Werewolf Off Limits

...

Serenity has never learned to say no to the demands of her older sister, Avery. She had lived under her shadow for so long that she doesn't remember what the sun looks like. This time is no different. Avery has talked her into looking after her spoiled boy who, like his mother, is used to having his way.

It isn't that Serenity minds leaving her job. She just hadn't counted on Victor Carter, the local Alpha Werewolf who is in charge of the territory and the house that Serenity now resides in. He is magnetic. Beautiful. Perfect. He is also off limits on account of everyone telling her that he is going to marry Avery.

Except he keeps getting closer to her and she has no idea what she is supposed to do with the interest that he is showing her. He's promised to his sister. The right thing to do is to stay away. Hard to do when he keeps looking at her like she is all he has ever wanted in life.

Chapter One

As Serenity walked into the kitchen that morning, she realized that she should have taken a longer shower. Her mother was at it again, peering at the wedding section of the newspaper like it had wronged her somehow. She liked to torture herself by looking at all the other daughters of her friends who had married.

Your colleague's marrying that man who used to fancy you. What's his name? she asked sharply.

This was, of course, a trick question, seeing as she was the one with the newspaper.

Joseph something, Serenity said, heart sinking as she accepted the fact that her mother was beginning one of her tirades.

It could have been your face on the paper today, she said. And what a brilliant match it would have been too. Joseph could have given you everything. He's an heir to that steel mill-

Flour mill, mother, Serenity corrected her gently. You can't mill steel, I think? Serenity wasn't sure, honestly.

Her mother didn't care for such details, only that his family was well known in their community and he was rich enough. She continued as if Serenity hadn't said a thing, He was the groomsman during Avery's wedding, wasn't he? Took your coat and everything. If only you weren't so picky. Did she brag about it at the office?

As Serenity walked into the kitchen that morning, she realized that she should have taken a longer shower. Her mother was at it again, peering at the wedding section of the newspaper like it had wronged her somehow. She liked to torture herself by looking at all the other daughters of her friends who had married.

Your colleague's marrying that man who used to fancy you. What's his name? she asked sharply.

This was, of course, a trick question, seeing as she was the one with the newspaper.

Joseph something, Serenity said, heart sinking as she accepted the fact that her mother was beginning one of her tirades.

It could have been your face on the paper today, she said. And what a brilliant match it would have been too. Joseph could have given you everything. He's an heir to that steel mill-

Flour mill, mother, Serenity corrected her gently once more.

Her mother didn't care for such details, only that his family was well known in their community and he was rich. She continued as if Serenity hadn't said a thing, He was the groomsman during Avery's wedding, wasn't he? If only you weren't so picky. Did she brag about it at the office?

Did who brag about what, mother? Serenity asked distractedly, busying herself with buttering a piece of toast and only listening with half an ear. It was the only reason her sanity had been preserved for so long. If she listened to all the drivel that came out of her mother's mouth, she would have gone insane nineteen years ago.

The whore Joseph's marrying, her mother said.

Serenity grimaced. Katlyna isn't a whore, mother, she said. It was true that she had bragged about it at the office, though she could hardly blame the woman. The diamond ring was impressive, almost bordering on being gauche. And Joseph had tried to make a move on Serenity during her sister's wedding. If her mother knew about how often he asked after her following the wedding, she would probably have an aneurysm.

She remembered feeling particularly beautiful that day with her brand new dress, not one of those hand-me-downs from her older sister, who fills up dresses much better than she does. The long dress clung to her in all the right ways and accentuated all the best parts of her, tight around her small waist and slim waist, flaring out to give the illusion of hips and showing off just the right amount of leg. Even her long cat tail did not seem odd that day. She had played the role of bridesmaid to her sister, who, despite always being the life of whatever party she goes to, did not have any close female friends.

Joseph had been groomsman, and she remembered how elated she had felt at the reception when he fetched her a glass of champagne and engaged her in a conversation like she was one of the adults. She was almost an adult then, nearing eighteen, and felt much older with the champagne in her hand. It had been very good on her ego to have the man's attention on her. Apart from being handsome, he was wealthy, one of the heirs to the flour mill business that their small town is built on. He was an important personage in local affairs and her mother had set her sight on Serenity marrying up, seeing as her hopes had been dashed by her sister, who married, to everyone's surprise, for love.

Her husband, Clint Etherton, was neither rich nor well-connected. He worked as one of the many managers in the flour factory.

The wedding ceremony had been a quiet outdoor ceremony, another surprise, seeing as her sister loved attention and fanfare. In hindsight, they should have seen the divorce coming from a mile away. Still, Avery had been very much in love then and was exceptionally beautiful in her white dress.

Mother had cried. To this day, Serenity wasn't sure if it's from Avery marrying, or from Avery marrying poor. It could have been a combination of both. Avery had always been her favorite and she had been disappointed when she did not marry someone richer. She didn't know then that Avery would drag the man through a messy divorce and take everything from him, including his ancestral home that Avery did not even care for. It was just important that she won. Clint had allowed her to take the house in exchange for visitation rights. The poor man. Avery sold the house a few months after the divorce was finalized.

