What the fuck is that smell?

My lip curled up, baring a set of sharp canines as a growl crept up my throat. My muscles grew rigid around my bones. I could feel heedless warmth steel over my body and I mentally pawed at my snout to escape its powerful assault on my nostrils. Sunshine and flowers, that's what I was smelling.

Sunshine and fucking flowers.

My mind reeled. The onslaught of that scent awakened a feral hunger inside me, rousing unforeseen emotions that brandished an osculating fire through body and limb. It erupted behind my ribs and struck my chest like a brutal blow, surging pure madness through my veins. Gnashing my teeth against the way it captured my senses, I lurched to my feet and crossed my office in a few swift strides.

Where the hell was it coming from?

I felt disabled by its effects, completely disarmed by its supremacy over my human and beast as it settled deep inside me – as if I had been beguiled by a mind-altering force, a combination equally portentous and enticing.

Sucking in a sharp breath, I barreled through the door, almost ripping the wood from its hinges. I swept a hand through my unruly hair in a sudden panic and shot a hurried glance up and down the empty hallway, my instinct clawing at my skin. "Tanton, get your ass in here!"

Fists clenched, I strode back to my desk, irritation rippling through my body. I rubbed at my mouth, my jaw rigid and my muscles tense and ever-tightening around my bones. A scowl darkened my features. I didn't understand this... this feeling that my heart, my soul, was no longer mine. I couldn't fathom the meaning of it, but it was riding me hard, rekindling an acute sense of humanity inside me that tore violently through my bloodstream.

My frown grew.

Had I finally been struck down with insanity? Dared I hope?

I leaned over my desk, palms shoulder width apart and pressed flat against the smooth varnished surface. Head hung low, I squeezed my eyes shut and sucked in a gravelly breath before letting it out. And another. In and out. After several minutes of overstated breathing that puffed up my chest and wheezed air from my throat, the ringing in my ears finally went quiet.

But somewhere in my subconscious, I knew it wouldn't bloody last. 

There was a subtle shift in the air before the demon suddenly materialized in the middle of the room, carrying that scent to me beneath the profound stench of hard liquor and sex. I stiffened. Turning halfway back, I lifted my head to scent the air. There it was again. That delicate aroma surrounded him beneath layers of repellent stink that impeded my ability to narrow down its cause.

Straightening, I braced my feet on the ground and fixed him with a lethal glare, a guttural snarl resonating from my throat. My jaw ached with the pressure of biting down on my teeth. Despite obviously fucking with my regimen, Tanton was leaning casually against the doorjamb, rolling a cigarette deftly between his fingers. He tilted his head, observing me with a curious gaze. "You called?"

"Where the hell have you been?" I demanded irritably, rubbing the back of my neck as I glowered down at him.

Tanton arched a dark brow and looked me over like I'd grown a second head overnight and fuck if I didn't wonder that myself.  "Am I to start reporting my whereabouts to you now?"

I scowled and my eyes narrowed to slits. My temper flared hot at his mocking tone, but I would not be deterred. Not from this. Not from sunshine and flowers.

I inhaled deeply, envisioning a plethora of ways he could have extracted that scent, none of them good. My mood darkened. I cursed the way this was affecting me and throwing everything I knew entirely off-kilter.

Goddamn the bastard!

He came in here reeking of sex and hints of the most tantalizing female I had ever encountered, having no qualms about looking thoroughly satisfied. I exhaled a hiss of air through my teeth. I could feel my irritation bleed into something straggling and ruthless. The air was thick with tension and there was just something off about the entire situation.

"You were due to report back last night." There was an edge to my tone as I ground the words out and a low snarl rattled my chest. Eyes intent on the demon, I bristled at his scant respect and deliberate disregard of my position. He was an ancient and not of the lycan bloodline, but that did not mean I would tolerate his insolence. I was a city Alpha, damn him, and I had no problem staining my fists with old blood. 

"I got caught up." He shrugged before licking the adhesive along the length of the thin piece of rice paper and sealing the cigarette. "Relax, man. I got shit done. Surveillance is up and running. The bugs were dropped and we got the cameras discreetly hidden in the overlapping sections of the walls and ceiling. The lowlife won't even know he's being watched."

I sneered stonily. "Was he there?"

Tanton snorted and placed the cigarette in the corner of his mouth before he lit it from a book of matches he delved from his pocket. He shook the flame from the match and drew on the cigarette, exhaling a smoky breath with a nod of his head. "He surfaced at about one, got handsy with a blonde that had been dripping pink sequins down the bar and left in an unmarked black SUV closer to three."

My lips tightened into a thin line and I slammed my fist against my desk with a resounding thump, muttering curses under my breath. What the hell was that bastard up to? He had his insurgents spilling onto our home turf while he hid in plain sight, his misconduct largely overlooked. But he was growing cocky and becoming bolder. A furious incendiary, he was no longer merely lying in wait and I was starting to fear for the safety of those under my protection.

