An English teacher running from a murderous and haunting past finds herself on a collision course with the supernatural when she takes a teaching position at Stillwater Academy, the premier school for the children of elite supernaturals founded by i...
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Addie watched as Stillwater lowered the box to the floor. His shirt was coated in pieces of greenery and drenched with sweat, but oddly his disheveled state merely enhanced his unnatural allure. She knew what he was, knew the monster that lurked beneath that polite and charming façade. The man's scent was nearly the same as the one who had attacked her, the wolf that had attacked her.
However, seeing Stillwater standing there in her dining room and filling her new home with the smell of nature and musk, she found herself relaxing involuntarily as if her unconscious mind was calmed by his presence. And that thought unsettled her because she couldn't afford to be relaxed.
Because relaxed people were inattentive people, and inattentive was something Addie couldn't afford to be. Not anymore.
When her boss simply gave her a strange look, Addie realized she'd been staring at his physique for far too long. Warmth colored her cheeks while and drove her to look away. Shaking her head at her own stupidity, she strode into the kitchen and hunted through one of the boxes for a small glass which she filled halfway with water. Then, with a smile she didn't quite know the origin of, she gently placed the rose Mr. Stillwater had given her into the cup before delicately putting it on the counter.
She'd have to add a little sugar to the water later. Her mother had taught her that trick. It helps to keep cut flowers alive longer, although Addie preferred live flowers in soil to cut ones. When she finally drew her eyes away from the soft white petals and looked up, Stillwater was offering her an even stranger expression which held a hint of guarded curiosity.
"Thank you, sir. You really didn't have to get that box."
He shrugged, the gesture drawing her eyes to his muscles barely contained by his shirt. Typically, Addie found the muscled types a bit off putting, but there was something undeniably attractive about her new boss.
"It's no trouble, Dr. Sinclair. Really."
"Addie..." She smirked, while ignoring the charm of the man's own smile he was currently giving her.
"Addie," he said, somehow making her name sound scandalous even though he didn't put any sort of flair into his accent or the neutral way in which he pronounced her name.
"Mommy! I need my other box now. It has my books and—" Her daughter stopped speaking when she bounded down the stairs only to find a stranger standing in their new kitchen.
Nova gave Mr. Stillwater her signature glare of appraisal, sizing him up with a look that was far too adult for someone as young as her. That stare was comical coming from a six-year-old, especially when she was glaring at a man who was over six feet tall and corded with muscles. Although knowing the reason her daughter had such trust issues made Addie's heart ache. Try as she might to protect her baby, their pasts continued to hang over them like a dark cloud.
Unfazed by Nova's sad yet somehow sweet look of analysis, Stillwater spoke first, "Hi, Nova! I'm Mr. Stillwater, but the kids call me Mr. Carson."
Nova glared some more before it clicked, and her expression softened minutely as she whispered. "I know that name. Mommy said you're the principal at school."
