Page 4

“I see. Thank you for taking a chance on me. I’m doing more within the private sector. Please, take a seat.”

“Not at all.” The woman was attractive. Well put together. Not my type or my wolf’s at all, but I could appreciate a beautiful female without her being my mate.

“Do you mind if I record our conversation?” I asked, sliding my phone between us on top of the desk.

“ It may be better. I will tell you the story, but I might be scattered. I can’t live another day like this.”

“Let’s hear it.”

She spoke about her ex. He’d love-bombed her, though she never used the phrase. Told her he loved her on their first date. Claimed he’d never met anyone like her. Lavished her with gifts. Trips. She thought she was plopped right in the middle of every woman’s fantasy. But when it came to reality, his love turned into control. His protectiveness evolved into obsession, jealousy and while he’d never been physically abusive, there had been signs it was right around the corner. Punching walls. Throwing things. Hiding her car keys so she couldn’t leave.

Finally she did get away from him but, instead of taking the hint, he stalked her. Threatened. Shadowed her movements. Followed her everywhere. When he cornered her in front of her new apartment, something had to be done.

“I can pay. I’m an accountant for a big corporation.”

I nodded. “That’s fine. Zachary, one of my best agents, will be your guard. To and from work and home? He can drive you if you need that. It might be better for you to travel in a car other than your own for a while. Throw the ex off.”

We talked over the details. Zach worked on contract for me and others, and I had always been able to rely on him. “Thank you. I feel a bit better already.”

“Great. Let’s get the contracts signed and out of the way so you can get back to living.”

The contract would be lucrative. Our pack was built with a good backing of savings, plus, I had my father’s trust. We didn’t touch it. That was for our mate. And for our family.

If we ever had one.

The rest of the day was spent doing paperwork and getting my quarterly taxes ready. My packmates were already home where things were tense lately.

We’d reached and crossed the line where we thought we should’ve found our mate.

There was no set time for a shifter to find his mate, but most found theirs by the age of thirty, which I approached. Passing it unmated held a stigma. The fear one’s mate had already chosen another. Died. Or was somewhere else in the world.

I never shared my concern one of these things had occurred. The others didn’t need my negativity bleeding into their hope.

I went home. Warren had ordered pizza, but Lark made a salad. He experimented with them and cornbread of all things. The man had a small but mighty obsession with cornbread.

“Hey, get that contract?” Warren asked before the door shut behind me. We had a modest home. Big enough for our pack and a family one day. Room to expand. We didn’t want to overextend ourselves and one of the things we agreed on was fiscal responsibility. Some packs drowned in debt.

We didn’t want that for ourselves or for our mate.

“I did. It’s a good one. This could give me the foot into the private sector that I’ve been wanting. Zach is taking it.”

“That’s great. I ordered pizza.”

“Thank you, Lark.”

We sat around our table, made for four but only holding three. Everything in our home was a stark reminder of what we were missing.

Chapter Five

Evren

I slipped away during the run, easy enough when the males, including the alpha, left the females behind in their quest to show off. Most of the females hadn’t acknowledged me in years, since I started hiding out in the barn in my boy cousins’ discards.

With no idea what to do, I ran all the way home without even stopping for my clothes in the clearing. They were no loss, worn and stained and ready for the scrap heap. My parents were participating in the run, so there was no one to stop me as I quickly dressed then stuffed a backpack with everything that would fit. I couldn’t afford to be weighed down when I was on the road.

Under my mattress lay just about every dollar I’d ever gotten my hands on, and I stuffed them in my pockets. Pack members didn’t get a salary, per se, but we did get an allowance for things we were not provided. Most used them for sundries and treats in town. Makeup and pretty clothes for the females, generally. Books or music…small electronics.

But I saved it. Dressing the way I did, I needed very few clothing items and I told myself that bakery items and fancy coffees were less important than freedom. I had managed to thrift a few nicer, girlier outfits against the day I ran, and those were the ones that I took with me as I slipped out the door and looked left and right. Most of the pack would be deep in the woods, still, and when they returned they’d be partying in the clearing, but a few oldsters were around somewhere, and I couldn’t afford to get caught.