Rose Slayer looked over her worried gammas but just shook her head, making them stop looking at her like a fragile porcelain doll. She just took the coffee that Lesley prepared for her and sternly watched the busy Midnight Guardian boss, Night Hound, do his work diligently. She might not like how she thought of her husband whenever she studied him for too long.
"You're staring." Night Hound said coldly but amused, and without looking back at her.
"I'm not just wondering." Rose Slayer responded, putting down her cup on the center table.
"About what?" he asked, but she didn't say anything; instead, she turned to the siblings.
"Leave us. I need to speak with him." She sternly commanded the two who were skeptical, leaving them alone after they had just met. "Now. Please."
"Just call us if you need anything." Lesley politely gave up, making Rose Slayer wave her hand dismissively.
"Tell that to your boss for the night." She said, glancing over the MG boss, who seemed not to care what they were talking about.
"Both of you." Prince corrected before he dragged his sister to the door.
"Fair enough." She responded, and they left them alone.
Once they were alone, silence wrapped around the entire office. None of them dared to speak, but Rose Slayer was being cautious about what to say or what gesture she would show to the intriguing but mysterious man behind his desk.
"Aren't you going to ask something?" Night Hound asked, finishing his work by settling the files on the side and putting his pen down before sternly looking at Rose Slayer's curious gaze.
"Did they know that you're not human?" Rose Slayer started asking what she noticed about him.
"Then I'll ask the same of you. We might have had the same answer." He responded, sounding amused like he knew her from inside and out, making Rose Slayer shiver and frown.
"Am I that readable to his eyes?" She thought carefully, but her expression remained empty before responding, "Actually, I'm starting to ask that myself too, you know if I'm still human or turning into something a beast would be."
"And what made you think that way?" With curiosity in his tone, Night Hound carefully asked.
"I just feel different, and you seem to have had it since birth. So what are you?" She responded, shrugging her shoulders but curious about him.
"Can't you guess?" he teasingly asked, making her frown.
"I won't be asking if I could tell. So, spill." She coldly demanded, making the man chuckle, amusingly.
"True, and you're demanding." He responded, smiling at Rose Slayer like he had found a rare gem to possess.
"I heard." She rolled her eyes, trying not to be lured by those familiar eyes. It stares at her with care and possessiveness that she only feels around her husband and never around others. "He kept reminding me about Vincencio."
"I'm a lone alpha werewolf." He finally answered, catching her attention.
"Lone? I had never heard that before." She wondered, obviously curious about it.
"It seems you knew about night creatures, the way you speak and notice the difference between me and my men." Night Hound said, smirking amusingly at her curiosity.
"Only the basic ones." She said flatly, but filled with honesty.
Night Hound carefully watched Rose Slayer become comfortable on her seat, drinking her coffee, waiting for him to speak his side. However, Rose Slayer noticed it and, despite how intrigued she was, she made sure it was not written on her expression and remained unreadable until the man removed half of his mask, revealing his charming but sinister smile. It sent a shiver down her spine, making her worry about being alone with him.
"Damn, I shouldn't be attracted beyond my intrigue…but he's something and it's very familiar to the point my body is responding. It's the same way I always feel around Vince." Rose Slayer deeply thought. She was worried that her intrigue was becoming something more until the man spoke again.
"Alright, I'll tell you. I don't belong to any pack, but it doesn't make me a rogue. Lone Werewolves were a rare type of wolf shifter. They were either those who didn't belong to any pack or left the pack by themselves and never became a rogue unless they desired to be one." Night Hound briefly gave his answer before adding his part. "In my case, I had to leave my family, the pack, for the sake of my sanity. To heal."
"From what? I might be able to help." She said, catching both of them off guard. "Damn, where did that come from? I miss my hubby, and this man kept reminding me about it."
"You already do." He whispered, but to Rose Slayer's sensitive hearing, it was crystal clear.
"I do what? We just met, and now, he's saying that? Am I having a crush on this man because he reminds me of my hubby? Oh God, help me figure this pull I'm feeling toward this man before me." Rose Slayer thought worriedly but still masking her troubled mind by asking, "What did you say?"
"Nothing. Let's talk business now." Night Hound changed the subject because he was sensing a troubled mind coming from Rose Slayer.
"Right, business…" She muttered, nodding in gratefulness. "Good. I thank you for changing the topic. That's getting weird…"
"I bet you heard what my message was through the Presley siblings, am I right?" he started, confirming if she heard it from them, and she nodded before he proceeded. "I'm offering collaboration with you through information exchange. I'll give you precise details of certain names that you were looking for since I have tons of connections between the legal and illegal means."
"Okay, I like that term since it's what I need, but in exchange for what?" Rose Slayer said, liking his idea but curious about what he wanted from her.
"You." He replied firmly, confusing her, making him smirk, and explained his reason. "Yes, you. I want to know when you're going to do your usual hunt and…"
"No, absolutely not!" Rose Slayer firmly declined, snapping her side. "Don't get involved with my personal matters. It's mine to deal with, and I don't want anyone to touch it."
"And your men?" Amused, Night Hound asked carefully, like he wanted to know something that made her mad.
