Page 53 of Pack of Crooks

“Nothing.” I pop to my feet, grabbing her arm and tugging her toward the kitchen. “Ready for pancakes?”

For the next hour as we get ready for the day, I do my best to distract her from asking questions, but every once in a while, I catch her attention shooting to my nest. I don’t want to keep secrets from Lottie. Really, I don’t. I’m trying to be better than Mom. To make sure that this thing with the pack is fully solidified before springing them on her.

She’s seen plenty of packs and lone alphas come and go. It can’t be good for her. She deserves stability, and I’m doing my best to give it to her.

Three days later I’m headed to the subway with Lottie, dressed to impress and on my way to the Kain Industries building to finish my onboarding. After a lot of discussion, Lottie’s reassurance thatI’m fourteen, not eight, I can walk home on my own and do homework or watch TV while you’re gone,I feel a little better about working a normal job with normal hours.

The pay doesn’t hurt either. I have yet to receive a paycheck, but I already have a list of top priority bills. The only real negative is that I’m quickly realizing that being an administrative assistant is hard work and I’m barely keeping my head above water.

Every morning I wake up to cute texts from Pack Lennox, one of their scents lingering in the air, and small gifts. A new shirt. A new pillow for the nest. A gorgeous diamond necklace. As much as I try to act natural, Lottie’s started to notice. I’m going to have to start airing out the apartment.

The next meeting for Resistentia is tonight, and I’m surprisingly eager to return to the creepy warehouse headquarters because it means seeing the guys again.

“God that dress isgorgeous,” Vivian says, sticking her head inside Tristan’s office. He’s out on a business meeting or she would never. Actually, he’s been out more than he’s been in, which is probably for the best. It’s easier to pretend like I’m enjoying the job without my sperm donor hanging around.

“Got it on sale,” I lie. Actually, I stole it from the store with my pack.

“Mmm.” Vivian eyes my computer. “Ready to go?”

“Yup, let me finish this appointment.” I chew on my cheek, quickly set up a virtual conference with some contacts from Japan, and lock everything up. Vivian waits patiently, gaze straying to a certain curvy alpha as she struts by in a hot pink power suit. “She’s hot, right?”

Vivian swings her eyes to mine. “What?” she squeaks.

I laugh. “It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone. Ellen is hot.”

“Yesterday,” Vivian says in a low whisper, “she put her hand on my shoulder.”

“Oh my god, what a hussy.”

Vivian giggles. “Shut up. I swear she was seconds away from scent marking me.”

A grin splits my lips, then Ellen’s harsh words whip through my mind and the smile falls. “You’re being careful, right? I know you said this was your dream job and Ellen was pretty clear about me trying to hook up with Mr. Kain.”

Sighing, Vivian nods. “Yeah, I know the line.” She frowns, giving me space as I rise and pull the strap of my purse over my shoulder. “It’s nice to dream though.”

Stupid corporate rules. Ellen is probably overly cautious given her position. It’s impossible to miss the tension between the alpha and beta, but dating at work is probably messy.

We walk together to the subway, but we part ways when we get on our respective trains. I settle into the seat and check my texts. Relief washes through me when I see some from Lottie.

LOTTIE

Made it to Sarah’s house. Is it okay if I stay a little later tomorrow morning?

Oh my god, she has Just Dance!

The universe came together with perfect timing. Lottie’s friend Sarah from cheer is having a sleepover for her birthday the very same night I head back to the hub. Milly would have helped, but I feel bad asking her for so much lately.

Sure, I’ll pick you up at ten thirty?

Her mom said she can drop me off.

Love you.

Also, there’s leftovers in the fridge you can warm up for dinner.

She’s been making some small dinners now that I’ve been working later, and she’s taken the job very seriously.

But not the chicken, that’s probably old.