He was flat-out ignoring the fact that his uncle had ordered the bridenapping. He wasn’t going to go through with it, Mary realized, anxiety clutching at her. This was her sister’s most important, most public bridenapping ever, the one that would make or break her agency. And it wasn’t going to happen.
“She was here first, so I believe you were the one stalking her. And I’m sure you’re delighted to see her,” Mary said desperately.
“Not really, no.”
Regina rushed up to Jarrod, breathless.
“And may I say, you’re looking especially lovely today, Mary. The blue of your dress really brings out the blue in your eyes,” Jarrod continued. Almost like he wanted Regina to hear it.
“Why, thank you, Jarrod!” Regina cried out, as if Jarrod had been speaking to her. “And you look good enough to eat,” she simpered flirtatiously.
“Is your name Mary?” Angela wondered aloud. “And is your dress blue? Where I come from, we call that color red.”
“It’s so funny how we keep running into each other everywhere, isn’t it?” Regina added, with a big, desperate smile on her face as she moved to Jarrod’s side, her sharp elbow somehow ending up jammed into Mary’s ribs.
Mary stifled a gasp of pain as she fell back. “Well, gotta run,” she said with a grimace, grabbing Angela by the arm and leading her away from Mary.
“She did that on purpose. Let me cripple her. Please?” Angela begged.
“No. Why must you always cause trouble?” Mary demanded irritably once she’d gotten her over to the other side of the store.
“Because it’s fun?”
Mary glared at her cousin until Angela finally threw up her hands in exasperation. “Come on. It’s obvious he’s way more into you. Didn’t you say you were kind of seeing him in high school?”
“Yes, and it didn’t end well.”
To this day, she burned with humiliation just thinking about it. She should have known all along, though. He’d never be seen with her in public. He’d insisted that they keep their relationship a secret. And worse, her friends had kept telling her they saw him publicly hanging out with the girls from the popular crowd. He’d be seen with them, but not with her.
When she’d finally put her foot down and said that if he didn’t want to be seen with her in public, it was over, he’d actually asked her out to dinner. That had been right after he’d graduated; she’d been two years behind him.
She’d glowed with pride at the thought of being seen with the handsome Alpha. Her, the quiet, chubby nerd from the mobile home park. But it was not to be – because he’d never planned on taking her out. Instead he’d stood her up. And that wasn’t all. Oh, no. She’d showed up at the restaurant to find that he wasn’t there - but everyone from the popular crowd from school waiting there for her.
They’d applauded and whistled when she’d walked in. That was what she got for thinking somebody like him would want somebody like her – as Hilda had made sure to tell her at the time.
And Jarrod had left town immediately after that, without a word to her, heading off to Alpha College early.
Shortly after that, her mother had wrapped her car around a tree, for the third time that year. That time, her mother hadn’t walked away from it. It had been a closed casket funeral, and the year from hell.
“Let me tell you what’s happening. He and his uncle are having a major power struggle, and this is his way of sticking it to his uncle. Back in high school, his uncle couldn’t stand me; he ran into me and Jarrod once and flipped out. I heard him screaming about how he wasn’t going to let Jarrod waste a valuable political alliance on no-good trash like me.”
And two weeks later, Jarrod had stood her up. Surprise, surprise.
“Isn’t he Alpha Regent? Why is there even any power struggle?” Angela wondered.
“Because his uncle has run the pack ever since Jarrod was little, and he’s not thrilled about having to hand over the reins to anybody else. But as soon as Jarrod gets married, he becomes the Alpha.”
“But…his uncle is the one arranging the bridenapping,” Angela said, puzzled. “So he wants Jarrod to get married. And then his uncle would have no power at all, right?”
“His uncle has no choice, unless he wants a stranger to come in. You know how every pack has its own laws and traditions? According to Magister Pack rules, if Jarrod doesn’t marry by the time he’s thirty, the Alpha Congress will select a replacement from outside the pack.”
Angela opened her mouth to say something; Mary held up her hand.
