Page 22 of Her Shifter Pack

I gripped his hand harder, as if I could keep a man like him on his feet. “You’re not gonna keel over again, are you?”

He laughed, then tugged my hand and together we ran across the road. “No. I think I’m pretty good right now.”

“What was that all about?” I asked, realizing I’d never asked. “The whole, weird, falling down thing you and your brother did.”

Ollie wasn’t looking at me now. “It’s a family trait. I’ll explain it to you another time. Let’s get this sorted for you first.”

I nodded and pulled my keys out of my bag. “There’s an external entrance up those stairs.”

I headed toward the fire escape only to find a note pinned to the ladder. Lexie. Come in through the front.

My heart lurched. “Uh-oh.” That wasn’t a good sign. I wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but I had nothing to offer the old man who’d rented the apartment to me. Nothing but more empty promises and the truth about my pay, which he was going to see as an excuse.

Ollie smiled gently, full of confidence. “Don’t stress. We can sort this out. It’s only money.”

I almost rolled my eyes. Only people who had enough money said, “It’s only money.” I’d never known that feeling.

Ollie walked me around to the front of the restaurant and pushed open the door, the bells ringing above our heads.

“Lexie, girl. Where’s my money?”

I suppressed the shiver of fear that coursed down my back. “Hello, Mr. Lee. I’m very sorry, but my boss hasn’t paid me for the last two weeks, and he fired me last night.”

The old Chinese man scrunched up his face. “No rent, no access to room. I will have to try and sell whatever you have up there.”

“Oh, please, no. Don’t do that. I’ll figure something out.”

My cheeks were blazing. If it wasn’t bad enough that I had to beg to get access to my clothes, Ollie was here to witness it as well.

Ollie put a hand on my shoulder. “Lexie, go up and grab whatever you need. I’m sure the gentleman and I can come to an agreement.”

Mr. Lee stared at Ollie for a moment, then nodded once.

“Ollie. No... I...”

“Go. It’s all good,” he said, as cool and calm as any man I’d ever seen.

“Ah... okay.” I raced out of the restaurant and up the fire escape, which was the only entrance to my apartment.

It was only one room, a studio with a tiny bathroom and toilet next to the even smaller kitchen space. But it had been safe and relatively clean.

And it had been mine.

I grabbed my old black suitcase and duffle bag and began to pack, prioritizing things I couldn’t replace. Photos. Identifying documents. Some hidden emergency cash that was nowhere near enough for rent.

More like a dinner or two.

Then clothes. The warmest, best fitting.

When my two bags were packed, I glanced around at everything I was leaving behind. Some blankets and pillows. Clothes and books. But I couldn’t carry them, and I wasn’t asking Ollie to come up here with me.

I walked out onto the fire escape and Ollie called up to me, “Toss anything down you want me to carry.”

I threw him the duffle bag first, then the suitcase.

“Anything else?”

I shook my head and carefully—because I was very likely to slip on the ladder and fall on Ollie’s head—climbed down once more.

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