Page 62 of Chased

His eyes softened, and the corner of his mouth gave a little lift, like a smile except one he could deny if it didn’t work out.

She smiled back, and his shoulders dropped just a fraction, like her smile had released the tension inside him.

That told her one thing she needed to know, as if what he’d just done for her hadn’t shouted it already. He didn’t regret last night at all.

But he couldn’t help her with the next part. Either Gunn would let her stay, or he wouldn’t. And just because he’d let Sanchez familiarize the pack with her scent didn’t mean he wasn’t going to fire her—for lying on her job application, if nothing else.

She walked up the stairs into the silence, all of them watching her. Her shoes squeaked on the concrete.

Madison took a deep breath. “I guess I owe you all an explanation. Can we go talk somewhere more private?”

Gunn texted Breanna to come over, and then led them all into his office, which didn’t bode well for her. It meant this wasn’t just an administrative personnel issue anymore—it was a decision he had to make as alpha of the pack and commander of the Ridge.

Sanchez stayed by her side, though, his dark eyes fixed on Gunn. When they reached his office, Gunn sat at the desk, and Mikey perched on the credenza behind him. He gestured for Madison to take one of the two chairs in front of his desk. Breanna arrived, breathless, and took the other.

Sanchez leaned against the wall near Madison’s chair, making sure he was where she could see him, and also where he could impale Gunn with the Sanchez glare. His huge arms were folded over his chest, and there was an unreadable expression on his face.

Cisco and Matéo lurked near the door.

Madison wished she could tell what Sanchez was thinking, but he’d had years of practice keeping anyone from knowing. She just held on to the memory of that little smile she’d seen, the softness in his eyes.

She wanted him to want her to stay.

Gunn leaned back in his chair and picked up a letter opener, absently twirling it through his fingers.

“We’re ready,” he said. “I want to know why I shouldn’t throw your ass out of my territory.”

Breanna rolled her eyes. “Geez, Gunn,” she said. “Way to put her at ease.”

Gunn turned the alpha gaze on Breanna. “I’m not trying to put her at ease. She may be a civilian employee, but this is a paramilitary base and a wolf pack, home to the largest population of fucked-up wolves in the known universe, probably. And now, in the middle of all that, I’ve got a fucking rabbit shifter. Who lied on her job application, which is a firing offense anywhere. I want to know why, and I want you all to shut up while I hear it.”

Madison said, “It’s okay, Breanna. I deserved that. And I’m sorry I lied to you.”

She looked around the room. “That goes for all of you. What happened last night wouldn’t have happened if I’d been honest. Only, I knew if I was, I never would have gotten the job. And I needed a job. More than that, I needed this job.”

Gunn watched her carefully. “Why this job, in particular?”

“Because it’s isolated, in a closed community.” She decided to go for full disclosure. “And honestly, because it was the only one I could get. I’m not exactly wildly employable.”

Gunn opened his mouth again, and she said, “I’d better start at the beginning.”

So she told them all of it. The Renards and the lapins, their history, and the fucked-up codependent alliance that had come out of it.

The arranged matings. The total lack of rights that women—especially female lapins—had in Renard society.

“Wait, I read this book,” Mikey said. “Only I could have sworn it was set in 1822.”

“Right?” Madison said. “Exactly. It’s like nothing’s changed except there’s cars and the internet. And electricity.”

Gunn said, “So I’m assuming there was a mating arranged for you? Someone you didn’t like?”

“An abusive asshat who’s had it in for me since high school, when I introduced him to the ‘no’ word.”

She heard Sanchez’s chest rumble in a growl, which was echoed by Cisco, Matéo, and Michelangela.

“He explained to me how once I was his mate, I would stop thinking for myself and stop mouthing off.”

Gunn looked at Michelangela. “Wait, that’s an option? How come nobody told me that?”