She stopped at the door, looking over her shoulder, pouting. “Shade, baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lose my temper. Let me make it up to you.”
Shade couldn’t believe it. She was still trying to make more of their quick sex session than what it was. His eyes bored into hers as he shook his head. “Sorry, Trixie. We don’t have a connection, there’s no future for us.”
“Bastard!” she spat out, flinging the door open and storming out, slamming the door noisily behind her. He sighed as he watched it shake in the frame, rattling for seconds until it settled down. Her Shifter strength almost wrenching it completely off its hinges.
Shade sat down on the edge of the desk, his stomach clenching as his hunger grew. Again. Damn it. Would it never ease up? He had been eating, and hunting, like a madman for days and he felt as if he was on the brink of insanity. What in tarnation was wrong with him?
The door opened again, his anger rising quickly. Couldn’t the woman just take no for a freaking answer? His tone sharp as he growled roughly. “Trixie, give it up already. Just leave.”
Royce, one of his Beta’s walked in, hands in his pockets and a grin on his face. “Trixie left and I gotta say she did not look happy.”
Shade sighed. “I know.”
“Did you two, ya know?” Royce waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“Shut up, Royce. I’m not in the mood for your jokes.”
“No, you’re not.” Royce walked over to the leather sofa then paused. “Oh, wait, did you two do it here? Do I need to disinfect it before I sit down?”
Shade picked up a heavy crystal Wolf paperweight, throwing it at Royce’s head. His Beta’s hand shot up, catching it easily as he yelled. “Hey! Don’t take your bad mood out on me. I’m just asking. I do not want to be sitting down on top of you and Trixie’s bodily fluids. Yours is bad enough, but hell, Trixie has been around the block more than once. If you get my meaning.”
“First, there are no fluids.” Shade’s eyes narrowed. “I used protection, as I always do. Second, we didn’t make it to the sofa, so you have nothing to worry about.”
“Fuck, Shade. What is going on with you? Come on, you need to talk to me, man. I’m worried about you. We all are.”
Shade pushed away from the desk, the office suddenly seeming small and confining. He drew in a ragged breath, his heart stuttering in his chest, his beast howling to be free so they could hunt and sate their hunger. Damn it. He’d spent more time hunting these past days than he had the entire past few months. Something was wrong but he was Alpha and he was loathe to admit weakness to anyone, even his best friend. “I’m fine.”
“Like hell you are. If you were you would never have done the dirty with Trixie fucking Evans.” Royce finally sat down, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees as his eyes kept pace with Shade’s movements. “You’ve been hunting alone too. Don’t think we don’t know about that, boss. Ash and his guards have seen you, not to mention others. We’re …”
Shade snapped around, growling. “So you’re keeping tabs on your Alpha now?”
Royce tilted his head, his silence speaking volumes as he stared up at Shade. The seconds ticking loudly on the clock above his desk, his ears hurting with the racket. His head feeling as if it were about to explode in a bloody mess. Shade’s hands flew up, covering the sides of his head to try to cut out the noise, Royce rising quickly and coming to his side.
“Shade, are you all right? What’s wrong, buddy?”
Shade shook off his friend’s hand, storming away to the other side of the room, putting as much distance between them as he could. His Wolf close to breaking free, so close it scared the shit out of him. He was Alpha. Always in control. Yet he wasn’t. What. The Fuck.
“Shade?” Royce stepped toward him. “What’s going on? Are you gonna shift? Here? In the fucking club?”
“No.” Shade barely managed to reply through this descended fangs, keeping his face turned away until he had regained control.
“All right, this shit is just getting too weird. I’m not leaving until you tell me what the hell is happening with you.” Royce crossed his thick arms across his chest, planting his feet wide as he stood at the door.
Shade finally relented, his near miss at losing control shaking him to the core. “I’ve no idea. It started almost a week ago. A hunger like nothing I’ve ever felt before and no matter what I eat, it doesn’t go away. I thought maybe it wasn’t food I needed. So I grabbed Trixie for a hot sex marathon but that didn’t work either. I feel as if it’s eating me up from the inside out and my beast just won’t shut the hell up. It’s prowling all the time and howling like a fucker. Everything is enhanced, sounds, sights, scents. It’s driving me insane and I don’t know how to stop it.”
Royce didn’t say anything for long moments, his eyes staying on Shade as he processed what he’d said. “I think you have to do two things, Alpha.”
Shade noticed his friend slipping into Beta mode.
“First is that you go, now, and speak with Lana, she is the Pack Healer and you should’ve consulted her before now.” Royce raised an eyebrow pointedly. “Second, you should consult the Pack archive journals for any information. Better still, get Ash to assign someone to look through them for you.”
“No. Absolutely not.” Shade snapped. “The less that know about this the better. I don’t want the Pack worrying their Alpha is going off the deep end. It’s bad enough
