SHIFT (Mackenzie Grey #1) (4 page)

“But you have to stay—”

“The hell I do.” I snatched my wrist back. “You can’t make me do shhhhiiii—,” I slurred as I felt a pinch on my neck. Where the hell did they come from? My head felt heavy and my mouth went dry before I was consumed by darkness and a familiar pair of arms. The bastard!

The pounding in my head was like open mic night at Pete’s—just a bunch of idiots banging on their instruments. Serious eye boogers glued my eyes shut so I couldn’t see well but I worked my jaw open and closed since it was so stiff. I must have been grinding my teeth while I slept. As I rubbed my eyes open, I came face to face to what was becoming a regular nightmare: Jonah.

“Ugh!” I rolled over and turned my back toward him. I felt a weight push the mattress down and Jonah was climbing over me so he laid on his side, facing me again. I pulled the covers over my head to hide. “Go away!” I mumbled.

“Oh come on, Mackenzie. Let me explain,” he said and pulled the covers back down. “I didn’t mean to knock you out again, but you…uh…you’re not as easy to
manage
as we thought.” He diverted his eyes and that only made me narrow mine.

“What do you mean
manage
?”

“Nothing. Look, we’re sorry but you have to understand that our community has a set of rules that need to be followed—even if you’re not Pack. It’s just the way things are,” he said and his soft brown eyes were so apologetic, I almost forgave him for shooting me up with a sedative—twice—but I’m not that forgiving. I was about to give him a piece of my mind when I realized our close proximity and the fact that we were in bed together.

He’d put on a shirt to replace the one he’d given me, but I could still see the finely cut ridges of his body and the taut muscles of his broad shoulders. He was quite a sight to behold and I had to shake my head to clear my thoughts. They were going down a road I wasn’t ready to go through and our closeness wasn’t helping.

“Can you back up, you’re in my bubble,” I snidely said.

He smirked. “Your bubble? Am I making you nervous, Mackenzie Grey?” he scooted closer to me and I held my breath. He placed a hand on top of my hip and leaned forward to whisper in my ear; his neck inviting me to nibble on it. “You should know that werewolves have a very keen sense of smell, and you, Mackenzie, are drenched in fear,” he said and I felt his very soft lips brush my all-of-a-sudden, sensitive earlobe.

Someone cleared their throat from the door.

“Am I interrupting?” I pushed away from Jonah and he climbed off the bed and met our visitor. It was none other than his douche bag of a brother.

“Nah, we were just chatting,” Jonah said and winked at me. “Mackenzie, I’d like to formally introduce you to my twin brother, Jackson.”

“Twin?” my eyes bugged out as they switched back and forth between the two. I mean they resembled each other but Jackson seemed a little older. I tilted my head to the side and tried to get a better look.

“Like what you see?” Ugh, and he had the same (if not bigger) ego as his brother Jonah.

“Actually no, Douche. What I’d like is to GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!” I screamed the last part so they’d get the picture. While it may be a single girl’s dream come true to be stuck in bed surrounded by a ton of hunks—it just wasn’t one of my fantasies. “I’m tired of being jerked around and sedated. Can someone please show me the goddamn exit so I can go home? I promise I won’t tell your freakin’ secret to anyone,” I said and slammed my hands on the mattress like a child throwing a tantrum.

“It’s not about you telling people
our
secret, it’s about finding out who the hell you are. There are very detailed documents about wolves and our family lines—and you’re not part of it,” Jackson said with a scowl.

“But do I have to be here for you to find out?” Seriously, what was the point of keeping me? It’s not like I was doing anything, they might as well let me leave.

“What, let you leave so you can skip town? No way, your cute little ass is staying right here,” Jackson said and I felt gross at the fact he thought my ass was cute. He wasn’t ugly but he was such a jerk.

“Skip town? First off, this is the city and secondly, my research paper is due this coming week, there’s no way I’ve slaved away on it just to not turn it in,” I said with a humph.

“A paper? Like schoolwork?” Jonah asked and I rolled my eyes. “What are you going to school for?” he said it like it was a foreign thought.

