t hide from a shifter’s nose. She smelled wary and anxious. Mason found himself frowning at the thought of her being scared of him. Her next actions told him she wasn’t afraid, but his frown only deepened.
Ash nodded and closed the door as she stepped into the room. Instead of taking one of the chairs opposite him, she stepped to the bookshelves along the wall, stopping at the stereo. With a couple of clicks, music crackled from the speakers around the room. She twisted the dial to static and cranked it to a nearly ear-piercing volume.
Only then did she approach the chairs on the other side of the desk. She sat, then placed her phone on top of a crime scene photo on the desk and tapped the screen. White noise joined the radio static.
“We need to have a conversation,” she said in that flat tone.
“And you don’t want to be overheard?” Mason asked.
He had taken her closing the door to be a sign of trust, but everything else painted the opposite picture. She sat on the edge of the seat with one hand hidden by the desk. Her expression gave off a nonchalant vibe, but wolves were predators. He saw a dangerous animal in front of him, one ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.
His wolf trusted his mate implicitly. As much as he wanted to agree, he was more than the beast inside him, and the world they lived in was too complex to let those instincts run wild. He even wondered if she might be behind the attacks, but that was a laughable thought.
“You would be amazed how easy it is to be overheard.” Ash shrugged and dropped her eyes to the pictures and clippings on the table. “It’s pretty obvious someone is after you. Can’t call it paranoid when there’s an actual conspiracy, can you?”
“You shouldn’t have to worry about that.” Mason squeezed the armrests of his chair to keep from jumping out of it. “You are my mate. It is my responsibility to protect you.”
She burst out with a laugh that was dry and harsh. It held no joy or mirth and went on long enough for his hackles to rise. As much as he’d accepted the bond, he knew so little about the woman and began dreading whatever secret she held.
“Sorry.” She wiped her eyes, shaking her head. “I never expected to find a pack, let alone a mate. It was a lone wolf life for me, all right. This whole thing complicates things.”
“You planned to be a lone wolf your whole life but came to my pack seeking refuge?” He narrowed his eyes. “Why are you really here?”
She held his gaze for a long moment, meeting his challenge. He bared his teeth, his wolf thrashing at his control, not that he could tell if the beast wanted to attack Ash or claim his mate and soothe her troubles.
“Band-Aid off? I was sent here to investigate the ruthless and cruel Mason Blackmoss and his notorious pack,” she replied.
“You work for the Interspecies Council.”
Mason said the words, but his mind was focused on a million other things. So many of the puzzle pieces surrounding his surprising new mate came into focus. A laugh escaped his lips. He should have been furious at her deception, but he wasn’t.
His reaction confused Ash. The complete control she’d kept since entering his office slipped, and her brows knitted for a moment. Still, she remained coiled and ready to fight or run at any moment with one hand out of view.
“I am one of their agents, yes,” she said with a deepening frown. “Have to admit, I expected more anger, not laughter.”
“Of course, you expect violence from … what did you call me? Cruel and ruthless?” Mason barked a laugh. “If you really believed that, you wouldn’t be here outing yourself as an undercover agent.”
Ash tensed when he chuckled, but when he fell silent, she let out a breath, relaxing. The hand she’d kept out of view appeared, thankfully empty. Her expression remained guarded, though. Mason had an idea why.
“There’s more, isn’t there?” he asked.
“You are right on both counts. If I thought you were behind the attacks, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” Ash patted her leg, hidden by the desk. “On the off chance I was wrong, I brought a little insurance.”
“What about the mate bond? You’d attack me?”
“If you were involved in the attacks, I’d do everything in my power to deliver you to the council shackled in silver chains,” she replied, then shrugged. “Mate bond be damned.”
She gave Mason a challenging glare. He met it, but inside, he was all questions. A mate bond offered the form of companionship most people never experienced in their lives,even those with marriages that ended in death. The fact she’d forsake that if she found him lacking said so much about her priorities and their potential future together.
On the other hand, would he have wanted a mate willing to stand by her man when he’d perpetrated vicious attacks like these? He’d seen a couple of mated wolves who’d given in to their inner beast’s thirst for blood. It left them all but feral. That wasn’t the life he wanted.
“I came here tonight to share something I overheard,” Ash said, interrupting Mason’s introspection. “I was in the gym when a couple of guys came in. A bald Black guy and a dude with half a long scar.” She flicked her finger from the corner of her lip to her ear. “They talked about a meeting and making you wish you never became alpha.”
