The Great Wolf Escape (Scandalous Shifters Book 1) Page 8

  Ash stared at the man whose approval he had been desperate to win and realized he had made a terrible mistake referring him.

  I staked my own honor to allow him here and look where that has gotten me. How could I have been so foolish?

  “You are just like Papa,” Ash had whispered, tears of disappointment filling his granite eyes. “You have always been selfish and cruel.”

  “Ash! If you tell, I will be cast out forever. Your probation period is not yet finished. You will also be tossed into the dark afterlife!”

  “I do not care about me!” Ash growled. “I care about Michele and now you have killed her! You killed a fairy! They are sacred, you know that!”

  “Please!” Jayce begged again. “You know I am good at heart! You know it, or you would not have vouched for me!”

  Ash stared at him for a long while and closed his eyes, trying to decide what could be done.

  Dear gods, he is my brother, if only by half. I cannot be responsible for the damnation of his soul, no matter how much he may deserve it.

  “You must help me, brother!”

  Ash’s lids parted at the endearment.

  “I am not your brother. I am a warrior of the bright afterworld,” Ash intoned.

  Horror crossed over Jayce’s face. “You cannot—”

  “I will not speak of what I have seen here,” Ash interrupted, turning to leave Jayce alone in the red-stained room of white. “But I will not lie for you.”

  “Help me hide her body!” Jayce bellowed. “For the love of gods, I am your brother!”

  “You are my half-brother,” he replied coldly.

  It was the first time he had ever called Jayce his half-sibling and the word seemed to stab him a thousand times over as it left his lips.

  But he could not protect Jayce, not anymore. He had gone as far as he could with his affections and he could be a fool no longer.

  True to his word, he retreated to his chambers and prayed that His Grace had not seen the atrocity that his brother had committed.

  It was not until the sentry dragged him from his bed did he realize that Jayce had betrayed him.

  Yet even at trial, Ash had said nothing.

  He admitted no fault, cast no blame. He only stared at his half-brother, willing him to do the right thing.

  That was hundreds of years ago, Ash reminded himself, turning over in the bed. Ancient history. That was at a time when I still believed in the righteousness of the bright afterworld. The days for anger have long since passed. Jayce has gotten away with murder and there is nothing I can do about it. As for me, I have a second chance to live. And to love.

  Ashur knew he would not lose it, no matter what it took.

  She does not know it yet, perhaps, but Serafina and I were fated to be together. I have one week to show her the truth.

  Chapter Eight

  Out of Her Element

  Sera pushed the thought of the stranger in her bed from her mind as she made her way up the stairs to the law firm. Yet even as she tried her hardest, it was proving more difficult than she expected.

  Each step she took, she had a memory of his hot mouth on hers.

  How can someone I just met have such a profound effect on me? Sera wondered, shaking her damp waves, throwing open the door and strolling inside. Suddenly, the sodden mess of the day didn’t bother her as much as it had before. She was radiating with a warm glow that wouldn’t quit, no matter how much darkness seemed to enshroud the day.

  Barry jumped up when he saw her, his eyes lighting up as if he had been waiting for her return like an overeager Pomeranian.

  He’s bad for business sitting at reception, Sera thought, but even her thoughts weren’t as cutting as they usually were when she saw him. She was resentful that she had been dragged back into the office, but she wondered if she wasn’t even more annoyed that she had forsaken her work for a quickie.

  Well, that was hardly a quickie, she thought, swallowing a smile.

  She also knew she would do it again in a heartbeat. It was taking everything in her power not to run back to her apartment as it was.

  While she had pretended that she wasn’t pleased that Ashur had stayed at her place, Sera found herself excited at the prospect of returning home to him.

  Don’t get any weird ideas, she chided herself. You meant what you said; you’re not getting into anything serious.

  The lies she told herself only made her smile widen. Whatever hold it was that Ashur had on her, she wasn’t easily going to be able to escape it.