“I know what you’re going to ask. The uncle can’t be Alpha because he was born with cerebral palsy and he walks with a limp. A very slight limp. Although he’ll kill anyone who mentions it or even appears to be looking at it.”
“Hey! That’s…able-ist! That’s prejudiced against the disabled!” Angela yelped, always eager to find a new oppressed class to be indignant about.
“I don’t know, werewolves are different.” Mary shrugged. “There’s a specific pack hierarchy, just like there is with wolves in the wild. The pack Alpha has to be strong. He has to be ready to face Death Challenges and defend his pack at all times. Any type of physical disability is an automatic disqualification.”
She looked over at Regina and Jarrod. Jarrod was walking away, appearing completely indifferent, and Regina was following him, trying to hang on to his arm and jabbering away.
“I’m kind of surprised that Regina would even want him,” Mary mused. “He’s gone through this whole courting thing three times over the past couple of years, when everybody assumed he would get engaged…and then broken it off. He’s not known to be reliable.” Not that she’d been checking her social media pages while she was away at school or anything. Jarrod Shaw could do whatever the hell he wanted. He always did.
“But he’s not courting Regina at all,” Angela said. “He looks like he’s thinking about taking out a restraining order.”
“Mary!” Hilda barked, making Mary jump. She hadn’t seen Hilda sneaking up on her. “What’s going on with you and Jarrod? You’re about to ruin everything!”
“Me?” Mary asked, keeping her voice low. “Nothing’s going on!”
“If this bridenapping goes south, my agency does too. This has to go off without a hitch. And thanks to you, there’s plenty of hitching.”
Mary reached for her list to make another hatch mark, saw that Angela was watching her, and shoved it back in her purse. She was not a slave to her lists!
“Nineteen,” she muttered.
“Nineteen what? Can we please focus here? Why do you keep distracting him from Regina? This is like high school all over again,” Hilda said irritably. Mary felt a sharp jab of humiliation.
“Um, excuse me, it’s obvious that Jarrod is the one doing the flirting,” Angela said indignantly. “And of course he likes Mary better than Regina. Mary’s a wonderful person, and—”
“Thank you, Angela!” Mary interrupted quickly. Angela meant well, but she wasn’t helping. “Jarrod is only flirting with me to get back at his uncle. But he’ll go through with it; it’s for the good of the pack.”
“Well, of course he’s only flirting with you to get at his uncle, but I would have thought you’d have set him straight by now instead of continuing to throw yourself at him.” Hilda shook her head, with an expression of deep, wounded disappointment. “I probably expected too much when I hired you. I shouldn’t have given you so much responsibility.” At least she hadn’t started in on the “You’re just like our mother” lecture. That was her nuclear option.
“I’ve helped coordinate three successful bridenappings already! This is the first time there’s been a problem!” Mary protested desperately. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and she was starting to get that sick feeling in her stomach that happened whenever Hilda got in one of her moods.
Also, Angela looked like she was one step away from punching her cousin. Just what Mary needed right now; the police showing up to break up a domestic
disturbance, right in the middle of Jarrod’s supposed courtship.
“Hilda? Why is my daughter’s fiancé paying more attention to your employee than to my daughter?” Kurt had stalked up, with his wife at his heels.
“Yes, why?” Bunny echoed like a parrot, which was all she ever did.
Fiancé. Wow. So far, they hadn’t even been able to get Jarrod and Regina to the coffee date phase, much less engaged. Regina’s entire family was Looney Tunes.
“He’s utterly transfixed by Regina, I assure you,” Hilda said with a big, bright smile. “He has no interest in Mary at all.” Wow, that stung. It was true, but somehow hearing it said aloud really rankled.
“Well, I don’t know. I can’t say I’m pleased with how it’s going so far. I’d heard great things about your agency.” He shook his head, frowning, and walked away. His wife scurried after him like an anxious little terrier, shaking her head just as he was.
