AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1 - Adam
The orders of my alpha were always more important than most things in my life. Thick and thin, chaos and routine, war and peace—nothing kept me from my leader and closest companion. Even while the festivities continued in the tavern of The Sunrise Mill Inn, my commitment persisted, taking me away from my alpha’s engagement celebration so I could pour through the documents collected on the vampire-wolf wars.
Sasha had pointed me in the direction of the kitchen, but she must have been mistaken, perhaps even slightly drunk on both fae liquor and the proposal of the Beaufort pack alpha that she had accepted without hesitation because Charlotte’s office didn’t look like a place where highly sensitive documents should have been kept. Who was guarding the talented chef’s office when the door was wide open?
I sighed while thinking about the engagement event. The pictures on my phone proved Sasha’s undying love. Anyone could see the affection in her eyes and the attachment between her and Donovan. She made a great match for him, and he seemed as dedicated to her just as he was to his pack. In many ways, I felt envious of her willingness to jump into such a relationship so quickly—and his, too.
They get along. They’re happy for fuck’s sake, I reminded myself as I approached Charlotte’s office.Don’t you want your alpha to be happy? It makes him a better leader.
Only it didn’t make me happy. It just made me question what I was supposed to do now that I was left behind in the single life. Hookups only worked as long as they lasted. Which wasn’t particularly long considering my pickiness with women.
Once I stepped through the threshold of the office, silence cloaked my ears, shocking me into pausing and peering over my shoulder. Three people bustled around the kitchen with plates and cooking ware, mouths moving soundlessly. My eyebrows shot up as I peered around the office.
Must be some kind of cloaking spell, I thought as I touched the folders on the desk.That’s why the documents are here. They’re hidden in a place nobody would expect.
The office appeared larger than it had when I found it. Books decorated the shelves behind the mahogany desk along with a multitude of weapons: throwing daggers, a javelin, a medieval mace, long swords, short swords, and a set of katanas. Some of the weapons acted as book holders, keeping the spines of the texts rigidly compact, but otherwise showed wear and tear—which meant they were often read.
A window to the left drew my attention next, with a view of the brick alley running along three sides of the inn. As compact as the place appeared on the outside, a labyrinth of suites and rooms existed on the inside, proving that wolves were exceptionally cunning creatures capable of hiding in plain sight.
If only it wasn’t neutral ground, I reflected with a heavy frown.Then, maybe this place could be a haven for wolves trying to get away from the war that rages outside.
Years of training hadn’t prepared me for the horrors I witnessed on the outskirts of pack lands. Even Donovan couldn’t have predicted the depth of wounds, the number of casualties, and the constant, nagging paranoia that hung over our shoulders every time we went into town. Even while standing inside an inn protected by the promise of tolerance, my nostrils tingled with the distinct awareness of other species.
Fae, vampires, shapeshifters—every supernatural creature in the vicinity had chosen this place to rest. And I had to respect that. And Iwantedto respect that.
My brain just simply couldn’t fathom how vampires and wolves could get along inside an inn while tearing each other to pieces on the streets outside.
Sighing, I inhaled the rest of the room, the walls were cluttered with an assortment of expressionist paintings, photographs, and charcoal sketches tacked casually next to framed works of art. Many of the small tables in the room hosted weapons and I chuckled to myself, trying to imagine the petite chef with cherry red highlights in her hair and creamy, tawny ochre skin wielding any of the larger ones.
“Is there a reason you’re snooping around my office?”
A smirk tugged at my lips as I turned around slowly to face the woman who ran the Sunrise Mill Inn with Sasha and their wolf sisters. “Hi, Charlotte.”
“Yes, hi,” she said while stepping into the room, eyes narrowing to slits. “If you’re looking for those butter biscuits I made for your son, they’re in the fridge.”
“No, sorry.” I gestured sheepishly toward her desk, heat exploding on my cheeks for no damn reason other than to make me look like a fool. “Sasha sent me here. I mean, Donovan was the one who sent me here. But Sasha also told me this is where the documents were being held. I have to go over the vampire-wolf crap and then I have to, uh…”
The way her eyelids widened to expose golden-brown irises made my heart quiver. My words fell from my lips in an instant with little to no possibility of recovering them. When my mouth slacked, she snapped her fingers at me, her irritated frown hardly detracting from her beauty. Though I had seen her a dozen times at this point, I was still surprised by how she was a foot shorter than me.
“Weird,” she said while gesturing toward her desk. “You’re here for research, but you keep staring at me.”
I blinked rapidly. “What?”
“Ah, I see. Lights were on, but nobody was home. Am I right?” Her smirk spread evenly over her face, enhancing the golden hue of her eyes. Mischief sparkled in her pupils, making me clear my throat. “Did you want some help with that?”
“With what?”
She sighed, rolled her eyes, and then wandered toward her desk to tap the folders on top. “These, genius.”
“Oh, right.” I shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
“Have a seat.”
My feet moved me to a spare chair next to her desk. I leaned on the mahogany wood, dragging one of the folders toward me to peruse. Her petite fingers cradled the next folder as her eyes quickly danced across the page. The flesh between her eyebrows knotted in a look of concentration.
The chortle I released caught her attention.
She squinted. “What?”