  “Oh hey! I didn’t think you were coming back today!” Barry cried, following her back toward Jacob’s office. “That’s okay! There’s lots left over.”

  She eyed him like he was a bee circling her pop can.

  “Leftovers?” she echoed. “What are you talking about?”

  His beam grew, and he nodded as if he had discovered plutonium.

  “Pizza, remember? I offered you some and you said that you were leaving for the day, but I got extra just in case anyway because, hey, pizza is even good the next day, right? That’s the beauty of it—you can even eat it cold.

  Gods, stop rambling, she thought, but instead of responding, she ignored him and entered her boss’ office uninvited.

  Jacob was on the phone and he tried to shoo her away, but Sera only leaned across the door frame, folding her arms impatiently as she listened to his side of the conversation.

  “Oh, yes, sir. That sounds like you have a very good case. When can we arrange for a meeting? I should come to you. It sounds like you’re in a bad way.”

  Jacob scowled at her but she only smirked, staring at him intensely to add to his discomfort. She knew he didn’t perform well with an audience. Even as she stared at him, she saw beads of uncomfortable sweat forming at his brow line.

  Jacob’s bushy eyebrows raised in surprise as the person with whom he spoke asked something that seemed to catch him off guard. Unexpectedly, he looked at Sera questioningly.

  “I—well, she can certainly join me,” he stuttered. “But she’s not a licensed attorney.”

  Is he talking about me? Sera wondered, her curiosity piquing as she observed.

  “No, I understand… well, maybe… no, no, of course. We will meet you tomorrow morning. Just send me your location, Mr. Parker.”

  Jacob scribbled something down on a scrap piece of paper from the pile on his desk and Sera stepped forward to retrieve it before it got lost in the garbage he stowed upon it. If it wasn’t quickly picked up, it was likely to be swallowed in the abyss that was his workspace.

  “Until then, Mr. Parker. I’m sorry we couldn’t come today, but if that changes…” he trailed off and looked at Sera hopefully, but she shook her head vehemently. She had done enough running around in the rain for one day.

  Mr. Parker and his trumped-up lawsuit could wait until the next day.

  Jacob should be grateful I’m here at all.

  Jacob replaced the phone on its cradle and glowered at her.

  “What the hell have you been doing all day?” he snapped. “I must have texted you twenty times.”

  “You texted me five times,” she corrected. “And how many times have I told you not to bother me when I’m working? It doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence with clients when my cell is going off every two minutes. They think I’m too busy to pay attention to their needs.”

  She prided herself on the quick defense.

  I could still make a good lawyer yet.

  Jacob snorted derisively.

  “Are you going to tell me that you were working all day? Your GPS says you were at your apartment.”

  Sera gaped at him, her eyes narrowing.

  “You tracked my phone?” she snarled. “Are you a pervert or something?”

  Jacob’s face turned bright red.

  “I pay for your cell,” he reminded her. “And when you didn’t answer, I wanted to know where my hard-earned money had gone.”

  “If you ever track my phone again,
I will cut your balls off,” Sera said flatly, and she meant it.

  Jacob seemed to sense the sincerity in her words.

  “I was worried about you,” he backpedaled. “You weren’t responding!”

  Sera scoffed and whirled away.

  I have to quit this job, she thought angrily, storming toward her meager office. This is ridiculous. It’s borderline stalking, isn’t it?

  Jacob had ruined her tentatively good mood in one second.

  But Sera knew she was not going to quit. Nothing short of sexual harassment was going to keep her from leaving and even though she accused him of being a pig, Jacob had managed never to cross the line, no matter how many times she half hoped he would, giving her an excuse to unleash on him as she had always wanted.

  Of course he hasn’t crossed a line—he’s a lawyer and he knows exactly how to toe the line without being slapped with a lawsuit of his own.