I squared my shoulders and shook my head roughly. War was stirring and instead of focusing on executing prudent strategy before Moreau advanced in his manoeuvre against us, I had been seized by a female. A female I had never even fucking met and whose scent clung to the demon as though he had been rutting holes through it for most of the night.

Pushing my tousled tresses back from where the blood throbbed in my temples, I gritted my teeth against the pressure my instinct was forcing on my bones. I could feel my beast creeping from the recesses of my mind, prowling forward, seeking that scent, intent on ripping through anything that stood in its way. My back arched with a snarl and the snapping of teeth as I sought control over the feral side of me.

My canines lengthened and I tasted blood on my tongue when I ground my teeth together. I had to calculate the danger to the lives of my pack. Whatever this was, whatever scourge had menaced my brain and fucked with my senses, I was determined to suppress its inward upheaval. This was putting all of them at risk and I refused to jeopardize our territory and their futures. We couldn't afford to lose sight of our mission right now, couldn't afford the distraction.

I surveyed the demon with growing agitation and my eyes flashed with warning at the sardonic smile that twisted his mouth. "I want Mara on this as well."

The smell of cigarette smoke was thick in the air, curling its way up through the vents as Tanton exhaled through his mouth and nose. "She already confirmed visual and is working through the intel we've gathered on Moreau's employees as we speak. I've got Gunter and Lennox on audio. They'll call as soon as they have something to report."

I waved the trail of smoke from in front of my face with a volatile slice of my hand. The entitled stench crept over my skin and stung my eyes and lungs. My jaw tensed. Tanton knew just how much his smoking burned my sensitive airways, but as much as I would enjoy tearing the refractory male's spine through his teeth, I could do nothing but tolerate his weakness. If he wasn't blowing smoke he was off fucking randoms for days at a time and I needed him present and alert.

Blood roared through my engorged veins and I inhaled another deep breath, deliberately seeking to calm the beast pacing just beneath the surface. I rubbed at my face. "Why am I only being informed of your progress now? Is being in such dire straits not a sufficient condition for me to be kept fully in the loop?" There was a gravelly edge to my voice, a further attestation that the beast inside me had no interest in being subdued.

Tanton rolled his eyes and finished his cigarette before leaning down to rub the ember on the inside of the paper bin next to my desk, heedless of the possible fire hazard. He straightened and shrugged a shoulder lazily. "Something came up."

"I'm sure it did," I scoffed, running my fingers through my hair in a restless gesture. "There is always something up with you that would be better kept in your damn pants."

"I got the situation handled, didn't I? Why don't you tell me what's really eating your ass?" he deflected with a sly grin. "You've been sniffing my tail since I got here. You want to tell me what that's all about?"

My eyes narrowed threateningly on Tanton. I didn't want to voice a reply to his suspicions. Talking about it would make it real and I wasn't ready for that. I couldn't deal with the hope of scaling heaven at last, only to have that dream just as rapidly ripped asunder. I mentally shook the panic from my swelled bones and folded my arms across my chest with a scowl. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but your tone is pissing me off."

That scent – now slightly faded, but just as lethal to my senses – came to mind again and I shook my head. It wasn't real. It couldn't be.

There was a long pause as he watched me, completely unaffected by the murderous look on my face. He tilted his head as if I had become his greatest interest. "You know, denial really isn't that good a look on you."

A growl rumbled through my chest. Tanton's voice was lively and patronizing and quite obviously meant to rile me. He knew I was fast to anger and he knew perfectly well what he was poking fun at. Air sawed through my lungs when I caught a furious breath, pressing against my sternum in a way that made me want to explode from my skin.

Tilting my head back, I took another deep sniff of the air, searching through the funneling stench of cigarette smoke. That frantic pull had robbed me of my senses, tingling down my spine like a slow caress to stir something deep inside me. My heart thumped wildly in my ears and try as I might, I could no longer feign disinterest. Eliciting a single thought that had not been touched by the mayhem it had caused my mind seemed downright impossible.

I blinked and braced myself against the nimiety of possibilities running through my head. My claws unconsciously sliced through my nail beds and pressed into the skin of my palms, drawing blood. I barely felt it. My beast had picked up on the scent of something wondrous and refused to be suppressed anymore. It took all I had not to let out a proud howl to the distant sky.

Tanton gave a low snicker at my reaction and my instinct flared. In his arrogance, he was still trying to get one over on me and belittling something of great importance to me in the process. It was his worst vice and I would not allow his slandering of something that smelled so pure and innocent.

I closed the small distance that separated us with a growl rumbling through my throat.

"Did you fuck her?" I spat distastefully.

"Maybe," he replied with a casual shrug. "Perhaps you should describe her scent to me. I must have had her quite recently for you to react this strongly."

Rage filled me, hard and fast. I didn't hesitate. Seeing red, I made a snarling lunge for the demon's throat.