Tempting His Mate(17)

There was truly nothing like being in her jaguar form. It was as if all her problems melted away. The wind rushed over her dark fur and she inhaled the salty ocean scent. Mixed with the earthiness of Asher, that scent was like heaven. Her legs were starting to burn by the time they reached the hidden pathway where they’d left their clothes.

Once they reached their belongings, Ella collapsed on her belly instead of changing back to her human form. Asher did the same, sidling up next to her so that their bodies were lined up and touching, though he was a lot bigger than her.

She angled her body so that her head was curled up against his. Taking her by surprise, he lifted a paw and laid it over her neck, tugging her close. Feeling more safe and secure than she ever had, she snuggled up to him and let herself relax. The melodic sound of the crashing ocean waves was soothing. She could hear a few packmates on their balconies nearby talking, but it seemed from a distance as she started to doze.

Part of her wanted to sleep out under the moon and stars, but knew it wouldn’t be wise. She also knew that once they shifted back into their human forms, he’d want to talk about them. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to just yet. She didn’t want to talk or think.

When Asher stiffened next to her, she tensed, her ears going back. As he removed his paw and stood, she did the same. But when he shifted back to his human form, she realized why.

An insistent buzzing penetrated the quiet night air. Cursing under his breath he reached for his discarded pants. As he answered his phone, Ella shifted.

As always there was a small bit of discomfort that was quickly followed by a rush of euphoria as she stood on her human legs. After expending so much energy, the cold was more biting now. When she bent to pick up her pajamas, she realized Asher wasn’t watching her.

His profile was to her as he clipped out one word answers to whoever was on the other line. She could have eavesdropped if she’d wanted, but chose not to. It was impolite and most shifters learned to ignore background noise from a young age.

She quickly pulled her thin top on. As she tugged her pants up, Asher let out an angry curse before ending his call.

He pinned her with those piercing green eyes and she knew that whatever he was about to say, she wasn’t going to like it. A shiver of fear threaded up her spine.

“Someone broke into your office. It’s been trashed.”





Chapter 7



Asher pressed the button to the elevators as he waited with Ella. “Why don’t you just wait in my office and—”

“No.” Ella stuck her chin out mutinously. “I’m going to check out the damage in my office. I want to see how bad it is.”

He resisted the urge to order her to the security floor instead. It would be a fruitless effort, especially when she was this agitated. He didn’t blame her, not when it was her office that had been trashed. One of his security guys had contacted him when a guest had called making complaints about strange noises above them. He and Ella had hurried back to her place where she’d changed clothes, then they’d headed straight over.

“Fine,” he muttered as the doors whooshed open.

Annoyance rolled off Ella in waves, the scent growing stronger as they rode the elevator in silence. When the doors opened on her floor, she darted past him before he’d taken a step.

Gritting his teeth, he hurried after her. It wasn’t that he was worried about her safety, not with so many pack members and himself around, but he wasn’t sure how bad the damage was yet. He didn’t want it to upset her. Grant, Max and a few of the security guys were standing outside her door talking. They stopped when they saw him and Ella striding toward them.

Grant seemed surprise that Ella was there, but didn’t say anything about her presence. Just nodded at both of them, then held his arm out to the open door. “We haven’t touched anything, just scented the scene.”

Asher’s eyes widened at the destruction. In front of him, Ella gasped, but he couldn’t see her expression as she turned, taking in the entirety of the room. The window had been opened again, but part of the latch was on the ground. Clearly someone had just torn the window open using supernatural strength. And he had no doubt that whoever had done this was supernatural.

Holes had been punched in the ceiling and through the walls. Oddly enough, the art had been removed and placed against the big windows. It hadn’t been destroyed. And neither the desk nor her chaise had been broken. So he didn’t think this was about random vandalism. No, someone was looking for something. Plaster littered everything, making the scene initially look worse than it was. The cleanup would be a pain.