Page 34 of Sold Wolf Slave

Chapter 12 - Will

Lucas reached out to me two days later, asking if I was free that afternoon. It didn’t exactly come across as a suggestion, not that it mattered, anyway. I finally had an in to see Cain. I wasn’t about to squander that.

Lucas was waiting for me outside of the massive house in the middle of town that was Cain’s residence. He gave a lazy grin as I strolled toward him.

“Glad you could make it,” he said. He jerked his head toward the door. “Let’s get going.”

The guards nodded respectfully at Lucas, stepping away from the door and holding it open to reveal an elegant hallway beyond. Lucas strolled past without a second glance at the guards. I followed.

“Kendra still behaving?” he asked casually after a moment.

“Yeah. She’s harmless if you know how to control her,” I said, earning a chuckle from Lucas.

“Not going to lie, I always wondered what she was like in bed. I’ve always liked a bit of fire, and she seems like the kind to fight like a wildcat.” He glanced over at me, one intrigued eyebrow raised.

I resisted the urge to punch him just for asking the question. If he had asked that about any woman, it would have been disgusting. The fact that it was Kendra made it infinitely worse for reasons I didn’t quite understand. That protective feeling I had whenever I thought about her swelled and intensified.

I kept those emotions in check, knowing I couldn’t let them get in the way. Instead, I shrugged. “She’s certainly spirited.”

“Any chance of lending her out from time to time?” Lucas asked. “I always thought she was a pretty thing, and those types of girls are always the best in bed. How about it?”

I let out a low growl as genuine disgust and anger slammed into me. I had to stop myself from punching him in the face. For a start. After that, the claws might come out.

Seeing my reaction, Lucas laughed and held up his hands. “I’ll take that as a no. Perfectly fine. I can respect a guy who protects his property. Anyway, come on. He’s right through here.”

I blinked, almost shaking my head to clear it. What the hell was wrong with me? I had nearly jeopardized everything because of an off-hand comment about Kendra. A couple of weeks ago, that never would have happened. It unnerved me.

And it wasn’t just the fact that Lucas was saying this about Kendra. The fact that he saw all the women here in more or less the same light made everything infinitely worse.

He pushed open the door to reveal a large shifter sitting behind a desk, head buried in paperwork. He held up a finger, not looking at us as he finished jotting down a note. Then he placed his pencil down, finally raising his head. He raised one eyebrow at Lucas, waiting for his man to provide the introduction.

“This is the guy I was telling you about,” Lucas said.

“Will, right?” Cain asked, and I nodded. To Lucas, he said, “Leave us.”

Lucas gave a short bow and excused himself, clapping me on the shoulder.

“Would you like a drink?” Cain asked me.

“I’ll never say no to one,” I said.

He gave an approving nod and pressed a button on his desk.

“So, this is your first time here?” he asked. When I nodded, he continued, “Lucas told me you held your own in the fighting pits. Twice. Honestly, I should probably thank you. Pierce was a good customer, but he was a horrible bet when it came to the pits. He won so often that any betting against him was absolutely abysmal. We made almost no money on him.” He flashed a grin. “And then came your fantastic upset. I have to thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I said. “Always happy to help get rid of an obnoxious asshole.”

He barked out a laugh. “He was that, wasn’t he? Still, he was one of our regulars, so at least there’s the tidy sum we made after that last bet.” He tilted his head as he looked me up and down. “So, what brings you to the Underside?”

“All the beautiful women, of course,” I said dryly, earning a chortle. “It must have taken a while to set this whole place up.”

“About five years,” he said. “Though I’ve been in the business for nearly twenty years at this point. I figured guys like you would want a more private place that isn’t going to get raided every other month. A bit more privacy and exclusivity.”

“I’m certainly enjoying my time here,” I lied.

Cain grinned. “Most men who come here do,” he said. He scowled, eyes darting to the back door. “Where the hell are thosedrinks? You’ll have to excuse me. I have a new girl. She’s still a bit slow.”

As if on cue, a woman entered from the door in the back. She kept her head low as she shuffled in with a tray of drinks. The curly auburn hair curtaining half her face was enough to tell me precisely who it was. Even if Kendra hadn’t shown me an image of her, I would have recognized her the second she raised her head. They had the same nose and mouth, the same eye shape, even if the ones staring at me right now were a deep green instead of Kendra’s piercing gray.

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