“She will destroy all that he desires.”
Fuck.
I know what he’s quoting. It must be a prophecy from that crone wolf-witch in his family. The seeress who has always given the Adalwulf’s an advantage in the war between the two packs.
The hairs stand up on the back of my neck.
That’s when Madi bolts from the room.
No one dares stop her. They must know I would shred them to ribbons with my fangs if anyone else touched her.
I pause long enough to grab a pair of boxers and pants from the closet and yank them on, then follow. Her scent doesn’t lead to the elevator.
Instead, I follow it to the emergency stairwell. I throw open the door, prepared to leap down a flight of stairs at a time, but I find her huddled inside the door, her back against the concrete wall, knees drawn up to her chest. She’s panting like she can’t catch her breath, holding her head between her knees to keep from passing out. She’s in shock.
I force myself to slow my approach to appear non-threatening. “Madi. Sweetheart.” I crouch in front of her. “You’re safe, Madi. You’re always safe with me.”
My mind spins on how to help her. What to say. She’s not a delicate flower who just needs to be held. No, Madi’s a very smart young woman. If she’s flipping out right now, it’s because she hasn’t wrapped her mind around what she just saw. She probably requires facts to assimilate it all.
I sit on the top stair and start speaking softly. “I’m a wolf.”
She doesn’t answer. I didn’t expect her to.
“A shifter. Moon Co is run by shifters. We’re not harmful to humans. We’re just another species.”
She’s still sucking in her breath, her shoulder blades jutting out in a way that makes her appear so damn vulnerable.
“I’m not a monster, Madi. I’m just different, that’s all.” I reach out and touch her knee. “You’re safe.”
Her breathing slows. She lifts her head from between her knees and gives me a tentative glance.
“This may be a good time to remind you of the NDA you signed.” It’s meant to be a joke to lighten the mood.
It works. She lets out a weak laugh.
“H-how many?”
Of course she just wants more facts. That’s my brilliant girl.
“How many of us are wolves?”
She nods.
I scoot closer to her, still careful not to move quickly. “All of the executive team. Less than a hundred others. Most of my employees are human.”
“I mean how many in the world?”
“Oh, percentage-wise? It’s very low. Our species are endangered. A fraction of a percent.”
“Oh.” She rubs the fronts of her legs like she’s trying to warm up, but her gaze jumps around like her brain is churning. She gasps, eyes widening. “That’s why your name is Blackthroat. Because of the markings on your fur.” She brings her fingers to her throat, stroking the place where I have a line of black fur that runs from chin to chest.
“Yes.”
“And your cousin is
Adalwulf. It’s so obvious now. Gives a whole new meaning to the Wolves of Wall Street doesn’t it?” Her laugh has a hysterical note to it.
“We prefer Werewolves of Wall Street.” The corners of my lips lift in a tentative smile.
“The wolves in the Berkshires?”
“My sister and the team out looking for you.”
She gives a rueful laugh. “Ruby was the one with the black markings on her throat and chest like yours.”
“Exactly.”
“She was trying to comfort me.”
“Yes.” Of course, she’s put it all together quickly.
She sits quietly, still chewing on it all, but I sense the fear ebb away. Her scent returns to normal, her breath evens, and she stops trembling and rubbing her shins.
“Are you okay?” I ask after a moment. “May I touch you?”
When she nods, I pick her up and pull her into my lap.
“You’re stronger than a human,” she realizes. “That’s how you make me feel so light.”
“You’re like a feather to me, Windows.”
My wolf’s agitation ebbs having her in my arms. Breathing her scent.
If I were honest with myself, I’d admit that Madi breaking things off with me was the reason I lost control back there. My wolf has been way too on edge.
My wolf chose her-a human-to be his mate.
That was the reason for the prophecy from the Adalwulf crone.
She will destroy all he desires.
If I accept Madi as my mate, I will lose everything-my pack, my power. Probably even my business and friends.
But if I don’t claim her, I may not physically survive. Moon madness may ravage me. If I go completely feral, they will have to put me down. We’d still lose the pack because Auggie isn’t old enough to take the mantle, and the men in my inner circle may not be strong enough to garner pack support. Pack members would defect to the Adalwulf pack.
It’s a lose-lose for me, and it’s all Madi’s fault. Madi and her sweet orange-Frankincense scent and the peek-a-boo dresses. I nuzzle against her shoulder, needing another hit of her scent.
She’s still processing. “You don’t turn people? It’s not a sickness?”
“No, the movies got that wrong. And we don’t hunt humans.”
