Page 15 of Auditing the Alpha

“Dinner tonight?” he suggested. “Just us? I can pick you up at seven.”

“I’d like that.”

He glanced quickly down the empty hallway, then pulled me into a kiss that left me breathless. “Until tonight,” he murmured against my lips, and then he was gone, leaving me dazed in the doorway.

Martha was still at the front desk when I went downstairs later. She took one look at me and snorted.

“Well, that answers that question,” she said cryptically.

I flushed, knowing the mark on my neck was visible despite my best efforts to cover it with a borrowed scarf. “Is it that obvious?”

“Honey, you’ve got ‘thoroughly claimed’ written all over you,” she said with surprising frankness. “Plus, Klaus called to make sure your room was properly heated for when you got back.”

Something warm and not entirely unwelcome unfurled in my chest. “He did?”

She nodded sagely. “That boy’s been waiting a long time to find his match.” She leaned forward conspiratorially. “So, did he tell you? About what they are?”

I hesitated, unsure how much the town knew. “He told me… everything.”

Martha’s eyes widened slightly. “Well! Usually takes them much longer to share that particular secret.” She studied me with new interest. “You must be something special, Mr. Chase.”

“Or something crazy,” I muttered. “I mean, werewolves? If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes…”

“Oh, we’ve known about the Wolffs for generations,” Martha said casually, pouring me coffee. “They protect the town, we protect their secret. Symbiotic relationship.”

“The whole town knows?”

“The adults,” she confirmed. “We keep the tourists in the dark, obviously. Bad for business if people think we’ve got monsters in the woods.” She smiled fondly. “Though they’re hardly monsters. Just people with extra… features.”

I shook my head in amazement. “And I thought Chicago politics were complicated.”

Martha patted my hand. “You’ll adjust. They all do, eventually.”

“They?” I echoed.

“The mates,” she clarified. “Over the years, various pack members have found partners from outside. Some stay, some go.” Her keen eyes assessed me. “You strike me as a stayer.”

Before I could respond to that presumption, the bell over the door jingled as a customer entered, and Martha moved away to help them. I retreated to my room with my coffee, mind whirling with new information.

I spent the day catching up on work emails and drafting a preliminary report that carefully omitted any mention of werewolves or my personal involvement with the subject of the audit. By late afternoon, I was restless and decided to explore the town while I still had daylight.

Chapter 7

Pine Peak was prettier than I’d initially given it credit for—charming storefronts decorated for Christmas, smiling locals who nodded as I passed, a general atmosphere of contentment that was foreign to my city sensibilities. I found myself wondering what it would be like to live somewhere like this.

Am I actually considering this?I thought incredulously.Giving up Chicago for a small town with werewolves?

But as I wandered the streets, I had to admit there was an appeal to the pace of life here. And then there was Klaus—magnetic, mysterious Klaus, who looked at me like I was something precious.

I was so lost in thought that I almost collided with Theo, Klaus’s brother, coming out of the hardware store.

“City boy!” he exclaimed cheerfully, steadying me with hands that shared Klaus’s unnatural warmth. “Thought you’d be holed up with my brother after the storm.”

I flushed at his knowing tone. “I had work to catch up on.”

Theo’s grin widened, and he leaned closer to sniff at me. “Mmm-hmm. Work.” He straightened. “Klaus told us you know now. About us.”

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “Still processing it, to be honest.”