Taken by the Ruthless Wolf

3.

But it wasn’t a cloying, choking scent like the overabundance of Axe that the high school boys around me abused. No, it was woodsier, more natural, but with the undeniable musk of man and strength that had me salivating.

What the hell?

Snapping out of it, I jerked my head down and power-walked to the elevator. I must be tired because that had never happened to me before. How embarrassing! My pulse was pounding like I’d run a marathon, and my body reacted like I’d just gotten out of a heavy petting session. All the stress definitely had to be getting to me.

Thankfully, the elevator ride was enough to recover my dignity, and I felt more like myself as I exited onto my floor. Taking a deep breath, I stepped off, checking the notice on the community board to see when the next scheduled tours were.

Goodness, I loved that the building’s owners were so transparent. It made my life as a squatter so much easier. I could see that there were tours of prospective apartment renters scheduled throughout the weekend, but as long as I got up and left during a decent hour, they would never know I was there.

Then, once they were long gone, I could come back at night to at least one of the three apartments I floated through. Sure, I would have to hide what meager stuff I had, but I was used to that and had all sorts of borrower nooks and crannies to which no one was any the wiser.

Double-checking the schedule multiple times to commit it to memory, I headed to the first apartment, knowing I would be fine for the night there. Which, you know, was pretty important considering I had a graduation to prepare for.

Once I was finally in my ill-begotten refuge, I dropped my bag and sighed in relief. But there wasn’t much time to rest because I definitely needed a shower. I knew I’d really exerted myself, but I felt like I smelled much stronger than I usually did, even after a good workout.

Strange.

It was probably the stress, so I hurried to take a nice, cool shower and followed it up with one hotter than the fires of hades, as all sane people did.

I was in the middle of it, recuperating from my stressful day, when I heard one of the realtors letting people into another apartment. I couldn’t pick out her exact words, but she was merrily doing her schtick. Not for the first time, I was very grateful that she wasn’t observant enough to wonder why the sound of running water was coming from a supposedly unoccupied dwelling.

But as I scrubbed, I couldn’t help but wonder who she was showing around. Was it a wealthy couple looking for a home away from home? An internet celebrity that wanted to move to the big city? Whoever they were, chances were that they were loaded. People in the buildings were great hits for pickpocketing, or at least they would be if it weren’t for the cardinal rule of not picking where one lived. It was too easy to draw attention to myself that way, and the last thing I wanted was a bunch of cops sniffing around trying to figure out why so many theft reports were coming from the same building.

No, I would just have to keep my hands to myself until I was far from where I was squatting. It had kept me safe, and safety was one of my top priorities.

When my shower was done, I toweled off and sat down to write thank you letters to some teachers who had done kind things for me. Whether it was helping cover sports equipment back when I was younger, lending me lunch money, or even writing me letters of recommendation for colleges I would never get into, I wanted to show my appreciation. The world was a dog-eat-dog place, so I wasn’t going to let their generosity go unappreciated.

That took me a long while, and I didn’t quite have time to finish them all before I needed to start getting ready, so I put them to the side for the time being. Grabbing all the makeup samples I’d managed to squirrel away and stuff my friends had given me over the years —expiration date what? — I started putting on my ‘glamour face’, as Sarah would say. I wasn’t an expert by any means, but I’d learned a thing or two from my friends over the years.

When I was satisfied with my simple eyeliner, eyeshadow, and bold lip, I moved to my hair, plaiting it into a smooth braid. In a way, it almost felt ritualistic, and some of the anxiety in the back of my head ebbed as I pulled out some baby hairs and styled them so the curls accentuated my look.

All in all, I felt pretty. If I had any luck, some of my friends would get pictures on their phones that I could later ask them to send me. Even if we all moved on with our lives, I would always cherish the happy times we had together.

With one last glance at the clock I’d managed to steal last year, I hid all of my things away in their hidey-holes then headed out early.

2

MAHLAN

I

picked up another tie, regarding it before setting it down again. I felt ridiculous mulling over my outfit choice like a teenager going to prom, but I wanted to look my best, considering I was meeting several older, local alphas.

Which meant powerful, put together, in control, and successful. That was a lot for a single suit to say, which was half of what was contributing to my trepidation.

In the end, I just chose generic black. It was imposing, simple, and classic. Besides, I was tired of thinking about something as banal as fashion when I had real things to worry about.

Gathering everything I needed out of my relatively underutilized walk-in closet, I set all the item pieces out and proceeded to pace my living room for nearly ten minutes. A vital part of the dressing process, naturally. Physically, I may have been at home, but mentally I was already at the meeting, practicing exactly what I was going to say.

“I realize the previous alpha had big shoes to fill….”

No. That wasn’t it. While it was true that I’d only recently come into my role due to the untimely death of our previous pack leader, Bertram Sawyer, saying that right out of the gate could be seen as gloating, which was not the foot I wanted to start on. Only the weak and posturing needed to lord over the dead in such a way.

Even if the previous alpha had absolutely screwed us over, he’d been killed in a raid that cost our pack our moonstone. And with no direct heir, he’d left a beta in charge, one John Thomas, until I stepped in to take over. As a natural-born alpha, I was primed to lead, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t a bit… nervous.

But I had to get that under control because if I showed any weakness, all the more established alphas would pick up on it, and that was the last thing my pack needed.

I paced for another few minutes before I moved back to putting my suit on, and I carefully tied my tie in the mirror. Once the ensemble was completed, I felt better, a little more polished and in control — which was exactly what I needed.

Checking my watch, I realized I was cutting it close if I wanted to make to John's house on the edge of town.