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Chapter 1
October 31
11:52 pm
“Hello, gorgeous. You saving that whip for me?”
The heavy stench of alcohol and peppermint permeated the air just before a hand slid down her back to rest on her waist. When he drunkenly pulled her against him, she lifted her hand up between his chest and hers, pushing him away in the practiced manner of every woman in any bar.
“Dude. The only thing I’m saving for you is a kick in the dick if you don’t back the fuck up.”
He stumbled a little with her push, catching his balance on the stool beside her, then easing onto it with a nonchalance only a drunken, overly confident wolf shifter could pull off. He was young, still baby-faced, with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes that roamed up and down her body. Dreamily, he propped his chin on the palm of his hand to stare at her.
“Sorry, you’re just so hot.”
“Yeah, I know.” He had to have drunk a lot to get so utterly wasted. She pointed at him wearily. “Sit your ass on that stool and stay there before you fall over.”
She motioned to the bartender, noticing things had gotten much quieter in the past twenty minutes in the ballroom of thehotel as everyone hooked up or headed off to their room. It was more than two months into this year’s new season of mating parties, and because of the increased security since the new Alliance had taken over their world, there were more shifters attending, more rules, and more opportunities. Which meant she was busy non-stop now.
“One more. And some water for him.”
The bartender chuckled, shaking his head as he put the drinks in front of them. “Doubt he’ll drink it. Want me to call in security for him?”
“Naw. He’s harmless. I swear some of the new eighteen-year-olds look twelve.” She may have only been twenty-two, but she’d been on the tour since last year, and she was one of the few traveling veteran females this year.
Typically running every weekend from September to June, these traveling parties allowed normally secluded wolf shifter packs to meet other single wolves in search of mates. But without much Alpha supervision, and hardly any older shifters around, paired with their naturally increased sex drives, these parties could get a little crazy.
Every weekend destination was sponsored by different local packs, and had open bars, music, exclusive hotels booked out, pre-events, and afterparties based on how big the local pack was. Hell, this week’s stop on the mating tour had involved three days of partying, rather than the normal one or sometimes two. Three days of outlandish Halloween costumes and drunken wolves stumbling around looking for some kind of love—if not their fated mates, then a friend for the night.
Tonight, she had resurrected her fitted leather sheath dress, the strategic slashes showing off the exposed skin across her breasts and stomach. Completing the classic Xena look, she had even brought her favorite whip and replica Chakram. It was oneof her favorite inside jokes, and a gift that Ava, her best friend since she was ten, had given her for her sixteenth birthday.
Her work phone buzzed, notifications from the various hidden cameras around the room distracting her as she pulled it from the small satchel and clicked away while she waited for another drink. The ramblings of the guy beside her barely infiltrated her thoughts as she cleared the notifications on her phone, then added some reminders to her to-do list.
“…most beautiful woman here tonight…”
She was used to the constant flow of notifications on all her hidden accounts since starting the shifter only private video channel, PackNewsOne, and she swiped through them, expertly filtering what she needed to know now, then sorted the rest into folders to access later. Flipping through her camera feeds, she made sure they were all working properly, but frowned when she saw one pointing at the ground instead of the dance floor.
“…my friends said you wouldn’t give me the time of day…”
She dropped her work phone back into her clutch just as the bartender slid over a different drink—a little blue shot—and she lifted an eyebrow at him quizzically. She was a gin and tonic girl, or sometimes a cherry vodka sour if she was feeling thirsty, and she’d been sipping them all night, so he knew her drink.
“Sent over compliments of an admirer. Kamikaze shot.”
She jerked her thumb at the kid next to her. “Him?”
“Nope. Anonymously in the tip jar with a note and a twenty.”
She shrugged, then tilted her head back, emptying the shot and setting it on the bar. This time, she pulled out her personal phone, doing a quick check. This phone was much quieter, with almost no notifications this late on a Sunday, but she noticed the little red number in her email that wasn’t there earlier. Strange.
Opening the email, her heart raced.
It was him.
A new email address since she blocked the last one, but he wasn’t trying to hide. Just used the same name and added new numbers.
Time to come home to me. Our pack needs you.
No more running around the country.
