Page 3 of Forsaken Desire (Ruthless Wolves #1)

T he bus jostled to a stop, and I gripped the rail before I went flying. Luck was on my side. No rain.

The doors hissed open, and I made my escape into the cold morning. My heels clicked on the asphalt while I adjusted the strap of my new bag over my shoulder.

The cheap, thin material I’d found in a gas station near my apartment did the job. I’d be frequenting that little store often since they sold a little of everything.

I squinted into the cloudy sky, and the sun peeked out through the fluff. Such a beautiful sky. I breathed in the crisp air.

Everything was looking up. I’d been in the real world for three days, hyping myself up for my new job. If time sped up a bit, even better. I couldn’t wait to get my first paycheck because it was going toward a cell phone.

The crosswalk light flashed, and I burst forward, my steps loud against the cement from my hurried steps. I wasn’t late, but I needed to get there a little earlier than the beginning of orientation to tell my supervisor about my lack-of-phone situation.

Even from this distance, the building stretched higher than I could have imagined. I couldn’t stop gawking at how big it was. The silver surface glinted, and with each step closer, the angle changed until the sun was behind it, sending spears of light around it like a halo.

Cars pulled up an inclined, curved drive where bellhops helped customers bring their luggage in. Large looping, silver letters spelling Reception curved over the see-through doors.

My thighs burned as I hoofed up the hill, keeping my head down as I strode inside the air-conditioned lobby. Wow. I couldn’t stop looking around. I clamped my lips shut and breathed out slowly. I already had the job, but I needed to make a good impression.

I approached the reception desk. A dark-skinned, put-together woman with her hair smoothed into a bun smiled widely at me.

“Welcome to Crescent Hotel. How may I assist you?” I blinked. That scent, the earthier undertone . . . I sucked in a breath. This woman was a shifter. I licked my lips.

Maybe this was a bad idea, but I couldn’t leave. I desperately needed this job.

Her nostrils flared she frowned.

“You’re not from our pa?—”

Loud, obvious steps encroached. She cut off what she was saying as a thin woman strode up to us, her hands clasped in front of her.

“Ms. Zhao,” she said, her smile returning to her lips.

“Karol, this is our new hire, Josephine Garcia.” How did she know who I was—the picture on my resume, right.

“Joey is fine,” I corrected, but Ms. Zhao ignored my comment. Karol’s eyebrow slightly twitched as well as the corners of her mouth.

Ms. Zhao turned to me. “You’re a bit early for orientation, but I can have Karol get your uniform measurements before the rest of the new hires arrive.

” The polished Ms. Zhao kept her eyes on me.

If she had my resume, she would know about my felony.

There was no judgment, no derision, or anything.

My face warmed, but her expression didn’t waver.

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, low, keeping eye contact with the human. Her eyes smiled even though her mouth remained stiff.

“Good. Go ahead, Karol, I’ll look after the desk.” Karol was already around the counter. “Don’t forget to take that delivery.”

Karol nodded and waved at me to follow her. I fell into step beside her. She peered behind us and slowed until she matched my stride.

“I’m new to town, I haven’t had time to request a meeting with the Alpha,” I said quickly.

“Usually you do that before you come onto pack land.” A small smile played on her lips with her words.

“I didn’t know.” I licked my lips and rubbed my sweaty palms together. Only day one, and I had already fucked up. Would he kick me out of his territory? I didn’t even know what that entailed. How far would I have to travel out of his region?

Fuck, it wasn’t like I could go any notable distance under probation.

“A lone shifter requesting to join his pack really isn’t his forte, but I can get you into contact with Cierra, one of the dominant three. She tends to handle requests like this.”

“They won’t force me to leave?” I stiffened. “Or try to kill me?”

She laughed, her white teeth flashing.

“No, shifters don’t go around killing people. Honestly, if you hadn’t gotten a job here, you might have been able to fly under the Alpha’s radar.” If I hadn’t gotten a job here ?

“What’s wrong with this hotel?” I asked hesitantly.

“It’s our Alpha’s territory. Cierra oversees it.”

“Oh,” I breathed.

Well, fuck, if I had known a little more about all this shifter bureaucratic bullshit, I wouldn’t have almost cost myself my job.

Karol scanned me.