“Criminal Justice.” The bothers exchanged a look of disbelief between each other. “What?” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“How far along are you in your field?” Jackson asked.

I scrunched my eyebrows together, wondering where they were going with this. “I’m in my last year. I intern at One Precinct Plaza.”

“Shit,” Jonah mumbled. “When do you go?”

Now I was catching on. They were scared if people found out I was missing and I’m sure if Amy wasn’t here with me, she’d gone down to the precinct and told them. I’d have the whole squadron looking for me soon. “I go weekdays after class,” I said with a smirk.
Suck on that, losers!

Jackson straightened and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t believe you. You’re probably some English major or something wacky like that.”

I scoffed. “I don’t care if you believe me or not. If you keep me here any longer, you’re looking at all of 1PP crawling up your asses!” I was embellishing but desperate times…

“Whatever,” Jackson waved me off.

I threw the covers and jumped off the bed, pulling Jonah’s flannel down to cover my rump.

“Sebastian!” I yelled as I stomped over to the door. If they weren’t going to let me leave, then I was going to make their lives miserable. Time to find my inner chick and cry and whine about everything.

Jonah grabbed me from behind, his arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me back against his chest. “Not so fast there, smarty pants. The big guy is busy. I’m sorry if Jackson hurt your feelings,” he whispered softly in my ear and I huffed out, trying to ignore the tingle in my belly.

A dark and looming figure stood under the door and the room shrank once he stepped in, clouding the entrance. Sebastian stood there, hands on his hips and he was pissed. Would he ever look at me differently?

“What’s going on here?” he asked—no, demanded.

“Nothing, Boss, we’re just chatting,” Jackson said, all joking aside.

“No, they were harassing me,” I said and Jonah’s grip tightened around my waist. I forgot he was still holding on to me and I frowned. Sebastian looked at the three of us and then down at Jonah’s arm and his eyes narrowed.

Not wanting to stir the pot, I plucked his arm off me and stepped aside. I could see where this might look…suspicious. Jonah snapped his head my way and gave me such a stern look that was the complete opposite of the jokester I’d come to see him as. I shrunk under his glare and I was starting to think all these wolves had some air of dominance to them.

“Come with me,” Sebastian said and jerked his head outside the room. He didn’t wait for me to respond or to see if I was following. I looked back at the brothers—who were both glaring at me—and hurried to catch up to Sebastian.

I ran out and saw Sebastian going down the stairs to the main floor. Barefoot and cold, I hustled to catch up and shivered as my feet came in contact with the steel. It’s rare to ever feel anything other than hot. They must have the AC blasting in here.

“You’re cold,” he stated and peered down at me once I was walking next to him.

“Y-yes,” my teeth chattered and his face darkened. He might have been upset with me for being so weak—because I doubt he was upset at anyone else for not taking better care of me. If only…

“Luna!” he barked and I jumped at his unexpected raised voice. “Get Mackenzie a pair of sweats and some shoes.” The woman who was mopping the main floor nodded at Sebastian, set the mop against the wall and hurried to get what he asked for. “Damn Jonah can never do what he’s told,” he mumbled.

“Are they all at your beck and call?” I mumbled and he jerked to a stop in front of me, almost making me run into him.

“Do you always have a retort for everything?” he said and those ice-cold blue eyes froze me in place.

“It wasn’t a
retort
, I was just saying, it seems like everyone runs to your every whim,” I said and met his stare, matching his dominance. I refused to cower under his intensity and run away with my tail in between my legs, no matter how scary he might be—or good looking. Ugh, I had to stop thinking about him that way. Jonah was able to smell my fear so they might be able to smell if I was aroused. Does that even have a smell? That was so trippy and kind of gross.

“They do as their Alpha says, like they should,” he said. “Soon, you will as well.”

“Not happening. I’m not joining your little club.”

“We’ll see,” he said and turned around just as the Luna came up to us with the items he requested. He handed me grey sweatpants that tightened at my ankles and a pair of pink, fluffy slippers.

