Page 48 of In the Mouth of the Wolf (Of Wolves and Kings #1)

48

CAMDEN

I was jogging back to my office from the conference room to grab my forgotten phone when I ran into Julian in the hall.

“Hey, Ramos, what’s up?” I asked, reaching out my hand but stopping when I saw he was carrying Marlowe’s travel mug.

Julian noticed where I was staring and rolled his eyes. “Nice head’s up there, telling me James’s freaking daughter was here today and that you guys are together. I just made a total ass out of myself.”

I took the mug from his hands and breathed in deeply. “Wait, made an ass out of yourself like, you were flustered, said something weird, and she thinks you’re a dweeb, or…”

“Or as in she dominated me and hates my guts.”

I bit back my disappointment, although a part of me wished I could have seen my little omega in action. Watching her break an alpha would be very hot.

But this potentially ruined my plans. Julian was smart, capable, and had been looking for a pack ever since he moved here a few years ago. He was like me in a lot of ways, and Marlowe and I were great together.

Then I remembered her terrible first impression of me.

I couldn’t hold in the growl that reverberated through my chest. “Did you touch her?” I asked. Was it a little hypocritical to have gotten mad at him if he had, even though I hadn’t been able to fight the urge myself two weeks ago? Sure, but she had been unbonded then. Now, Marlowe belonged to a pack, which was supposed to mark her as completely off-limits to any kind of courtship.

Well, the alpha shifter version of courtship, which, at least for me, was very hands on.

“Of course not. I just assumed she was your new personal assistant you were fucking or something,” he responded, shaking his head in disappointment. “How much authority does she have here? Can she fire me?”

I sighed. “Come on, dipshit, let’s see if we can’t do some damage control.”

We walked back into my office, and Marlowe’s happy expression dropped when she saw Julian. “Oh, it’s you,” she said flatly, getting back to her work.

“Hey, babe.” I greeted her slowly, and she gave me a suspicious look. “Here’s your coffee. I ran into Julian, and he told me he was kind of…”

“An ass?” She sipped her coffee and winced. “Not enough sugar,” she muttered.

“Right, that’s the exact word he used, ass.”

“Well, good. At least I don’t have to add ‘liar’ to the long list of words I’d like to call him.”

Julian rolled his eyes. “I didn’t know who you were. I’m sorry.”

She stood up, and I could practically see the smoke coming off her skin. “It doesn’t matter if I’m an entry level temp or the new owner or anything in between. It’s completely unacceptable to treat females that way.”

His head turned towards me, confusion spreading across his face. “Wolcott, what is she talking about?”

“Hey!” She snapped her fingers. “Don’t talk to him. You’re talking to me.”

I knew why Julian was agitated. Most females liked being bossed around by alphas, it was almost like a sign of affection.

Not for humans though, and definitely not Marlowe. While there had been a bit of an adjustment period for me in the beginning, I’d really come to love the way she didn’t take any shit. She was almost the most wolfish amongst us in that way – aloof and distrusting at first of strangers, but when she did submit for attention and affection, it felt earned. Deserved.

Special.

The corner of Julian’s lip curled in a slight snarl. Alphas, on the other hand, did not take kindly to being bossed around, and I was sure with Marlowe being the first omega he’d ever met, he thought he was impressing her by being a dick.

This was going down the shitter, fast.

“Look, I have an idea.” I moved behind Marlowe, putting my hands on her shoulders. She tensed, but I pulled her back into me and began to purr, the sound calming and relaxing her. I walked her out from behind the desk, a few feet in front of Julian. “Why don’t you properly introduce yourselves, from the beginning?”

Marlowe sighed and held out her hand, but Julian went straight in and nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck, trapping her in between us.

Her heartbeat went crazy, and she tried to wriggle away but I held her tightly, continuing my purr. “It’s okay,” I whispered. “Scent says a lot about a shifter.”

She released a breathy whine, finally allowing herself to smell him back.

After a few deep pulls of Marlowe’s perfume, Julian took a step away, his pupils fully blown. He looked at me, then back at her, and fell to his knees, grabbing her waist and resting his forehead against her stomach, breathing her in again.

