Page 45 of His White Moonlight (Dominant CEO Shifter Romance #1)

Weaving my way through people, I found the restroom. Another woman was in there applying lipstick. I closed myself into a stall while replaying the conversation in my head.

Bennett had pictures of me? As in plural? And what stories did he have to tell? He’d spent maybe six months around me before he left.

When I left the stall, the woman was putting away her lipstick. How much lipstick did a person need? She smiled at me in the mirror.

“Zellon’s, right? The earrings?”

I thought back to my day of shopping torture with Miranda and nodded.

“Beautiful pieces. I love their work. I believe they have several in the auction tonight. Will you be bidding?”

I flashed my practiced smile. “Anything to help raise the charity funds, right?”

Her smile turned a little chillier even as she agreed.

I watched her leave, then turned to face the sink to wash my hands.

My reflection caught my eye. I didn’t look like myself with my makeup done.

Covering my freckles and contouring my features to look as high-end as I’d known this place would be was a mistake, especially with the dress and jewelry Miranda picked out.

The woman obviously thought I was competition for whatever jewelry she had her eye on here.

When I emerged from the bathroom, the size of the crowd in the welcome area had almost doubled. Bennett and his friend stood in the same place, but they’d turned to watch the restroom doors.

I was so focused on Bennett’s overprotective ridiculousness that I didn’t notice Lindi until she stepped in front of me. Another woman I didn’t recognize was with her.

“Wrenly? Are you sure you’re in the right place?” Lindi’s gaze swept down my length. “And in the right clothes?”

The gown Miranda selected might have been “off the rack,” but it was exquisite with beaded embellishments and outshone what Lindi was wearing.

“Did you need something, Lindi? Makeup tips, maybe? You have a little lipstick on your teeth.”

Her fake humor vanished, and her stare hardened.

“Do you even know who you’re talking to?” the woman next to her asked with a condemning tone.

“A friend. Right, Lindi? Isn’t that why Bennett invited you to lunch?”

Lindi’s brittle expression softened. It always amazed me how she could slide into the “sweet girl” role so quickly.

“I meant to ask how you’re acquainted with Bennett Wulf. Are you one of the scholarship recipients the Wulf Foundation for the Underprivileged supports?”

I knew for a fact there wasn’t such a foundation, thanks to all the expenses and reports I’d reviewed since coming home.

“A charity recipient?” If only I were so lucky, I thought .

“My connection to the Wulfs is much closer than that. Why else would Bennett hand over his credit card to me? By the way, do you like my earrings? They’re from Zellon’s.

One of a kind. Spent a fortune on them. Where did you get yours again? ”

Did I enjoy pulling a rich person flex on Lindi?

Absolutely. I didn’t hate money. Money was nice.

It made things easier. What I hated was pretentiousness and fakeness.

The boarding school had been filled with people like that, people who’d all followed Lindi.

Once I’d known Mom and Dad would never let me come home, I’d understood any flex I made at school would be pointless and only make me a bigger target as the unwanted and abandoned foster kid—the charity case.

But that wasn’t the case anymore.

“One word from me and you’ll be kicked out of here,” Lindi said.

“Doubtful. We both know the Shane name doesn’t carry nearly as much weight as the Wulfs, the Steeles, and the Zellons here. But, by all means, give it a try.”

“Is there a problem?” Bennett asked from behind her.

Lindi turned to smile at him. “Nothing that can’t be resolved later. It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Wulf. I saw we’re assigned to a nearby table. I look forward to talking to you some more later.” She nodded at me, then left with her friend.

I snagged the champagne Bennett was still holding and drained it. He frowned at me. Konni, who’d tagged along with him, grinned as he looked between us.

“I think I’ll need to change my seat. Tonight is looking to be very entertaining.”

“How do you know I’m already planning on a second glass to numb the pain of enduring a four-hour charity dinner?”

Konni laughed and clapped Bennett on the back. “She’s everything you said she was.”

“I’ll tell you what I think about Bennett, too, if you get me another glass,” I said, holding out my empty one.

“As you wish, princess.” He took my glass and left.

“He won’t be back, will he?” I said, looking at Bennett.

“He will. What were you saying to Lindi? I caught the last bit about whose name carries more weight, but not what led to it.”

“She was questioning my relationship with the Wulfs. I deliberately provoked her. It was a good distraction.”

“Tonight I’ll prove to you that being associated with the Wulf name isn’t all bad. I promise.”

He took my hand and wrapped it around his arm.

“Why does it feel like you just cursed me?”