  Her mind inadvertently wandered back to Ryker Duvall. She wondered how he was making out wherever he was, but just as she had with the other unbidden memories, she shoved them away. That had been another lifetime, even if it hadn’t been that long ago. Her future was here.

  Not for the first time, Sera weighed her options and succumbed to the dismal outcome.

  I need to go back to school but that costs money and gods know Jacob Winston isn’t going to fork up any more from his stingy sausage fingers. So, I am stuck in this shithole, wasting away, powerless to stop it. I should become a stripper. Or a web cam girl. Isn’t that where the money is these days?

  She wished she had it in her to delve into the industry.

  “Sera, wait!” Jacob called, rushing after her. “Are you denying that you went to your apartment?”

  “That’s not the point, jackass, and you know it!” she spat, willing herself not to smack his porcine face. “You have no right to check up on me, especially when I landed you two clients today.”

  Jacob’s face lit up like a California wildfire.

  “Of course you did!” he squealed magnanimously. “You’re my star closer!”

  “Shut up and leave me alone, Jacob,” she snapped, plopping into a stationary armchair. “I’ll email you the contact information.”

  She saw him visibly swallow out of the corner of her eye and she relished the slight feeling of power she felt in that moment, no matter how fleeting.

  “We have an appointment with a potential client tomorrow,” he informed her, and she shook her head. “You’re coming along.”

  As she had overheard the conversation, she knew it was coming and the refusal rolled off her tongue as if it had already been rehearsed. She had done more than enough for one week.

  “You don’t need me,” she retorted. “You’re the brains of the operation, remember?”

  “He asked for you specifically.”

  Sera blinked and gazed up at her boss.

  “I know, and I don’t care. Whoever referred me can vouch for my stellar work ethic.”

  “He wasn’t referred.”

  The words made no sense to Sera and she tried to reconcile why she would be requested by someone who didn’t know her.

  Harry? she wondered, a mild panic building in her gut. Would he even care enough to hunt me down? Or is this some perverse way of trying to control me again?

  “What do you mean he asked for me? Who is it?”

  “Mr. Parker? He says he met you on the 23 a couple weeks ago.”

  She continued to stare at him blankly.

  “He is claiming that I, Serafina Kennedy, instigated a conversation with a stranger on a Detroit bus and you didn’t find anything suspect about that?” she demanded. “Are you sure you’re even licensed to practice law in Michigan—or anywhere else, for that matter?”

  She made a mental note to research the answer to that question as she sneered at her boss. The more time she spent around the slimy attorney, the more she wondered how he had not been locked up years ago.

  I’ll bet a thousand bucks that he isn’t even a lawyer. I bet I’ve been committing illegal acts on his behalf.

  She wondered who she was kidding; she didn’t even know what a thousand dollars looked like.

  Jacob maintained his smile, but Sera could see she had struck a nerve with him. Jacob did not like being reminded that he was a mediocre attorney at best.

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass where you met him. He’s from out of town and he got into an accident as a passenger in a taxi. His injuries are worthwhile.”

  Sera grimaced. “Well, I’m not going. And you need to meet with the dog bite victim and the slip and fall from the hospital. I have no idea how you’re going to handle everything, but count me out.”

  Jacob managed to look thrilled and worried simultaneously.

  “Why don’t you and Barry meet with Mr. Parker tomorrow morning and I will deal with our other new clients.”

  “No,” Sera said flatly. “I’ve done my job. I’m not doing yours too.”

  “I’ll meet with the client, Mr. Winston!” Barry chirped from the doorway.

  “This is a private conversation!” Sera yelled at him, rising from her desk. “This office is the least professional place I have ever seen. No wonder clients are scarce.”

  She turned to leave the men alone in her office, sick of the back and forth.

  Ashur is waiting at my place. I’ll go home, have another romp in the hay with him, and then send him on his way. That will make me feel better.

  To her surprise, Jacob reached out and grabbed her arm.