Marlowe stilled, and I couldn’t gauge her response. There were too many emotions swimming in the air. Fear, confusion, desire…

I knew exactly what was happening to Julian, though. It was the same thing that had happened to me when I first met Marlowe. Once I scented her, it was like my brain suddenly rewired, and all I could think about was how to protect her, how to care for her, how to make her mine.

That kind of visceral reaction could only happen when someone was a good scent match for you or your pack.

There was a knock at the door and it swung open. Mark, our Director of Business Development, popped his head in. “Hey Cam, are you coming back, or…?” His eyes widened in shock at the sight of Julian on his knees, drowning in the omega female I was currently holding. “Uh, cool. We can just… wait for you then…” He started to close the door and then opened it again a crack. “Should I get HR?”

I said, “No” but Marlowe squeaked, “Yes,” the intrusion tearing her out of the moment.

Mark looked at me for confirmation, but I just shook my head, and he left.

Marlowe pushed Julian away and shrugged out of my grip, then turned around and pointed her finger at me. “How dare you?” she hissed. “I’m not some kind of drug you can just pass along to all your friends to help them get high. That…” She stopped, rubbing away a few tears that fell from her eyes, smudging her make-up. “…was really messed up.”

I reached out and rubbed her arms, lowering my face to hers. “I’m sorry. I know that was intense, but you felt something, right? Like he could belong to you?” I watched her expression carefully, and my heart sank when it turned angrier.

“Wait… this is who you want to join our pack?” She pointed at Julian and scoffed. “Uh, no. No way.”

I ran a hand down my face in frustration. How had this spiraled out of control so quickly? I had planned on inviting him out to lunch with us, setting him up to deliver some great jokes to make her laugh, and then broach the subject later, maybe tonight with my knot and all that post-sex bliss in her.

At this rate, I’d be lucky if she ever let me knot her again.

Julian, still coming off his omega hit, also looked like he would start crying. But for a very different reason.

“You want me to be in your pack?” he asked softly.

I knew what being in a pack meant to a lone alpha. Julian was a good kid who had narrowly escaped a bad situation back home. He was starting over up here, trying to find his place in a town full of shifters with no connections.

And while I knew this wouldn’t impress Marlowe, I had hoped it would be a selling point to the guys – the alpha could fight. He had invited me once to an amateur boxing match at his gym, and Julian had easily cleaned the floor with everyone they threw at him. It was hard to admit, but if push came to shove, he could probably kick my ass, too.

I knew Marlowe was a little freaked out, but Julian was exactly what we needed, and over time, she’d get over their first meeting. Just like she had mine.

I turned to Julian and said, “Yes” but Marlowe growled, “No.”

He swallowed, still on his knees when he faced Marlowe again, hands clasped together. “Please, I barely know you, but I feel like I would die for you. I would kill for you.”

Marlowe placed her hand on her chest, closing her eyes for a second, and then went back behind the desk to start gathering her things. “One day,” she muttered, “Can I just have one goddamn normal day?”

She left the room in a huff, and I heard her outside. “Hi, are you Patricia? So nice to meet you, I’m Marlowe Linden… Right, James’s daughter. Did he have an office here?... Great, do you have a key?... Even better, can you take me there?”

Julian hadn’t gotten up yet, he simply stared into space. “What just happened?” he asked. “It feels like I died, met the Moon Goddess herself, and then she kicked me in the balls.”

I sighed. “We got our work cut out for us, Ramos.”

My phone started beeping. I grunted, figuring it was the directors wondering if we should reschedule the meeting, but it was a notification from the new security system I’d installed.

ALARM TRIGGERED: SLIDING DOOR brEACH

Adrenaline coursed through my veins. Was that shifter back? Had he brought his pack? I needed to get to Marlowe.

I opened the video as I ran out of my office to find her.

But it wasn’t a wolf breaking in.

It was three wolves breaking out. Slamming into the back door, shattering the glass, and heading northwest through the woods.

Straight here.