Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 128413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
“Yeah, sure. It’s not that far to the nearest forest if I want to shift and run.”
It was Mliss’s turn to make a sour face. “Do not saddle me with Teddy here.”
“Call me Teddy again and I’ll definitely snitch. With pictures of the scene of the crime.”
Mliss’s claws hissed out to carve furrows onto the wooden table. Look at her like this and you’d never imagine her as the cool, calm, and controlled center of their business operations.
“Now, now, children,” Remi drawled, wondering when these two would finally tear off each other’s clothes and put themselves out of their clear misery. He had no idea what the problem was; both were single, and with Mliss being a senior maternal to Theo’s sentinel, there was no power imbalance.
Mliss snarled at him, but backed off. Theo, meanwhile, finished off his final cookie and said, “You want me to handle more stuff here?”
Mliss answered before Remi could reply—and this time, she was in her COO avatar. “Won’t work. Not yet—not with the meetings anyway. Has to be you, Remi.”
Mliss had come to RainFire from a small pack built around a sprawling family—all the adults left at some point, to find mates and experience life in other packs. Some returned to their familial pack, bringing their mates with them, while others stayed put in their new packs.
Remi had all his digits crossed that Mliss would stick with RainFire long-term, because the other thing about that familial pack was that they punched way above their weight in the business world. In this sphere, Mliss had more knowledge in her pinky finger than the rest of them combined.
Which was why Remi didn’t argue with her statement, just said, “Why?”
“Because we’re not DarkRiver or SnowDancer with their decades-long track records. In business circles, while their alphas are respected and considered dangerous adversaries, DarkRiver and SnowDancer are the brand—exactly as it should be for any pack that wants to stay healthy for generations.”
Claws retracted, Mliss used a finger to worry absently at one of the grooves she’d created on the tabletop. “We’re new, and our track record is so thin as to be nonexistent. Right now, people want to deal with the boss, put a face to the pack, build a personal connection. You’re RainFire’s first alpha, Remi—you’re the one who has to turn it into a brand. But to do so, you have to act as the foundation.”
Dark eyes meeting his. “And, fact is, while you might hate the schmoozing, you’re good at putting others at ease. I see you at these meetings and I understand the string of deluded women who call you charming.”
“Damn it.” Remi could feel his eyes shifting. “How long will it take before you or Theo can take over?”
“Not for years yet.” Mliss closed her hand over his fist, her fingers long and her nails polished an opalescent pink. “Right now, RainFire doesn’t exist without you. The first alpha, or the first alpha who comes in after a bad period for the pack, is always the brand for at least a decade—it’s around that point that, if you’ve done your job right, we can distribute the weight among the pack.”
Groaning, Remi shoved both hands through his hair. He knew she was right. It took time to create the kind of business reputation enjoyed by DarkRiver and SnowDancer. He didn’t know much about the history of the wolves, but he knew DarkRiver hadn’t done it overnight, either. It had taken years and years of hard grind.
“Our job,” Lucas had said to him during his mentorship of Remi, “is to leave the pack better than when we took over. It isn’t about us. It’s about the pack.”
“Oh, by the way,” Mliss said, her clear voice mingling with the memory of Luc’s. “Lark mentioned the Scott up at the cabin, so I poked around a bit—their compound just out of town has gone into serious overdrive over the past eight months. Prior to that, it was closed up for most of the year.”
Remi’s abdomen clenched.
Eight months.
Longer than Auden’s pregnancy, but not by much. Preparation for the eventuality?
A rustle in the doorway, young Phoebe poking her head in. “Um,” the teen intern whispered, her cheeks pink and soft brown eyes rounded, “there’s a leopard at reception? He says he’s come to visit his sister?”
“Name?” Mliss asked, no-nonsense but not unkind.
Phoebe, who worshipped the ground Mliss walked on, went bright red before looking down. “I didn’t get his name. I’m so sorry, Mliss.”
“It’s all right, kitten,” Mliss said with a smile. “That’s why you’re here. To learn.”
Remi pushed up to his feet. “You two carry on. I’ll go with Phoebe.” When he tumbled the juvenile’s fine blond hair, she leaned into him with a trust that made Remi’s throat close.
This, this was what he wanted to create with RainFire. A home. A safe place.