Page 11 of Witchwolf

He broke off with a grimace. What did I expect? Seth kept the pack safe, and bedding down with a mage opened us up to a ton of uncertainty.

Crescent relied on the business of mages who, quite frankly, wouldn’t look too kindly on us sniffing around their own, but that was the least of it. If I’dhurtDakota—even just a graze of teeth that went too deep—it could be the end of us.

Well, the end of me, at least.

But I hadn’t. Dakota was well, and the night had been so damned perfect that I was half convinced therewassomething special about mages.

I gripped the edge of the counter and leaned over, my grin sharp and toothy. “A mage? Yeah. The night was downrightmagical.”

Seth groaned, shoving me back. “Go do your job, bossman.”

I shuffled back a step or two and spun toward the elevator, waving over my shoulder as I headed toward the sleek metal doors.

Upstairs, where Jillian was already waiting for me in my office. She leaned against the edge of my desk with her legs crossed. The heels she wore made me glad men’s shoes were simpler—I wouldn’t have known how to put them on, much less walk in them

Of course, my twin sister wasn’t afraid of anything, even intimidatingly pointy shoes. If I didn’t know she was there in her capacity as my sister and not the Chief Operations Officer of Crescent, she’d have downright terrified me.

Luckily for me, I knew I wasn’t in for anything more serious than some sisterly ribbing.

“Good night?” Jillian asked, her dark brown eyebrow arched high.

The left corner of my mouth tugged upward as I walked around my enormous desk and dumped my leather messenger bag.

Even as her chestnut eyes glittered teasingly, I couldn’t help grinning at her.

“What can I say? You were right. I needed to let off some steam.”

I’d woken up that morning feeling more present in my body than I had in weeks. Yes, I was a little sore from the night’s exertions—a little used—but only in the best way.

Dakota had been a delight. Sweet and needy, delicious and responsive. The way he’d reached for me had made me feel capable again. Watching his eyelids flutter and his eyes roll back when it was all too much? Knowing I held his pleasure as firm as I held his hips? Wonderful.

I had wanted him to stay.

It was a strange feeling, overly serious considering the situation. Just... if I could’ve buried my nose against the nape of his neck and breathed in his sweet scent all night, deep down, I knew that would’ve settled me like nothing else.

But that wasn’t in the cards for mages and werewolves. Rare enough for one of them to seek out one of us for anything they could manage on their own.

So I hadn’t pressed, and even the prick of disappointment watching him jog over to his rideshare wasn’t enough to ruin my satisfaction after a night that’d gone off so much better than expected.

Truth told, when Jillian had suggested I spend the night before our meeting out at Howl instead of brooding at home, I’d only thought about getting her off my back. If I was home and twisted myself up, then the meeting went poorly, she’d give me that “I know everything” look and offer platitudes about how it’d go better next time. I’d just gotten into my own head. No big deal.

Except thiswasa big deal. Huge. If we signed with Igarashi, Crescent would go from America’s premier supplier of magical texts and necessities to a worldwide name in the paranormal underground.

In this day and age, you had to be the biggest fish out there, or you’d get eaten by someone bigger. Jill and I had gotten lucky—started right out of college in a fit of desperation at the beginning of the tech boom. If we’d risen, it felt like an effect of the tide rather than anything we could control, but this deal? This would secure us fordecades. Whatever happened to me next, my pack would be safe and provided for, and maybe—just maybe—the demanding alpha in my head would calm the fuck down, knowing I’d carved a place for us and proven to be the leader I’d always promised them I would be.

They’d followed me, not knowing what our future held. I owed them the best one I could build.

Once I had it, I could figure out what I wanted next. It’d been impossible to table taking care of the pack long enough to figure out what would make me happy, but... one day. Just one more project, one more deal, one more billion, and I wouldn’t have to worry anymore.

Jillian pushed off the desk and rounded on me. From the tilt of her head, I should’ve known I’d stepped into trouble, even before she opened her mouth.

“I heard there was a mage involved.”

The first prickle of annoyance had my nose flaring. “Word travels that fast, huh?”

She snorted. “Half the wolves at Howl last night were in our break room this morning, Jax. You should know better than to think there’s privacy in the pack.”

Moon above, it wasn’t like I had any shame about this kind of thing—with our heightened senses, werewolves couldn’t afford to be shy—but trust Jillian to realize it meant more than nothing for me to take a mage home the night before we met with Igarashi.

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