Page 5 of Wrong Number, Right Fox (Dial M For Mates #6)

GARNER

I have to stop this. Joss is our mate!

Red fur rippled over my underarms, and I slammed the door, resulting in Joss’s head swiveling toward the glass panel between his desk and my office.

Shit, there was too much glass in this damned place.

Every part of my working life was on display, from the window overlooking the street to the panel that allowed my employees to gawk at me.

I could hardly lower the blind because it’d be so obvious that I was hiding from or maybe annoyed with Joss.

I mouthed, “Sorry,” and took my laptop to the sofa which was tucked into a corner and hidden from my mate. Fur poked out from my cuffs, and I demanded my fox take back the partial shift. Thank gods none had appeared on my face or Joss would have hightailed it out of here.

Hightailed? Make it make sense .

It’s an expression . We had more to worry about than my beast’s command of English idioms.

My brother, the one who mocked me and who held his breath waiting for me to F up, was chatting to Joss. I’d hired the guy to work, not flirt with my asshat brother. Booker! Always inserting himself where I didn’t want him.

He hadn’t picked up that Joss was my mate, because if he had, he would have carted Joss off to lunch and sent me pics every second of him salivating over my mate-to-be. He’d be in my face, taunting me for my mate being human and how the den might not accept that from their incoming Alpha.

But he was just being Booker, the guy who expected every omega to fall at his feet, profess undying love, only to have my brother lose interest. He needed affirmation, and I wondered what would happen if and when he met his fated mate.

Joss wasn’t his mate, the universe didn’t make mistakes like that. Or I’d never read or heard of any.

Always a first! My fox needed sensitivity lessons.

“You must give me the name of your tailor.”

Ahhh, my super-sensitive shifter hearing allowed me to hear Booker complimenting Joss. If I accused him of flirting, he’d deny it, saying he just appreciated omegas, unlike me who was more standoffish. For sure he’d add a jab about the business being in better shape if I got along with people.

“I don’t have one.” There was a pause. “I get my suits from a department store. Off the rack, I think it’s called.” That was Joss. Poor guy, he was trying to work and Booker was waylaying him.

I had to do something to get my brother away from my mate and to tell him to back the F off.

“Booker!” Shit, that was louder than I’d planned, and Joss jumped, his hands splaying over the keyboard.

“We have that thing in thirty minutes.”

My brother’s lips curled into a lazy smile. “What thing?” That grin reminded me of the human saying, “Sly as a fox.” Ugh! No matter how Booker irritated me, I’d never describe him that way.

Thought it was an idiom, not a saying ! If my beast was trying to bug me, he was succeeding.

“I’m sure Joss has plenty to keep him busy.” I took my brother’s arm and steered him toward the elevator, not trusting myself to take the stairs.

“He’ll never leave, trying to fix your mistakes.”

I took deep breaths, in and out, in and out. Booker had to think I was annoyed he was wasting Joss’s time, not that the human and I had a special connection.

“Where are we going?” Booker leaned against the back of the elevator while I pummeled the button for the lobby.

“A quick shift. My beast needs out, and I have to escape from the office.”

Booker rubbed his jaw. “Oh, really? When was the last time we shifted together?”

I shrugged, but it had been months. No, years. Since before Dad died.

“You have an ulterior motive. Out with it.”

I jumped into the driver’s seat of my car while my brother leaned into the vehicle on the passenger side.

“Will you just get in?”

“Nah.” He drummed his fingers on the car roof, knowing how that annoyed me.

“You’re deliberately trying to sidetrack Joss so he can’t do the job I hired him for.”

“What?” Booker flounced into the passenger seat, and I reversed, though he hadn’t bothered to put his seat belt on. “I was being nice.”

“Ahhh!” My yell echoed around the car, and I slammed on the brakes, still in the parking garage, and pummeled the steering wheel. “Stop it, Booker. You forget, I know you better than anyone else on the planet, and I can see what you’re doing.”

He smirked but stared straight ahead, pointing out there was a line of cars behind me. Gods, he was so irritating.

“Explain it to me like I’m five. What am I doing that’s got you and your fox so pissed off?”

Oops! Me getting upset he’d understand, but my beast didn’t get involved in our sibling quarrels.

“He’s peeved about English idioms.” If I could have reversed time and taken that back I would have, especially as my brother’s beast thought of nothing except hunting and sleeping and occasionally being snarky.

“Seriously, bro, your fox needs to understand he’s a fox, not a scholar.”

We were getting off the point. So far off that I couldn’t even see that damned tip.

“Just do your work.” Booker accomplished plenty at the office, but he left at five on the dot. His deputy covered for him and did everything my brother didn’t get around to finishing. “And let Joss get on with helping me.”

I’d considered putting Joss into a small office, but I’d needed him close by at the time and had been thankful for that pane of glass. But I’d made a mistake and would rectify that when we returned.

“I don’t need to hamper your little consultant because the task is so overwhelming, I doubt he’ll make much headway.”

I pressed my foot on the gas, ignoring the speed limit as we sped out of town to the area owned by the den. After driving onto the den land, I was so furious with my brother, my hands were fisted, and not bothering to close the car door, I flung off my clothes as my beast took his fur.

Freedom!

I pulled back, deep inside my fox, and closed my eyes, ignoring the scent of a rabbit. Booker’s beast was close behind, but if he started a fight, I’d unleash my anger and wrestle him, biting him hard if I could.

How I wished Dad were here. He’d tell my brother to back off. Unlike Uncle Cyrus, Dad had been able to goad Booker into actually working rather than playing and pretending he was accomplishing anything. Perhaps if my brother met his mate, he wouldn’t be as much of an asshat.

But even if my brother’s temperament was softened, his beast wouldn’t change. He raced past us and snatched the rabbit my beast had been tracking.

Despite my earlier intention to have it out with Booker, I told my fox to ignore him and find more prey. I didn’t have the energy for a fight and needed to focus on a) the business and b) how I could introduce Joss to my beast without him running away. Or calling animal control.

My fox focused on a squirrel who’d left the safety of a nearby tree. Big mistake, squirrel, but know that your life wasn’t in vain.

We made our way back to the car, and I was dressed and checking my messages when Booker’s beast appeared.

“I was always faster than you and could sniff out a rabbit better than your fox. Superior scenting skills.” He made the chef’s kiss gesture where he kissed the tips of his fingers. Blech, I rued Uncle Cyrus teaching him that when we were kids.

We sat in silence on the drive back to the office. My mind was elsewhere, on Joss, and I’d said all I had to say to my brother. He may not take any notice of what I’d told him, and if he didn’t, I might have to lock Joss in a cupboard.

As long as we’re with him, that’s fine .

Now that my beast had eaten, he was back to thinking about our mate.

“Remember that if you screw this up and you become Alpha, it’ll be your mess to fix.

” I strode toward the stairs, leaving my words hanging and hoping Booker considered the daunting task of taking over.

Of course he’d try to pass it off to his underlings, but if he failed, the council might snatch the role of Alpha from him.

Or the business would go belly up and we’d be in bankruptcy court.

Joss had his head down studying spreadsheets and glanced up to give me a brief smile before returning to the reams of pages. Booker didn’t follow me up the stairs, so he’d probably taken himself off to an early lunch.

Fine! As long as he left Joss alone.