Rhett sighed, propping his elbows on the desk and rubbing his temples. “Damien, I told you, you’re not going to find anything out that you don’t already know.”
I stepped out of the shadows with my chin tilted up, walking toward the plush chair in front of his desk. It was supposed to make the room seem less invasive. But the man was a counselor. They were as invasive as they came.
“That bitch really couldn’t take a hint,” I said, my lips twisting into a grin. “Maybe I should’ve popped out her eyeball with my telekinesis. Could you imagine the delicious scent of fear and pain that would give off?”
His lips thinned into a flat line. “Can’t say that I want to imagine it.”
“You’re too damn nice,” I barked, my shadows swirling around my forearms that laid against the arms of the chair. “No one should have to say no more than once.”
A memory I’d buried deep throbbed back to life in the back of my mind, but I shoved it back down.
Rhett’s gaze bore into mine, and he bowed his head in acknowledgment. “I tend to agree with you.”
I tilted my head. He never agreed with me, but I didn’t want to ruin the moment, so I just basked in the glory of being right for once. “She always like that?”
He nodded. “It's her first year here, and the headmaster has already gotten complaints about her harassing her co-workers.”
“Damn.” I whistled. That bitch needed to be put in her place. I put a mental pin to come back to that topic later. “I need information on a girl. Can you pull a file for me?”
“Why don’t you just stalk her from the shadows to figure out what you need to know?”
“Oh, I’m going to stalk her. She’s too intriguing not to.” I chuckled, leaning forward in the chair. “But someone hurt her, and I need to know exactly who it was.”
His brows rose. “You’re going to hurt someone who caused someone else pain? Well, fuck. Who is this girl?”
“Wren. She’s an arctic fox shifter, and she’s fucking perfect.”
Recognition flashed through his eyes as he let out a breath and stared down at his desk. “I’ve been briefed about her situation by the seer. She’s one of the students I need to reach out to make an appointment with.”
I gripped the chair, my fingers ripping through the fabric. “Why?”
He rubbed his forehead, swiveled around in his chair, and made his way toward a filing cabinet. “I shouldn’t fucking tell you anything, but you’d just steal this anyway.”
After thumbing through a couple of files, he pulled one out and slapped it on the desk in front of me.
I snatched it and flipped it open, scanning the information. My grip on the folder tightened.
Humans poached her parents, and she witnessed all of it. She was taken in by the Arctic Wolf Village that didn’t even let her get formally educated. Her career was as an herbalist, but she wasn’t allowed to interact with the pack unless necessary. No social life aside from the woman who raised her, which was her mother’s best friend.
I flung it back on the table and stood up, grasping handfuls of my hair. That sweet, kind,innocentwoman had been through more than I would’ve guessed.
“She was dealt a bad hand,” Rhett said with a sigh. “Something her file doesn’t say is that she’s mateless. Shifters usually mate around sixteen to eighteen. She’s twenty-two.”
“So what?” I snarled, and my shadows started creeping farther into the room.
He rolled his eyes and started loosening his tie. “So she’s still a fox shifter. Fox shifters take on multiple mates. She hasn’t mated at all yet.”
My mouth went dry at the thought of my little bird being mates to more than one man. I was usually possessive, but this was different. If there was more than just me around her, she’d be better protected from those who could cause her harm. I didn’t mind that one fucking bit.
There were monsters out there, and I was one of them.
“A fox bond supposedly takes a while to snap into place. There's a record of a fox bond taking as long as thirty years to form from what I’ve read,” he went on, talking like he knew a hell of a lot about it. “So it’s likely she’s met one or more of them but they haven’t been solidified yet.”
“Yeah, maybe. But all I want to do is fucking skin the one alive that caused her the pain she felt earlier.” My fingers twitched as I imagined slicing to that asshole’s skin.
“Why the interest in her?”
I cocked a brow at him. “I could ask the same to you.”
