Page 25 of Shadow of Fury
Wren finished stuffing her bag with her flip flops into the bottom drawer of her desk and slipping her heels on as she turned on her computer. She’d only just come into the office before Logan came storming out. She’d been surprised to see him and not just because his very presence in town was still a shock to her.
It was strange for Alpha Kemp to beat her into the office. Normally she had plenty of time to get set up for the day, make a pot of coffee and answer a few emails before she had to deal with him. Yet he and Logan had been in his office with the door shut when she arrived which made her think even before the topic had turned to her that the two had been discussing something they didn’t want anyone to overhear.
Was it Lark? Her sister’s senseless murder? Or had Logan been telling his father about the bond that had sparked between them last night?
She thought about the way he’d jumped back from her when his father spoke. He’d looked guilty. He hadn’t wanted his father to realize what was happening between them. She dismissed that last thought and went back to the only one that had ever made sense to her.
Alpha Kemp had covered up Lark’s murder to protect his son. He’d sent him away after the funeral to keep him safe. Or to keep the pack safe from him? She’d never quite been able to decide what the reasoning behind that move had been. But whatever the reason, Logan was back now for the first time in six years, and they were in there whispering so she wouldn’t overhear.
It had to be about Lark, right?
Maybe, whatever the reason behind it, Logan’s decision to come back to Shadow Pines would be the catalyst to getting the answers she’d been looking for so long.
The front door to the office slid open, pulling Wren out of her wayward thoughts, and she stared as Dominic McMurtry came striding in. This morning just kept getting weirder and weirder. Not many people randomly stopped in at the Alpha’s office these days. He had meetings of course but even those were growing fewer and farther between as pack numbers dwindled. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen any of the McMurtry’s darken the door and yet here was the eldest son of the Head Enforcer walking in as if his father hadn’t stopped showing up for his weekly check-ins with the Alpha months ago.
He glanced around the lobby and when he spotted her behind the desk, one corner of his mouth tipped up into a smile, “Good morning, Wren.”
“Good morning, Dominic.” She pasted on a smile of her own despite the flutter of unease she felt as he advanced towards her.
It wasn’t that she was scared of him. Not at all. He was a big man, sure, but he had never come across as a brute. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy, and she’d always considered him one of the good ones. Not that they’d ever really gotten to know one another.
She’d known of him all her life because that was just how things worked in small packs, but they weren’t friends. He was three years older than her, like Logan, and the two of them had been inseparable. When Lark had started dating Logan, Wren had developed a bit of a crush on the reserved and stony-faced enforcer who always seemed to be one step behind his best friend. After Lark’s death, she’d had no time for schoolgirl crushes and it felt silly to be thinking of it now, when she hadn’t thought of him that way in years. She assumed it had something to do with the bond.
Now that her wolf seemed dead set on mating with Logan, being alone with another handsome, unmated alpha wolf, seemed somehow… wrong. Stupid animal instincts. She would have been so much better off if fate had decided to pair her with someone like Dominic.
From everything she knew about him, he was smart, loyal, and hardworking. He’d stayed when so many others had left which showed he was loyal, perhaps to a fault. He wasn’t one of the many, many people who had stopped talking whenever she entered a room after what had happened to Lark, and he had been kind to her whenever they’d crossed paths. And, despite her wolf being a lovesick puppy with eyes only for the one man Wren despised, she wasn’t so blind she couldn’t admit that Dominic was seriously good looking.
He looked as if he could have been carved from granite with those muscles and sharp, square features.
“Now, now…” He leaned over the desk, hands on the hardwood holding him up as his blue eyes twinkled with amusement, making her wonder if he was reading her mind, “I’ve told you to call me Dom. Everyone does.”
“I’m not everyone.” she shot back more sharply than she’d intended because she was annoyed with her own thoughts. She softened her tone, “And I don’t think Alpha Kemp would approve of me taking liberties with his guests.”
Dominic’s smile didn’t waver, “Guess it’s a good thing I’m not here for him then, huh?”
“What do you mean?”
“Logan sent me a text earlier this morning. Told me to meet him here.” He raised an eyebrow. “Have you seen him?”
That flutter of unease she’d felt at the sight of him hardened into something heavy in her stomach. He knew Logan was back. He’d spoken to him. And Logan had told Dominic to meet him at the office.
Did that mean he knew about them? About the bond that had sparked? Or was it far worse than that? Had Logan asked Dominic to meet him here so that he could be part of whatever clandestine meeting he and his father were having? All this time, had Dominic known the truth of what happened to her sister? Had he been involved? Had he smiled and told her to call him Dom while he was covering for a murderer?
“Wren?” He tilted his head and she realized that she hadn’t answered him.
Since her throat felt tight with too many new questions she simply pointed to the closed door that led to the Alpha’s office.
Dominic frowned and his dark eyebrows knit together. He pushed up from where he’d been leaning against her desk and she thought for a second he was simply going to turn around and leave. Instead, he ran a hand over his short, dark curls and then turned his frown back on her, lowering his voice to barely above a whisper.
“Is he in there with…” he trailed off but she knew what he was asking and nodded. “How long have they been in there?”
“They were here when I arrived for work.” She tried her best to keep her curiosity about his sudden wariness to herself. “Should I buzz in and let them know you’ve arrived?”
“No.” The word came with a snapping intensity that made her flinch and Dominic immediately winced. “Sorry. That was… Sorry. No. I uh… I’m not here to meet with the Alpha. Just Logan.”
“Well…” Wren motioned to the chairs along the wall, “You’re welcome to take a seat, though I’ll be honest, I don’t know how long they’re going to be.”
Dominic looked between the door that led to the Alpha’s office and the outer door and she could practically feel his tension hanging in the air. He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to wait for Logan to come out. He didn’t want to see the Alpha or have the Alpha see him. He looked like he’d really like to simply leave, which at least answered the question of whether he’d been summoned for whatever meeting Logan and his father were having.