I’d been up all night, but I was so close I could taste it. Whoever I was dealing with was a professional. That much I was certain of. I had just managed to open one of the files within the folder I’d found when my alarm had gone off. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t slept, but there was no way my mother was going to just let me get away with oversleeping for another day of work.It was going to be a long day, but I had one thing to fuel me—I had a name.I hadn’t gotten much before I was shutdown again, but I’d clearly seen the name   Force. It wasn’t much, but it was a start in hopefully the right direction.My door burst open.I jumped.Layla poked her head in. “Just checking. Snap to it  Jasmine. You don’t want to be late—again.” I didn’t know why I allowed that woman to get under my skin, but she always did. In my

I was so exhausted that I required sleep. I desperately wanted to go back in and dig around some more on that server I’d found. Maybe there were other folders with even more information. I had only spotted a few small things before having to leave it. My need for sleep trumped my drive to find my sister. It didn’t happen often, but I had a pattern of wearing myself down to the point of utter exhaustion and I knew if I didn’t take a few nights off to catch up on sleep, it would start to quickly wear me down physically.I knew my body’s breaking point and I knew to be kind to myself and not push beyond that line. I had this time, but not by much. It was killing me, but I was in it for the long game. I had to keep my eye on the goal, and I knew that if I didn’t take care of me, I could never take care of Sonnet. The days seemed extra tiring too. Work was busy which was good, but Layla had been away for a few

Things had been strained in the house since Layla’s return. I had considered blowing off work the next day, but I couldn’t do that to my employees. I knew they would worry too much and that was enough to have me getting up and going in early. I had even beat Ryan there because I simply didn’t want to be under the same roof as my mother. I was sporting a bright red handprint across my face that makeup hadn’t fully covered. When Michelle saw it, she was livid, and it had taken a lot of convincing to stop her from stalking across the street and giving Mother a piece of her mind.“I’m fine and she isn’t worth it,” I’d lied.I knew Michelle needed the job and there was no doubt in my mind that Layla would fire her on the spot if she spoke up or caused trouble.Sage didn’t return after school and when things died down early again, I didn’t dare close even a seco

“The school called. It’s Sage,” Ryan whispered to me. I was so single-mindedly focused on the sexy man before me that it almost didn’t register what he said.“What?” I asked.“It’s Sage. The school called and she’s sick and needs to be picked up. They can’t reach your mother.”Sage was sick? She was a wolf shifter. We didn’t get sick. My fear for her trumped the ridiculous pull I felt towards the man at table five.“I need to go.”I turned and ran to the kitchen.“I already heard. I called Michelle and she’s coming in early to help prep for lunch. Things are already settling down here. Go. We’ve got your back,” Candace assured me.I hugged her quickly. “Thank you.”I didn’t look back as I ran out the rear door of the café and to my car in the parking lot.I was a mess a

I had been hovering around the cash register as I needed to take a full count of petty cash and how much was in the drawer for the day. I had the uneasy feeling that Layla would show up at some point and demand to take it all. I’d already had to place several calls to my lawyer, and another to the bank authorizing a transaction to cover the back mortgage owed. I wasn’t happy about it but there was no way I was going to let my sisters go homeless because of her selfishness. Layla clearly had a problem. I didn’t know what to do to get her help, but I was going to talk to our local council about it soon.The council was a team of wolf shifters that oversaw shifter politics and disputes that otherwise couldn’t be dealt with in human courts. I hoped they would be able to get her the help she clearly needed.“Go take a break,” I told Courtney.Now that the rush was over, I could get to work on my task so I could