“You shouldn’t have a problem getting Cierra to agree to you temporarily joining the pack. Just make yourself seem as frumpy as possible. She hates competition for her Alpha.” Her nose wrinkled. “And sadly, she sees most pretty women as competition.”

“I’m not trying to get in any sort of drama,” I blurted. “She has nothing to worry about.”

“She shouldn’t be worrying, regardless.” Karol rolled her eyes. “The man cheats on her all the time. It’s been happening for years. It’s not like she doesn’t know. I’ve been in his pack from birth, and they’ve always been together.”

I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to give in to the gossip, not while I was so new.

We passed the elegant lobby, the scent of fresh roses tickling my senses.

An arched pathway led to six elevators with polished, reflective surfaces.

She continued guiding me down a hall where the soft classical music played more clearly.

Double Ivory doors lined the end, and they swung open.

A man with polished black shoes, black slacks, and a blue button-down tucked into his pants strode out and smiled at Karol.

His gaze flicked over to me, and he came to an abrupt stop, blocking the door handles behind him.

His brown eyes met mine, and his pupils dilated.

“You okay there, Alex?” Karol asked, and he smoothed his palm down the front of his thin black tie. The underlying woodsy scent reached my nostrils, and I dropped my gaze, not able to hold his. Another shifter, and this one was dominant.

“Yes,” he cleared his throat, attention still on me.

“We’re in a hurry. I’ll introduce you later.” Karol pressed her fingertips to his arm, and he jolted from whatever trance he was in and finally moved to the side, no longer blocking the path. I hurried through the door she held open. The hall split into two, and I followed her down the left.

“He’s a good connection to have.”

I hummed, and Karol went quiet. I scratched the back of my hand. Should I have tried talking more?

Karol came to a halt in front of a large rectangular opening starting around my waist. Clothes lined the other side of the booth from wall to wall.

“Wilbert, I need a receptionist uniform for our new hire.” The gray-haired man standing on the other side of the gaping wall peered at me over his glasses.

“Send her in.” I went through? the latched gate, stepping on a platform to the side of the door.

Wilbert pulled out a measuring tape and scribbled on a notepad as he lined the tape on every part of my body.

“I should have it done by the end of orientation. Come get it from me before you head home, young lady.”

“Thank you,” I said and slipped off the incline to rejoin Karol right outside the door. She motioned to an opening a few yards down the hall.

“That’s the employee area.” She headed for the eggshell archway carved with elegant designs framing the path that split into two directions.

I followed her to the right, which opened to a wide room with a ton of rows of metal lockers, and some seating areas at the end of the rows.

Fluorescent lights beamed down, and I blinked to get my eyes to adjust.

“You’ll like working at the front desk, but like with every job, there are those entitled, shitty-personality customers. You speak Spanish, right? Ms. Zhao told me they were hiring someone with the language.”

I nodded, brushing the hair back again. The bun I had meticulously worked to pin on my head was already falling apart.

“If you can’t come dressed in your uniform, you can change in there.

” She pointed at the opposite end of the seating areas, where there were curtains blocking it.

“Changing rooms with privacy curtains.” Karol shuffled to the furthest row, closest to the changing area.

I hurried as she disappeared behind the locker segment.

Once I rounded the corner, I found her crouched and removing one of the locks.

“Here, claim whichever one you want that doesn’t have a lock. ”

I scanned the lockers, searching for an unoccupied one. In the far corner, there was one at the bottom. Crouching, I hooked the metal through the loop, clicked it shut, and stood.

“Done,” I announced, pulling my keyring out of my pocket slacks to slide the locker key on it. Now I had two keys of my very own. A loud beeping broke through from her pocket, and her eyes went round. She fumbled to grab her cell phone.

She frowned at the screen.

“I have to go pick up my daughter. She’s started throwing up at school.” Her wide eyes met mine. “She starts to shift when she doesn’t feel good, and she’s attending a human school,” Karol whispered before walking out of the employee area. “I have to go clock out and?—"

An alarm went off on her phone again, and she cursed some more. “Shit. The towels need to be delivered. Shit. Shit. Shit.”

I followed her out of the fluorescent light and into the main hall. Her chest rose and fell sharply. If she didn’t relax, she was bound to have a panic attack, and she was practically running down the hall. “What do I do?”