Chapter 1
It was a beautiful June day in New York City, with the sun out and not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was high, and the humidity was heavy, making designer suits stick to bodies in uncomfortable ways and making air conditioning all the more appealing.
Isabella Myers was sitting on a stool behind the front counter of her little shop, drawing a wolf. She loved art and loved to draw. If she’d had her way, she would have been an art major in college, but her parents had never encouraged her to go and instead wanted her to get a job working for the pack’s company, something Bella had no desire to do.
They’d worked against her at every turn, discouraging her from following her dreams. “It’s a dead-end job,” her father would constantly tell her.
In rebellion, she’d decided to become a tattoo artist, and she’d found someone to apprentice under for a while, learning the trade. She’d loved working as an apprentice and sort of missed those days, but she made better money now in her own shop. She’d also learned to pierce and offered both services.
Most of her tattooing was by appointment, and her schedule today was open. She’d take anyone who wanted to walk in, but on this hot day, it seemed like everyone was more interested in either being outside or staying home in the AC. The weekend was coming, and she’d be much busier then. She was hoping to at least do a few piercings today, though.
The bell on the door dinged, alerting her to someone entering her shop, and Bella looked up from her sketchbook. It was the main thing she did in her free time when she was working. A little bit of art could brighten her whole day, especially the slow ones, which today had been so far. At least it was nice and cool in the shop, though part of her wondered how high her electric bill would be for the month. This June had been a hot one.
Not that she truly had a lot of slow days. Being located in Brooklyn meant that she was busy more often than not, and she loved it. She loved what she did, and she enjoyed meeting people. Her clients came in from all over the world, and they always had a story to tell. New York had a lot of tourism, and what better way to remember their trip to the city than by getting a tattoo? It probably wasn’t what she would do, but it was an income, and that was what was important.
Bella didn’t have many tattoos herself. She was probably a bit unusual in that regard, but she did have a half sleeve on one arm that she planned to add to at some point. She also wanted to get her wolf tattooed on her back, and that was actually what she was working on. A drawing of her wolf, Krista. She’d been working on one for some time now, and her sketchbook was full of different drawings of Krista. She still wasn’t satisfied, though, and had yet to create one that she would have tattooed on her body permanently.
The scent of werewolf hit her, catching her attention, and she sorted through it in her mind as she put her drawing supplies away. Werewolf, though the scent of pack was missing, and no aura, which meant more than likely, they were probably unranked. She wrinkled her nose thoughtfully. No, there were three distinctly different scents, which made her tense a bit because she was fairly certain that they were all male. She breathed out slowly and walked into the main area. At least they didn’t smell like rogues. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any trouble.
She eyed the three males standing in her shop quietly, looking them all over. They were young and gorgeous, the way male werewolves usually were. Two of them were identical twins with dark hair and turquoise eyes. Both were dressed in dark jeans, and one had on a black t-shirt while the other was wearing a dark blue t-shirt. Both had stubble on their chins, and she noticed that the one in black had two full sleeves while the other had one full sleeve. They were both incredibly hot and fit into the category of males she was highly attracted to.
The third man had lighter brown hair and beautiful blue eyes, along with an incredibly sexy smile. He was wearing a light blue T-shirt with jeans. He had a full beard, though it was trimmed short, and he also had full sleeves on both arms. He was watching her too, more so than the twins were.
They were all three her type. Hot male werewolves who had an air of danger about them. She had a thing for hot, tatted males, and it was even better if they were werewolves. Too bad she had no idea what pack they were in. She supposed they could possibly be in her own, though she’d never seen them before and didn’t really think so, but in a city of eight million people, they could easily be in her pack. She didn’t know everyone.
Bella knew some werewolves had the capability of masking their scent, but it wasn’t common. Apparently, these three were able to, which made them even more intriguing. She must really be bored. “Can I help you, gentlemen?”
All three males were now watching her intently, and she swallowed hard, feeling a bit awkward at being the center of attention of three incredibly gorgeous males. She hoped she looked decent, not that it really mattered. She hadn’t exactly looked to see if any of them were marked, but more than likely at least one of them was, if not all. None of them was her mate.
One of the twins, the one in the blue shirt, stepped forward. “Hi. We’re all here to get pierced.”
“Okay. What are you looking to get pierced?” she asked, her gaze moving quickly over them all. None of them had any visible piercings, just the tattoos, which was what she’d thought they’d come in for. Apparently not.
The one who had spoken raised an eyebrow at her.
Bella wanted to roll her eyes back at him. Instead, she returned the raised eyebrow. She wasn’t a mind reader, but she had a feeling she already knew where this conversation was going.
A smile touched his lips, making him even more beautiful. “Frenum piercings.”
Of course. Why would she think any differently? A frenum piercing was a type of piercing that was located along the shaft of the penis. Usually, if a male got the piercing, he didn’t get just one. He might get a whole series of them, creating a ladder of sorts. “All three of you?”
“Yes,” he said, and she watched that eyebrow raise again. Was that a challenge?
“Okay. Are you all wanting to do just one, or how many?” she asked. Typically, if she did frenum piercings, she only recommended getting two or three done at a time. Any more, and the swelling would make it difficult to get them lined up straight. Not to mention the pain, though given that her customers were werewolves, their pain tolerance was naturally high.
“Three for each of us.” He glanced around at the other two, who both nodded in confirmation.
“Okay, three is a good starting point. Let me tell you what to expect.” It was her job to make sure that they knew how to take care of those piercings, and she always made sure to stress how important it was. She spent the next several moments going over the care instructions with them and telling them everything they needed to know. She knew they would all three heal faster than humans, which was good for them, but she still gave them the speech for the longer care time. “It’s very important to keep clean. No one wants their penis to fall off. Any questions?”
“No, I think we’re all good,” the first twin said, not even glancing at the others, though his face held amusement at what she’d said. She’d ask them all individually, she decided, instead of just letting him speak for all of them.
“Okay, then. I’m going to have you fill out these forms, and I’m going to need to see IDs.” Bella watched them each pull out their wallets while she placed three forms along with three pens on the counter. And this was why she ended up with fingerprints all over it, but oh well. She’d clean it when they left.
She moved over to the talker, whom she started to realize she was the most attracted to, and picked up his ID, surprised to see that it was from Pennsylvania. What pack was in Pennsylvania again? She couldn’t think of who it was.
