Red Claw Alpha (Red Claw Rising Book 1)

by Zoey Harper

  So much for being a blue-collar mechanic.

  "Great." Elvis stood. "Consider my debt paid, Colton. I sincerely hope I never have to see you again. Tegan, let's talk outside for a minute."

  Tegan let Elvis lead her outside the cafe. Her mind was in a jumble. Colton was into something illegal. The first man to ever make her feel something was a criminal.

  Tegan sighed. She should have known better. Over the past couple of days, thoughts of Colton had found their way into her mind. It didn't help that she was jobless and that the job boards were empty.

  She'd spent her days moping about, and inevitably, Colton's rugged face would appear, and she'd have to clench her thighs.

  He was so damn sexy, and she was embarrassed to admit that she'd found herself taking much longer to fall asleep than necessary.

  Colton could be gruff, and he could be rude, but he could also be sweet. Tegan could still hear the sound of his voice as he apologized for being mean in the restaurant.

  That big grizzly of a man apologized to her. Something no man had ever done.

  "Get yourself together," Tegan muttered under her breath.

  "Sorry?" Elvis asked.

  Tegan shook her head. There'd be plenty of time to dissect her wayward feelings later. Right now, she needed to make money, and it seemed Colton was somehow involved.

  "What's going on here, Elvis? You told me you had a job for me."

  A wolf shifter brushed past Tegan on the sidewalk before heading into the cafe. A shiver ran down her spine, and she pressed herself against the wall.

  "He look at you funny?" Elvis asked, cocking his head.

  Tegan shook her head. "It's just a little chilly."

  That was a flat out lie. Winters in Stonewick, Kentucky, were fairly warm. Besides, Tegan was a shifter. The cold was rarely a problem.

  Elvis stared at Tegan until she dropped her eyes. She thought she hid her phobia well, but it appeared Elvis had caught on to it. Heck, Colton had minutes after meeting her.

  "The job," Tegan said, lifting her chin.

  She didn't like the pitying look in Elvis’ eyes. It reminded her of how he looked at her the first day she'd run away. Her life may have been in shambles, and she may carry wounds, but she was stronger than the girl she'd been.

  Elvis nodded. "Colton needs a sniper. I don't know much about the job, but the fact that you didn't shut me down right away tells me you need it."

  Tegan sighed. "I do."

  "Why didn't you call me?" Elvis brows furrowed. "That was our deal, remember? You're supposed to call me if anything goes wrong. You know I'd never say no."

  And that's precisely why I didn't call you.

  Elvis, a childhood friend of her mother's, had already done far too much for her. Tegan knew that he had feelings for her mother, but her time spent with him had shown her that the older bear shifter had started to care for Tegan, too, independent of his feelings for her mother.

  When Tegan ran away from the Bluewolfs, Elvis had picked her up at the bus station, then taken her to his home. There, he'd given her all the space she needed as she adjusted to life away from the Bluewolfs.

  Elvis had an outdoor shooting range on the large piece of land that his home rested on. When Tegan had started to panic about her lack of real-life skills, he'd offered to teach her to shoot.

  To both their surprise, she had a knack for it, and a couple of months later, she'd gone out onto her first mission, and quit within twenty-four hours.

  Elvis didn't act disappointed. He just asked Tegan what she wanted to do. When she said that she wanted to make a go of things by herself, he'd given her ten thousand dollars, of which she only took one, and wished her the best, reminding her that he was just a phone call away.

  Tegan shuffled her feet. "I want to make it on my own. How else will I get things ready for when Mom and Spencer come?"

  Elvis sighed. "You don't have to do it alone, though. I have money. Lots of it. All you had to do was call, and I'd send you some."

  "I told you," Tegan emphasized. "I need to be able to do this on my own. It's not like you're going to make Mom your mate once she leaves the Bluewolfs.

  "She's like me. She doesn't have an education or work experience that she can reference. All Bluewolf businesses are unregistered to avoid taxes.

  "When she and Spencer get out, I'm going to be their provider. How can I do that if I keep calling you when things get hard?"

  Elvis stuffed his right arm in his pocket. It was a nervous habit Tegan had noticed. But she didn't understand its place in their current conversation.

  Then it dawned on her. Elvis was worried about her mother coming to Stonewick.

  "It wouldn't matter," Tegan said, her voice firm.

  Elvis’ face went hard. "What wouldn't matter?"

  "Your hand. Mom wouldn't care."

  Tegan shook her head. "Once she came up with the plan for me to escape, we grew a lot closer. It was almost like she felt safe telling me about her life before marrying Dd. And do you know who she talked about the most? You. Her childhood friend and protector."

  "I didn't do a good enough job. Your fuck-face of a father got to her while I was on tour."

  Elvis spat on the ground and grunted. "If I'd been around, he'd never have gotten to her."

  "And I wouldn't be here." Tegan smiled when she saw Elvis freeze.

