CHAPTER TWO
Raze smelled his secretary Bethany, before her footsteps on the carpet hit his office door. The scent of their most recent liaison clung to her body like a glove. He'd left her satisfied and snoring the previous night- like he did with every woman he spent time with. He however never reached complete satisfaction. Human women tended to be too small and delicate. Worried he'd break them he always had to hold back when making love.
Bethany pushed open his door, her slight curves hugged by a short black pencil skirt and a tight pink silk blouse. She sauntered to his desk and dropped several files onto it.
She smiled. "The land surrounding your mountain retreat finally closed."
Raze nodded and picked up the files. He was now the owner of three hundred acres of woodland in northern Oregon. Just enough room for his clan to roam free without being on top of each other. Everything was almost in place for him to call his Alpha and tell him it was time to come to Earth.
"Thank you," Raze boomed, making his secretary quiver.
Twelve years. He'd been on Earth twelve years. It was a long time for a man to go without full out mind-blowing sex. It was one of the biggest reasons he worked day and night to get the rest of his clan there. So he could find a mate of his own. An Auroran shifter mate. When he'd left he'd been not much more than a cub, and also a slave. But the years alone without any of his kind, in an unfamiliar world, had done a lot for him. It had made him strong both physically and mentally.
Bethany still stood in front of him, waiting.
"Was there something else?"
She giggled and pushed at her hair. "No. Sorry. I just... Am I going to see you tonight?" She ran her hand down her arm and bit her lip in what she probably considered seductive. But all it did was sound alarm bells in his head.
"I'm sorry. I'm leaving town tomorrow morning and I need to pack and finish up some things."
Her brows furrowed and the corners of her mouth turned down. "I didn't see a trip on your calendar."
"I was waiting for the papers." He lifted the files she'd brought in.
"Oh..." She waited for him to say more but he just gave her a tight smile and then opened the folder.
Bethany turned and wiggled from the room, looking over her shoulder at him. "I'll see you when you get back right?"
A trace of anxiety traipsed up his neck. This was always the tricky part. The next moments could be anything. Disappointment, anger, pleading- he'd seen them all.
"I'm not sure how long I'll be gone, but I'll call."
She nodded and bit her lip, eyebrows drawn together like she was trying to figure out what to do next.
He gave her a practiced smile and a wink.
In an instant her shoulders relaxed and she touched her hair before walking out.
There was a reason he only hired temps. She was the twenty sixth secretary he'd employed in two years. The last thing he needed was a sexual harassment suit. Not that he'd ever harassed anyone. Women flocked to him like bees to pollen. More than one had practically begged him to take her right there on his executive desk. He hadn't of course. Offices were not for making love.
He shook his head. He still wasn't used to the way his animal magnetism made human women cower and become turned on at the same time. Being alone for years had torn a hole in him that no amount of sex could fill.
He looked down at the papers in the file and pulled out an aerial photo. He'd do what he said. He'd leave town to go check out his new land and then he'd come home and look for temp secretary number twenty-seven.
Several hours later Raze picked up his satchel and turned out the light in his office when his phone rang in his pocket. He pushed his Bluetooth without even checking to see who was calling so late in the evening.
"This is Raze." He headed down the plush carpeted hallway past the receptionist desk toward the glass office doors.
"Good night," Bethany called.
He waved and continued on.
"Raze? Gerri Wilder."
The face of a tiny white haired firecracker popped into Raze's mind. The matchmaker.
"Ms. Wilder, this is a surprise."
"Gerri," she corrected.
Raze nodded. "My apologies."
"Can you drop by my place tonight? I'm in need of your help. And I think I can help you in return."
Raze pressed the button for the elevator. "Uh... Yes. Is something wrong?"
"Wrong? No. Just... I think you should come visit me."
What could the matchmaker want from him? She had all of the wolves on Earth at her disposal as well as several other kinds of shifters.
"You remember where my apartment is, don't you?"
Twelve years prior Gerri had helped set him up. He owed her everything. And two and a half years ago he'd gone to her in desperation asking for her to help find him a mate. Despite her best efforts, she hadn't found him one. That's when the temps had started.
"I can be there within the hour."
"Perfect. We'll be waiting."
The phone clicked off and Raze stared into the empty elevator until the doors almost closed. What could Gerri possibly need after all this time? And who was "we"?
Raze stepped from his corporate car and asked his driver to wait for him. He looked up at the tall apartment building and breathed deep. The scents of humans and shifters covered the building like it had been marked by every person in the world. His heart thundered with nervous energy. He had no clue why.
"Sir?"
Raze looked at the entrance where the doorman held the door for him.
Raze strode to the door and walked inside. His expensive shoes clipped the marble floors as he headed for the elevator. Waiting for the car he tugged at his deep gray suit trying to straighten it.
Dammit man, your suit cost three grand and looks amazing. Stop acting like a teenager on his first date, he chastised himself.
