When Cullen had received word that Brennus wanted to speak with him Cullen had been surprised but happily went to visit the man. Initially Cullen had refused Brennu's request. But had noted the political turmoil in Tairneach territory. There were a number of lycans that were capable of overthrowing Brennus. The only thing keeping the situation from becoming volatile was a small group of loyalists who were backing Brennus. But their backing was contingent on Brennus finding a suitable mate for Jenna so that they knew, if a challenge for his position were to happen, there would be someone able to take his place who wouldn't punish them for their loyalty to Brennus. Cullen had left that initial meeting feeling bad for Brennus and guilty for not wanting the man's daughter.Cullen had done everything he could to help back Brennus but as the months wore on Brennus became weaker and Jenna was no closer to finding an alpha mate than she had been when Brennus had first summoned Cullen back at
Cullen tapped his pen on his desk with annoyance. "Jenna, I'm not going to deal with this right now. But I want you to think about what you just said to me and how exactly it would affect the legitimacy of your heirs. Or more accurately, your father's heirs. He's the reason we're both in this. If you can't handle the situation then you need to find a different patsy for your needs. Whatever they may be. I'm just the poor schlep who owed your dad too much to say no. This is how it is. You either cope or don't go through with it. Now, go home. Decide. I'll talk with you later this week." His glare held all the vehemence that was missing from his voice.Jenna realized all too suddenly that she was about to get stuck in a forcibly monogamous relationship with a lycan who really wasn't the least bit interested in anything other than repaying her father and just intelligent enough to make her plans difficult. Her father underestimated her. He believed that she was weak because she wasn't a
Aislinn had just refilled the water at one table and was headed over to the next couple that had been seated. The large man wasn't dressed for dinner at the Taigh-oèsda and the woman with him certainly looked as though she was being paid for his company. But with the casino across the lobby it was a fairly regular site. All it took was one jackpot for Joe Schmoe to be able to afford the steak.Suddenly Rissa grabbed her arm and yanked her off toward a corner booth. "Lord Arnauk came in for dinner. When he comes in, if you have his table, everything else gets dumped and you deal with him. Without making it look that way though. It's important cause he's too nice to cut in line with other customers, but he's Lord Arnauk."Aislinn nodded and filed the information away in her brain with everything else she had been learning and got ready to take a mental picture of 'Lord Arnauk'. When she came around the booth and saw Cullen sitting there with Jenna she stopped as though she had hit a wal
Aislinn went through the motions of serving dinner and completing the rest of her chores for that evening. Cullen and his date who, Aislinn managed to find out from another member of the kitchen staff, was actually his fiancé ate their dinner in relatively short order and then left. Jenna had been conspicuously silent on all the subsequent visits that Aislinn had to make to the table and Cullen had managed to catch her eyes with an apologetic stare at one point.Aislinn sat in the back of the taxi on her way home. She felt rich in her ability to afford the small luxury each night. Walking would have taken at least an hour. But she would have done it if it had been necessary. She figured that if tips continued the way they were that she would be able to afford to move out of her crappy apartment and closer to the restaurant in relatively short order. She was calculating how much time it would take for her to pay for her missed rent, pay back her friends for her jail break, afford an at
Aislinn was standing in the middle of the street in front of her apartment. It was eerily dark and quiet. There were no stars or moon and the light from the street lamps seemed to be absorbed into the air as though it was being eaten by the darkness. The only sound she could hear was her own breathing and heartbeat.Aislinn looked up and down the street and felt as though she was being watched. She looked up at her apartment. It may have been a hole but it allowed for some protection. She briefly considered going up there but something in her told her that it just wasn't safe any longer. She looked down at herself and realized that she was completely naked. She didn't understand it but somehow it felt normal and safer to be naked than to be wearing clothes at that moment.Suddenly out of the darkness she heard quiet whispering. Unintelligible and frightening. She didn't know what it was but she knew that she was in incredible danger. Something was coming for her.Aislinn turned and st
Cullen turned and headed down one of the halls to a guest room. He never took any of the girls up to his actual rooms. Again, this was mostly to keep any of them from becoming too attached. He walked into the room and immediately took off his coat and shoes discarding them on the armchair off to the side of the door. When his shirt and pants followed in short order Celia knew that his comment had been even more serious than she had taken it. He was never this quick about undressing.When he turned to her and she saw his angry face and his ready hard-on she knew that he was on a mission to get off and that was it. She felt a little scared. He had never inspired fear in her before. Without missing a beat he approached her and ripped her white t-shirt up and off. He only took a moment to run his hands down her breasts, waist, and stomach before unbuttoning her jeans and forcing them down over her hips. The fact that she wasn't wearing underwear only served to reinforce in his mind that h
Cullen sat in his office staring out the window. He was still trying to wrap his brain around the latest information he had received. Originally he had believed that the raids his southern border was suffering were perpetrated by the La Rayne. Stephen La Rayne, alpha asshole, of that pack had always been trouble. When he wanted to torment the human population he had a tendency to do it on other people's land so that the branch of the American government that periodically monitored and helped to hide the lycan population would blame someone else.Cullen had been in the process of explaining to the feds that he knew about the raids, they weren't originating from his pack, and he was in the process of getting the situation under control. "Muin," he swore as he looked over the reports that showed the raids moving closer and closer to the city. That wasn't like La Rayne. He didn't go any farther than he had to and he didn't chance his men getting caught, which was a distinct possibility of
Aislinn stood in the courtroom. Derrick was looking at her luridly from behind the prosecution's desk with his attorney. In the end Aislinn hadn't been able to afford much. She had at one point considered asking Lord Arnauk for help, but decided that no matter how good his lawyers probably were there was no way he would help her out after what she'd said to him that night.Aislinn had asked Luke and Renee to testify on her behalf but no one had been willing to lose their job. So with her cut price lawyer and no witnesses the only thing she had to go on was the fact that she was half Derrick's size and didn't have enough money to hire a hitman. Her defense had been based on that and Derrick's previous history of sexual harassment.Aislinn stood in there waiting for the verdict and hoping that if she lost she'd have a fine and wouldn't have to go to jail and possibly lose her job. At the same time her premonitions were telling her that she wasn't safe in her apartment and there wouldn't