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Chapter Two

ETHAN

I tug at the starched collar strangling me as I leave my flat and head back down the stairs to the office space I rent in the same building.

As the owner of a security company, wearing a suit for important meetings is sometimes a necessary evil, but knowing that doesn’t make the shirt and tie any less restrictive.

I swipe my pass to open the office door and quickly shut it behind me again as a sleek black jaguar streaks down the corridor, chased by an enormous Bengal tiger covered in glitter.

Fuck, I could really do without this today. I fold my arms across my chest, beyond done with these two.

“Jet! Raj!”

The pair skid to a halt, Jet crashing into the potted plant outside our open-plan office space and spilling soil everywhere. He picks himself up, shakes off his black fur, and bounds over to me, ignoring Raj’s snarls as he stalks after him.

I glare at the pair, letting out a little of my alpha power until they both sit on their haunches, eyes lowered and heads tilted to expose their necks. Jet lets out a low whine.

“Which of you is going to explain why my second-in-command, who is about to go to an extremely important meeting with me, is covered in glitter?”

They both shift back to human form and start talking at once.

“It’s his fault! He?—”

“It was an accident! I thought?—”

I hold up a hand and they shut up. “On second thoughts, never mind. Get some fucking clothes on, the pair of you. What if one of the others brought a customer back here? Did you forget the meeting where we talked, at length, about no shifting in the office?”

They lower their heads again and tilt their heads, genuine remorse in their scents.

“Sorry, Ethan,” Raj says quietly. A lock of his glitter-coated black hair flops onto his forehead and he quickly pushes it back, glancing up at me with embarrassment in his brown eyes. His brown skin is still entirely covered in sparkly stuff that shifting didn’t do anything to dislodge.

Jet nods his agreement, making his already large eyes wide and innocent, his messy black hair and youthful looks adding to the butter-wouldn’t-melt impression.

I exhale my irritation, rein in the alpha power that’s leaked out, then reach out and place a hand on each of their napes. I brush my thumb over their scent glands and get glitter on my right hand in the process.

My wolf side is not impressed. He hates glitter.

Jet relaxes a little. Raj leans into my touch the way he always does; my poor touch-starved best friend.

“Raj, you can use my flat to get that shit off you. Make it fast.”

“Absolutely. Will do.” He rushes towards the office we all share, shedding glitter as he goes, then stops partway there. “Oh, that interview yesterday? I hired the guy. Kit should have emailed you the details.”

I raise my eyebrows, pleasantly surprised.

Due to my sheer size as an alpha wolf shifter, not to mention my perpetual scowl, I make a shitty first impression and tend to scare people off even when I make an effort to be nice.

Therefore one of my first tasks when I started my company was to put Raj in charge of things like recruitment, if it were ever needed.

Raj, with his posh accent and love of Armani suits, makes a much better face for the company than I do.

Even so, he’s been having a hard time recruiting a local liaison in the supernatural community here—something we only realised we needed after months of us all struggling to get any kind of cooperation from supes across the city.

Since having someone in the role is a crucial part of the bid we’re putting together, it’s a relief to have it sorted.

Before I can read up on the person’s CV and background though, I have a wayward jaguar to deal with.

Jet shifts from foot to foot as we wait for Raj to throw on the clothes he was wearing and head out with the suit he brought held at arm’s length, thankfully still free of anything sparkly.

How Jet got Raj to strip and shift before pranking him, I’ll likely never know, but at least they both have something to wear.

Raj glares at Jet as he passes, which Jet responds to by wiggling his fingers in a stupid wave. As soon as the main office door closes behind Raj, Jet opens his mouth.

I silence him by raising a hand. “Whatever reason you had for thinking that was a good idea, you were wrong.”

“It really was an accident, boss, I promise.” Jet bounces a little on the balls of his feet. I swear he never stops moving.

“You honestly expect me to believe that? After Raj made you clean out the vehicles last week?”

Jet nods frantically. “Yep, total accident. He wasn’t supposed to get covered in glitter until after your bid meeting.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose and take several deep breaths. Fucking cats. “Right. It didn’t occur to you that he’ll just get you back? Again?”

I drop my hand as Jet shrugs. “Sure, but you know we’ve been doing this for years. It’s how we show our friendship.”

