Page 1 of The Wolf She Shouldn't Desire

Chapter 1

Talia

Cool autumn air blows through the rows of stacked steel shipping containers of various colors and degrees of rust in the storage yard. A slight whistle pierces the night air as the wind maneuvers past the metal in search of open air.

The tip of my black heeled leather boot taps the pavement in an agitated and impatient rhythm and is the only indication of my present mood as I stare calmy into the dark night only broken by fluorescent lights interspersed throughout the storage yard.

“This is not how I wanted to be spending my night,” a deep voice grumbles to my right. Danny, a tall and leanly muscled male with short tousled brown hair that matches mine, dark brown eyes that can at times look black, and a stern jaw that is clean shaven is becoming just as irritated as me. With his pacing, he still blends in with the night though with the dim lighting in the storage yard dressed in black from his t-shirt to his boots. He goes everywhere with me as my right-hand man, whether its conducting coven business or a night out for fun. Danny has been my best friend since we were babies and there is no one else I would rather have my back every day and night and in situations such as this when meeting with a vampire who could easily become hostile.

My father—our coven leader—sent us to meet with a vampire dealer who specializes in anything and everything for both humans and the creatures they believe don’t exist. In this case, its weapons laced with wolfsbane to help vampires take down werewolves.

The bastard, though, is an hour late.

We’ve dealt with Jackson in the past, and he’s not the biggest fan of me. He hasn’t been since the day he tried to ask me for more than a business relationship, and I turned him down quicker than a preteen offered his first opportunity to get laid. It’s never smart to get involved with those you do business with, but it was more than that. He’s a thuggish asshole, always trying to dominate over others, particularly women and those under his command. If I could, I would give him a taste of his own medicine and knock him down a peg or too. Sadly, he gets you what you need…if not always in a timely manner. And we need the weapons even if his deals aren’t cheap for that matter. Father’s bank account is going to take a slight hit, but he didn’t even blink an eye when I discussed with him what Jackson’s price was for the weapons.

Right now, Jackson is just trying to piss me off to show that he can. Also likely trying to make a play in showing who’s the boss here. Classy. If he didn’t have what we needed and was one of the few dealers dealing in a scarce market, I would have left ten minutes after the designated time we agreed to meet passed.

“Trust me, this isn’t how I wanted to be spending it either,” I respond to Danny.

“You think your father will get mad if I punch Jackson knowing there would be a slight chance in losing this deal?”

“I know he will, and he’ll likely seek retribution or an outlet for his anger with his own little love tap to your face in exchange,” I chuckle.

“Pfft.”

Danny starts pacing a little more quickly behind me as I stand there looking for Jackson to appear in the distance.

“Easy Danny. Jackson’s trying to get under our skin. He’ll show up in a minute.”

Danny grunts in response.

I look at my watch to check the time again. This is getting ridiculous.

“How long are we supposed to wait for him, Tal?”

“Give it another ten minutes, and then, we’ll have to let my father know what an unprofessional prick Jackson is who apparently doesn’t like the smell of the cold hard cash we have to offer him.” After a second of ruminating in that thought my aggravation boils over as I hiss, “The fucking prick.”

“Ah now, Talia, don’t get your panties in a twist,” a dark, yet nasally, timber rumbles in the shadows beyond in front of us. “Is that any way to talk about your business partner, especially when I have something you need oh so desperately from what I hear?”

A short and stocky male along with four roided out companions behind him—one holding a sizable brief case—walk towards us casually without a care in the world as if he isn’t the one acting unprofessional in making us wait for over an hour.

“You’re late,” I reply.

“I’m a busy man. What can I say?”

“Then you could have called and given us a warning or changed the meet up time,” Danny vehemently hisses.

Jackson glares at Danny as if he is a rat crawling underfoot—the only emotion he has ever shown towards Danny. He sees him as a lowly lackey that is beneath him who is not worth his time and should keep his mouth shut.

“Do you have the wolfsbane like we asked for or not” I snap at him, drawing his attention away from Danny.

“I do.” Jackson just stands there staring without saying anything else. He makes no move towards his companion either who is holding the briefcase.

“Can I have it then?” I grit through clench teeth.

“See that’s the thing…my price and terms have changed.”

“Changed how?”

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