Dannika Dark - Six Months

Permanently.

Two weeks before Christmas, my life had returned to normal after the brawl at Howlers. I hadn’t heard from Reno, and Maddox didn’t bring it up. He’d brought me home, cleaned me up, and sent me to bed. He’d also apologized for having left me alone in a Breed bar, which wasn’t always a safe place for a human to be in alone. Shifters were aggressive, but the vast majority of them would never put their hands on a woman. He said it wasn’t my fault—that no woman could do anything that deserved that kind of treatment.

I still slept in the front bedroom and nothing had changed in regards to our relationship. I kept him company and he put a roof over my head.

It wasn’t all bad. We laughed at old sitcoms and Maddox enjoyed reading me articles from the paper, making comments about human politics. Sometimes he’d tell stories about his younger days, and I began to see a gentler side of him. Deep down, Maddox was a gem, and I truly enjoyed his company.

One evening after sunset, Maddox led me into the kitchen and sat me down. The lights were off and only a pine-scented candle illuminated the room from the center of the table. Sometimes he liked to eat by candlelight. He often showed off his culinary skills by cooking stew, even though I didn’t care for the gamey meat he often used in it.

“What’s for dinner?”

He removed an object from the kitchen drawer and circled around behind me. “We’re skipping the meal unless you change your mind. Although, I’m hoping you change your mind. Do me a favor and close your eyes.”

I nervously shut my eyes, feeling his hand brush my hair away from the back of my neck.

“You should dye it the way it was. I liked it that way,” he murmured.

Something cold and hard touched the nape of my neck and I swallowed thickly.

“Hold still.”

Snip .

My collar fell free and landed on my lap.

I clutched it in my hand and looked up. “What’s going on?”

He tugged at his beard and patted my head. “You’re a doll, but this isn’t going to work out. You’re too young for an old dog like me, and I got needs you’re clearly not going to be filling anytime soon.”

“Can we talk about the payment plan? I need time to find a job, Maddox. And a place to live. We have a contract and you can’t let me go.” I started to panic. “I’ve already cleared two thousand off my debt from the odd jobs you’ve given me—but I still can’t afford the rest.”

Maddox strolled around the chair and sat to my right. He laced his fingers together and blew out a short puff of breath, causing the candle to flicker. “We’re square.”

“Um, no we’re not.”

“April, there’s no way in hell you’ll ever be able to pay what you owe. My interest rates are too damn high for a human like you. It would take too long, and after spending time with you, I’d rather cut my ties. It’s just not going to feel right seeing you on any kind of level.”

“So that’s it? All this time I thought everything was fine.” Suddenly for some reason, I felt insulted. “Just because I won’t sleep with you? Are you really that shallow?”

“Are you really that naïve? How many Shifters do you think keep pets that don’t service them in the bedroom?”

“I’m not a service. I’m a person.”

“Yeah,” he murmured, resting his chin in his hand and staring at the candle. “This was just a business transaction, honey. I made a promise that it wouldn’t go that route, but it’s not easy. When you wear those little black shorts around the house before bed… hell . Sex with other women means I have to rent out a hotel room, and that’s not my scene. How do you expect me to sleep in my bed knowing you’re just a few doors down the hall? I toss at night, April. It’s hard on a man. You’re too damn ripe for the pickin’ and I can’t go on playing house anymore. I thought companionship was all I needed, but I was wrong. I need the whole package.”

“So you’re just going to throw me out on the street?”

“As far as I’m concerned, you don’t owe me a dime. You’re free.”

I let the words resonate. Free . Not just from Maddox, but from all the strings that held me to my past. The ones that had twisted my life into knots and kept me bound.

He cleared his throat. “You still want dinner? I can heat up a pan of lasagna or you can go pack your bags. You can have anything in your room, even though you haven’t let me buy you a damn thing.”

A tear rolled down my cheek. I’d hoped for this moment but never imagined how strangely fond I’d grown of Maddox. He played it off as if it were about the sex, but I knew him better than that. Somehow, I had crept inside his heart and he’d begun to care. I got up from my seat and stood behind him, slipping my arms around his neck.

“Thank you,” I whispered against his wavy hair. “No matter what anyone says, Maddox, you have a heart of gold.”

“Stay out of trouble, little girl. If any man puts his hands on you, then you come see me and I’ll take care of it. Stay away from lenders, you hear?”

I nodded against his shoulder.

“Go on,” he said in a soft voice, reaching around and patting my back. “Before I change my mind.”

And just like that, I was free.

After the incident at Howlers, Reno spent two weeks running a background check on Maddox, hoping to find something that would get him in trouble with the authorities. Only then would April be free, whether she wanted it or not. Why the hell would she become another man’s pet? The thought twisted into a painful knot in Reno’s mind as he thought about the two of them having sex.

Reno had come close to shooting Maddox’s animal, but Denver had come out and dragged him back inside the bar, leaving Maddox to shift back and get dressed. Reno had gone into the men’s room to cool off when he heard a ruckus coming from the adjacent bathroom. When he saw April on the floor, something dark had not only splintered his heart, but his animal’s heart as well. Reno’s wolf had thrashed at his skin to come out, and he’d fought hard to keep him tethered. Murder would not only lead to his arrest by the higher authority, but it would shame his pack if it couldn’t be justified. The odds were against him since Breed establishments were neutral ground with strict rules.

And murder was exactly what would have happened. Instead, he’d unleashed violence.

During the weeks that followed, Reno’s investigation on Maddox came up clean. He ran a legit business and dealt with the right people. Loan sharks weren’t illegal, but sometimes they did illegal things. Maddox’s record was so clean it squeaked. Unfortunately, without any evidence, he couldn’t do anything about the questionable loan made to Charles Langston. Maddox had meticulously covered his tracks, and there were laws against slander that kept Reno’s hands tied.

Maybe April didn’t want anything to do with the likes of Reno, but after that night, he knew with absolute certainty it had nothing to do with him being a Shifter.

Eventually, he could no longer sleep without knowing what their arrangement was all about. So Reno had called up Maddox to confront him and find out the truth. And the truth is exactly what he got.

Holy hell , that woman had given up her freedom to get out of debt. That amount of money was a drop in the bucket for Reno, who had been stashing his income away for years. But for a young girl like April, it must have seemed like quicksand. He didn’t want her to lose sight of her dreams, becoming a woman he’d no longer recognize.

So Reno cleared her debt. Every penny.