Anchored in the Moment (Moments of the Adept Unvierse 0.7) aka Audrey 0.5 – First draft. Done. 🙂

Set after Dowser 1, and featuring Desmond, this ‘moment’ turned into a fun and sexy short. I was just going to share it on my blog, but I might also put out a random newsletter next week. [subscribe or check your subscription here] October is usually my fav month – Thanksgiving, my birthday, harvest, and halloween – but things are really rough around here right now – we think we’re losing Leo all of a sudden, because he won’t eat – and I needed something short and sweet to focus on. A distraction that would also help me feel productive.

Snippet below:

“You have a position open, in your pack,” I said without further preamble.

“The beta position is Kandy’s,” Desmond said, pointedly looking out the side window. It was a beautiful day, sunny but not hot. “It has always been Kandy’s.”

“Yet Kandy is in Vancouver.”

He glanced at me then, narrowing his eyes. “Fulfilling a temporary need.”

I eyed him for a moment, trying to figure out how much Desmond Llewelyn liked to be pushed. “She won’t take it,” I said evenly. “Just like she’ll let her inheritance rot, just like she won’t step up and take the Assembly seat.”

“Those are her choices.” Desmond frowned — I was getting to him, finally.

“Exactly. And you have a hole in your pack. An imbalance.”

He half grimaced, half snarled. “And you will be alpha when your father steps aside.”

“He’ll never step aside. He’ll wait for someone to take the pack from the Rothchilds. And you know —” I laughed bitterly. “You know, he hopes that’s going to be Kandy. A Tate.”

Desmond looked at me then. Really looked.

Finally.

I’d thought about how to approach the cat, already knowing that seducing him wouldn’t get me what I wanted. Though many alphas preferred to fill the position of beta with a lover or a family member. I had no doubt that the sex would be vigorous and as rough as I wanted it to be, but Desmond would never fuck his beta.

“He’s broken,” I whispered, though my voice was still harsh, hard-edged. “Justin’s death broke him. Like it broke Kandy. And me.”

“Kandy isn’t broken,” Desmond snarled, automatically defending his wolf. Like a true alpha.

I smirked. “I’m not saying that she isn’t strong. Fierce. And loyal. But she’s not your beta. She’s not the beta you need.”

“It’s not a post for a princess,” he snapped, shards of green magic flickering in his eyes.

“Test me,” I purred. “I can take anything you throw at me.”

He shook his head. “The answer is no.”

– Anchored in the Moment. First draft.