  "Shit." He scrubbed a hand down his face. "I didn't mean it like that."

  Tegan reached out and squeezed his arm. "I know you didn't. Things are the way they are. I'm just saying that you could help things along. Neither of you will admit it, but I know you like each other. You could go to South Carolina, get Mom and Spencer, and bring them here."

  Elvis folded his arms. "I've thought about it, but it isn't possible. Spencer's not eighteen. Your father would come looking for her. Your mother and your sister deserve better than a life on the run. I can't protect them like I once could."

  Elvis stared at the ground, then growled. "Ugh. You're playing mind games again. Getting me to think about them. Stop it."

  Tegan chuckled. "It's the only way to get you macho men to open up. You lay a crumb, then another. And before you know it, you're listening to a forty-something-year-old man talk about his childhood crush."

  Elvis glared at Tegan. "Let's get back to business, shall we. Colton needs a sniper. The only reason I brought him by is that I owe him a debt. You don't have to take this gig on, though. I know how sad the last one made you."

  "I know, but I want to hear him out. What do you know about the job?"

  "Not much. You'll have to get that from him. I was going to sit down and hash everything out on your behalf, but your little performance just now told me that you don't need my help."

  Tegan laughed. "I'm not the scared girl I was when I first came here. Don't get me wrong, plenty still makes me nervous, but it's not so bad now."

  Elvis smiled, and his entire face softened. "You're right. When I first picked you up, you'd hardly look me in the eye.

  "Just do me a favor, okay? Talk things through with Colton. Before, I would have vouched for him, and I still do to a certain extent. But he's mixed up in something. I've never seen him act the way he acted yesterday. Make sure you know exactly what he wants.

  "If you decide to pass up the job, I'd be more than happy to lend you some more money. If you decide to take it, then come by the house. I'll get you geared up."

  "Thanks." Tegan tried to hug Elvis, but he pushed her away. "Sorry, I forgot. You can't have me ruining your reputation."

  Elvis snorted. "My reputation is solid. I may not have my hand, but very few people would dare cross me. Colton's just lucky I owed him a favor."

  Elvis turned as if to leave then hesitated. "How's your mom doing?"

  Tegan fought back the massive grin that threatened to take over her face. "Okay, I guess. She hasn't called in a couple of weeks, but I'm pretty sure she's fine. She'd let me know either way."

  Elvis nodded and stuffed his
left hand into his back pocket. He pulled out a note and shoved it into Tegan's hand. "Take care of yourself, Tegan."

  Tegan opened her hand and found a hundred-dollar bill. She smiled and watched the bear shifter cross the road and head to his truck.

  Tegan stood on the sidewalk and smiled. She'd been on her own for so long that she forgot that she had people that cared about her.

  Her mother and sister may have been thousands of miles away, but Elvis wasn't. He cared for her in his way, and he always treated her like an equal. Heck, he'd yelled at her just as hard as he did at his other trainees a couple of months ago.

  You'd make a great father and husband, Elvis. It's too bad you don't see yourself that way.

  Tegan walked back into the café and settled into the booth opposite Colton.

  "What took you so long? How do you know Elvis? Are you really a sniper?"

  Tegan grinned and waved a waiter down. "I'm going to need food if we're going to dive into all that."

  Colton rolled his eyes. "I know how much you like to talk, so I better get something, too."

  Tegan snorted. "Says the man who gushed about his custom bike for like ten minutes."

  "Okay, that shit lasted like a minute, max."

  "That's not what I remember," Tegan singsonged. "You were finally opening up, and then you got into your tough guy act."

  A low rumbling escaped Colton's throat. "It's not an act."

  "Trust me, I know." Tegan placed her order and waited for Colton to do the same before continuing. "I know you're a bad boy, but you've got some good in you. I choose to focus on that."

  "Well, don't get too used to it. There's no telling when it'll come out."

  "True. But at least now I know you'll apologize later. That was sweet by the way. I was too upset to appreciate it at the time, but I do. I also want to say a proper thank you for what you did for me. I didn't get a chance."

  Colton ran a hand through his hair and moaned. "God! Enough with this mushy shit. I came here for a sniper, and it seems that you're it, which makes no sense to me. You're a timid little thing, and you're scared of male wolves."

  Tegan bristled at the casual way he referred to her phobia, but she pushed her hurt feelings aside.

  "Elvis trained me. I'm not sure if he mentioned that, but he did. He took me through standard military sniper school. They were seven weeks of hell, but I got through. I've got steady hands and a clear head. I'm pretty good at it."

  Colton tilted his head. "So, why aren't you working for him?"

  "I couldn't handle the lifestyle."

  "But now you can?" Colton squinted.

  "That depends. What's the job?"

  Colton placed his arms on the table and leaned in, his voice low. "I'm hunting down an eagle shifter. I need him alive, but he tends to shift and fly away the moment he gets a chance. I need a sniper to stand by ready to shoot him if he tries to take off."