Strangely enough, Joseph Ortolan, who had the reputation of preferring older, sophisticated woman, began to pay attention to her. He would call for her after work at the lawyer's office where she was secretary to one of the partners and sweep her off in one of the enormous limousines. She had been flattered by the attention. Any eighteen-year-old would have been, and in the small town where nothing exciting ever happened, everyone at the office paid close attention to the gentleman calling after her. In fact, he drew the attention of all the women in the office.

Perhaps that's why she hadn't noticed anything awry when Katlyna began to spend a little more time with him at the reception desk every morning.

Later, Serenity would realize that she should have been more suspicious of the way the woman had begun to dress more and more salaciously, her outfits just shy of being inappropriate. Joseph's eyes strayed and strayed until it became glued to Katlyna and one day, he did not ask for her and went out with Katlyna instead.

The pitying looks she had garnered from the office that day had confused her at first, and then embarrassed her once she found out the cause of those gazes. She wasn't heartbroken. At that point, she was tired of rejecting the man's advances. He asked for more and more every time they went out, as if his presence was a gift and she should be honored to be in his presence. It was frustrating. Infuriating. She did not think him particularly charming and beneath that handsome veneer was a shallow and selfish man. Utterly spoiled, really. He was so used to having everything handed to him and he expected her to do the same.

He truly thought himself a gift to the world and his attention on her something to be appreciated, especially with her being the way she was.

Serenity had never really known what to think of the way she looked. Her cat ears and tail had always set her apart from her peers, whose parents would keep their children from her because they thought her savage. Feral. She had never felt particularly feral. Sure, it took her longer to understand certain concepts at school and sometimes, she felt the urge to chase after the red laser pointer her teachers used in class, but everything else about her was the same.

Joseph was disappointed that her mannerism wasn't more cat-like. She believed it was a fetish of some sort for him and when he tried to kiss her, she had shied away. Something about him just never sat right with her.

Still, it was not easy to ignore the glances of sympathy the others in the office kept casting her when Katlyna came into the office flaunting her magnificent ring and declaring that she was quitting to be a stay at home mother.

Are you pregnant? Josephine had asked.

Well, Katlyna answered with a smile and a hand on her belly. Before they could begin congratulating her, she said, Not yet, but Joseph wants a big family and we want to get started right away.

Serenity thought it was an odd way to brag about all the sex that they were going to be having. She did not linger to listen to the rest of their conversation. It was awkward enough with all the triumphant glances that Katlyna kept sending her way, as if she had won some sort of competition.

Maybe it was all in her head and Serenity was more affected by the entire ordeal than she led on, but she honestly wasn't too upset about Joseph's eyes no longer being on her. In fact, she distinctly remembered feeling relieved.

This means everyone at your office is married, doesn't it? her mother asked.

Except for Miss Ingrid, Serenity said, trying to shovel the toast into her mouth and be done with breakfast as quickly as possible so she wouldn't have to listen to her mother for much longer.

Her mother gave a short contemptuous laugh. Miss Ingrid is seventy. Surely you don't plan to be an old spinster like her?

Serenity shrugged. It doesn't sound too bad. Miss Ingrid is free to pursue her own hobbies and does whatever she likes.

That was obviously the wrong thing to say because her mother's face pales as if she had just declared that she was never going to marry. Then again, it was what she had just said, more or less. Now that she had said it out loud, she realized she was much less opposed to the idea than she would have thought.

Miss Ingrid is one of the kindest person I know, she continued even though she really should just keep her mouth shut. And she seems to be perfectly happy being on her own. Better that than to marry the wrong person, she added in a low tone, though loud enough for her mother to hear her.

Your sister made a mistaken and is paying for it-

Last I checked, Clint's the only one paying, she muttered.

-and speaking of her, she asked you to call her some time today when you're free. I told her you're always free.

It's Sunday, Serenity said exasperatedly. You say it like I'm the one who's unemployed.

That was the wrong thing to say too because her mother gasped and started going on about how she sacrificed her career to raise them and this was the thanks she got for all the things that she had done for them. She bit her tongue and tuned her mother out. Better than bringing up the fact that her mother had sacrificed a lot for Avery, yes, but she never bothered doing beyond the bare minimum for Serenity.

Through the open window, Serenity could see the clusters of pale daffodils that had overtaken whatever herbal plant that her mother attempted to plant. The wild daffodil grew in clumps, pale yellow flowers nodding in the spring air.

Serenity considered climbing out through the window and the using the fire escape to flee. She felt a cold chill as she contemplated a future where she had to listen to mother's continual nagging. Maybe the secret to Miss Ingrid's happiness was that she lived with a cat who didn't talk back.

Avery had asked mother to moved into her house with her, but mother refused, choosing to live in Serenity's apartment instead. She said it was because all of her friends (what friends?) were