~ Bella ~"What did she do this time by the way?" Maggie asked.I gave her a quick rundown of my encounter with Mrs Meyer at Parker's office earlier.Maggie threw her head back and laughed. "You have to give it up to her though. She really takes her job as your arch nemesis very seriously!""Well, I'm going to teach her a good lesson this time again. I guess she didn't learn her lesson last time. Remember how it went?" I asked, snickering.Maggie doubled over laughing, tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. "Girl, how could I forget?"The last time we'd decided to 'teach Mrs Meyer a lesson', I'd come up with an elaborately delicious plan.Maggie and I had enlisted the help of an old friend from back home to place a call to Mrs Meyer while we listened from the door. Even though we only got to hear one side of the conversation, it was highly rewarding.It'd gone something like this;"...Hello?" *Pause "...Yes, this is the office of Parker Smith." *Pause "...I am his secretary, Mrs
~ Nikolai ~I paced the length of my study. I had a lot on my mind lately.The content of the worrisome file in my desk was never completely out of my mind even when it was out of sight.Sooner or later, I would have to deal with the matter even though I was stalling.Making Bella prove to me that she could handle the case was just as much a ploy to delay the inevitable.Talking of Bella... it'd been about three days since I last heard from my mate.Ever since the day she'd hurriedly cut off the phone off when I'd slipped up and called her the nickname I only called her in my head...I knew for a fact that she hadn't gotten a new case yet which meant I had no excuse to call her or see her.I stalked over to my phone and dialled a number. It took a few rings but they finally picked up."Old friend, how are you these days?" I said into the receiver.By the time I dropped the receiver, I had a smile on my face. 'Dear Bella, looks like I'll be seeing you soon enough.'The next day, my ph
~ Bella ~"So here's the load down," I started. "Mr Charles Darl was an employee of Suave Accounting firm. He was dismissed three months ago as a result of an accounting mistake that resulted in a loss of $100,000."Alpha Nikolai nodded. He was listening so abruptly that I was actually surprised. I could almost think he was actually interested and not just trying to make my life more difficult by insisting on being involved in the case.When he'd said, "So where do we start?" earlier, I'd immediately started trying to convince him to trust me to do it on my own.I practically swore that I would get back to him later with all the details but he'd refused vehemently.So here we were. Sigh! At least he was listening."Now the thing is Mr Darl claimed it was an accounting error but the company suspected otherwise," I continued."A case of fraud?" he asked."Exactly!" I nodded. I gave him a smile to show I was pleased. "However, they couldn't find any concrete evidence to tie him to the c
"Start again," he commanded.Startled, my hand immediately flew back up to the buttons.He had such a quality around him that made you just obey him without thinking.I frowned, my face turning bright red with a mix of anger and embarrassment.This time, to avoid making the same mistake again, I was forced to actually look at what I was doing.As such, his chest was back in my line of sight. I swallowed.I practically had to hold my breath the entire time or risk running my hand over his fine skin. How could a man have such nice skin?Actually how could a werewolf have such nice skin? I'd never really known any werewolves personally but I'd just always imagined them to be very hairy and scary looking.There wasn't a single strand of hair on his chest and even though he looked dangerous, he was too fine to be considered scary-looking.I held my breath and finished up the buttoning as fast as I could. Halfway to the top, he grabbed my hand again."What now?" I whined."That's enough,"
~ Bella ~Insane! This alpha was insane!I didn't understand what kind of game he thought he was playing but I wasn't prepared to fall for it.Of course, he was an incredibly attractive man. Any woman with eyes could see that.So it wasn't a strange thing that I had a physical reaction to him but if he thought that I would ever do anything with him, he better have another thing coming on!Never in a thousand years would I cheat on Parker. Sweet old Parker! My crush for years!I didn't deserve him and I would ever do anything to hurt him. Even if that anything was a sexy werewolf with stunning abs trying to seduce me.He probably did this with every woman he met. I would be stupid to think he was acting this way towards me for any real reason.The more reason I couldn't afford to let him get to my head."How come you never kiss my ass?" he asked so close to my face that I felt his breath against my lips.I dipped my head under his arm and cut to the side, expertly removing myself fro
~ Bella ~ By the time we left Sauve Corp, we had more answers than I could ever hope to have gotten alone, thanks to Nikola.Thankfully, no other person proved as stubborn as that first man did but Nikolai's quiet presence behind me certainly had people talking more easily.The effect on women was vastly different. They moment they laid eyes on him, they instantly became super cooperative.Batting their eyes at him, coyly twisting their hair around their fingers and so on. So irritating! Ugh!At least he ignored them for the most part. In fact, for the more brazen ones, he fixed them with cold stares that could have melted iron."So what do we do now?" Nikolai asked."Now, we have to sit down and read through all of these," I pointed at the briefcase in his hands.He lifted his hand and glanced at his watch. "We still have enough time today to make a sizeable dent in it.""Today?" I said in horror."Why not?" he said. "It's barely 3 'o' clock. I reckon we'll get three-quarters throug
