Aspen Valley Wolf Pack (The Complete Series) Page 2

  The woman cleared her throat and thrust the card toward Trina again. "Don't you still accept our payments?"

  "Sorry, yes I do."

  Trina completed the transaction at the cash register.

  When the woman left the store, she grabbed her cell phone and thumbed through the phone log in search of the number to her retirement fund servicer. The last time, she'd told herself she wouldn't take another distribution, but if she didn't do something she and her father could end up living on the streets.

  Chapter 2

  Dane Magnus slid into a booth at The Hot Spot Diner the moment it became empty and picked up the menu from the table. He was so hungry that he could probably eat three full entrees. Breakfast and lunch had been missed courtesy of the lengthy business he'd had to tend to at the bank. His stomach had growled the whole time he was there scanning through pages and pages of documents. Although he was tired as hell, sleeping on an empty stomach never did him any good.

  He scanned the various dishes listed on the menu and tried to drown out the sounds of the quaint little diner situated on the outer edge of Aspen Valley. Not only were the kitchen staff working furiously in the background trying to keep up with all the orders being shouted at them by the waiters, the place was jam-packed and the noise level was high. On any other day the crowd would have been an unusual occurrence, but at nearly midnight, the town had received plenty of guests courtesy of the big business convention held here every year.

  The Hot Spot Diner catered to all, both human and shifter alike, so there was a mix of bodies in the place tonight. His belly rumbled on, reminding him that he wasn't here to check out the scenery.

  "Magnus." Sharon, the waitress, appeared by his side and set a glass of ice cold water down on a coaster. "I haven't seen you in a while."

  Sharon Stetson was born and raised a small-town girl—a small-town shifter for that matter. Her uncle had owned the diner before he'd handed it over to the eldest son. From what he'd learned, Sharon had been working here since her fifteenth birthday, bussing tables and dishing out friendly smiles even to the most hostile customers.

  Dane regarded her with a nod. "That's probably because I've been cross country for the past two months on business. I only just came back two weeks ago."

  "Hmm, that's why your boys haven't been behaving themselves." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Brock, Raoulf, and Garrett have had several run-ins with the law. They've been in the news more times than I can count on one hand and the human police have been in here several times asking questions about their dealings and whereabouts."

  He sat back and ran the pad of his thumb along his jawline. "You know how folks these days bend rumors. Don't worry about my brothers. If they've gotten themselves into any mess, I'm sure they can get themselves out of it."

  She nudged him on the shoulder. "It's you I'm worried about. I don't want your brothers giving you a bad reputation with the humans. It's time they settled down with their Pack with you being the Alpha and all. Speaking of settling down…that Meredith chick was boasting about your skills in bed at Haney's party last night."

  Dane flexed his jaw muscles in irritation. Evidently, bending rumors wasn't the only thing folks loved to do. People liked to spin tales out of rumors these days. "Not true. I can't remember the last time I've been with Meredith. It's been at least six months now."

  Sharon and him and were cool like that, and being a woman, she always seemed to have all the latest gossip in their small community.

  "There's talk in the village that you're looking for a mate," Sharon said in a teasing voice, quirking her eyebrows at him.

  "Like I thought, rumors get bent."

  "It would be so much easier on you if you had a woman to go home to tonight, don't you think?" She winked. "After a hard day's work…you wouldn't have to come to this noisy place anymore. I'd be sad about that, though…but I know just the woman for you."

  He gave her a knowing look. "Who?"

  "Cindy Porter. The judge's daughter. She came in here trying to sell us some fancy computerized order-taking system and had nearly every man in here drooling at the mouth. I have to admit, she's a cutie. Little innocent thang too."

  He knew exactly who Sharon was referring to. He didn't want to burst her bubble by telling her that Cindy wasn't that innocent after all. He knew three shifters by name who had already bedded the chick, including his oldest brother, Garrett.

  "Too young." Dane shook his head. "Stop trying to set me up."

  Sharon had been trying to hook him up for months. Everyone in the pack knew he was mate-less. Of course, this fact didn't agree with many of his followers given the fact that he was the Alpha and leader of the pack.

  An Alpha with no mate. He smiled inwardly. Heck, he'd take the title. After all, he'd been known to stir things up in and out of the shifter community.

  "Well, the next time you stop by I'll have another candidate for you. Are you into cougars these days by any chance?"

  He glared at her pointedly. "I'm a wolf. What would I need with a cougar?"

  She put a hand on her hip. "I meant an older woman, Magnus."

  "I know what you meant, but I don't like getting set up."

  "Fine." She shrugged and dug a pad and pen out of her apron. "I've got eight tables to serve so I'll have to chat with you later. The usual?"

  "Yeah. The usual." Dane's stomach rumbled once again just thinking about the T-bone steak with a healthy side of potatoes and cheddar-smothered broccoli florets.

  As he waited, he pulled a small envelope from the inside of his jacket pocket. He swallowed in apprehension as he peeled back the broken seal and slipped the letter out. The words were already ingrained in his short-term memory, but he read the note again.

