Saving Margaret by Krystal Shannan Page A

were making it sound like she was a common whore. She’d endured their pawing to keep the client happy, but she’d never let them touch more than her hair or caress her arm. A tear rolled down her check. She didn’t want to lose Scott. Not because of these two bastards. They were the reason she’d been so afraid of Scott to start with.
    “You are lying,” she whispered beneath her breath.
    “Leave, Margaret. I will deal with these clowns.”
    His voice was cold. Did he believe them? He called them clowns…
    “Stop worrying. He knows lie from truth.”
    I can’t lose him.
    “Go! To your office. I will be there momentarily.”
    The power behind the command made her jump. The powerful waves of magick rolling from him even made Ivan and Alex fidget a little.
    She glanced inside the lounge as she scurried away. Andrew was reclining on a couch, observing the whole encounter. He smiled —a dark sinister smile that reminded her of a reptile.
    Isn’t it bad enough I have creepy Council agents stalking me? Now, there are slimy Russians bent on making my life miserable as well.
    “Scott was here. You are safe. Just go up to your office and wait. Everything will be okay.”
    She punched in her employee code and slipped through a staff only door to the back hallway. A few moments later the staff elevator rang and the doors opened. The scent of an unfamiliar wolf on the elevator was faint, but distinctly there. The hair on the back of her neck tingled as she rode it up. She sniffed cautiously as the doors opened again, this time stepping out into the third floor office suite.
    The scent was stronger here, but she didn’t hear anyone moving. Where was everyone? Where was Carrie? Her desk was empty.
    “Not good!” Her wolf screamed inside her head.
    She whirled to dash back to the elevator but came face-to-face with the intruder. A yelp of surprise escaped before she could stifle it.
    “Who are you?” she asked, trying to at least pretend she wasn’t scared shitless. What had he done with all her coworkers?
    He snarled, allowing magick to twist his voice into a menacing canine growl. “It is of no concern to you.” He took a step closer and she took a step back. “I want to know where your traitor of a father has stashed Peter Demakis and his daughters.”
    Damn it to hell.
    “He’s Council.”
    No shit, Sherlock!
    “I don’t know,” she finally answered aloud and backed up another step, angling her body toward her open office door.
    “Yes you do.”
    He took another step forward, but she mirrored his movements and took another step toward her office. His tongue clicked inside his mouth the same way a mother would scold her child.
    “Unless you want to die in that office, don’t try it. I don’t like to chase anyone.”
    The elevator rang behind them and she used the split second distraction to leap for the open door of her office. She made it far enough to grab the doorframe, but his hand closed in her hair and jerked her backward and tearing a scream of pain from her throat. The hardwood floor met her head with such force that black spots floated through her vision. Pain seared through her skull. She heard a low moan before realizing the voice was her own.
    “I told you not to run, Taylor bitch,” he snarled, standing over her body.
    A deafening roar vibrated through the floor, sending tremors of relief flooding through her body. The Council agent cursed under his breath. Seconds later he flew over her head and body-slammed the wall across the room.
    Guess he wasn’t expecting Scott so quickly.
    She winced and sat up slowly. The room spun a little and she squinted, trying to focus through the swirling. Scott and the Council agent were still at it. Well…you couldn’t really call it a fight. Scott was beating the ever-loving crap out of the agent. A werewolf just couldn’t come close to the sheer size and power of a bear —even as a man, Scott was a giant.
    For a few moments the office was silent. The