AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Watch your tongue, bitch. If you’re lucky enough for Mason to grant you clemency, then he’s your alpha as well. But you can call him master if that’s the whipped pup you turn out to be. And leave your bag here. You can get it later.”
Ash chose not to argue, setting her bag on the porch without question. She had to bite her cheek to stop from smiling as Derektook off a little too quickly into the home. She stayed right on his heels.
She may have been on assignment, but that didn’t mean she had to ignore the grandiosity of Mason’s estate.
The location alone was impressive, but what topped it off was the inside. It was like a rustic lodge that a trust fund baby back in the city would galivant off to for a weekend away.
Ash couldn’t help but internally roll her eyes at her thoughts. She loathed these types of people, even though she knew it was out of envy that they could afford to travel, and she couldn’t.
The dark, twisted wood was accented with red and turquoise molding, and brick pillars held up sections of the second floor.
They passed the sitting room and massive kitchen and went down through a hall littered with rooms. Derek seemed to be taking them straight to the end.
He stopped suddenly and turned to head into an open room on the left. Ash followed but fell short of entering to take in the scene.
It was a rich, forest-green room. Two giant windows made up the back wall, encasing the room in natural light. Ash took in all of the books and art that littered the other two walls. And in the center of it all sat a mahogany desk with one Mason Blackmoss occupying it.
Ash knew he was the bad guy, but at that moment, seeing this dark-haired, electric-blue-eyed hunk of a man, her body tingled, reminding her how long it had been since she’d gotten laid. There was something else too. Something that started to gnaw at her …
She quickly remembered her place when the alpha rose from his seat.
“Ash, is it?”
“Yes, sir.”
He gave her a dazzling, crooked smile. “Please, no need to call me, sir. We’re not that official here. Was it like that in your last pack?”
Ash was surprised at the sincerity of his question. And honestly, taken aback by it.
“Uh, no. It wasn’t. I just wasn’t sure if things had changed or what your customs were. I’m a long way from where my pack was, and it has definitely been a while.”
He waved her in and gestured to a plush chair across from him as he took a seat. She stepped in, gave a grateful nod, and did as she was bid.
“Why are you here, Ash? You don’t look as if you have been roughing it. You must know some tricks or have a genuine reason for coming because, from what I can tell, you aren’t doing too bad for yourself. But you say you need refuge?”
Ash was impressed by his dominant but lax attitude. This man screamed alpha, and he clearly knew he didn’t have to flash it as obviously as most. His power was natural and charismatic. He didn’t have to bare his teeth for her to sense that he wasn’t one to cross.
“I just needed a break from being in a pack. You’re right, I have done well for myself, but I want more now that I’m, well, you know … not getting any younger.” She let out a forced chuckle, but Mason’s smile turned it into a schoolgirl giggle.
Stop it!she scolded herself. He kept distracting her the longer she was in his presence. That wasn’t like her. It was almost as if …
No.
Mason raised an eyebrow at her. She knew he would ask for more of her story, but she also knew he was testing her as well.
“Before anything is agreed upon, you need to know the ground rules here. Nothing comes before my pack and theirsafety.” He leaned forward on the desk and growled deeply, “Nothing. Understood?”
She nodded, and he leaned back.
“Good.”
As Mason went over his expectations and the demands she would have to agree to if she were to actually be allowed to stay with them for a trial run, she was, once again, thrown by this so-called feral animal who seemed agreeable and strictly concerned for his pack.
It made Ash wonder if Mason was anything like the rumors she was investigating.
FOUR
MASON
