Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
C hance
“Your brother sent you,” Lucas, the owner of Mike’s Bar, says from across his desk.
Though the lighting in his office is low, my wolf sight allows me to read his lips perfectly.
I nod slowly. I don’t like Lucas or the people he associates with. A bunch of lone wolves who travel in and out of one area to another. He opened this place about ten years ago and all sorts of wolves come in and out.
Though, I don’t like him, if there is something suspicious happening with the Alliance there’s a decent chance that he, or someone in this bar, heard something about it.
Also, considering the wolves that attacked Reese last year worked with the man who tried to end our pack, were from this area, it’s an even better chance he knows something.
I give him a small nod in response to his statement.
“What do you know?” I don’t like speaking. Typically, I avoid one on one interactions unless absolutely necessary, but this conversation can’t be avoided.
His lips form into a small circle and he pushes them out a bit, indicating that he’s whistling, while holding his arms out to the side.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” his lips read. The smirk that he can’t hide, no matter how quickly he tries to stifle, it indicates otherwise.
I don’t bother hiding the way my top lip curls in anger.
I twist my head slightly and glare at him. “Do you think I’m here because I fucking want to be?” I growl, putting a little bit of my wolf into it. He’s already champing at the bit.
The drive here was a long one and the run I took him on wasn’t long enough to stifle his recent angst.
“Easy, Chance,” Lucas coaxes. His face contorts as he chuckles. “You and I know you’re just your brother’s errand boy anyway.”
My wolf growls. I sit forward in my chair and press my arms into the desk.
“My brother is the alpha of one of the largest packs in this country. It’s his responsibility to oversee the well-being of the entire pack, along with wolf shifters in general. He likes reason, analysis, and investigation.”
I pause before saying, “My job is to rip to shreds anyone or anything that poses a threat to my brother doing his job. Now, given that, who do you think is more dangerous?”
My eyes tingle and I know they’re glowing.
Lucas blinks a couple of times, but tries to school his features to come across unaffected. The flush in his cheeks can’t hide his fear, though.
I start to tell him that as a wolf without a pack, he’s in no position to challenge me, or my cause for being here. But Lucas startles and looks toward the door. This is my alert that someone’s knocking.
Lucas looks relieved as he tells whoever’s on the other side to come in. One of the shifters that works as security stands on the other side of the door. I don’t pay him much attention since he’s not a threat to me, as much as he’d like to pretend that he is.
What does capture my attention, however, is the fact that he yanks in a woman behind him.
As soon as she’s fully inside the office, the oddest thing occurs. My wolf, which had been focused on Lucas, shifts his attention. He’s always alert to our surroundings, but this is different.
He stands up.
Full attention planted on the only woman in the office.
Without much thought, I scan her from head to toe. Five-eight without the three-inch heels she’s wearing, slim yet curvy hips, clear coffee-brown skin with light makeup, dark-brown hair that she’s pinned into a neat bun. The hairstyle shows off the length of her neck and her high cheekbones.
And Mother Moon, full, kissable lips on a heart-shaped face.
I shake my head at the same time my wolf yips.
It takes a considerable amount of effort to change my focus from the woman to Lucas and the man who brought the woman in.
The man is telling Lucas something. He’s turned sideways, making it impossible to read his lips. But I can see Lucas’s face. For a long time, he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he allows his narrowed eyes to linger on the woman.
My wolf growls and I tighten my hands into fists, telling it to calm the hell down. We’re not here for anything other than pack business.
Whatever the deal is with this woman is none of our concern, I silently tell my wolf. He replies back with a resounding fuck you.
On a whim, I sniff the air. I catch the wolf scent of Lucas and his security immediately. Yet there’s a third scent that’s…odd. Human and something else I can’t identify.
The woman starts to speak and my gaze is immediately drawn to her mouth. She asks if Lucas has seen someone. The woman holds a cell phone to his face, clearly showing a picture of whoever she’s searching for.
Again, Lucas remains stoic, giving her an up and down. A wrinkle appears in his forehead, though.
“How do you know about this place?” he asks.
That’s when I realize he believes she’s human. Only shifters come in and out of this bar. The few humans that might make their way inside are turned away quickly.
The other man leaves, closing the door behind him. The woman waves the phone in Lucas’s face again, insistent that he look at the photo. His eyes drop to the screen and narrow. Again, he asks her how she knows about the bar.
Frustration displays in the way her lips scrunch and her forehead creases. She pushes out a heavy breath. From this angle I can read her lips perfectly.
I know before she even opens her mouth that her next statement is the exact wrong move. She threatens to call the police because—according to her, she knows the person she’s looking for—her sister as it turns out—was here.
Lucas’s face reddens with anger. The tension in his shoulders and the slight turn of his hips gives away his intentions before he carries out his intentions.
I’m on my feet, across the room and trapping his arm in a death grip in the blink of an eye.
He completely stills in shock.
I’m only a few inches away from the woman now. Her scent is stronger and it takes every ounce of my training and conditioning not to bury my face into the crook of her neck and inhale until my lungs fill up with nothing but her smell.
A shift in Lucas’s body reminds me that I’m still holding on to the bastard. I turn my head to him. His eyes bulge and face flushed as he tries to pull his arm out of my grip.
It doesn’t budge.
“I came here for information,” I say. “Not to watch you put your hands on a woman.”
He huffs a few times and tries to pull his arm free. Again, I don’t let go. My wolf is on a short leash. I’ve never seen or felt him this protective over someone he doesn’t know. Someone we haven’t even met.
Yet, I know if I release Lucas’s arm and he finishes his plan to strike this woman, my wolf will tear him limb from limb in this fucking office.
“Get out,” Lucas says to the woman. “Don’t ever come back here again.”
With that, the security from earlier barges back in and pulls the woman out. My wolf growls and starts to go after him but I hold him back. Barely.
Not until she’s out of our sight do I let Lucas’s arm go.
I try my damndest to refocus on the bastard and my original reason for this meeting. But I’m distracted by the one word my wolf keeps repeating in my head.
It pounds and reverberates throughout my body.
Mate.