Chapter 2: The Silvermane Heir

Haley barely remembered to hide the phone as she whirled around, a lie on the tip of her tongue, an excuse ready to spill and save her *ss, but none of that happened. The words didn’t come, instead, her breath hitched.

She didn’t trip over the words or even get tongue tied, not really. The man standing in front of her, looking at her with the most gorgeous eyes she had ever seen, had stolen her breath away.

Haley didn’t believe in love at first sight, but she was definitely feeling something at first sight and now was NOT the time to be mooning over a handsome face! D*mn!

Hot d*mn, actually—no!

No. This was not supposed to happen. A handsome man she could deal with, even accept. What she couldn’t was that standing before her was one of her targets—or, well, people she was supposed to be wary of and watch out for.

All the family members of the three main packs were on that list and who else would find her but Remus Silvermane, the youngest son of Alpha Solas Silvermane, the host of tonight’s party who knew for a FACT she was supposed to be in this room.

Haley was disappointed in herself. And she claimed herself to be good for the role she was playing. It wasn’t very good that someone walked in on her doing crime, especially him of all people.

“I’m sorry—I was just catching my breath. This is my first night working such a venue and the crowds a bit…” Haley gave a helpless little shrug and a sheepish smile, and Remus’s posture seemed to relax a bit.

He…he really was handsome though, in the sort of way where she felt almost embarrassed to be staring at him. With shaggy, charcoal colored hair and pretty red eyes like bright embers. His pale skin just made his features stand out even more.

A sharp, chiseled jawline and a charming smile, he wouldn’t be out of place on a magazine cover, even if he wasn’t a Silvermane.

That was the problem though, he was a Silvermane and she was a Parker who was also a server, who was somewhere where she wasn’t supposed to be.

“Interesting place to catch your breath.” His tone was light, playful almost, making it hard to tell whether he was on to her or cracking a joke.

“Yes, well, it was the first one that was empty. I’m usually the one partying, so I suppose it’s all a bit new.”

“Well, sorry to ruin your break but you’re still not allowed in this room. I’ll let you off with a warning though, since you’re new and all.”

“That’s very kind of you Master Silvermane.” She acted a bit flustered. She hadn’t been figured out just yet, it seemed, he was being far too nice for that.

She could salvage the situation, all she had to do was ditch the phone. Easier said than done though.

“Just Remus, Master Silvermane feels too stiff. Besides, I could tell immediately you were new.”

“It’s not that obvious, is it?” Haley said with a dramatic, put-upon sigh, getting a laugh.

“No, not at all. This room is just special.”

“Is that so, then, Remus, if you don’t mind me asking, what IS this room used for?” Not her best line but Haley’s best bet was to get him talking so she could ditch the phone and then his handsome face.

Remus gave a small, amused smirk before opening one of the doors and her eyes widened. Dozens of bottles of wine—expensive ones at that, were lined up, row after row.

“Wine room, my father’s private one at that and he doesn’t exactly want staff in here using his own reserve.”

No. Haley didn’t think Solas Silvermane would want his staff in here. She couldn’t see him offering them a cup let alone a single drop. There was a reason she was doing this after all.

“Well, thank you for saving my night, and my job. I’m very grateful for that…” she got a bit closer, trying to look interested and it wasn’t hard.

For a moment, Haley was worried that she had lost her touch, that ‘Heather’ wasn’t as seductive as she was supposed to be but then Remus was leaning in, focusing more on her.

Seems whatever attraction going on was mutual, those bright red eyes roving over her, a shiver clawing its way down her spine before he was grinning, fangs on display and it shouldn’t have been so hot.

“I never did get your name, even though you seem to know mine.”

She took that moment to basically hacky-sack the phone she stole while his eyes were on her, catching it on her foot before letting her voice cover up the noise as she sent it skittering across the floor.

He didn’t even notice.

“Well, I didn’t give it before.” She giggled playfully. “Heather Parker—I’m just a distant relative, I wanted a change of pace and a party seemed right up my alley.”

“Even though you’re serving the guests?” He asked, and she laughed like he was the funniest guy in the world.

“Why, don’t you know? You meet a lot of fun people in places like this. A shame I have to go back to work though.”

“Sure, you don’t want to continue that break of yours with some company?”

Heather Parker would’ve taken that offer up in a heartbeat and a part of her was still tempted to do so.

Unfortunately, Haley Butcher had a job to do and getting found anywhere near Alpha Parker’s phone would be bad.

“That’s very tempting, but I’d like to do this a LOT more than just tonight, so how about the next time you see me…I take you up on that offer~?” With a flirty little wink, Haley made her way out of the room.

She could feel Remus’s gaze burning into her back, and maybe just a bit lower but she couldn’t say she hated it and wasn’t that the crazy thing. Someone who was supposed to be her enemy was making her fall for him effortlessly!

Her heart was out of control, and her hands were shaking a bit from the adrenaline. That had been far too close.

She grabbed another tray of Champagne flutes, taking a breath and fixing a smile onto her face as she went back out into the crowd of rich party goers.

Her shift would end in a bit and then she could get the hell out of there and keep herself from getting incriminated.

Across the floor her eyes connected with Remus’s, and she gave him a coy little smile and wave, her cheeks heating up and her heart continuing to flutter as he waved back and even gave her a saucy wink.

She was still nervous, afraid of getting caught—it had nothing to do with that handsome face and burning gaze, though. Nothing at all. It was the fear of getting caught, that’s all it was, and she would stick by that.

Still…she hadn’t expected one of her enemies to be so cute.

It took a few more hours before Haley’s shift finished and she could finally leave the Silvermane manor without getting incriminated or stopped.

Leaving the upper district for the lower district was always a sight—and not usually a pleasant one. The clean buildings and pretty, manicured grass was replaced with smog and grit and dirt.

In short, the lower district where she lived was better known as the industrial district where most of the labor force resided.

For as ugly as it looked though, it was home and Haley felt far more comfortable walking their dirty streets than plastering on a fake smile in front of the rich.

She was lucky that the trains didn’t stop running this late at night and only had one go around the track every hour. She’d already suffered through hosting at the party, Haley didn’t think she’d make the hour-long trek back home.

Besides, home wasn’t even her destination, she had somewhere else in mind.

It was a building, nothing too fancy, more of a warehouse than anything but they weren’t just using it to store shipments and the daily paper. Inside the rusty building was her HQ, and she had a report to give.

“Bret, you in?” Haley kept her voice low but one knock on the metal walls had the sound echoing through the entire building.

“Haley, baby, and I was wondering if you were gonna show tonight.”

“As if you didn’t know I’d show after a night like tonight,” Haley scoffed playfully, making her way towards her boss. Bret Stonebridge, a head taller than her with some muscle under that casual two-piece suit of his.

He was black, his curls always neatly buzzed and trimmed along with his beard and his eyes a piercing violet. Haley couldn’t really imagine anyone else as the leader of their great Better Union. No one else had the same drive as Bret did.

Bret had family—not that he’d ever give up their names to any of them no matter how much he trusted them. He wanted a better life for his kids though then what they were getting now.

He tossed something towards her head, and she caught it, a little velvet case, and she rose a curious brow.

“And what the hell is this?”

“That, Hales, is gonna be your new best friend.”