  Mr. Dane Magnus,

  You are hereby called to appear before Judge Henry Wright at Tellevue County Court on October fifteenth at noon to settle the matter involving the property deeded to Debra Smyth Magnus located off 1806 Cedar Loop Trail. Failure to appear will result in all properties deemed abandoned and expropriated by the County. In addition, failure to present proof of rights to claim the property by this date will result in it being expropriated by the County…

  Dane's blood pressure began to escalate yet again, and he crumbled the document in his palm. In fifteen days, the county court planned to take back the property his mother had worked so hard to keep. It wasn't fair that the humans could take something like his childhood home where memories lingered long after his parents had perished. It wasn't fair, but it was the law.

  Debra Smyth was the only daughter of a farmer who owned the land in question before she became mated to Dane's father. When she became pregnant with Dane, they married with blessings from Debra's father even though a marriage between a shifter and a human was looked on as taboo. Since the land was part of human-marked territories as measured by each U.S. state's county appraiser's office, a shifter could not officially own human property unless they were married or mated to one.

  When Dane was thirteen, he lost both parents. And because he was a shifter and his parents' will had never been endorsed, he was faced with losing their marital home. It took the humans seventeen years to dig up the deed and find out that the property wasn't legally his.

  Word in town was that the county wanted to convert the whole lot into an industrial zone. They were trying to strip the property right out from under him. They didn't want to offer a fair price for his land…no…they wanted to take it.

  And that wasn't going to happen.

  Dane chewed at the inside corner of his mouth as his eyes drifted about the quaint diner and over to the door where customers walked in and out.

  He wouldn't get his pack mates involved and he wouldn't cause an uprising. This was his personal matter. One that he should've taken care of over a decade ago, but now the situation had come back to haunt him.

  He had a better plan. A plan that would involve what he'd been avoiding since he was awarded the Alpha position of the A
spen Valley Wolf Pack. Taking a mate.

  In all of his thirty years, he'd never met his match. Maybe finding a true mate wasn't in his future. That was fine with him. He'd just play the cards dealt to him.

  One thing was certain, he wanted to keep what rightfully belonged to him. To achieve this, he'd have to marry a human.

  In this age, marriage between a human and shifter was considered legit after six weeks, at which time all possessions—including land—were said to be commingled and fair game to claim by either spouse upon divorce.

  With marriage, he could take a bride, have her sign the documents relinquishing all rights to claim his land, keep her for six weeks, divorce her, and then send her on her merry way. In the end, he'd have his property for good and no humans could claim it.

  Chapter 3

  Trina had a really bad feeling about this, but something told her this opportunity was her only chance. As she moved further into LIVE nightclub, the beat of the music pulsed through her veins, but she didn't care to dance. The place was extremely packed, which she'd expected given that it was the most popular nightclub in Aspen Valley. The large crowd helped her blend in with the bodies, but this also served to flare up her anxiety. She'd purposely chosen the nightclub because it wasn't in her town and that meant there was minimal chance that she'd bump into anyone who she did business with at the dry cleaners.

  She couldn't miss this chance. However uncomfortable this felt to her, she saw no other way to quickly resolve her issue.

  "We're hiring night waitresses and we expect to bring six or more on board starting next week. You must be extra easy on the eyes, have experience as a waitress, and wear the uniform we supply. We're not a normal nightclub as I'm sure you're aware…" the hiring manager had said on the phone when she'd called about the job.

  Trina spotted a waitress balancing a tray of cocktails in one hand and using the other hand to take cash and hand out drinks. The beautiful, buxom blonde did this all while maneuvering through the bustling crowd in an outfit so dainty it looked like something an exotic dancer would wear. The suggestive outfit or risqué atmosphere didn't surprise Trina. When she'd seen the ad in the newspaper, she made the drive to the city to scope out the place. Before she had even called the hiring manager, she knew what she was getting herself into.

  "…the starting pay is thirty dollars an hour and you keep all your tips. You push drinks and our merchandise all night long. We have three, six, and eight-hour shifts here. You set your schedule but you must come to work at least three nights a week."

  Where else could she earn thirty dollars an hour working part time just a few nights a week? The money would be quick and easy, just like an old friend who used to pole dance to pay her college tuition told her. If Trina got the job and kept up the work for five months, she could make enough to pay for the majority of her father's next surgery. To make up the difference, she was certain profits from the business would kick in.

  It seemed to take Trina forever to get through the swarm of bodies to the back office where the security guard told her to wait in line to meet Leo, the hiring manager. As soon as she made it, she realized that she wasn't the only one waiting to be interviewed. There were four women lined up, two of them leaning against the wall, and the other two standing with arms crossed, looking impatiently. They were young women, around her age group, with one of them looking at least a decade younger than Trina. As the fifth woman, Trina took her place.

  The leggy redhead in front of her turned and sneered. After looking Trina up and down, she wrinkled her nose and then snapped her attention forward again in a dismissive manner. The redhead was thin and couldn't have weighed more than one hundred pounds, but Trina had to admit the girl had good genes going for her with her dainty model looks.

