Marissa’s Pov
I could feel Bridget pulsing with excitement beside me as I nodded and accepted his offered hand shake. His hands were warm and a little clammy but that was fine. Appearance wise, he wasn't exactly what I had in mind. I mean he looked handsome but….Just not my type of handsome maybe. “Hello Bridget." He lifted the last syllable so it came out sounding like a question. “Hi. How are you?” She said, trying to contain her excitement. “Doing pretty good. You?" How's the dog?” He asked with concern. “Oh he's doing much better now. Thanks for asking. I was just about to leave.” She glanced at me, trying to say something with her eyes. " Got errands to run and such. Nice running into you Jack. Bye Rissa.” And before I could think to reply, she was gone. Practically jogging down the parking lot to her car. Jack and I stood in awkward silence for about four seconds before he cleared his throat and spoke, “Uh, we haven't properly met.". “We have. Kind of. Briefly." I cleared my throat too. “Ahh, right right." He nodded. He looked sheepish. Which was weird because I'd seen and heard him give speeches during conferences. He had a famous reputation in town for saving his father's small company and turning it into what it was today. Smart, confident and forward thinking is what the papers and blogs called him. He didn't look too confident right now. “I've uh…I wanted to talk to you about erm…if you'd like uh…” he shuffled his feet nervously. I'd never heard of him having a wife or girlfriend. It was a small town. Gossip went around easily so if he'd ever dated someone from town, everyone would know. But he hadn't and now I could see why. He struggled to talk to women. I thought about stepping in and rescuing him but before I could, his phone rang. “Sorry, gotta take this." He said with a laugh that failed to hide his relief. I watched as he got increasingly frustrated with whoever was on the other end of the phone. He smiled at me in apology as he rounded off the call. “Sorry. Duty calls." He chuckled. “Oh that's fine. I understand." I smiled back as warmly as I could. “How bout we talk tomorrow. Heard there's an office party planned. You're coming right?" He looked hopeful. I didn't want to crush his feelings. But again, that would mean lying. “I'll try.” I gave what I hoped was a reassuring smile. All through the drive home, I kept thinking of the best way to let Jack Tinsel down. You know, without getting fired. Although he wouldn't do that. He didn't seem that petty. But who's to know? Bridget would hate to hear this but I wasn't attracted to him. He looked cute, sure, but there was something that threw me off. Like the clammy hands maybe. Or the way the grey suit had been…i couldn't put words to it exactly but it somehow made me think of when Bridget had said lavender wasn't my color. Long blonde hair, brackish blue eyes and light grey suits didn't go together. Or they didn't go together on him. As I pulled into the driveway, I heard Ashlynn scream and I went into full mummy rescue mode. The engine was barely off before I was flying out of the car and making a beeline for the door. Just as I got to it,I heard a laughter that I could recognize from mies away. Elias was here. The look of worry on my face turned into a smile as I turned the knob. Elias had Asher sitting on his neck and holding onto his hair for dear life as he spun around while swinging Ashlynn by the arms. Mummy rescue mode came in again. Asher could fall from up there. He could let go of Ashlynn by mistake and send her flying into the wall. But the fears were gone as fast as they had come. It was Elias. He loved the children like they were his own, he wouldn't let anything happen to them. And then there was the fact that he was a werewolf. Ashlynn was as light as a magazine to him. He could swing them both, one on each hand at the same time and it'll still be nothing to him. “Hey! Mum's home!" He said as he spotted me. He stopped spinning and dropped Ashlynn to her feet. She took two steps, staggered and fell to the floor giggling as her vision spun. Elias dropped Asher and he did the exact same thing. “Hi mommy." They chorused at the same time. They tried to get up and fell back to the floor laughing. “How's my little rascals doing?" I went over to them and gathered them in my arms. “Uncle Elias bought us crayons and a colour book and chocolate chip cookies and a hair bow for Ashlynn and a toy gun for me and…..” " Gun?!” I turned to him disapprovingly. " What? The kid listed like ten things and that's the only one you picked up?” He said rolling his eyes. " I have a strict no gun policy.” I said with a frown. " Relax,Marissa. It's a water gun.” " That's even worse!” " Than an actual gun?” He raised a brow. " No, than a ... .oh forget it. Didn't know you were coming into town today.” l walked into the kitchen and he followed with the children still talking excitedly. “Yeah. Just felt like getting away from the city air for a while you know. Besides, I missed these two." He pinched their cheeks one after the other making them squeal. “Yeah. They missed you too." I laughed as I took out a carton of juice from the fridge. I missed him too. Everytime he left, I counted the days till he came back. He was the only connection to my past I had left. A past I couldn't remember. I poured some fresh orange juice into cups for everyone. The twins were still yapping away, telling him about their day and every other random thing they could think of. I watch him listen to them. Leaning forward, fully invested in their gibberish. Seriously, the man paid more attention to the kids than he did me. I frowned at the thought. Yikes! Where had that come from?Zayne's Pov Mayflower Estate was a ten minute drive from the office building. I had