Chapter Three
Meredith walked—no, she practically ran back to her room on the 16th floor. She closed the door behind her and sat on her bed, breathing deeply. Was Daric putting some sort of spell on her? She could hardly tear herself away from his gaze. No. It must have been her imagination. Daric and his damn sexy chocolate scent and his muscles and stupid handsome face and his yummy abs and…
Grreeowwrl.
Ugh. She would have told the she-wolf to shut up, but it would only encourage the damn animal.
“Arrggghhh!” she moaned, throwing herself on the bed and placing her pillow over her head. Stop it, she told herself. Why was she acting like some teenager? She had to stay away from Daric. Throwing the pillow aside, she sat up.
After the last skirmish with the mages, Meredith was transferred from her cell in the Fenrir Corporation basement detention level to the security barracks on the 16th floor. Alynna Westbrooke, who took charge of Meredith after she was detained, said that she had earned it. Meredith had, at that point, risked her life several times for the New York Lycans. The room in the Fenrir security training facilities was spartan, but it was certainly an improvement from her cell. At least here she had a window, along with a great view of the Manhattan skyline. She started to put her own touches in the room to make it homey.
Meredith also joined the new batch of recruits for the New York clan's Lycan security force. She supposed she had to do something with her time. And most of the people in the security team weren’t bad, but they were definitely in the “hazing the new girl” stage. Or at least she hoped it was, and it wasn’t just because she kicked some of their asses the first time she encountered them.
A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. “Come in,” she called.
The door creaked open, and Grant walked in.
“Hey, what’s up?” she asked.
“You know, most Lycans here would call me Alpha or Primul,” he said wryly.
“Well, you’re not my Alpha, are you?” Meredith retorted.
“I suppose you’re right,” Grant smirked. “May I?” he asked, motioning to the chair in the corner of the room.
“Go right ahead,” she shrugged.
Grant took the chair and moved it closer to the bed. He looked up and squinted at the large poster hanging over Meredith’s head. “Wow…that is…” It was a picture of a unicorn in screaming shades of purple and pink on a lime green background.
“Fabulous?” Meredith supplied.
“I was going to say headache-inducing,” Grant said, shaking his head.
“So, to what do I owe this visit? I don’t think you’re here to comment on my interior design skills.”
“Right.” Grant cleared his throat. “I have a job for you.”
“A job?” Meredith asked. “You know, you can just tell me what to do, right? You don’t have to make it sound like I have a choice.”
“But you do,” Grant said. “This is entirely voluntary. But it could be beneficial to you.”
Meredith was intrigued. “All right, you have my attention. What is it?”
“Daric has agreed to help us find Stefan and stop him. I need you to keep a close eye on him.”
Nuh-uh. No way. She just resolved to stay away from Daric, and now Grant wanted her to spend more time with him?
“I can see you’re not crazy about the idea,” Grant said. “So, why don’t you think about the next part of my deal? I’ll shorten your sentence to 5 years if you do it.”
“What?” Meredith shot up to her feet. Five years was a lot. That meant she’d be out of here soon (or soon-ish) and sunbathing on a beach in Bora-bora in no time. It was certainly better than a decade. All she had to do was babysit the warlock? “What’s the catch?”
“It wouldn’t be any different from guarding Dr. Cross,” Grant said.
“Then why not offer it to any other of your security guys?” Meredith countered. “Is it because I’m dispensable? You know, he’ll try to escape the first chance he gets and get rid of anything that stands in his way.”
“Not at all,” Grant replied. “In fact, the reason I want you to do this is that I don’t think he’d hurt you.”
Meredith remained quiet. What did Grant mean?
“Is there something wrong, Meredith? Why don't you want to be assigned to Daric? Did I walk in on something this morning?”
“What?” the blonde Lycan gasped. “That was…it wasn’t…I was just being nice because I know what it’s like to be locked up for weeks without any company.”
“Then is it because you don’t think you can guard Daric?” Grant challenged.
“No!” Meredith protested. “Fine. I mean, yes, I can babysit the warlock.”
“Good,” Grant stood up. “Because he’s moving into the room next to yours.”
Before Meredith could protest, Grant stood up and left the room.
“Oh, fuck me,” she moaned and fell back on the bed.