"Their jobs were finding my targets' exact locations, information about them, and making plans, but the rest, it's all on me. I don't let my men be tainted by their filthy blood, which I bet you won't be able to understand. Everything I'm doing is for revenge for what they all took away from me, and I'm keeping my men out of it. I don't want them to suffer like I do." She spat strongly without realizing that she was showing her truth to a stranger.
"Hm, I didn't know you're a caring killer." He said, very pleased with what he heard, which made Rose Slayer realize what she revealed.
"You, you did it on purpose." She frowned, making him chuckle.
"Pardon me, but I just want to see if the killer is just being a killer or if something more goes beyond the façade." He defended, but Rose Slayer sensed honesty in his tone, making her sigh in defeat.
"Not even a word to the Presley siblings about it." She rolled her eyes like she was admitting her defeat.
"Shy now?" He teased amusingly, making her glare sharply at him.
"Don't start on my wrong side, Night Hound. I never miss." She refuted with a warning, making the man shiver, but still chuckled with hands up.
"Okay, I won't dare to try it, but back on business, my offer was still the same, I'll give every precise detail of the names you have been looking for, even if they were through legal or illegal bindings. I might be able to connect you with some of them to get more information you might need. I'll give them all in exchange for your free nighttime on sparring with me." He continued what he was offering, making her arch her left eyebrow curiously.
"Sparring time with you? Why?" she wondered, but intrigued by the offer.
"Aside from wanting to help the siblings, I also want to see for myself what changes you were talking about." He honestly reasoned before pressing the privilege on sparring him. "Don't you like it if you're fighting a werewolf alpha? And who knows, you might be able to fight my wolf form if you agree with me."
"This man…he knows what I want…and I'm liking it." She thought amusingly before responding with her usual unreadable expression. "You're using my curiosity over the night creatures to fight me, don't you?"
"Well, guilty, so what would you say?" he asked, smirking like he already won something before it even happened.
"As long as it won't interfere with my alone time with my husband, then I'm good working with you." She agreed without hesitation.
"Deal. You have my word on it." He closed the deal by shaking hands with her, but through a split second of their contact, Rose Slayer felt a wave of familiarity that she knew she could no longer escape.
"What's that?" Rose Slayer's eyes went wide, and she quickly pulled her hand away from him, frowning, confused.
"Are you okay?" Night Hound worriedly asked.
"Yeah, I have to go. My husband might be home already." She replied, making an excuse, and left without waiting for a response from him. She just vanished like a passing breeze in his office. However, her mind was a little bit troubled. "What's that electrifying but soothing jolt spreading my body when our hands made contact? I'd better ask Cleo – wait, no, she's a vampire. I'd better call Ayed. He's a werewolf; he might know this."
***
Arriving home, Skylar found their house faintly quiet, making her wonder if her husband was already inside, furious, or if she had come home earlier than him. She released a heavy sigh and was about to open the door when a presence appeared behind her. It was too late to realize who she had just flipped without a doubt.
"Argh…damn, Wifey…it's me and that hurts…"
Vincencio's painful voice echoed around her ears, making her gasp, seeing Vincencio lying on the patio, easing the pain from his back and arm she just twisted before flipping.
"Sorry, Hubby. You know it's bad sneaking behind me." Skylar helped Vincencio up, apologizing but also blaming him for sneaking behind her.
"Right, blame me for being sneaky when I'm just about to call you." Vincencio sarcastically replied, getting up, letting his wife blame him.
"Sorry, forgive me." She pouted, making Vincencio soften.
"Kiss me then." He grinned and, without hesitation, Skylar rained kisses on him.
"Forgiven?" she asked adorably, and Vincencio forgot it all.
"What to forgive when you've done nothing wrong by loving me unconditionally?" he grinned teasingly, making Skylar blush.
"Sweet talker. Let's go. I'm so tired." She said, pulling away to get inside their house before asking, "How's your business?"
"Settled, but I shouldn't let my guard down because it was settled." He replied, removing his coat and shoes before following his wife to the kitchen to have something to drink.
"Was it hard?" She asked, giving him a glass of water.
"Not hard but annoying since you have to deal with some demanding clients and troublesome gangsters." He replied before drinking his water.
"Oh, you better tighten the security against them. Want me to send a few to help you around your business securities?" She suggested, worrying about her husband's safety.
"Don't worry, wifey. It's handled, but those goons were annoying. Dropping there and here, almost causing me to lose a client, gladly, they didn't back off after realizing how we complied with their demand despite how those goons were troubling us." He replied with a heavy but relieved sigh. It was good to Skylar's ears, but not the goons troubling him.
"Give me their faces and names, I'll make sure they won't make any trouble in your business anymore." With a warning in her tone, she demanded, making Vincencio almost choke from drinking.
"You would do that?" he asked for confirmation, and she nodded.
"I'm your wife, I'll help you grow and not bring you down." She winked, assuring she would do something about it.
"Okay, thanks, wifey. I'll check the CCTV tomorrow night and send you a copy." He replied in relief and pecked her lips.
"Finally, you're letting me help you around your business." She chuckled in gratefulness.
"Well, I told you, I will come to you when I need your help, and it seems like you're good at shooing nasty people around your business." He teased but pleased.
"Yeah, I'm good with it." She proudly replied, making the rest of their night be at peace, but not Skylar's mind. "I'll call Ayed tomorrow."