Read Cinder's Wolf: A Shifter Retelling of Cinderella (A BBW Shifter Fairy Tale Retelling Book 2) for Free Online Page A

business.”
    “Well I’m glad you’re aware of your mental age,” Cynthia said, although she grudgingly took the envelope with the invitation inside. “But thanks.”
    The creases on the corner of Reagan’s frown deepened, and she ran a hand through her bleached-blonde hair, sighing. “I know. I’m an asshole. But look at it this way, at least after tonight, I won’t be a directionless asshole. I’m officially moving out and going back on the job hunt. I can’t handle mom anymore.”
    “You know you can always work for me, right?” Cynthia asked. Despite being prone toward petty revenge plots, Reagan Miller could spin straw into gold when it came to PR. Unfortunately, no one else would hire her at the moment because she had tattled on her client to the press after he tried to sexually assault an intern only a day after his wife’s funeral from a seriously suspicious boating accident.
    Regan’s smile was thin. “Go mother somebody else, Cin. I’ve got a plan.” Her smile twisted into a smirk in a way that made Cynthia wonder if it ever had been a smile at all.
    Thank God I’m not the target of her schemes this time.
    Christine peeked out from behind the bannister. “And I got you this. A friend in the costume department at Joffrey found it for me,” Christine mumbled before proffering out a pure white mask bedazzled in what had to have been cubic zirconium. It twinkled.
    Reagan released Cynthia, allowing her to delicately pluck the mask from Christine’s limp grasp. She couldn’t help the smile that crept over her lips as she felt the cotton fabric on the back of it.
    This .
    This was the real invitation. Anonymity. The chance to find the little minnows while avoiding the sharks. The chance to break free of her stepmother right underneath her nose.
    “Thank you, Christine,” she said, turning the mask over in her hands.
    The slant of the eyes, the long, proud nose, and the soft-tipped ears pointing at the top made the animal the mask represented unmistakable. A wolf. Cynthia smiled wildly as she felt the sharp edge of the jeweled fangs protruding from the mask’s mouth.
    Tonight, she was going hunting.

Chapter 5
    I t really is a beautiful trap , Rex West thought as he took in the ballroom of the Plaza Hotel. All ivory, gold trim and creamy frescoes, the space had the feel of an architectural wedding cake, each layer and flourish trying to out-do the last. On a raised stage a string quartet droned out a minuet nobody danced to. His guests were too busy gaping. Some craned their necks toward the newly restored chandeliers imported from France, entranced by the way the dripping crystals shimmered in the light like champagne bubbles frozen in time. Others looked at him.
    Rex adjusted the black velvet wolf’s mask over his nose, trying not to acknowledge the women giggling in his direction while their dates staged loud conversations about the size of their stock portfolios. As if that would impress him. Or allow them to keep their dates, if Rex wanted to take them.
    He made eye contact with one of the women, raised his head and inhaled. The heat of the ballroom made her scent carry. Cinnamon and vodka. No. Not her.
    Nodding impassively, Rex cut through the crowd on the dance floor to the drink table on the other side of the room. Whether it was because of the heat or the sense that his mate might finally, finally , be near again,Rex’s inner wolf was stirring. It turned his normally even steps into forceful strides. When he arrived at the table, he reached for a glass.
    “It’s clever, turning up the heat to help sniff out your mate. But is it really necessary to make it a bloody sauna?” drawled a man in an English accent.
    “Bane,” Rex said in a greeting that was more goodbye than hello. “I didn’t know I sent you an invitation.”
    “Of course you didn’t, but what kind of panther would I be if I couldn’t sneak into a party?” Bane smirked and darted to Rex’s left, plucking the exact