Page 9 of Last But Not Leashed

As neither my virus nor I saw any need to disobey and rather enjoyed being closer to her, I surged to my paws, bounded over, and leaned against her legs. She sighed, which I took as an invitation to flop over onto her feet and show her my belly.

“Are you really sure you want to handle him alone, Ethel?” Jerome knelt beside me and scratched under my chin. I melted under his affection, and he laughed. “Pixie dust is great. I never would’ve guessed Dale enjoys attention. That’ll make it easier down the road, assuming we can convince him to wear his fur coat more often.”

“I’ll have a talk with him about it,” my boss promised. “Are any of your pack fighters free tomorrow? I’m going to need a lycanthrope to cover his shift, and I’ve already booked the rest of my contractors. I’m not going to put someone who can be infected on this shift, not when there’s been two attacks in as many days.”

“Standard comp?”

“Double plus hazard pay; with two confirmed attacks, I can classify it as high risk. I can authorize two on the shift if two of your pack are available.”

“Allison? Think you can take off work tomorrow?”

“You betcha. I’d love to get my claws on the asshole who started this mess. No one fucks with our beta and gets away with it.” Allison paused. “Except for you, Ethel. You can fuck with him as much as you want. I bet he’d like it.”

“Allison!” my ex squealed.

“Give me a break, Dana. Ethel’s the only one Dale even looks at, and he’s too damned professional to make any moves on her because she’s his boss. It ain’t anyone’s fault other than your own that you let him go. You have an entire litter of puppies and a good mate now, and it’s not like it matters that you sampled the wares. No one cares, really. Do you care, Ethel?”

I sure as hell cared they were talking about me like I was a prized specimen worthy of being passed around.

Wait. What? The idea they were even interested in gossiping about me like I was a stud worth passing around stopped me dead in my tracks, especially as the conversation involved the one woman my virus desired. It didn’t help—or hurt—that I wanted her, too.

My boss chuckled. “Not at all. I’m only concerned about actual competition.”

She was what? I blinked, my mouth dropping open, wondering if I’d heard her correctly. Jerome scratched me behind an ear, and I slumped to the asphalt with a happy groan.

“Ladies, if you’re going to discuss his prowess, I recommend you do so when Dale’s coherent enough to enjoy it. The man could use a little stroking of his ego.”

Allison leered, directing most of it at my boss. “Of his ego, huh?”

“Not helping,” Jerome muttered.

“Sure I am. I’m making it perfectly clear Ethel shouldn’t be stroking just his ego. She can stroke his ego all she wants, as far as I’m concerned. I just thought I’d impress upon them both they have our approval. Wasn’t that nice of me? I’m being nice. You’re always telling me I should be nicer to people. I was just doing as you wanted.”

Jerome got to his feet, caught his mate in a headlock, and dragged her away. “Do whatever you want with him, Ethel. Don’t listen to this menace. Just return my beta in reasonable physical and emotional health when you’re finished with him.”

“Reporting time for tomorrow’s shift is ten. Make sure your fighters aren’t late.”

“Allison and I will stand in, and I promise you, we won’t be late. We’ll see you in the morning.”

My boss patted my shoulder. “Come on, Dale. Let’s get out of here before someone else decides to aim their perverted commentary in our direction.”

Chapter Three

When my boss ordered me to relax, I obeyed in the best way possible. I took a nap in her car, surrounded by her scent. Some commands were worth following, and I would’ve done as she said without hesitation, even without the pixie dust.

Jerome was probably right, though. Pixie dust was the best.

Pixie dust won me an invitation into my boss’s bed, and in the privacy of her home, her perfume couldn’t hide the truth. She was infected with lycanthropy, too. When I thought about it, all the signs had been there from the start. She had no fear of me or any other lycanthrope. There was nothing for her to fear.

The only thing she needed to worry about was picking a mate, and as a rare unmated infected female, she decided which male won her. Once word spread she was unmated, every single lycanthrope in the area would be after her. Looks didn’t matter to a lycanthrope, either, although I found her more attractive than most.

My virus probably had something to do with that.

If anyone found out she was an unmated lycanthrope, I wouldn’t be able to compete, not against so many other wolves. Even if I could, she was my boss. Wait. If I quit, just like I wanted, she wouldn’t be my boss, which meant I could compete for her. Defective fur coloration aside, I did have access to the hybrid form. Mated to me long enough, her virus would develop to allow her to access the hybrid form, too. If the hybrid form enticed her, I’d sacrifice my dignity and prance around in my electric purple and blue coat for however long she wanted.

That led me back to quitting. I needed to quit first and prance second. If she didn’t drive me off, shoot me, or otherwise reject my displays of interest, I’d figure something out. Ditching my job so I could attempt to convince my boss she wanted me around permanently hadn’t been a serious option before.

Then she’d talked about panties being dropped in my wake. While I had no interest in the panties of other women, my virus was more than interested in discovering what sort of panties she wore, if she’d drop them for me, and if she’d accept my posturing.