  “The clients are scarce because you aren’t doing your job,” he hissed, and Sera looked at his hand secured around her bicep. Instinctively, she felt the throb of her fangs threatening to erupt from her gumline. Jacob had never seen that side of her, but he was pushing all the wrong buttons that day.

  Maybe it’s time he sees who he’s up against once and for all.

  Somehow, she managed to keep herself from shifting, her eyes narrowing into furious, dangerous slits.

  “Let go of me,” she growled, and he did instantly, perhaps reading the menacing expression on her face clearly. “You forget I am the only reason this place runs at all. When was the last time you or Boy Wonder brought in any new clients?”

  She only half addressed Barry when she mentioned him, her gaze still locked on Jacob’s face.

  Her boss’ mouth became a line and he shook his head.

  “And I hope you realize that is your job. If Barry and I were out scouting for clients, you would be out on your ass, living in a box like you were when I hired you.”

  Their eyes clashed, and Sera swallowed her fury toward him.

  They are all the same, she thought, slipping past him and heading back out of the humble office space. Condescending, demanding, and unable to do anything without a woman. One way or another, I am getting out of this office and when I do, I am taking that smug son of a bitch down with me.

  “You better be back here in the morning, Sera. You and Barry have an appointment downtown at 10 am.”

  She didn’t bother to answer.

  Of course, she would be back in the morning. What other choice did she have?

  For the second time, Sera left the building, heading toward the bus stop as her mind began to turn.

  At least the rain is letting up, she thought, the dampness still in her bones, but she reminded herself that she had a very sexy houseguest.

  The silver lining, she thought wryly as she boarded the bus, shaking off the few drops in her hair.

  I wonder if he has any money, Sera laughed. Maybe he’s my knight in shining armor, ready to sweep me off to my castle in… wherever the hell he’s from.

  She smiled like it was a joke, but deep inside her, Sera wondered if that ever happened.

  Do mysterious strangers ever just waltz into your miserable life and sweep you off your feet and take you away from all of it?

  Sera knew she wouldn’t have it even if Ashur were the Prince of Luxembourg.

 
Imagine sitting around all day on royal velvet, eating bonbons and watching soap operas. I would kill myself.

  And she meant it.

  Despite what her stepfather had thought about her or the woman her mother had been, Sera had always believed in hard work. She had enjoyed school and had even been a good student in her youth.

  It wasn’t until Harry entered the picture that things began to deteriorate.

  Why are you thinking about that asshole? Sera scolded herself, pressing her fingers against the misty window, her fingertips resting against the glass as the sodden day seemed to take her back to a place she had tried desperately to escape every day.

  Serafina had run away from home fifty years earlier, when she was fifteen.

  Living on the streets of Toledo in the sixties had proven more difficult than she had expected and when Harry had discovered her sleeping among the addicted homeless, he had flown into a rage, beating her into unconsciousness with silver knuckles, almost before she had woken up to see what had stirred her from slumber in the first place.

  When she came to, she had been wrapped in filthy sleeping bags by the hobos in her group and tended to with whatever supplies they could find between them.

  Not only had her stepfather beat her, he had left her for dead with myriad broken bones and a shattered face. Healing took months because of the silver lining he’d used and for a time, Sera hadn’t been sure she would survive at all.

  Even if she was on her deathbed, she vowed, she would never return to her stepfather’s house again.

  If not for the outcasts of society, she likely would have died alone in an alleyway that September afternoon.

  When she recovered enough, she managed to scrounge a bus ticket to New York where she spent the next few years trying to reclaim her life while living in a homeless society.

  If the nights grew too cold, she would stay in a shelter, but for the most part, she hunkered down in a makeshift house of cardboard and worn blankets, doing her best to claw her way out of the poverty.

  Her grades had suffered greatly as it was difficult to study by the light of a trashcan fire and she had no computer, but somehow, she managed to get her GED and began community college, all while panhandling to feed herself.