Page 52 of Trick Me
I don’t trust her when she’s sly. I trust that grin even less. But I go, because my boss has been known to fire people for breathing too loud.
The door to the Aurora Room is shut. I knock. Wait. Then ease it open.
And freeze.
Ash is there.
Not my boss.
Ash.
He’s standing by the window, city skyline behind him, sunlight catching the line of his jaw. He’s showered, dressed, looking clean and whole and devastatingly handsome.
Like he didn’t disappear into the woods. Like he didn’t leave me.
My heart tries to climb into my throat. But I think of Mrs. Lindqvist, of diamond-hard women with knives for smiles, and I straighten my spine.
“Oh,” I say, casually. “It’s you.”
He grins.
And damn it, my knees betray me.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he admits. In three strides, he’s in front of me. Close enough that I can smell his pine, smoke, and musk scent. Familiar. Dangerous.
“I told you last night,” he murmurs, voice low, “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“And yet,” I reply, “you left me.”
His smile falters. His jaw ticks.
“I woke up in wolf form. Deep in the woods. No memory of shifting. He’d taken over completely—wouldn’t give me back control. Took hours to wrestle it away. He was… happy. Felt he was home.” His hand lifts, presses against his chest. “Didn’t think I needed to be in charge anymore.”
Something inside me pulls tight.
That tether. The invisible thread I’d felt with his wolf.
“I’m sorry,” he says, quieter now. “I didn’t mean to leave you. You have to know that.”
“So… your wolf kidnapped you?” I ask.
A small laugh huffs from him. “Pretty much.” He glances down at his chest like he’s having a word with himself. “I’m in charge. We find her first. Then you can run all you want.”
I try to keep a straight face. I fail. I giggle. Actually giggle. “So you didn’t abandon me?”
He shakes his head, stepping even closer. His hands lift to my face, palms warm, thumbs gentle. I lean into the touch without meaning to.
“I’d never do such a thing,” he admits. “I couldn’t. We’re…” He hesitates, trying to find the right words. “Tied. Changed. You were part of me. I was part of you. Whatever we were before, it’s not what we are now.”
“Romantic,” I whisper. “For a trained killer.”
“I’m a man of many talents.” His thumbs brush over my cheeks. “And, apparently, terrible timing.”
“You think?”
“I remembered that you mentioned where you worked. Got back, told the pack I had a mate to collect?—”
My eyebrows lift. “You told your pack?”