The elevator opened. Get in. Get in.
A scent wafted out to him and his gut clenched. A familiar scent that he couldn't place.
Stepping into the elevator Raze hit the button and the doors closed.
****
"Where the hell is he?" Gerri muttered.
Affina sat on a large squishy chair and watched the woman as she paced back and forth. Her instinct to pounce on the feisty wolf and pin her to the ground like a toy was almost overwhelming. But that would be bad form.
Her saber paced, wanting out and to be unleashed, to sniff and mark every surface of the new planet.
The ride from the large building Gerri had called a power plant, had been a shock. The trees were green and a drab brown color like mud. The sky had been a bland colorless bluish gray. And their sun had been harsh like a ball of fire. But it had warmed her bare arms and legs while driving to Gerri's home- a large gray box with a million windows that went up and up and up.
Earth was like nothing Affina had ever seen. The technology was inferior but their materials were not. Not wood or stone but something else. And the smells overloaded Affina, making her want to touch everything and everyone. But she'd restrained herself due to everything being so... small.
The teacup Gerri had handed Affina felt so delicate in her large hands that she'd quickly gulped down the scalding brew and set it on the table, afraid she'd break it. In the bathroom she'd grabbed onto a bar holding towels and the thing had come right off. And she didn't even want to think about what she'd done to the chair back at the power plant.
A knock sounded and Affina jumped to her feet and sniffed.
"Finally." Gerri strode to the door.
She pulled it open and a spicy male scent hit Affina. She recognized it immediately. It wasn't possible.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," came a low sultry voice.
Gerri stepped back. "Come in. Come in."
A hulking broad-shouldered male several inches taller than Affina squeezed through the door. He sniffed and then scanned the room, his bright emerald eyes landing on her and stopped. He sported golden hair and a light dusting of stubble on his strong square jaw. He looked her up and down and blinked several times before dropping to his knee.
"Your highness." He bowed his head.
His dark gray clothes pulled tight against his bulky muscles making him look even larger.
Affina sniffed again. It couldn't be. It wasn't possible. She spotted his fingers as he rubbed the tips together.
"Razor?" But... he was dead. And he should be younger than she was.
"What are you doing?" Gerri smacked his shoulder. "Get up."
Raze refused to rise at Gerri's command.
"Rise," Affina commanded.
He got back to his feet as Gerri muttered about him being ridiculous. Affina approached him and he assumed the immediate position of a soldier being inspected. She rounded him taking in his broad shoulders and back. His trim waist that tapered into long thick legs as big as tree limbs.
She stopped in front of him and looked deep into his eyes.
"It is you isn't it?" she asked.
His gaze connected with hers and he swallowed hard. "Yes, highness. But-"
Affina flung her arms around his neck. He stiffened for a moment and then relaxed into her and pulled her tight. Tears flowed from her eyes. "I thought you were dead. I thought they killed you in the attack." Her saber roared to life pacing and sniffing him wanting to be let out. Affina fought against the strange sensations, pushing her saber away and trying to get her to calm down.
He nuzzled her neck, his stubble tickling her. His warm breath hit her skin. "No Highness."
She couldn't believe it. He was alive. Her best friend. Her confidant. She clung to him as he held her tight for a moment and then she released him and wiped her eyes.
She stared at him and both of them laughed. Affina reached up and set her palm on his cheek feeling the stubble beneath her fingers. His face had changed so much.
"When I last saw you you'd barely begun to sprout facial hair. You were barely seventeen and now..."
She searched his eyes for the teen she'd known, but a man stared back at her. A handsome, strong, virile male.
Again her saber tried to emerge and Affina rubbed at her chest trying to calm the beast. What was her problem?
"How is this possible?" she asked.
"Earth's time moves quicker," said Gerri. "Ten years for every one on Nova."
Affina's hand dropped. "Ten years?"
"Yes, High-"
"Stop calling her that," said Gerri. "It's ridiculous. She's obviously not a princess anymore."
Razor's eyes rang with anxiety. "Not a princess? What has happened?"
The fear in his voice shot straight through Affina and mimicked her own.
"The Obsidian Mountain clan and another forced us from the castle. We moved from place to place trying to stay hidden but it was no use." Her voice quavered and she fought to keep it level.
"The king? Your father." His eyes rounded. "Is he..."
Affina shook her head. "He pushed me through the portal as they attacked in a glade. I fear that if he was still alive he would have joined me already."
Razor shook his head. "Then I am too late."
Affina grabbed Razor by the shoulders. "Too late for what? Why are you here?"
"Your father sent me to secure a place for our people. But it wasn't as easy as I had hoped. And now there are none of us left."
"Nonsense," said Gerri. "There are you two. And two is all you need to repopulate a clan."
Affina stared at Razor. Repopulate an entire race with just the two of them? That had not been something she'd counted on.