~ Nikolai ~"So now that we're finally alone, what do you want to do?" I asked in a voice that was purposely low and seductive. "What do you mean?" she asked in a gasp, holding her body as far away from me as much as possible in the tight space. Her body was so tightly wound that if I poked her with a finger, she would probably snap like a twig.I burst into laughter. She jumped at the sudden sound. Wow, she was really nervous. That was a good thing.I was only messing with her actually. For some reason, I found teasing her like this very entertaining.Almost as entertaining as actually kissing her... touching that delectable body.I moved my hand from around her chair before I turned that thought into action. I also moved my body away from her, deliberately putting space between our bodies. I couldn't trust myself otherwise."You should have seen the look on your face!" I said. "So funny!"She self consciously straightened my dress. "That was not a very funny joke," she said.I s
~ Bella ~Late! Late! Late! I was late to court! Shit!The truth was I was often late but today was different and I was freaking out more than usual.Why? Because I was supposed to be meeting Alpha Nikolai at court!But I swear it wasn't even entirely my fault. I swear it!Traffic was absolutely horrid that morning. Traffic in Division 1 was usually bad, but this morning's had been a real doozy. Still, I couldn't give that as an excuse to a judge, or worse-- to Nikolai.As much as I felt we'd bonded over the past week working on this case, I could never bring myself to forget who he was.A Werewolf. And not just any Werewolf, the alpha of the biggest pack in the Decacities.I checked my phone. The big fat block letters on my homepage read 8:54 am. I had six minutes to get to Court Room 160 before our session started. Sh*t!. I pushed back the memories and roughly grabbed my purse and briefcase and slammed the car door shut.I walked briskly into the courthouse. Just then, a high pit
~ Bella ~"In the case of the Shelbys and Hamilton against the Deca General Hospital, this is the order of this court: that the defendants be liable to pay the sum of $1 million dollars to the plaintiffs for the emotional distress, mental torture and general irresponsibility they displayed in handling this matter! "Thank you, your Honor!" I said, beaming. I turned to my Dylan and gave him a hug. I hugged his wife next."Thank you! Thank you!" she whispered in my ears repeatedly.It'd been a long battle that had spanned over the last three months.The hospital put up a good fight but in the end, we managed to prove that not only were they negligent, but that they also tried to cover it up.The result? Dylan and his wife and the Hamilton's were richer had their rightful babies and were each now half a million dollars richer."Make sure you use that money to take good care of your girl," I said."You can bet we will!" Dylan cried.I waved goodbye to them and packed up my belongings.I m
~ Bella ~At Nikolai's words, Nicholas whirled around, dragging me with him.My eyes widened in shock to see a fox, an actual full grown red fox, flying through the air towards us.This wasn't a normal kind of fox. It was huge! Just as big as me.It's teeth were barred and claws outstretched towards us.I screamed in fear at the frightening sight. I tried to duck down but I couldn't because of Nicholas' ironclad hold on my neck.My life flashed before my eyes for the umpteenth time.But the fox jumped clear over my head, grabbed the back of Nichola's shirt in it's teeth and dragged me away from me.In the next breath, there was a ripping sound and Nicholas transformed into a wolf too. His wolf was even bigger than the one that first attacked.Alone for the first time in hours, I was suddenly a loss as to what to do with myself.For a second, I stupidly stood blinking at the wolves.But teeth were snapping just a few feet in front of me. One snap came too close to taking my arm off.I
~ Bella ~The door crashed open.I whirled towards it. Nikolai! His familiar face filled the doorway.My heart soared with happiness. I jumped up and started to take a step towards him.I stopped immediately and took a step back. No! That wasn't Nikolai.These were the cold, dark eyes from earlier. It was Nicholas.He stormed towards me and grabbed me by the forearm."Shut the fuck up!" he snapped.I winced as the part of my arm where he was holding flushed with pain.That meant he'd heard me singing. Maybe Nikolai would have heard too?"You're coming with me," he snarled and dragged me out.We circled to the back of the barn room he'd put me in. He began to drag me towards the woods.Fear gripped me as we got closer and closer to the dark woods.Oh, gods. I'd just been raising my hopes that Nikolai would find me thanks to the singing.Would he be able to find me in the woods? What did Nicholas plan to do to me in the woods?"You don't have to do this," I said, my voice shaking slight
~ Nikolai ~War!During my father's lifetime, war was a common thing.Clashes between different packs and factions tore at our pack time and time again.Our kind were hot-headed and extremely prideful. Those weren't great combinations when it came to co-existing peacefully.But ever since I took over the pack, the number of wars we fought have drastically reduced.In fact, we hardly interacted with other packs and factions at all.The pack was as self-sufficient as they come and I loved it like that.But even then I'd always known this day would come.This problem had been brewing long before my father even died. When one day, a young man suddenly showed up on our doorstep, claiming to be a Reese, I knew immediately that one day I would have to fight to protect my birthright and my people.Well, that day was today and he had the perfect ace in his hands, my mate.I couldn't afford to get distracted or I would mess things up and she'd end up dead.We had to move with precision. Thank
~ Bella ~"It was you! You're the one who killed Parker," I spat."Right again!" he shot back with a grin.It was like a dam within me broke. I just found my husband brutally murdered barely two hours ago.I'd not even had time to process the horrific situation or mourn his death like he deserved.So his snide retort and self-pleased smile didn't sit well with me at all.I heard a loud sound and was shocked to discover that it'd come from me.The next thing I knew was that I was flying towards him in blind rage, hands raised and poised to hit him.But I didn't even get close enough to hurt him.With a backhanded slap, he sent me flying backwards into the wall.My head snapped against the wall and I crashed to the ground again for the second time.I yelped like a dog in pain. He stood looking down at me and tsked."Stupid girl," he said. "You really thought you could hit me? Don't you know who you're dealing with?I didn't bother answering and he didn't bother waiting for a response."
