Chapter 1
Leaning back against the bar of Dev Beat, a popular San Francisco nightclub, Laney Marconi tugged on the hem of her short black dress and took a sip of her club soda. She’d asked the bartender to garnish the glass with a slice of lime so that it looked like a gin and tonic. The drink and the outfit were all part of her disguise to look like a regular club patron. Blue and purple ceiling strobe lights pulsed in time with the loud music screaming from the speakers. The oval-shaped bar’s lighting display was made entirely of cobalt neon lights strategically placed to make the counter and the liquor shelves in the middle look as if carved out of ice. A suitable environment in which to hunt a Swedish wolf.
Laney smiled to herself, but when one of the men at the bar took that as an invitation to take a step closer, she quickly schooled her features into her regular resting-bitch-face. A snooty head-toss flipped the long red tresses of her wig over her shoulder as she dismissed the guy and continued on her circumvent path around the bar, closer and closer to her target this evening, Arek Varg.
Since he wasn’t looking her way, Laney took a moment to study him through a mirror on the wall opposite. She’d never met him but knew of him through his reputation. Or maybe lack of reputation was a better expression because security around the head alpha of the western wolf packs was locked down tight. Laney had scoured the internet for information, but Mr. Varg had no social media presence.
His company’s website provided only information about their security services, nothing about its handsome owner. Arek Varg’s short blond hair and azure blue eyes betrayed his Scandinavian origin, and the tailored cornflower-colored button-down shirt he wore deepened his eyes’ color. He looked like he should be in a movie or on a billboard.
She kept watching Varg through the wall of mirrors as she positioned herself on the opposite side from where he sat at the race-track shaped bar. Even though the bar staff flittered between them as they filled drink orders, and that glass shelf system filled with bottles of alcohol occupied the middle, she could still see him. He kept looking at his phone. Maybe to check the time, or perhaps to check for incoming messages.
Laney’s client had assured her they’d make sure Varg came to the bar at this precise time. She had no idea what they’d use to lure him there. Her job was just to recover the stolen artifact that Varg wore around his neck. She was too far away to see the medallion, but the pictures had shown a platinum wolf head inscribed with runes and three interlocking triangles. At first, she’d been surprised to receive the files that showed the wealthy shifter was her new target. Although not many details about Varg’s personal life or background were public, he was known within the supernatural community as being upstanding and honest, if a bit archaic in some of his leadership theories. The only few rumblings she’d been able to dig up about the popular alpha were about members who had stepped out of bounds of the pack rules being punished a little too severely by Varg’s enforcer.
But none of that was Laney’s concern. The only thing she needed to worry about was to recover the stolen talisman for the insurance company that had hired her. She may have fallen far from her former prestigious academic position, but she still prided herself on doing her job quickly and professionally. Besides, the heels she’d chosen to wear with the black dress were pinching her toes, and she wanted to get home and exchange her party outfit for comfy slippers and pajamas. She slowly strode along the bar as if she was looking for an opening among the throng gathered at the counter so she could order another drink from the bartender.
She needed to be close enough to be ready to strike when the perfect opportunity presented itself, but not so near that she attracted Varg’s attention or, goddess forbid, made eye contact. She’d learned the hard way that people better remembered individuals they’d looked in the eye, even if only for a fleeting moment.
Five people separated them now.
Laney sipped her drink as she once again used the mirrors to keep an eye on her mark. She tapped her toe impatiently and squelched the butterflies in her stomach. It was always like this right before the action started, nerves mixed with excitement and anticipation. Later on, once she was back home and safe in her apartment, the adrenaline crash would make her exhausted, but right now, that same adrenaline sharpened her senses and provided her with hyperfocus.
She knew it was all in her imagination, but it was as if despite the loud music, she could hear the rustling of Varg’s shirt’s expensive fabric caressing the skin of his arm as he turned the phone to look at the time again. The impatient sight that left his lips caressed her ears. She even felt the warmth from his body as irritation heated his blood.
Finally, what she’d been waiting for happened.
A tall brunette in a slinky red dress that perfectly draped and displayed her curves approached Varg. The woman placed her elbow on the bar and leaned to face Varg, her back toward Laney, who quickly decreased the distance between herself and the target until she was right behind the woman, but facing the bar. Frankly, Laney was surprised that it had taken this long for anyone to try to flirt with Varg. Maybe it was his grim expression and impatient energy that kept potential hookups away. What was the male equivalent of resting bitch face? Resting jerk face? Resting dick face?
She smiled to herself again, and the bartender stopped as she passed by. “Can I get you another one?” the petite woman with bright purple hair gestured toward Laney’s drink.
“Oh no, I’m fine,” she answered, and the bartender continued toward one of the many other patrons gesturing for refills.
Crap, she’d gotten caught up in her own musings and the bartender’s question. Rule number one, never take your eyes off the target. She angled her body so she could catch a glimpse of what Varg and the woman conversing.
The temptress in the red dress had good game. She’d cocked a hip against the bar and flicked her hair over one shoulder. A sultry smile played on her lips, and she’d slightly lowered her eyelids as she traced a finger on the rim of her glass of red wine.
Laney almost felt sorry for Varg or whoever did his laundry, but hopefully, the stain would come out of that beautiful shirt he was wearing. She twisted so that she bumped into the brunette. As the other woman splashed the handsome wolf alpha with wine, Laney slipped around her, heading straight toward Varg.
A quick burst of power channeled through her fingertips broke the medallion’s chain around the alpha’s neck, and Laney kept moving as she slipped the artifact down her cleavage. She joined the crowd on the dance floor. Raising her arms above her head, she closed her eyes and abandoned her body to the rhythm of the music. Her hips swayed as she danced herself closer to the middle of the floor so that more and more people shielded her from the soaked alpha. The medallion heated her skin as it lay nestled in nestled between her breasts, and she resisted the temptation to tap into its magic and find out how many centuries old it was. She needed to transport it to a parallel dimension quickly, in case she got caught.
When she’d been Dr. Marconi in the Anthropology and Archeology department at the university, she’d used her powers over earthbound materials only to evaluate and date historical artifacts. She’d never shared her shifting dimensions ability because making items disappear would be considered by her colleagues as either a cheap party trick or something suspicious because it could be used to steal priceless objects.
Now that skill was her primary source of income. She refused to give in to the feeling of shame that sometimes came over her when she thought about how low she’d sunk.
Tomorrow, she’d meet with the insurance company representatives, who would then return the artifact to its rightful owner. Like many of their competitors, they’d rather hire an independent contractor to recover the items instead of calling the police. That way, they could keep news about items stolen out of the press. Returning objects to their rightful owner gave Laney a small sense of pride, but mostly she cared about the check they’d give her that would finally make it possible to pay her outstanding bills and rent.
She brought her arms down again and covered her chest with her palms as she kept dancing. She guided her power into the medallion, deeper and deeper until the platinum metal vibrated on a molecular level. A half-second later, she felt it disappearing beyond the space she and the other dancers occupied. Its presence was still with her, but it was a different her, another Laney. That woman danced in a club just like this one, with the artifact still nestled in her cleavage, but to Laney, she appeared hazy, as if in a dream.
All she had to do now was maintain the connection with that other Laney until she got back to her apartment. Once there, she’d ask for the medallion back and then lock it away in the safe in her apartment.
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Includes:
-> Fated Mates
-> Billionaire Alpha Wolf Hero
-> Headstrong Smart Witch Heroine
-> Enemies to Lovers
-> Sizzling Chemistry that Burns Up the Sheets