Read Online Hunger's Mate by A. C. Arthur - Free Book Online

could never quite explain but felt each time she was near him. It was like that with all of them, Sebastian Perry, Jacques, Syfon and Paolo, and the others that she saw hanging around near the bunkers even more frequently since the break-in. Danger hovered around them like a dark cloud and she’d long wondered why.
    â€œNo problem,” he said with a shrug. “Just wanted to check on you.”
    â€œThere’s no need,” she replied as nonchalantly as she could. How did he know she’d gone out? Was he the one watching her? “I went out. I’m back now and all is well.”
    She said the last as happily as she could manage, even offering a smile to seal the deal.
    â€œWe should meet sometime tomorrow to go over logistics for the wedding festivities again. I checked my e-mails when I came in and the bride wants changes, as expected.” Jewel kept right on talking as if this was the most natural visit in the world, even though her gut told her something totally different.
    â€œYou know you can always take one of the resort vehicles and a driver when you need to go out,” he told her.
    â€œWhat? Why? Are any of the other employees using the resort vehicle and a driver?” She knew they weren’t and up until this moment had never been offered the same.
    â€œYou’re not other employees. You’re my assistant and if you need to go somewhere, you can have a driver take you in one of our vehicles. It’s no big deal,” he stated frankly.
    And yet, Jewel knew that it was. It was a big, controlling deal that reminded her so much of Larry she almost took a protective step back.
    â€œI don’t need special treatment, Jacques. I have a perfectly functional vehicle that can take me wherever I want to go. Now, if you don’t mind, it’s late,” she said, moving toward the door. She thought that might sound a little rude, but really didn’t care at the moment. She wanted him out of this room right now, before her panic attack escalated and he saw a side of her she didn’t want anyone to see, ever.
    Thankfully, he only nodded and walked toward the door. With great relief, she opened it and held her breath as he stopped, giving her a questioning look and said, “If you need anything, you know all you have to do is ask. You’re a valued employee here, Jewel. If I can help make your life here easier, I will.”
    She swallowed, hating the words that sounded so nice on the surface, but scared the hell out of her.
    â€œI’m fine,” she managed once more. “Really, I’m just fine. I’ll see you in the morning.”
    Again, he nodded, his face still a solemn mask of good looks. “See you in the morning,” he told her before turning and walking away.
    Jewel closed the door, engaging all the locks as she had before, including the chair, before going back into her bedroom, where she fell face-first onto the bed, tears stinging her throat.
    *   *   *
    â€œYou were right,” Jacques told Ezra when he rounded the corner after leaving Jewel’s room. “She’s afraid.”
    â€œOf what?” Ezra asked tightly, his fists already clenching at his sides. “How long has she been here? What do you know about her?”
    â€œBas did the background check. I read it briefly and she was cleared,” Jacques told him.
    â€œJust like that?”
    Jacques frowned. “Just like that.”
    â€œI want to know everything about her. Where she’s from, how she came to be here and what the hell is going on with her now,” Ezra insisted, his hands clenching at his sides, an unfamiliar emotion soaring through his body simultaneously with the simmering anger.
    He’d sensed fear before, pain and death and a host of other emotions, in humans as well as shifters. None of those instances compared to what he was feeling here and now, what he’d felt the moment the scent of her fear had