Chapter 2 #2
As she spoke, her hand moved unconsciously to her left wrist, rubbing at a small scar barely visible beneath her sleeve. The gesture was protective, almost pained. Gray's eyes narrowed, his wolf suddenly alert to the sign of a past injury.
She's running from something. The realization should have had him sending her straight back across the bridge. Devils Point had enough problems without adding someone else's to the mix. But his wolf was oddly reluctant to dismiss her, drawn to that mysterious scent his human side couldn't place.
"We've had trouble before," he said bluntly. "People coming to the island with ulterior motives. So we don’t take to strangers as quickly as other places."
Her eyes widened. "I just want to work. That's all."
The hint of desperation in her voice tugged at something he'd thought long buried. Gray remembered what it was like to need a second chance, to hope someone would take a risk on you when you had nothing left.
He shouldn't do this. The Alphas would give him hell for bringing an unknown supernatural into their territory without consultation. But they genuinely needed the help, and his wolf was insistent about keeping this woman close, if only to figure out what she was and what she wanted.
And if he was brutally honest with himself, there was something about her that pulled at him on a level he wasn't ready to examine. A magnetism that made him wonder what she'd look like with that pretty red hair loose around her shoulders, what sounds she'd make if he—
Enough.
"One week trial," he said a little too gruffly. "That’s all you get. You screw up once, you're gone. Clear?"
Relief flooded her scent so powerfully it momentarily overwhelmed the fear and tingled in his nose. "Crystal clear. Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet." He stood, needing to establish some distance. The genuine gratitude in her eyes made him uncomfortable. If he let that get to him or his pack mates, it would be hell trying to get rid of her.
Of course, the pack’s Business Council would have questions about hiring her. But as one of their commerce members, he'd deal with it. Better to ask forgiveness than permission when it came to his personal hiring decisions.
But there was still the matter of who in the hell she would stay with. Anyone new to the island had to be kept under supervision. There were always pack members willing to open their doors…
His wolf whined in his head and he silently growled in response.
He was going to keep this one close to him until he learned more about her, and she might not like that.
"We have rooms for seasonal workers above the tasting room.” He blurted that quickly, giving her no other information and no chance to question him. “You'll start at the bottom—cleaning, hauling, whatever I decide needs doing. Prove yourself, and maybe you'll get to do more."
She nodded. "That's fair."
Nothing about this was fair—to his pack, to his business, or to the careful walls he'd built around himself since his brother Ash died. But that something about her that pulled at him was a mystery his wolf seemed determined to solve.
"I'll show you the room," he said. "You'll need to sign some paperwork first."
He led her back through the distillery, aware of the workers watching them pass. Questions in their eyes that he answered with a warning glare. He'd deal with their concerns later, once he'd figured out what to do about the mysterious supernatural he'd just hired against his better judgment.
The administrative office was small but organized, and run with military precision by Mara, a middle-aged wolf who'd been with the distillery since it opened. She looked up as they entered, her nostrils flaring as she caught the newcomer's scent.
"Mara, this is Lily Mitchell. New seasonal hire. She needs the standard package."
Mara's eyebrows rose a fraction, but she pulled the forms without comment. "ID and previous employment verification?"
Lily paled slightly. "I have my driver's license, but my other documents are... Uhh, I had to leave quickly. Family emergency."
Gray caught Mara's eye, giving a slight nod. He’d ask Diego if Penelope could run a background check later. Having an FBI agent mated to the one of the Alphas sometimes came in handy to the pack.
For now, he just wanted Lily where he could watch her. Trust these days had to be earned and was too hard to come by.
Three years ago, they'd trusted everything was safe. So he’d sent Ash to the mainland for brewing supplies. No big deal. But they couldn’t have been more wrong.
Thanks to a traitor in their midst, his brother never made it back. He sure as hell wasn't making the same mistake again. This time, he'd keep anyone he didn’t know right where he could see them.
Gray stepped back, using the opportunity to observe Lily more carefully as she filled out the paperwork. From the way she hunched protectively over the forms, to the careful precision of her handwriting, and the way she hesitated over certain fields—all of it screamed someone in hiding.
But he also couldn't help noticing the graceful curve of her spine, the way she tucked her hair behind her ear when concentrating, or that delicate line of her neck she exposed again as she wrote. His wolf stirred restlessly, wanting to move closer, to breathe in her scent more deeply.
He snarled, barely swallowing the sound before it came out. This was fucking ridiculous already.
When she finished, he led her up the narrow back stairs to his private apartment that was about to become her “employee quarters”.
The wooden steps creaked beneath their weight, the passage tight enough that he was acutely aware of her presence close behind him.
Her scent enveloped him in the confined space, making his mind wander again.
The stairwell narrowed at a turn, forcing them closer.
When her arm brushed against his back, his nerve endings snapped to attention.
His wolf surged forward so powerfully that for a second, he thought his eyes might have flashed gold.
He took the remaining stairs two at a time, needing to put distance between them before he did something stupid.
Like pressing her against the wall and discovering if she tasted as magical as she smelled.
"It's not much," he said roughly, pushing open the door to reveal the small room at the end of the hall. He wasn’t much for decorating and had never bothered adding more than a single bed and a worn dresser in here.
But the window overlooked the apple orchards behind the distillery, and this time of year the trees were full and golden in the evening light, the mountains hazy in the distance.
The view made up for the rest. "The shared bathroom is down the hall. "
He snarled at the thought of her staying anywhere else.
The guest room in his apartment would have to work.
"Employee housing," he said, the lie rolling off his tongue.
Let her think this was standard. Not some primal need to keep her close, surrounded by his scent, in his territory. Or his paranoia around anyone new.
She stepped inside, her eyes widening as she took in the modest space. “It’s perfect,” she whispered, with such honest relief that Gray had an unwelcome ache in his chest.
For a brief, insane moment, his wolf supplied a vivid image of her sprawled across that narrow bed, hair loose around her shoulders, green eyes dark with desire as he lowered himself over her.
The fantasy was so sudden and intense that he had to step back into the hallway, putting much-needed space between them.
"You start tomorrow. Five AM." He kept his voice neutral despite the riot happening inside him. "Work clothes. Closed-toe shoes. Hair tied back."
She nodded, running her hand along the windowsill with something like reverence. "I'll be ready."
For a moment, he almost asked what she was running from. He needed to know what had driven her to their remote island with nothing but a questionable resume and desperation. His wolf also pushed for it, curious about this creature whose scent called to something primal in him.
Instead, he stepped further into the hallway. "Don't make me regret this."
"You won't," she promised, those green eyes meeting his with a determination that did nothing to quell the heat building inside him. "Thank you for the chance."
Gray nodded curtly and pulled the door shut, trying to ignore the way her gratitude made his chest tighten and his wolf pace restlessly. In the hallway, he took his first deep breath since she'd entered his distillery, but her scent still clung to him like a second skin.
He made his way back down to the brewing floor, mind already planning how to explain this to the Alphas. One thing was certain, Lily Mitchell was going to be trouble.
And some masochistic part of him was already looking forward to discovering exactly what kind.