Wolf's Call (Wolves Next Door #2) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,173

giddy when I was with him. He understood me in a way I hadn't expected because of the difference in our age. He was still a beta of a wolf pack - not just a stupid young man. He was amazing, sexy, and so very considerate.

I felt more for him than I'd expected, but I was scared. I kept waiting for him to get bored of me, yet that one little phrase changed everything. He was there. I was pretty sure I was too, if I'd just stop trying to avoid it. These men were my mates. That felt like more than just a boyfriend, regardless of what they said, and I was ok with that. I just had to embrace that it was actually ok to love them back, because that was definitely what had been happening. We'd all been slowly but surely moving past infatuation and toward something much deeper, stronger, and longer lasting.

But Seth was right. Now wasn't the time to talk about it. Ashley needed me in the office, so I got dressed in something that wouldn't be too shocking if a client walked in, yet didn't require worrying about wrinkles. In the kitchen, Seth handed me a coffee with a slow and sensual kiss. I wrote a note and tacked it to the fridge, letting Gabby know where I was, and then I left.

When I walked into the office, the phone was ringing again. I could hear Ashley in her office already talking to someone else. I could also hear Henry, but I wasn't sure if he was in Ashley's office or the breakroom. Two of the four lines were busy, and the last two lights were blinking with incoming calls, so I answered before I was even sitting down.

"Wolf's Run, this is Elena speaking. How can I help you?"

"Hi, this is Matt with KTVY, and I was wondering if you'd like to comment on a recent story - "

I cut him off before he could finish. "At this time, we have no comment. If you'd like to send an email, I can forward that to the public relations department." I quickly rattled off the official email address and hung up.

It rang immediately. This time, it was someone wanting to let me know that our children weren't any more special than anyone else's. The woman sounded irate, and she didn't give me a chance to respond before hanging up. I was actually ok with that. Over and over, it went. Most were reporters, and I told them all the same thing, adding in variations of how I was simply the front desk for the leasing office, but they could send an email for an official response.

Then it happened. I rambled off my greeting out of habit, and the man on the other end responded in a rough, growly voice. "You've put us all at risk. It will not be tolerated."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, sir," I replied, keeping my customer service voice at maximum sweetness. "If you'd like to file a complaint, you can send an email to the company, where it will reach the people in charge. Were you interested in leasing a home?"

"Fucking human bitch," he growled before hanging up.

And then there was a moment of silence. I pushed out a heavy breath, scrubbed at my face, and snuck in another sip of my coffee, waiting for it to all start again. One of the lights for the lines in use went dim, and a moment later, Ashley stepped into the front room. She just walked over to me, grabbed my shoulder, and rubbed reassuringly.

"Thanks for coming in," she said.

I looked up and forced a tired smile. "Sounds like you needed it."

"Yep. It's worse today, since Samantha actually named the community, but it's just phone calls." Then she leaned her head back and groaned. "It seems like there's a rush, about twenty minutes of downtime, and then it starts again. I heard you giving out the company email address, and that's good thinking. I've started doing the same."

"Send Henry home," I told her.

Ashley scoffed at me. "Not gonna happen. I think he's having more fun than he has since he retired. Being lame on that leg doesn't stop him from letting his alpha tendencies show on the phone, and he can claim he's just supporting his kids." Then she leaned over my desk. "How's Gabby doing?"

"Better than I expected," I admitted. "She's driven to fix this problem, and she's got her human