When I say I’m creating a script, I mean I amtryingto create a script. I really am trying, but watching Willow in my space is far too distracting. She’s like a painting, one deserving to be stared at for hours. One I wish I could reach out and touch, but can’t.
She admitted she had feelings for me, and I left her hanging. I left the fruit on the tree, and now I am contemplating her suggestion.
A date, one single date, is all she asked for, but I don’t think I can give her that.
I’ll need more. I’ll end up taking more than she can give and as strongly as I feel for her, I’m waiting for my mate. I was waiting for my mate.
I dated around in high school. I’m not clueless by any means, but once I entered college, I wanted more than a temporary girlfriend I know I have no future with. I wanted, still want, to find my soul mate. The one person I’m destined by the Moon Goddess to be with.
I thought Willow could be my mate—my instinct for her is unrelenting and incomparable to anything I’ve felt in my entire life, but she’s already found her mate. I couldn’t forget that. I also can’t forget she is on the edge and battling her demons; so much as one wrong move, and she’d be running for the hills. Or caves, in a bear’s case.
“Thanks,” she mutters, wrapping the sweater around her legs, knowing damn well she is too hot to put the sweater on. I stare at her out of the corner of my eye, the blank document on my computer screen screaming for my attention. The door suddenly shoots open, causing Willow and I to jump out of our skins with the bonus of a growl coming from me at the loud-ass intruder.
“Can I help you?” I all but hiss out. Chance’s goofy ass is the offender. He stares at Willow for a touch too long. She tries to keep her eyes trained on her book, but her eyes shoot between the two of us.
“Yeah, since when do we get to keep pretty women in our offices? Is this a new policy? Why haven’t you introduced her to me, your best coworker?”
“I’d rather keep her free of your existence,” I mutter as Willow jerks up into a more proper sitting position. She straightens out her skirt as I stand to intercept Chance as he tries to get closer to her.
“I’m Chance. Nice to meet you, beautiful.” He reaches a hand out to Willow, and her polite ass shakes it. I, of course, must fucking move since it would be rude, but if I thought Willow would let me get away with it, I would kick Chance’s ass out immediately.
“Willow,” she introduces herself shortly, quickly returning her hand back to her book. She keeps her thumb on her page. One thing I’d learned about Willow is that she doesn’t use bookmarks. She doesn’t fold the tip of the paper either. She remembers what page she’s on. What beautiful-ass psycho does that?
“Chance, what do you want?” I ask, standing close to Willow, her legs brush against mine. Her contact settles me but I’m growing irritated with Chance’s presence, and it is past time for him to go.
“Just to say good morning, Eddie. Gosh, what a downer.” Chance smiles too big, his teeth too perfectly white.
“Goodbye, Chance,” I say, finally glaring at the man in a crisp white button-down and slacks. I huff out a breath as I watch the man wink Willow’s way and finally walk his annoying ass out of my office.
“Hello, Mr. Grump, I don’t think we’ve met yet. I thought Ryder held that title.” Willow giggles, lying back down on the couch. My smile is unstoppable around her.
“Chance likes to give me a hard time for moving up in the ranks so fast.” I don’t enjoy that we are talking about Chance, but I do notice that she remembers meeting one of my Pack members. Ryder is the lawyer and handler of all law-related things in the Enchanted Pack. He is also the oldest member, hence all his degrees and roles. The forty-five-year-old appears thirty at most, thanks to the shifter’s slow-aging gene. He also wears glasses for the aesthetic but is a huge, muscled man that no button-down shirt could hide. As a newer Pack, we have to stay strong. Since we’ve gotten challenges from other Packs questioning our strength and morals, we have to be for challenges. We haven’t had a challenge in the last six months, and hopefully, it stays that way. A challenge results in fighting, both in human and shifter form, and the winner is determined on whether the Alphas have deemed it enough. It’s stupid to be honest, but as a Pack, we stick together through the stupid shit.
“How did you move up in the ranks?” Willow asks, putting her book down and coming over to my desk.
“From being good at what I do. Thankfully, Cloud doesn’t focus on seniority but on the work we present too. It’s allowed me to shine in what I do,” I explain. Cloud Designs isn’t a horrible place to work; in fact, starting out, I loved it. I’m not sure working for someone else is in my future. Needing to getplans and goals approved by higher-ups is a pain in the ass. But finding funding outside of a Cloud could be a pain too.
“When was the last time you shifted?” Willow asks quietly. Her gaze is on the photos of my Pack barbeques and achievements I’ve hung all over my office. “When was the last time you spent time with the Pack?”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head over it,” I say, but I can tell she’s realizing how me being with her all the time has taken me away from my Pack. Another little thing she’ll feel guilty over. “We can visit them today.”
“And we can shift?” she asks.
“Yes,” I say, sending Jackson a text, checking if it’s okay with him for Willow, a non-Pack member, to shift on his territory. Willow is a Pack friend, but we need my Alpha’s permission for her to shift on Pack grounds. Shifters played by some weird but necessary rules. Alphas rule lands, and if someone trespasses on an Alpha’s land, that Alpha could deal out any punishment, including killing them on the spot. Death is a line commonly crossed.
I don’t think I could let Jackson kill Willow. My bear and I couldn’t stand aside, and that thought alone scares the shit out of me. Choosing her over my Alpha would be a clear-cut sign she is my mate, but in this case, I don’t know if I can trust my shifter instincts.
“Okay.” Willow nods her head. “So now that you’ve dragged me to your place of work. When can I drag you to mine?”
“You could drag me through hell, heaven, and earth, and I’d still want you after,” I say. My eyes shoot up to Willow, who is covering her cheeks with a hand and staring out the window to avoid looking at me.
I’m such a jackass.
I can’t stop fucking flirting with her. That is an instinct I can’t stop. As much as I wanted to take her up on her deal, Idon’t know if I could handle the heartbreak that would follow. I’m already attached to her. What if this intense attraction gets stronger?
“You know I haven’t met your bear yet?”
“Yours is such a sweetheart. When will I get to see her again?”