~ Bella ~I blinked in confusion, momentarily too stunned to even feel scared.'Nikolai? Why was he here? Was this some kind of sick joke?'Was it Nikolai who'd abducted me? Why though? And that fight put up by Boulin? Was it just acting?"Hello, Bella," he said, grinning at me as if everything was perfect in the world. As if I wasn't just shoved into a dark room after being yanked around and dragged along by kidnappers.When he spoke again, I realized why his voice had set off alarms in my head.It was because I knew the voice well. "What the hell, Nikolai!" I snapped. "What the hell is going on?"He was walking towards me slowly but he paused now. A thoughtful expression crossed his face. "Nikolai..." he mused. "Oh, I just realized that I have forgotten to introduce myself."My frown deepened. What the hell was he saying now? He sounded like a lunatic?"Sweet Bella, I am not your darling Nikolai. I am Nicholas Reese," he stated."What?" I spat, still confused."I don't know if I
~ Bella ~My abductors bundled me into a plain white bus exactly like your expect from the movies.I screamed and kicked the entire way, trying to get back to Boulin.I couldn't stand the fact that I didn't know if he was dead or alive.Oh my gosh, if he was dead... if he'd died because of me... I didn't know what I would do.No! He couldn't be dead. He couldn't be! He was as strong as ten men! He was the strongest man I knew! Well, maybe except Nikolai.So he couldn't just die like that, right? I had to believe that he couldn't be dead.Nikolai would come looking for us. I had no doubt.He would save Boulin and then come to save me."You should let me go if you know what's good for you," I piped up.My voice shook embarrassingly. I swallowed the knot in my throat.None of the men even spared me a glance."If you knew who was coming for me, you would let me out right now!"Again, no visible response. "Nikolai Reese!" I exclaimed. "Nikolai Reese will come for me. He won't spare any o
~ Nikolai ~After saying my goodbyes to Nick, I headed out.I headed for my car, which I remembered now that I'd left haphazardly on the road.I got into the car. It was then and only then that I allowed myself to pull the yellow scrap of paper I'd recovered from Parker's body.I unwrapped it and spread it out against the steering wall.Just as I thought, there was a note written on it. Also, the note was for me.Even with no name there, I know it was addressed to me.I know the murder of Parker Smith had everything to do with me.I'd left Parker alive and well and then someone had gone in and killed him, making it look like I did.I knew it was only a matter of time before the police found out about my visit here last night.They would come to me with questions. I fully intended to have answers before then.But apparently I didn't have to look too far, the note was an invitation to me by the perpetrator.It read: Knock KnockWho's there?ShoulderShoulder who?Shoulder kept an eye o
~ Bella ~We were surrounded on every side by menacing, growling werewolves. Boulin was constantly turning, trying to keep everyone in his line of sight at the same time.I turned with him inch by inch, keeping to his back.Without turning around, he reached back and grabbed my hand in his giant palm. He raised my hand and placed it on his shoulder.His message was clear, "Stay close!" 'Sir, yes sir! What was I, stupid?' I didn't plan on going anywhere.I saw the attack before it came. It was like an invisible signal that rung through the group and suddenly one of them jumped at us with a roar.Boulin stepped forward to meet him halfway. He swiped a claw at him, catching him midriff.With one swipe, he took out his entire belly. Blood gushed everywhere.The next second, he whirled around and pushed me behind me. I hadn't realized it but the one behind me had come up behind me.Boulin grabbed him by the neck, shook him and tossed him away like a rag doll.I kept my hand on his shoul