Mom
laughed tauntingly. “You haven’t worked a day in your life.” She jabbed his chest furiously. “You gamble and whore around Manhattan. If that’s what you call a job, then sign me up.”
He
grabbed her hand roughly. “You knew what you got when you got involved with me.”
Her
green eyes narrowed on his painful grip on her hand. “It would be in your best interest to release me before I do something I won’t regret.”
“Threats
from the Fae-witch? Well, that’s hilarious. I'm not scared, Ava. If you want to fight, then let’s fight. But don’t bring magic into it because being torn apart by a wolf-shifter trumps witchcraft any day.”
She
scoffed. “What do you know about shifting? You’re an alcoholic half-breed whose major talent used to be that he was a good lay.” She looked at him like he was shit under her designer stilettos. “Even that skill was limp and lacking a month later.”
He
sneered. “It wasn’t lacking, honey. It just didn’t have proper motivation.”
“You’re
wolf trash, Jack. A major mistake, but I did get something out of it that I will cherish forever. Stormy.”
His
smile disappeared. “It’s always about Storm. The last surviving heir of the Credence bloodline.” He laughed cruelly.
She
smirked. “Really? You’re jealous of your own flesh and blood. Fascinating.”
He
smashed his glass on the ground. “It’s always some game with you. You’re the ultimate manipulator. Always have been and always will be.” He paced back and forth as Mom looked at him like a specimen under the microscope. “No man will ever love a Credence woman. You’re just too damn hard to love.”
Mom
tapped her foot impatiently. “Please, Jack, you knew it was never about love for me. I needed what was between your legs. Stormy was more than worth the hassle of having to deal with you.”
“Yes,
how could I forget? You wanted a child who could carry on the Credence name.” His gaze flipped from her to me. His eyes were cold and glassy. “I never wanted Stormy. You did.”
She
arched a brow. “Are you done?”
I
ran over to my mother, grabbing her around the waist. Mom rubbed my head softly while looking at him with cold eyes.
“Good.
Now leave and don’t ever come back, Jack, or contact Stormy. Ever.”
“I've
been done for years, Ava,” he responded coldly before striding away on wobbly legs.
Even
that young, I refused to cry. “How come he didn’t love me, Mommy?”
She
pulled my hair from my face. “He doesn’t even love himself, baby. How can you expect him to know how to love you?”
If you don't learn from the past, you’re doomed to repeat it. And I, for one, had no intentions of letting that happen. I had a lifetime of hard-knock lessons I held close to my heart. I scowled, glancing at the sparkling, beautiful Manhattan skyline. Hating the fact I let my mind wander. I didn't linger in the past; it already happened. There was nothing I could do to change it. All I could do was learn from it. I was determined to move forward to a bright future. A lonely but prosperous one, focused on keeping our business successful. Building onto the empire that made my family wealthy. And to do that, we needed to gain the respect of our employees—the escorts. They were the rare commodities that didn’t respect Light’s or my authority—yet.
I
moved back to a safer topic, our missing employee. “Celina knows the rules. Notify us if she's going out of town. And as flighty and scatterbrained as she is, she always does that.” A shiver ran down my spine. “No, something's wrong. And it's the wrong time for something to be wrong. She's the only she-wolf escort that we have.”
“Storm
, will you shut it? You're killing my buzz.” She took another big swallow of champagne. “Why are we still talking about this shit?”
My
eyes widened as my mouth hung open. “Have you been asleep during my whole tirade? Ryker wants an escort for his best friend. Some freaky birthday present.”
She
gave me a look of confusion.
Sighing
heavily, I continued. “Ryker Alfero.” Light just stared, so I continued. “Ryker Alfero, Alpha of one of the largest and most powerful wolf-shifter packs in New York? He's the fucking leader of the Other Council.” Everyone knew about Ryker's fight for Alpha position of the pack. When his father was killed in a bloody wolf clan battle, he challenged his uncle for Alpha position and won.
Light
rolled her eyes. “I know who he is. I just can't figure out why you just didn't tell me the problem a half an hour ago instead of blabbering.”
My
mouth dropped open with shock. “What? Did you think I was looking for Celina because I was looking for sex advice? We need her.”
Light
drained her glass. “Give me the rundown again.”
“I
got very limited information from Mom. All I know is that he's requested a she-wolf for some best friend who’s in town for a couple of weeks. It's some birthday surprise present for him.”
Light’s
eyebrows furrowed. “The contract covers non-pack members?”
I
shrugged. “Unfortunately, it does. And since you've been handed the easier assignment, I'm stuck going to the party to meet them to ensure that they’re clear on the parameters of our services.” I rubbed my head, feeling the start of a major migraine coming on. “Ryker's too powerful for us to mess this up.” Not to mention that our families had history—very bad history.
Light
frantically flicked through the repository of escorts on her tablet. “Okay, we’ve got a couple shifters available at the end of this week. A tigress and a jaguar. So you bat those gorgeous hazel eyes, smile, run your tongue over your full pouty lips all sexy like. Then casually have Ryker's friend look through our roster of shifters and hope like hell he takes the bait and switches.”
“What
planet are you on? Besides, his contract specifically states that a she-wolf must be provided. Which means that we're royally screwed because I'm not trying to piss him off by telling him we don't have something that we contracted to provide.”
Light
inhaled sharply. “I heard he has a wicked temper.”