Hilda raked Mary with a look of utter contempt. “Control yourself and your hormones, curb your unrealistic expectations that a man like Jarrod would ever want you, or I’ll be looking for another secretary. You’re about to cost me my most important client ever.”
“You wouldn’t fire your own sister!” Angela said indignantly.
“Watch me,” Hilda said, and turned on her heel and walked away.
Chapter Three
“Magister Pack Athletes Rocked By Cheating Rumors!” The headline splashed out across the front page, blaring at Earvin, sending fury coursing through his veins.
Someone, some sniveling traitor who was going to die slowly when he found them, had sent an anonymous email to every major newspaper and news blog and TV station in the nation. Someone who was jealous of their success at the pack games for the past four years. It had accused the pack of cheating, claiming that their sudden run of success at the games was impossible and demanding an immediate investigation.
Ignatius, the Chairman of the Magister Pack Council, hurried into Earvin’s office. Earvin threw the newspaper at him and Ignatius started, let out a small growl, then quickly bent his head in submission. Of the two wolves, Earvin was the dominant one.
“Who would do this?” Earvin shouted.
“Sir, we’re on it! I have the Enforcers investigating. They’re combing through all the pack’s computer records to trace the source, in case it came from here.”
Earvin began pacing behind his desk. “But that will only help us if it was someone from our pack, and if they used an official pack computer to send those emails. If they were from another pack, or if they used a personal computer or a cell phone, we won’t be able to track it.”
This was the last thing he needed. All his plans were falling into place. His nephew would marry that spoiled, whiny little bitch of an heiress and the pack would be raking in the money that their business partnership would bring. He needed it. His suppliers in Eastern Europe were getting greedy, talking about raising their prices, and it was getting harder and harder for him to divert pack money to where it needed to go. The Van Hoffington department store partnership would give him the fresh infusion of cash that he needed.
And once he had the Alpha Congress where he needed them, he’d get rid of Jarrod. God knew what he’d do with Regina. Maybe marry the stupid bitch; all she cared about was being married to an Alpha, so she shouldn’t object too much. He’d make sure she didn’t.
“Sir, we’ll find out who did this. And the athletes aren’t cheating; we’d stand up to any investigation.” Ignatius didn’t look as confident as Earvin would have hoped.
“Deal with it, or it’ll be your head on the chopping block,” Earvin growled at him. “You know what’s at stake.”
“Yes, sir.” He bobbed his head frantically and backed out of the room, keeping his gaze respectfully lowered as he did.
* * * * *
Mary stopped pacing and tried to refrain from looking at the sunburst-shaped clock up on the wall as Angela walked in with a sour expression on her face, slammed the door, and threw her purse onto the table.
“Oh, go ahead and look,” Angela said wearily. “It’s 2 a.m. Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you up.”
“It’s not like I was sleeping anyway,” Mary said, stifling a yawn. “My mind can’t stop racing. I have thirty-two things I need to do tomorrow.”
“Literally? Wow, you are stressed out. The more stressed you are, the longer your lists get. What’s wrong?”
Was that true? Mary should look into that tomorrow. No, that would just add another item to her list. She sank down on the couch and scrubbed wearily at her eyes with the palms of her hands.
“The last couple of days have not been going well. Jarrod stood Regina up again – well, technically he never agreed to meet her, but his uncle promised he’d send Jarrod to this coffee shop where Regina was hanging out and he never showed. Her family is threatening to fire Hilda, and Hilda, needless to say, is not taking it well.”
“What you mean is she’s taking it out on you.” Angela shook her head sympathetically. “Why don’t you get another job?”
“There aren’t many jobs out there for an English lit major. Trust me, I’ve looked. There’s a hiring freeze on teachers, and I fail at waitressing because of the whole butterfingers thing.” Mary sighed. “And also, I’m trying to help her out. She can’t really afford a good executive secretary, because this is a new business for her, and I kind of owe her for all she did for me after Mom died.”
Angela shook her head. “Yeah, she’s going to beat you to death with that one forever.”