I’m not sure Raj would agree with that statement, but I let it go. “Go get some clothes on. I want to review this new employee before the meeting.”

Jet relaxes, dropping the innocent act and walking down the corridor with me to the office space where we have eight desks, currently empty of people. The other three members of my team are out on jobs right now, but they’ll be in later.

“Oh man, I met him yesterday.” Jet pulls on his underwear then picks up his jeans.

“Can’t believe you missed this interview, boss, honestly.

He’s this cute little twink with a short afro and a neat fade, and he’s young as fuck, but seems to know all the important supes in the city.

Like, legit knows everyone. Raj and I wondered if he was exaggerating, but one of his references was the alpha of the Connor Wolf Pack, and when Raj called him, he only had good things to say. ”

I sit down at my desk, type in my password to unlock the screen, then scowl at the glitter I’ve just put on my mouse. “He’s a wolf, then?”

A wolf who already has an alpha could be difficult to handle if what I need from him differs from what his alpha asks of him, but it’s not impossible.

“Nah, that’s what’s so fascinating. You know how everyone here is all weird and shit about sticking to their own kind?”

I give a sharp nod, opening Kit’s email and double-clicking on the first attachment.

It’s been one of the difficult things about integrating into the Birchester supe community.

As a team of mixed species, we’re the odd ones out.

It’s not the first time we’ve come across species segregation, but it is unusual in Britain.

Jet’s voice gets muffled as he tugs his T-shirt on. “He’s a magic-user.”

I freeze, hoping I didn’t hear that right. But nope, Jet definitely said what I think he said. Fuck.

I scan the CV in front of me as I process what I’m going to have to deal with. Sure enough, Ayo Muroyi works for the Birchester coven. He’s been an administrator for them for almost five years, although some of that time was as an apprentice, and judging by the dates he’s really fucking young.

A chill runs over me, long-suppressed memories rising to the surface. I didn’t expressly forbid recruitment of a magic-user, since we desperately need a local liaison to stand a chance of winning this bid, but fuck, I really hoped we’d recruit literally any other species.

“Wait, Muroyi? As in…” I open the next attachment, which contains more info on the guy.

Jet shoves his feet into his boots. “Yeah, openly admitted he’s the cousin of that wanker who keeps getting in our way.”

“Is Raj insane? He’s probably been sent here to spy on us! Or sabotage us, or… Fuck, we can’t hire him.”

Jet sits and wheels his chair over until it bumps into mine, then leans against me.

“Chill, boss. We asked him all those things. He says he wants to be more than an admin but his cousin won’t promote him.

Something about age and the way his magic works or whatever.

He wants broader experience, which this would give him, while he looks for something else.

The three-month contract works for him for that reason.

Plus, he said he finds the whole species segregation thing weird.

Every single answer smelled honest, boss.

He definitely had no problem with Raj and me being cat shifters, and he was nice to Skye. ”

“Everyone’s nice to Skye.”

“He didn’t meet Cal or Kit,” Jet continues, ignoring my point completely, “but I don’t anticipate a problem.”

I sigh and let Jet lean on me for a minute longer before nudging him off me.

He might be the biggest pain in the arse in the whole of the UK, but as well as being our weapons expert, he’s also the best judge of character of anyone I’ve ever met.

If Jet thinks Ayo Muroyi is a safe hire, I trust him. Still…

“None of the other interviews worked out? Surely someone other than the cousin of Nyoka Muroyi would be a better choice.”

“Nah, not a chance. The vamp just told us what she thought we wanted to hear, the snow leopard seemed decent until he found out he’d have to work for a wolf, and the fae said that while she could introduce us to people, she wouldn’t take orders even if lives depended on it.”

Yeah, not a good idea. Fuck.

Looks like I’m going to have to work with a magic-user.

Mayor Yasmine Tomlinson leans back in her chair and steeples her fingers as I finish my presentation.

There are a couple of other BSG representatives in the room, as well as a bear shifter who works directly for the mayor, but the lioness with the braids tied up in a bun and piercing eyes is definitely the one in charge.

I retake my seat at the conference table next to Raj, who is now almost entirely sparkle-free, and lean forward, hands clasped on the table in front of me.