  Trina knew she was taller than the average women and preferred to carry a little cushion versus walking around covered in just skin and bones. She wondered exactly what Leo would measure them on.

  She nibbled her lips as she suddenly realized that she'd have competition. There were only six positions available, as Leo had said, and she was sure this wasn't the first set of interviews. Aside from the short time she'd worked as a waitress at a small restaurant when she was in college, she didn't have that much concrete experience. What would she do now? Boast about her high SAT scores, stellar GPA, and marketing degree to win the job?

  Trina sighed. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

  A blue postcard tacked to a bulletin board above her head caught her attention. Her eyes zoned in on the HELP WANTED title. "Bachelor Looking For Temporary Wife," it read. "Marriage union will last six weeks and three days. Temporary wife will be compensated fairly. Money is negotiable and payable in installments. Marriage for convenience only. No other duties required."

  A telephone number was written at the bottom, but there was no name.

  What type of man would place an ad like that? Better yet, how desperate could one get to propose something like this?

  She swallowed as her cognizance told her that seeking employment at an adult entertainment club was no better and maybe slightly worse than putting up an ad in search of a temporary wife. After all, her own desperation for money had led her here.

  The door to the office opened and a slim, attractive woman stepped out. Trina plucked the card from the board and stuck it down into her jeans pocket.

  "Ladies," the woman said, walking down the hallway assessing each one of them. "Thank you for being on time. I'm Brenda, Leo's assistant, and will be interviewing you first. There are two interviews. One with me, and if you pass that we will consider you for round two."

  Trina's instinct told her that Brenda was a shifter. No ordinary human had eyes the color of brass. Sometimes you could recognize the shifters by sight, mannerisms, but sometimes you couldn't recognize them at all since they were so well adapted to human ways.

  "I've worked at one of Leo's sister clubs," the redhead stated, smacking and blowing on her gum. "Do I still need to go through all this?"

  Brenda pursed her lips and her eyes twitched as though she seemed disturbed about being interrupted. "If you want to get hired again, you go through the same steps." She returned the front of the line. "To the right, there is a dressing room with dozens of clean uniforms. Take your pick. Once you're dressed, meet me back here. Your first interview begins now…on the job."

  Trina's mouth widened before she could stop herself. Was Brenda suggesting that they start the job as part of the interview process…like now?

  No one—except for the redhead—moved in the direction of the dressing room.

  "Um…now." Brenda placed her hands on her hips and stared at them. "What are we waiting for? Here's the first test: you have fifteen minutes to get ready. Now go."

  Trina stared at the woman in disbelief. She had to bite her tongue to keep from protesting. After all, this wasn't all about her. She needed the money for her father's surgery.

  Chapter 4

  “I’m just saying,” Dane said, turning in his chair slightly to give his brother a warning look, "lay off the raids for a bit. When you attack blindly with no lead-ins—"

  Brock met his stare, baring his canines. "What do you mean, blindly? We have humans in high positions of authority whose aim is to destroy us. They've hidden behind all these little guys too long."

  "And it's the little guys that you've been attacking."

  "Small steps will lead me to the big guys," Brock replied, dismissively.

  "Both shifters and humans are talking to the cops about possible pack retaliation. I've warned our people and have been in contact with other Alphas from at least nine surrounding packs about watching their backs…especially those of our women and children. Just take caution, brother. Let's not get caught up in a mess before we can nail this creep."

  Brock growled. "Or creeps."

  A string of murders involving shifters from Dane's pack and other surrounding packs was what sparked their outrage. After evidence was either des
troyed or swept under the rug by investigators, Alphas and commanders from all the surrounding packs began to take matters into their own hands.

  It was disheartening to learn that someone wanted them out of the picture for good and would resort to killing them by cornering them like dogs and then shooting at point-blank range.

  Dane's fingers gripped the arms of the chair as his blood grew hot just thinking about the travesty. He took several shallow breaths to try to calm his composure and looked out at the swarm of gyrating bodies on the dance floor of LIVE nightclub.

  The shifter woman standing behind him kneaded his shoulders firmly. The massage was relaxing, but every time he and his brother disagreed on an issue or brought up a rather touchy subject, the tension would return. It was no mystery why Brock had picked this place to meet up. The blaring rock music matched his brother's irritation and the call girls he'd ordered to keep them company while they talked served as a mild diversion to the situation.

  Just as Dane opened his mouth again to speak, a waitress entered their section with a selection of cocktails on her tray. She wasn't the same waitress who'd been serving them all along. This was a different one. She was very human. Very innocent looking. Very…very attractive. When he caught her fresh floral scent, his mouth began to water for more than just the beverages.

  Dane sat straight up in his chair as she came to pause in front of her table. There was a tightening in the center of his chest and pulsing in his groin that he couldn't stop. He'd had his share, so it wasn't likely to have such a reaction to one of the call girls walking around under the guise of a waitress. Something was different about this one…

  The woman kept her eyes on the ground and he caught a whiff of anxiety from the tempting scent she was giving off. Right off the bat, he could tell that she was new. Leo liked to hire them fresh, with no experience. It kept the males coming back for more since the pickings were varied night after night.