Page 103 of In the Mouth of the Wolf

Special.

The corner of Julian’s lip curled in a slight snarl. Alphas, on the other hand, didnottake kindly to being bossed around, and I was sure with Marlowe being the first omega he’d ever met, he thought he was impressing her by being a dick.

This was going down the shitter, fast.

“Look, I have an idea.” I moved behind Marlowe, putting my hands on her shoulders. She tensed, but I pulled her back into me and began to purr, the sound calming and relaxing her. I walked her out from behind the desk, a few feet in front of Julian. “Why don’t you properly introduce yourselves, from the beginning?”

Marlowe sighed and held out her hand, but Julian went straight in and nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck, trapping her in between us.

Her heartbeat went crazy, and she tried to wriggle away but I held her tightly, continuing my purr. “It’s okay,” I whispered. “Scent says a lot about a shifter.”

She released a breathy whine, finally allowing herself to smell him back.

After a few deep pulls of Marlowe’s perfume, Julian took a step away, his pupils fully blown. He looked at me, then back at her, and fell to his knees, grabbing her waist and resting his forehead against her stomach, breathing her in again.

Marlowe stilled, and I couldn’t gauge her response. There were too many emotions swimming in the air. Fear, confusion, desire…

I knew exactly what was happening to Julian, though. It was the same thing that had happened to me when I first met Marlowe. Once I scented her, it was like my brain suddenly rewired, and all I could think about was how to protect her, how to care for her, how to make her mine.

That kind of visceral reaction could only happen when someone was a good scent match for you or your pack.

There was a knock at the door and it swung open. Mark, our Director of Business Development, popped his head in. “Hey Cam, are you coming back, or…?” His eyes widened in shock at the sight of Julian on his knees, drowning in the omega female I was currently holding. “Uh, cool. We can just… wait for you then…” He started to close the door and then opened it again a crack. “Should I get HR?”

I said, “No” but Marlowe squeaked, “Yes,” the intrusion tearing her out of the moment.

Mark looked at me for confirmation, but I just shook my head, and he left.

Marlowe pushed Julian away and shrugged out of my grip, then turned around and pointed her finger at me. “Howdareyou?” she hissed. “I’m not some kind of drug you can just pass along to all your friends to help them get high. That…” She stopped, rubbing away a few tears that fell from her eyes, smudging her make-up. “…was really messed up.”

I reached out and rubbed her arms, lowering my face to hers. “I’m sorry. I know that was intense, but you felt something, right? Like he could belong to you?” I watched her expression carefully, and my heart sank when it turned angrier.

“Wait…thisis who you want to join our pack?” She pointed at Julian and scoffed. “Uh, no. No way.”

I ran a hand down my face in frustration. How had this spiraled out of control so quickly? I had planned on inviting him out to lunch with us, setting him up to deliver some great jokes to make her laugh, and then broach the subject later, maybe tonight with my knot and all that post-sex bliss in her.

At this rate, I’d be lucky if she ever let me knot her again.

Julian, still coming off his omega hit, also looked like he would start crying. But for a very different reason.

“You want me to be in your pack?” he asked softly.

I knew what being in a pack meant to a lone alpha. Julian was a good kid who had narrowly escaped a bad situation back home. He was starting over up here, trying to find his place in a town full of shifters with no connections.

And while I knew this wouldn’t impress Marlowe, I had hoped it would be a selling point to the guys – the alpha could fight. He had invited me once to an amateur boxing match at his gym, and Julian had easily cleaned the floor with everyone they threw at him. It was hard to admit, but if push came to shove, he could probably kick my ass, too.

I knew Marlowe was a little freaked out, but Julian was exactly what we needed, and over time, she’d get over their first meeting. Just like she had mine.

I turned to Julian and said, “Yes” but Marlowe growled, “No.”

He swallowed, still on his knees when he faced Marlowe again, hands clasped together. “Please, I barely know you, but I feel like I would die for you. I would kill for you.”

Marlowe placed her hand on her chest, closing her eyes for a second, and then went back behind the desk to start gathering her things. “One day,” she muttered, “Can I just haveonegoddamn normal day?”

She left the room in a huff, and I heard her outside. “Hi, are you Patricia? So nice to meet you, I’m Marlowe Linden… Right, James’s daughter. Did he have an office here?... Great, do you have a key?... Even better, can you take me there?”

Julian hadn’t gotten up yet, he simply stared into space. “What just happened?” he asked. “It feels like I died, met the Moon Goddess herself, and then she kicked me in the balls.”

I sighed. “We got our work cut out for us, Ramos.”

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