Eleanor was surprised to find the man who had sneaked up on her was none other than Henry Hudsen.Her fight-response disappeared, replaced by embarrassment. She pushed him away and stepped back, hoping he didn’t notice how she blushed.Damn, what was it with him and making her so flustered? A second ago, she was ready to crush his groin in full defensive mode. But the sight of his face alone and the thought of how close they’d been–even if it had only been for a moment–was enough to send her heart racing.She moved behind her desk and took a seat–the farther away she was from him, the better. “I didn’t figure you for someone who enters people’s houses through windows.”He arched his brow as he perched on the corner of her desk. He was so relaxed, as if he had been inside her office before. “I’m here to discuss your divorce and replacing your husband, and we can’t do that publicly, can we?”No, they couldn’t. She swallowed as she looked up at him. He was wearing a white shirt and a pai
“What are you doing? Where are you going?” Ethan’s wolf, Kyle, demanded as Ethan hurried away from the restaurant’s entrance, headed for the parking lot.Ethan shook his head and kept going.This couldn’t be happening.It had all happened so fast, and his first instinct had been to get the hell out of there. He didn’t even know her, but he knew she wasn’t the one he wanted.“She is our mate!” His wolf was excited. While Ethan wanted to run away, Kyle wanted to go back and claim her. “She is ours.”Ethan heard footsteps behind him then, and he turned to find the woman following him. His entire body went alive again, the way it did a few moments ago inside the restaurant.He felt an invisible, strange force drawing him to her. A force he couldn’t fight, and he hated it.He had never given much thought about finding his mate. At least not after he met Eleanor. The idea of being with another woman, mate or not, never occurred to him. And now, when there was a chance he could get closer to
Henry had expected the night to be eventful from the moment Thomas had said he wanted Mia to join them at dinner.But he hadn’t expected that it would be the night Ethan found his mate. It wasn’t obvious to everyone else around the table, but he found out through the mind link between them.He was happy for Ethan. Not every werewolf got to meet their mate. He could tell from Ethan’s reaction that he was more shocked than elated.Which made sense, since Ethan had feelings for Eleanor. The fact that his crush’s best friend was his mate was almost like fate playing a sick joke on him.Eleanor’s friend seemed like a nice person. He didn’t know anything about her, but he didn’t think Eleanor would keep anyone who wasn’t decent around her. If Ethan gave her a chance, they’d make a good couple.Henry stood from his chair and pulled out the one next to him when Eleanor got to the table. She looked at him and then at Thomas.Henry lifted a brow. Her husband was sitting at the table with anothe
Throughout dinner, Sophia could see that Eleanor was dying to find out what had happened between her and Ethan.So she was not surprised that the moment they got back to the Alpha’s villa, her best friend dragged her to her bedroom and immediately asked about it.If finding her mate had gone differently, she would have been over the moon and excited to share the news with Eleanor. But given how it had gone, she decided now was not the right time to break the news to her best friend.There was already so much going on. She didn’t want to make Eleanor worried about her. It was enough that one of them was already going through love troubles.“Nothing,” she said, walking to the window and peering outside. “He mistook me for someone he knew.”“Really?” Eleanor asked. She sounded unconvinced.Sophia dared not look at her. It would be so much harder to lie if she did. “Yeah. I know, it’s ridiculous. I saw how he looked at me when he ran out of the restaurant, and that’s why I followed him. W
When Eleanor saw the man waiting outside the conference room, she was surprised. She recognised him right away as the man who had been involved with Mia at the party.Alpha Walter. He was the last person she had expected to see at Blackstorm. But she was happy to see him.She was convinced he knew something about Mia’s background. Thomas joined them in the conference room soon after.Alpha Walter introduced himself again as the Alpha of Shallowend. It was a distant pack and small in size.“What brought you to our pack?” Thomas asked. He sounded defensive, as if he was anticipating that the man would cause trouble for Mia.Eleanor wondered whether Thomas was no longer interested in finding out the truth about Mia’s background. He had caused quite the scene that night after the party. Had he fallen for Mia’s fake tears?She wouldn’t be surprised if he had decided to trust his mate blindly.“I would like to apologise for what happened at the party,” Walter said, looking contrite. “I didn
Mia’s life had been horrible from the moment she was born. Her mother was a sex worker, and Mia had never known who her father was.Her mother’s main focus was her job–she did everything she could to keep her customers.When Mia came, she was an unwelcome distraction who could destroy her business, so she kept her hidden. That’s how Mia ended up spending most of her childhood hidden in a small basement.She never got to play with other kids or go to school. Her mother kept the door to the basement locked to keep her from escaping. Rarely, her mother let her spend some time in the upper rooms when she wasn’t expecting anyone.It wasn’t until Mia was sixteen when a man who was stalking her mother discovered that she was living in the house.The stalker happened to be one of her mother’s customers, and when he saw Mia, he attempted to molest her.Fortunately, her mother showed up just then and accosted the man. When the man started beating her mother, Mia took the opportunity and ran out
Leaving the Shallowend pack was bittersweet for Mia. She felt both lost and free.Lost because she had nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Free because for the first time in her life, there was nobody controlling her life.She did not want to leave her son, but there was nothing for him in her new life. Being with her would only make his life worse. He was better off remaining in Shallowend. As Dante’s son, he’d be treated a lot nicer than they’d treated her.After leaving Shallowend, she knew that if she relied on other people, she’d forever be stuck in the kind of life she had just left at Shallowend. Her mother, who should have protected and loved her, had kept her hidden, depriving her of all joys of childhood.Dante, who she had thought could protect her from his father and brother, turned out to be helpless against them.If she didn’t do something to change her life, people would always take advantage of her. She wanted a life where nobody dared look down on her or treat her badly
Walter pointed at the baby in Solomon’s arms as he approached Mia. “Unless you want your new hosts to find out about your child, you’ll give me more than a million dollars. I have photos of you and the kid, and if I think even for a second you are going to break your part of the deal, I’ll send them to Thomas. Do you understand?”Mia’s fingernails dug into the table behind her. After everything she had done to get away from her old life, it had still caught up to her.Now, she wished she had never attended the Alpha party. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have run into Walter and he never would have found out where she was.“How did you even manage to get into such a powerful pack?” Solomon asked. “Did you sleep with the Alpha or something?”“He is my mate,” Mia replied through clenched teeth.“Oh,” Solomon muttered. “Makes sense. I wonder if he’ll still want to keep you around if he finds out you are the daughter of a prostitute.”“Fine, I’ll send you more money,” she said. “Just wait.”“