His fingers stroked over mine. “Because I made the wrong choices in the past that hurt you and lost your trust. I’ll show you I can do better.”

I didn’t try contradicting him.

He pulled out my chair for me when we reached the table, and his fingers grazed my neck. I looked up at him.

“That’s not better; that’s worse.”

He sighed and sat to my right, moving his chair closer to mine.

Konni approached with another glass of champagne. Bennett said something under his breath as he handed it to me.

“Relax,” Konni said, taking the seat to my left. “She’s smart enough to understand the risk of getting drunk around you.” Konni looked at me. “One giggle, and you’d be his, am I right?”

I lifted my glass in a silent toast. “Here’s to never laughing again.”

“Ouch. She’s a tough one.”

“You have no idea,” Bennett said moodily. “I look forward to the day you find yours so that I can ply her with drinks for you.”

Konni grinned as I sipped my second glass. It helped take the edge off, and I was able to people-watch as the room slowly filled. Konni gave a quiet commentary, which was entertaining, while Bennett’s moody scowl deepened.

“I thought we were here to mingle,” I said when I finished the second glass. “People are avoiding you because of your face.”

Konni belted out a laugh. “His face usually draws unwanted attention, not repels it.”

As if his words summoned her, Lindi appeared next to Bennett and set her hand on his shoulder. He reached up, likely to push her hand away, but her words stopped him.

“I remembered something, if you have a moment to speak privately.”

He glanced at me, his mask fully in place now. I just grinned at him, knowing full well that she wouldn’t tell him anything important, which would only push his temper. When I gave no other reaction, he briefly scowled at me, then stood, dislodging Lindi’s touch.

“After you,” he said, motioning to the bar.

I watched them walk away with a smirk.

“I’d offer to get you another drink to know what you’re thinking right now, but he’d try to kill me,” Konni said.

“Try?” I asked, glancing at him. “Are you an alpha too? Visiting the Wulf territory in search of a mate?”

“Not visiting. Motan is my home. And like all of my kind, I’m always searching for the keeper of my heart.”

I studied Konni. “You’re not a wolf shifter, are you?”

“No.”

“Ah.”

“Just ah?”

I shrugged. “What other reaction should I give?”

“Fear? Curiosity?”

“Bennett trusts you enough to leave me alone with you, so I have nothing to fear. And curiosity is for those who are interested. I’m not.”

He clapped a hand to his chest even as he grinned at me.

“I’m wounded.”

“Doubtful.”

“Will you tell me what you were thinking anyway? Think of it as a favor owed. Within reason. I won’t cosh your mate on the head when he’s annoying, but anyone else is acceptable.”

I decided Konni might just be a friend, like Miranda.

“Lindi and I went to school together. Bennett knows things happened to me at the school, so he’s trying to find out from Lindi.

It won’t work, though. She’ll evade direct answers, and he’ll walk away from her, frustrated and on edge.

He and I have a deal that I have to stay until the end of the night.

I’m banking on leaving early because of him. ”

“There’s a lot in here to unpack.”

“Oh?”

“What happened to you at school?”

“Abuse. Mental and physical.”

“Who abused you?”

“That’s the question, isn't it? I believe it’s the one who put me in that place. And the ones who didn’t listen to me when I pleaded to come home.”

Konni’s expression lost its humor.

“You blame Bennett.”

“Shouldn’t I? I was perfectly happy living with the Wulf’s, but because of his jealousy after he got home, they sent me to hell.”

“So you want him to suffer like you did?”

“No. I just want him to let me go. I want to be free to make my own choices for a change. I can’t do any worse than they did.”

Konni looked across the room at Bennett, where he was talking to Lindi.

“I don’t think you realize how dangerous what you’re doing is, Wrenly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Not knowing who hurt you will drive him mad. He’s already holding onto his sanity by a thread. Before you came home, we were meeting almost every night to spar. It was the only thing that was keeping him in check during the day. That and your?—”

I studied his guilty expression. “My what?”

“Nothing. Forget I mentioned it.”

“I don’t think I can. What keeps him in check, Konni?”

He glanced at Bennett. I did the same and saw he was watching us.

“Tell him to tell me,” I said, meeting Bennett’s gaze from across the room.

Bennett nodded, which drew Lindi’s attention. She glanced back at me with a smile that some people might think was kind. I knew better. It held a hidden malice.

“Your scent,” Konni said.

“Ah. Yeah, I already found my old uniforms in his closet. He’s lucky it wasn’t my underwear. I would have killed him.”

Konni choked on his laughter.