She turns to study my face. I don’t know what she sees-I try to mask the bald hunger I have for her. The desire to carry her out of here and straight to my penthouse. To tie her to my bed and keep her forever but as a dark secret no one knows.
Of course, I can’t do any of those things.
She leans her head against mine. “You’re a werewolf. Things are coming together in my mind still. Christ, that really freaked me out, Brick.”
“I’ll bet. I’m sorry. I can’t believe I lost it like that.”
She pulls away and runs her fingers around my neck and across my hairy chest. I almost whimper at the pleasure of her touch. “Were you hurt?”
I scoff. “No, sweetheart. I was the one ripping flesh back there. And even if he’d bitten me, we can’t get hurt. Shifters heal almost instantly.”
“Why…why did you lose it, Brick?”
I can tell by her hesitation that she’s asking about us.
When it’s business, she’s confident and articulate. But she must suspect she’s the cause of my edginess. She’s asking for confirmation.
I owe her the truth. I cradle the back of her neck. Rub my thumb lightly over her pulse.
“This secret of mine is why I didn’t fight for you when you ended things. But not having you isn’t working for me. I’ve missed you, and I’m cranky as hell, Madi. What happened in there” -I jerk my thumb toward the conference room- “isn’t supposed to happen.”
She blinks.
I haven’t said enough yet. She needs more from me. Or maybe I have it all wrong-maybe Madi never wanted me to fight for her. It could be she’s just not that interested.
But I know that’s not true. This is the girl who works her ass off to please me. Her body responds to mine-I can tell by her scent. She cares. She just doesn’t want to care.
And that’s because she’s afraid. Her father’s abandonment of her family because of their social status left a scar. My position and money make me seem similar. I need to make her understand I’m not.
“I’m different from you, Madi, but not in the way you thought. It’s not about our income or social status difference, it’s plain biology. If you felt like my team disapproved, it’s only because relationships between shifters and humans are frowned on, especially for an alpha.”
Understanding dawns on her face. “You’re the alpha.”
“Yes.”
“Of…a pack?”
“Yes.”
“Is the pack Moon Co?”
“Well, the pack is simply a community of shifters, but yes, many of my pack members work here.”
“And Aiden…?”
“His father is alpha of their pack. My parents were from rival packs. A regular Romeo and Juliet.”
Her eyes round.
“In light of that relationship, ours can hardly be worse. Listen, Madi-” I kiss the bare skin framed by the cut-out of her dress. “A relationship with a human might be difficult, but I’d like to explore it with you.”
Madison takes in a sharp breath and holds it.
“Wolves aren’t usually attracted to humans, but I’m helplessly, hopelessly attracted to you. When you called it quits, I tried to shake it off, but I can’t. You’re all I want.”
She blinks rapidly like she’s hiding tears. “Oh.”
“Come home with me tonight,” I coax, biting her breast through her dress. “I need to have you near me. Please.”
The scent of her arousal floods my nostrils, making me dizzy with lust.
She gives a tiny nod of assent. “Okay.” Her answer is sweet and soft.
It’s everything I need to hear.
Madi
Brick Blackthroat wants to have a relationship with me. That almost shocks me more than the fact that he’s a wolf. I’m still quickly assimilating both as Brick drives me to his place.
When we left the stairwell, hand-in-hand, the Adalwulf contingent had already vacated the building, and it was just Blackthroat’s team left in the conference room, discussing the situation in heated voices.
The way they all stopped talking when we came in tells me I was a large part of that discussion.
“What now?” Vance asked in a tight voice, his gaze flicking from me to Blackthroat.
“Go home. I’ll clean up my own mess.”
None of them seemed to like that, but other than disgruntled stares, no one protested.
“Am I your mess?” I ask as we drive. “When you said you’d clean up your own mess, did that mean me?”
He slides a sidelong glance at me from behind the wheel. “Humans aren’t supposed to know about our kind. Obviously.”
“Yes, obviously.” I’d already assumed that much. “As you said, I signed an NDA. I won’t breathe a word. Not even to Aubrey.”
He sends me another unfathomable glance. “Thank you.”
I fidget for another moment. I have to ask. “Are you taking me home because I’m part of the mess?”
“No, Windows.” He gives a humorless laugh. “I would have your memory wiped if I didn’t trust you-without hesitation. Even though it could damage that big, beautiful brain of yours. We take our privacy and pack safety very seriously.”
A shiver runs down my spine. I don’t want to know the answer, but I have to ask. “H-how?”
“I’d make a deal with Thaddeus, the vampire king. Vampires can fuck with minds. Hypnotic suggestions and all that.”
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