“Okay,
thanks for adding, Light.” I paused. “If I don't find a she-wolf like quick, fast, and in a hurry, we are both screwed, partner.” I sighed heavily, already tired of a game that had been played by our ancestors for centuries. Only this time it was our time to play. And if we lost, we would be the first Credence generation to change history, and not in a good way.
“Shit!
We're fucked.”
I
clapped my hands. “Finally! I get some concern from you. It's not just me, baby. It's you and me in this clusterfuck! So hold on for the wolf ride because it's going to get real bumpy.”
Light
scooted from the couch. “Hell, why do they do this shit? They’re getting more devious every day.”
“Just
another test to see if we can handle this business—if I survive the blood bath of being mauled to death by an Alpha.”
Light
snarled. “You're not getting ripped to shreds by some crazy wolf-shifter.” She pulled out her cell, shouting, “Crazy witch!” voice-dialing Lia.
“What
, Light?” Lia responded with an annoyed voice.
Light
screamed, “What the hell, Mom?” She was actually hyperventilating while I was thinking about how to avoid being ripped to pieces by a pissed-off shifter. Light continued her hysterics. “You and Aunt Ava promised a big, badass wolf-shifter a she-wolf we don't have.”
I
pulled her cell closer. “Aunt Lia, where's my mother?”
Mom’s
husky voice interrupted like some sultry, sexy kitten. “Calm down, sweetheart. Why are you screaming? I'm right here. You’ve always been such a high-strung little witch in training.”
I
wasn’t going to fall for her distraction techniques. No, this time I was focused on the issue of not wanting to die. “Mom, why is your cell turned off?”
“Jack
is phone stalking me again. Something about wanting to meet me to discuss important business. Well, that's not going to happen.” She sighed. “What do you want, honey? We're very busy.”
My
patience was running thin. “Didn't you hear what Light just said? We don't have a she-wolf.” I wanted to bang my head with frustration. “Credence O. rule, always deliver what's promised to the client. We—can't—deliver,” I screamed.
Aunt
Lia responded coolly, “Improvise, darling.”
My
gaze slid to Light before responding. “Improvise? That's your answer? I can’t conjure up a she-wolf. Believe me, right about now, I wish I could.”
Aunt
Lia chimed in with an annoying singsong voice. “Improvise.”
Mom
laughed before she said, “You're a big girl. Both of you are. Credence women have been dealing with Others for centuries. Doing what is necessary to keep our business successful. Don't be the one Credence to fuck this up.” Her voice was cool and collected. Nothing ruffled that woman’s feathers.
Aunt
Lia said, “Well, darlings… we've got to go now. The party is starting and we need to get first dibs on the major hotties.”
Light
’s face was flushed with anger. “This is so bad.”
I
refused to give up. “Are you testing us?”
“We
don't have time for games, Storm. You should know that, especially when it comes to the family business,” Mom responded. “But we do question your ability to run this business without us. Just listen to you two. You're panicking over a missing she-wolf. Tradition is tradition. You must prove you can run it without our intervention. No exceptions.”
“Humph,
especially to someone who's turned her nose up at who we are and what we do, while reaping the rewards,” Aunt Lia said.
I
squirmed. “I've never turned my nose up.” Well, not exactly. “I've managed the funds. I’ve done excellent investing, doing everything you two refused to do by actually focusing on something other than entertaining clients.”
“I'm
never doing magic, ever! Boo-hoo!” Aunt Lia mocked me and my decision to never use the craft.
“That’s
my choice and it doesn’t have anything to do with my right…”—I looked over at Light—“
our
right to claim our legacy, taking over the business. By Credence law, you two are supposed to transition the business over to us and then fade into retirement.”
Light
chimed in, “Poof be gone, Mother.”
Mom
laughed. “I do believe these two are the worst of the Credence bloodline. And let’s not talk about the sad fact that there's no mate potential. The Credence bloodline will die with them.” She sighed loudly. “It's damn depressing.”
Aunt
Lia responded, “I know, no grandbabies. God, I’m going to be sick.”
I
rolled my eyes. “Damn drama queens. I don't hear Aunt Trulista whining about the last of the bloodline.” I hated the fact that it was a true statement. We were literally the last of the Credences. If we didn't produce children, the bloodline would die with us. Not that we succumbed to pressure. I wasn't even sure I wanted children. A fact I would never tell my mom for fear that she would literally have a heart attack.
Mom
responded coolly, “Tru is too busy with coven business. Besides, she did her part by providing a Credence heir. It's not her fault that Sky is as hopeless as you two. For goodness sake, this isn't rocket science. Find a man and have a child.”
Light
sputtered, “We’ve got plenty of time.”
Aunt
Lia scoffed. “Please. You think committed is something they do to crazy people. And poor Storm hasn’t gotten laid in so long that if she cracks open those gorgeous legs, you’ll see cobwebs and dust.”
Mom's
laughter was smooth like molasses. “Good one, sister.”
Listening
to them was annoying as hell. “Not everyone believes a good date means a night at a BDSM club with a seedy wolf-shifter licking her stilettos.” I smiled wickedly. “Or that foreplay begins at the sound of the come-and-get-it dinner bell.”
Light
and I high-fived. It was like a tag team. Us against our mothers.
Light
chimed in, “Dinner is served.”
Aunt
Lia laughed. “Insolent little witches. Admit it. You both just gave up on trying to find a man. It's sad really.”
Light's
eyes went wide. “For the last time, I'm on a man break. Storm's the one who's avoiding finding a man.”
I
gave her the evil eye. “Remind me that you have an ass kicking coming to you.”
Light
shrugged. “I'm just saying that you're ready. I'm not.”