expected some sort of high end living establishment. A gated community with heavy security. But Hallowden was a much smaller town than I could wrap my head around it would seem. The estate was a simple stretch of road marked by a signpost reading, Mayflower Estate, along with the town's emblem or something. The houses here were posh alright, but still rather humble looking from my perspective. I couldn't tell which was Jack Tinsel's of course so I drove out of the estate and waited two minutes away for his car to pass. It took over an hour for him to show up. All through that time I could only think of how he was with Marissa. Talking with her. Dancing with her. Worming his way into her heart. If he were any other guy, maybe I wouldn't have been too bothered. But he was her boss. They probably spent a lot of time in close proximity with each other everyday at work. Which was why
Zayne's Pov She looked radiant. Astonishing.The dress clung to her skin, highlighting the parts of her that had filled out within the past five years. Whatever she'd done to her hair worked. The jewelry glinted off her smooth neck and her makeup, Flawless. I'd never seen her this way before. No, I had. She'd always liked to dress up. Wearing heels around the house, walking past me seductively. She'd dress up, tease me until I couldn't take it anymore. Tease me until I grabbed and flung her over my shoulder while she squealed with pleasure. I'd tear the clothes off her while she giggled uncontrollably. I'd ravage her till the sun went down. And went up again. The first two years of marriage had been blissful. What the hell happened? Stupid question to ask. I happened. She threw her head back in laughter at some joke Jack whispered in her ear. My fists clenched together and I stopped myself before I crushed the glass in my hand. I didn't want to draw attention to
Elias's Pov The cogs were in place. The gears in motion. My work for now, was done. Zayne's instructions had been simple; Convince her to attend the party. Drive her there. Make yourself scarce. Done, done and done. I snagged two glasses of champagne from a waiter's tray and downed them both. They wouldn't make a difference. Werewolves couldn't really get drunk on normal alcohol. We'd need a shit ton of it to feel a slight buzz. The booze we drank in the pack was brewed specially for wolves and would knock out a human with a few sips. Still, a guy could only try. I held out a hand to halt the next waiter I saw approaching and grabbed two more glasses. “Actually, wait." I said to him, hanging onto his collar. I drank both glasses, replaced them on his tray, drank two more, and took the last one to go. “There's a good lad. Run along." I waved him off. He glowered at me at first but then shrugged, obviously deciding If I wanted to get shit faced before the party even bega
Marissa's Pov “ Was starting to think you'd left the party early." He chuckled lightly. He looked more relaxed and confident. The words seemed to flow easier now. I reckoned that was thanks to the half filled glass of champagne he held lazily in one hand. “I just came to grab some punch and I got sidetracked.” I replied, chuckling back. " I can see that.” His eyes fell on the man beside me and his smile dipped just a little. Still friendly and warm but also with a hint of something else. " Hello. Jack Tinsel. I run the place.” He extended a hand to Zayne in greeting. Zayne had gone rigid since Jack arrived. never mind a smile dip, his was completely gone from his face. “Ah. The Jack Tinsel. I've heard about you." He replied. There was a two second hesitation before he accepted the hand shake. Two seconds but it felt longer. “Zayne. Zayne Blackwood." A name. A name just like any other but all of a sudden the breath seized up in my lungs and my head spun. I teetered on
Marissa's Pov The atmosphere in the car felt a little tense. Not for Bridget though. She stayed on a call with her long distance boyfriend throughout the fifteen minute drive. Elias kept his eyes steadfastly on the road, only stealing quick glances at me through the rearview mirror. There was a tense, almost frightened aura around him today. I'd never seen him frightened. Not for anything. He was the grounded one. Level headed, holding my hands through the rough times, throwing himself in the face of danger to protect me. Now his knuckles gripped the steering so tightly they started turning white, and his jaw kept twitching like he was about to say something but never did. He didn't speak to me until we pulled into the parking lot. “And we're here." He announced, almost mournfully. “Looks like we weren't running late after all." Bree said in relief. Elias, ever the gentleman, stepped out first and then came over to open the doors for Bree and I. The party was h
Marissa's Pov “No freaking way.” I exclaimed as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. " No freaking way meaning I look absolutely drop dead gorgeous thank you so much Bridget for picking out this amazing outfit I am now forever indebted to you?” Bridget huffed with her arm folded across her chest. " What? No freaking way meaning no freaking way am I wearing this!” I turned to the right to look at the side view. " Oh my God, Bree this looks…. scandalous!" “She said, knowing nothing about fashion." Bridget scoffed and I caught her rolling her eyes in the mirror. I turned to face the mirror fully again and could not stop the tightly wound ball of horror forming in my stomach. The dress was hot. Too hot. Emerald green satin that fell to halfway above my knees, which was way too short for me. That was only one of my concerns. The top of the dress was another. A sweetheart neckline and absolutely no sleeves. Exposing way too much skin. The top half of the dress was showere