“Uh…can you turn around?” I asked, but he crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes more intently. Asshole.

With Jonah’s flannel still on, I tried to discreetly pull up the sweats but I’m sure I flashed my undies either way. Once I slid my feet in the slippers, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh that was mixed with a moan. Not one of my finest moments but the softness was a much needed reprieve from the cold that was making my toes into little popsicles.

“Better?” Sebastian asked huskily. I raised an eyebrow at him but he continued, “Come on, I was in the middle of a phone call when you cried wolf,” he said and I chuckled. I guess he did have a sense of humor.

I followed him down a hallway across the main floor and down another pair of stairs that I think led to the basement. There was nothing really special about it, it just looked like another floor. We made two lefts and a right until we stopped in front of a door and he opened it without knocking. It was an office and there was someone already waiting for him. In the middle of the room was a large oaken desk with a laptop and papers scattered around. Two chairs sat in front of it and the small space was surrounded with bookshelves.

A woman with long, silky blonde hair that reached below her butt, was sitting on top of the desk with one of her bare legs across the other and red pumps on her feet. She had cat-like eyes that narrowed once she saw me behind the giant that was Sebastian. This whole scenario looked like a really bad porno. She was wearing a man’s white button up shirt that wasn’t even buttoned, with no bra on. And yes, this was my inner prude talking. This chick was ready to do the nasty and I didn’t think she was expecting anyone—much less me—to mess up her plans.

“Not now, V,” Sebastian said as he spared her a glance and walked around the desk. This must be his office. I tried to look around but felt the glare of the woman he called V, who was still perched on his desk.

“Who’s this?” she asked, never taking her eyes off me.

“This is Mackenzie Grey,” he said as he sat down on the chair. “She’s a lone-wolf.” He turned the laptop on and started to look for something in the pile of papers he had.

She smirked. “A lone, eh? How lovely,” she purred and I couldn’t hold back a grimace. Not that she scared me, but she made me want to barf. Unless I’m reading this all wrong, she came here to bone Sebastian—possibly on top of the desk. Yuck. I didn’t even contemplate the idea that he may have a girlfriend. Of course he does, he’s like sex on a stick.

Quick mental note, I better not touch that desk, or even the chairs for that matter; I didn’t know how many times they “used” this office.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” he asked a little irritated.

“Of course, Bash. That’s why I’m here…remember? I penciled you in for this evening, you promised,” she whined and turned to him. Her laced rump peaked out of the shirt she wore when she leaned across the desk to him. Ew, gross. I diverted my eyes to the ceiling because this was getting really awkward. If there was ever a time I would miss Jonah—hell, even Jackson—it was now. At this point, I was even missing the crappy music at Pete’s Bar.

“Uh…may I be excused?” I said and I wanted to slap myself. I sounded like I was asking my parents to leave the dinner table.

“Yes, you may,” V said as she turned her cat eyes to me with satisfaction.

“No, you may not,” Sebastian countered. “We have things to discuss. V, this can wait.”

She pouted. “You promised, Bash. You’re always so busy,” she said as her hand trailed from his chest down under the table. Oh, good lord. I so didn’t need to be here for this. But he didn’t look fazed by her, or even interested, and trust me, she was seriously working the whole Marilyn-Monroe-I-want-to-seduce-JFK thing she had going on.

“Yeah,
Bash
, you promised her,” I said. “We can always reschedule, I’ll pencil you in for later today,” I said and rushed out of the office that I felt was giving me a rash. I slammed the door shut and it echoed through the hallway. I didn’t realize I was somewhat upset. It was none of my business really and I shouldn’t be ticked off that he had a girlfriend, but still…whatever.

I stood in front of his office door when I heard V’s giggling and then moaning—then a grunt coming from Sebastian made me haul ass out of there. I retraced my path back to the stairs and up the main floor—their loud moans echoing through the hallway.

I fumed, wanting to punch someone in the face when I ran into Blu. I had just come up from the stairs when she was coming out of what looked like a laundry room holding my now clean and pressed clothes.