"You should have told me you were going out last night."

Jace's voice was like a dagger through my brain that I didn't want to deal with but couldn't avoid. Whenever a coven member called, we didn't ignore, and Jacelyn was my closest friend, and one of the only ones I knew wouldn't tell my mother.

"I was just going for a drink," I reminded her.

"A drink that ended in you being fucked brainless by the Alpha of the Bloodrose Lycans."

"I didn't know he was going to be there. Isn't their territory, like, hours away?"

"Would it have mattered? Safety in numbers, Ame. You know that."

"I know you wish you were there because you would have wanted my sloppy seconds."

'Beggars cannot be choosers."

I snorted as I balanced my phone between my ear and my shoulder while I unlocked the front door to my office. I didn't even stop to get coffee that morning, that's how shaken I still was, and talking to Jace was the only thing keeping me grounded. Plus, she wasn't my mother, and the last thing I needed was another lecture on Fate

"So, we're going to go out again tonight, right?" Jace asked, and I could hear the eager anticipation in her voice.

"Because you actually want to see me or because you want to get drinks?"

"Or because there's a chance there's an Alpha stalking you and you need protection?"

"You really want this wolf to bone you, don't you?"

"Yes."

I laughed and I hung up, but not before promising her I'd call her once I got off of work. I had to stop thinking about drinking and dicks or I was never going to focus on what I actually made money on.

I knew I looked like shit the moment I walked into my office, but it was only me and my boss, Tom, and Tom wasn't in yet, thank the gods. I put my hair up in a messy bun with an oversized hoodie and jeans and running sneakers— the exact opposite of the witch I presented to be the night before. Perhaps the Alpha fucked the good intentions out of me as well.

But I loved my job, though sometimes when it wasn't like there were any missing persons or private investigation cases requiring an office full of people ready to work, the job did get boring. Even for a witch. Did Tom know what I was? If he did, he never asked, nor did he pry when I could give him answers to questions or suggestions to solutions without exactly having the evidence to back it up beyond a hunch.

The hunch was my drawer full of crystals, situation appropriate, and my blood dagger, but again, Tom never searched through my desk either.

"You look like shit," he said by way of greeting once he arrived for the day, placing a cup of coffee on my desk. As if he knew. The ass.

"Always a pleasure to see you too, Tom," I mumbled as I fought with my slow-ass computer to actually turn on. "Are we ever going to get these damn things upgraded?"

He chuckled as he walked back to his office. I wanted to throw the coffee at his head. Instead, I took a sip with one hand as I impatiently clicked my mouse waiting for the daily schedule to load...

I almost spit out my coffee.

"We have an appointment today?" I called across the office.

"I scheduled it late last night. You'd already left. Business is business, Ames."

"And you're handling it, right?" Silence. "Right?"

"I have a lunch meeting," Tom finally responded, which I knew was his code for 'I'm pulling rank and you're going to handle it' which seemed to be happening more and more with new clients.

"Shit," I hissed, leaning back in my desk chair. "Will you at least give me the TL;DR?"

But he was already in the door with a thin file in his hand.

"Tysriel Caine. Landowner in the northern part of the state. Has acres he believes are being vandalized. Asked us to look into it."

"Why us?" I asked as I reached over for the file. Flipping it open, it didn't tell me more than what Tom already told me.

"Says it's sensitive, needs to gather information before bringing it to the authorities."

"So either it's an estranged lover or there's illegal activity on the property."

"Either way, he's your problem now."

"Says who?"

"Says the one whose name is on the door."

I glared at him as he chuckled his ass all the way back to his office. I tossed the file aside— that would be a later problem after I sorted through the remainder of the emails and made sure I didn't miss any other appointments being added to the office calendar without my knowing.

Tom left promptly at 11:30am with barely a goodbye as if he was purposely ensuring that he was out of the office before the noon appointment arrived. The bell on the office door rang signaling my appointment's arrival was right on time. Unfortunately. I stood and retired my hair up in its bun before I started gathering up the Caine file.

"I'll be right there, just make yourself—" but the searing heat of my inner thigh pressed against my jeans stopped me from saying anything else, or moving for that matter.

It was the same heat I felt from the rune when my thigh was wrapped around the Alpha's waist the night before.

No, no no...

Slowly I walked out of my office to see a figure standing in our small lobby, his back turned to me as he looked out the large windows that faced the main street, all while dressed in a black well-tailored suit that clung to his body like... well... like I had.

I didn't need to say anything. I knew he knew I was there the moment he turned around, and that same arrogant smile was spread across his beautiful Alpha face.

"Hello, Amethyst."