Angela got up and walked over to the mantel, where Mary had neatly lined up pictures. She only had one picture with her mother and Hilda and her all together. Her mother was hungover, Hilda looked like she’d just sucked a lemon, and Mary was forcing a smile and trying to hold everything together, as usual. Good times.
Mary looked just like her mother in that picture. Hilda never failed to hold that resemblance over her head, which made Mary queasy. She did everything she could to be the opposite of their mother; she was compulsively neat, tidy and punctual. But for Hilda, it was still never good enough.
“What was she like?” Angela asked, peering at the picture.
“She was…a free spirit.” She was an alcoholic who would rather party and run off with strange men for weeks on end than take care of her own daughters. Hilda and Mary had both grown up overcompensating for their upbringing, or lack thereof.
“How did your evening go?” Mary asked, desperate to change the subject.
Angela made a sour face. “I went out for drinks with that photographer and he flirted with another girl and then left with her. Why do I always pick out total douchebags?” She flopped down on the couch next to Mary.
“You could let me help pick out your dates,” Mary suggested.
Angela looked appalled. “You’d pick a guy with a suit and tie. You’d fix me up with an accountant.”
“Not necessarily,” Mary said. She immediately abandoned her plan to fix Angela up with Marvin, her accountant. He was twenty-two – six years younger than Mary, but he was the right age for Angela. He would be a total catch for somebody. Reliable, punctual to a fault, looking to settle down and have a huge family as soon as possible… On second thought, she wouldn’t want to inflict Angela on Marvin. It would be a disaster.
“Why do you think Hilda even wants you on this bridenapping?” Angela mused. “I mean, she may be a total bitch, but she’s not stupid. She must know Jarrod likes you.”
“Nah, that was eons ago, and he only liked me for a while. Then he got bored.”
“Right,” Angela said, raking Mary with a knowing look. “I can tell how bored he is by the saliva that runs out of his mouth every time he looks at you.”
“It does?” Mary asked, staring at Angela.
“Metaphorically. When he looks at you, he radiates waves of lust that are practically visible to the naked eye.”
Mary shook her head. “Angela, you really need to cut ba
ck on whatever pharmaceuticals you’ve been sampling. Anyway, I have to be up in four hours. I’d better toddle off to bed. Tomorrow Jarrod is scheduled to accidentally run into Regina when she’s lingerie shopping. That’s going to be a great photo op.”
But of course he didn’t show.
Chapter Four
It was a typical night at The Boar’s Tusk, the tavern located at the edge of town nearest to the Magister Pack’s lands. There was country music on the jukebox, and werewolves mingling freely with humans, flirting and laughing. The Devil sat at the bar, downing a frosty mug of beer.
Women were eyeing him appreciatively. The bartender looked as if she were about to drool down the front of his shirt as she leaned over and attempted to flash her cleavage at him while she asked him something. He gave her a short, sharp shake of his head and turned away from her, resuming his conversation with Craig, his best friend and Beta.
Mary stomped across the room and slapped her hand down on the bar to get his attention, glaring.
“You!”
“Me?” Jarrod swung around and grinned at her, setting down the mug.
“We need to talk.”
He leaned against the bar, raising his voice to be heard over the jukebox. “Any time.”
“Outside, please?” she yelled back. “I can’t hear a thing in here.”
He nodded at Craig, set his beer down on the bar, and followed her out. Mary could feel the envious gazes of women burning into her like lasers as they headed out the door.
Nothing to see here, folks, she thought grimly.
The night air was humid, and crickets chirped a creaky chorus in the trees nearby. An ivory sliver of new moon hung behind wisps of ghostly cloud. Jarrod looked appallingly cheerful, and she was torn between wanting to smack him and wanting to sink into his arms and press against his broad, muscular chest.
“It’s great to see you. I’ve never seen you in here before,” he observed.
So he’s noticed? she thought, with a trace of wistfulness.
Bridenapped The Alpha's Choice Page 2
