Page 31 of Witchwolf

Except, even if Jax hadn’t told them about me apparently being some kind of dunce who didn’t know he had magic, they were werewolves.

Wereallof them werewolves?

Every bit of media I’d ever seen on the subject said that werewolves were people who turned into either wolves or some cross between wolf and human, had superfast healing, and most important, incredibly strong senses.

I had no idea how true it was—howcouldI know? Until last night I’d believed they were fictional. I didn’t think dogs had particularly good eyesight, but everyone knew they had outstanding noses. Otherwise how would they sniff out bombs and drugs?

So all of that to say that probably every single person in the office had fucking smelled Jax and I... well,fucking, the day before.

Way to make an impression on the new office.

I tried to ignore the looks, using the method I’d used throughout high school as the outcast weirdo: I pretended I was above it all. Like it didn’t matter if they all hated me, because nothing mattered to me.

It was a ridiculous lie, and I didn’t think there was a person alive who actually was immune to the loathing of their peers, but it had always seemed to convince them anyway.

I might have spent all my primary school years alone, but at least by the end of it, my reputation had been arrogant asshole instead of weird loser.

At least here, there were no whispers and glares, at least none I noticed.

Heck, maybe the whole thing was my imagination.

Maia even dropped by with a cup of coffee for me around ten, to ask how I was doing. When I took a sip, it was just how I took my coffee. Sugar no cream, since I was lactose intolerant.

I lifted a brow at her and she shrugged. “Wolf nose, you know. I could smell how you took it yesterday.”

Wolf nose.

Just like that, she was treating me like I was in with the in crowd.

Except... they’d all done that yesterday too, especially Jillian and Maia, with all the talk of alphas. No one had treated me like I was an ignorant child or an outsider, even though they were wolves and thought I was a mage. Witch? Warlock?

Was there a right word? Worse, were there words that would out me as ignorant? Surely there were, but how was I supposed to know which ones they were?

Maia, oblivious to my inner turmoil, looked over the work I’d been doing on the contracts, whistling. “Oh this is perfect, Dakota. This is exactly what we needed.”

I couldn’t help it, I beamed.

Sure, teachers and then professors had always given me praise, but somehow, it had always felt just a little bit hollow. Like yes, sure, I was a better student than a bunch of jerks who didn’t even want to be there.

Hell if I knew why people who didn’t want to be in college went there, considering how much it freaking cost, but I wasn’t in their heads, so I couldn’t guess at their motives.

Maia, on the other hand, had every reason to demand I did my job well, rather than just pay lip service to the slightest effort I bothered to put in.

“I think most of it is just subtleties of language, but this clause has been bothering me,” I told her, flipping back through the main contract to a page I’d worked on the night before. “The language feels too intentionally vague about ownership of current intellectual property. Is there a reason Igarashi would want to muddle that?”

Her eyes narrowed and jaw clenched, and I couldn’t tell if it was concentration or anger.

“There is,” a brassy voice announced from the doorway.

Both our heads snapped up. Maia gasped, and honestly, I wasn’t far off. The woman standing in my office doorway was like an aging starlet, and every line of her read strong, powerful, and important. I felt like I was looking at eighty-year-old Bette Davis, and for a moment, wondered where her fur coat was, and if she was about to whip out a cigarette holder.

She was wearing an elegantly cut black dress that reminded me of the forties with a high neck and a triple strand of pink pearls probably worth more than my education. Her gray-white hair was tied into an intricate knot atop her head, and the way she stood, straight and confident, made me immediately envious. I’d never been that lacking in self-doubt in my life, and there was little I wanted more.

Next to her, Jax was looking at me with narrowed eyes. Or maybe past me, since the anger didn’t seem to be focused on me. He turned to the woman. “I’m so sorry this is even coming up, Prudence. Rest assured I’ll make it clear to Igarashi that they will not hold any ownership over your family’s work. And Dakota will work with our lawyers to make sure the language is completely unambiguous about it.”

She gave him an indulgent, grandmotherly smile, and reached out to pat his shoulder. “Of course, dear. I expect nothing less of you. This is why I’ve trusted you with so much.” Her nose scrunched as though the smell of dogshit had invaded the room, and it made me want to check the bottom of my shoes. “The Igarashi family, on the other hand... well, I can’t say this kind of amoral ambition surprises me from them.”

And that, well... that was fucking awesome. Not that the Igarashi sucked, but that someone else was agreeing with my poor impression of them.

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