  "I thought you wanted him alive."

  "Right now, dead is fine, too. I want to get home. I'll deal with the repercussions. So, feel free to spill some bird brains should you agree to the gig."

  Tegan's exhaled. "You sound desensitized to violence and death."

  Colton stared at Tegan and blinked slowly. "I'm a shifter. It's our way of life."

  "But it doesn't have to be."

  Memories of her time with the Bluewolf Pack rushed to the front of her mind, and Tegan pushed them away. She knew full well just how much a life of violence and death could bury a person deep within themselves.

  Pretty soon, all that was left was a shell of a man, while the animal part took over.

  "You're shaking," Colton said, pointing to her hands.

  Tegan stuffed them under her thighs as if that would help Colton unsee what he’d seen. Sometimes she felt super lucky she'd gotten away. But then, at other times, the memories would play so vividly in her mind that she felt like she was still back there.

  Tegan wondered if she'd ever entirely be free of the Bluewolf Pack.

  "I'm fine."

  "Liar." Colton folded his arms. "What's your deal? I find out that you're friends or some shit with Elvis, who's into some dangerous shit, by the way, and that you're a sniper. That's a little edgy, but it makes sense for a shifter.

  "What doesn't make sense is the fact that you're scared of male wolves, and that you've never mentioned a clan or friends or family. Very few shifters can be lone wolves. Are you running from something? From someone? I can't figure you out."

  Join the club.

  The waiter dropped their food off, but Tegan didn't pick her fork up. Neither did Colton. They just stared at each other, until Colton cleared his throat.

  "It's none of my business. I just, uh, wanted to know more about my future partner."

  Tegan knew that he meant it in a professional sense, but she felt an urge to open up to Colton nonetheless.

  For one, she hadn't had a genuine conversation with anyone in months. Even with the girls at the salon, it was all surface level. More importantly, none of them had ever noticed Tegan's quirks or taken the time to inquire about them.

  Here she was at her second meeting with Colton, and he'd put most of it together. Also, the way his voice had softened when he said the words "future partner" told Tegan he cared about her on some level. Not in the way that she did, though.

  Tegan was already on a one-way ticket to full-on crush-town, but Colton must have cared on some level. Just now, he backtracked, and he'd apologized to her days ago.

  He cared about her, and at that moment, Tegan didn't want to hide her past. She had no reason to be ashamed. She was a survivor.

  Tegan placed her hands in her lap and twiddled her thumbs. "Up until six months ago, I was a Bluewolf."

  Colton spat out his mouthful of orange juice then quickly grabbed the napkins on the table and wiped up his mess. He was silent as he worked, his eyes never meeting Tegan's.

  "Jesus."

  "Sorry. I should have waited for you to swallow."

  Colton moved the wet napkins to the side and shook his head. "Forget about the mess. I'm shocked that you grew up Bluewolf. I mean, we've all heard stories, but no one's gone into their territory. Are they as wild as everybody says?"

  Tegan exhaled. "Probably worse. There are things that I would never want to repeat."

  Colton nodded. "No wonder you hate male wolves. You grew up with the worst of them. Fuck that. You grew up with the worst of any shifters. How are you not tied to a bed in a mental hospital somewhere?"

  The awe in Colton's voice warmed Tegan's heart, and a weight lifted off her shoulders. He was the first person she'd ever told, and he was looking at her like she was some hero.

  Imagine that. He thinks I'm a hero!

  "Well, my Mom was a great support system. She tried to keep things normal for us whenever my dad was away. She was the one that helped me escape. Elvis was a childhood friend from before she moved to South Carolina, so they co-ordinated, and here I am."

  Colton nodded, then froze. "Wait. How is it that you can't fight if you grew up among the most vicious barbaric fighters?"

  "I'm female. The Bluewolf see women as less than." Tegan took a sip of her orange juice. "It's pretty crazy how they've managed to last so long. But then again, it's probably why they live so isolated. I stopped going to school at fourteen. Most girls stop way before then."

  Colton's eyes bugged out, and his mouth formed an 'o' shape. "I've run with a lot of tough guys in my time, but I've got to say, right now, you beat them all. You must have some crazy stories."

  Tegan laughed at Colton's expression. His head rested on his fist, and he stared at her like a puppy awaiting a treat.

  Tegan was glad that he didn't seem to pity her. But then again, it appeared that he, like most people, didn't know much about what life was like for females in the Bluewolf Pack.

  As much as Tegan wanted to indulge him, she wanted to be able to get a good night's sleep if she was going to work for Colton. A trip down mem
ory lane would do the opposite of that.

  "I'd rather not get into all that. We should talk about the job."

  Colton's face dropped, but he cleared his throat. "Of course." He took a big bite of his stack of pancakes and swallowed before he spoke.

  "Well, given everything you've told me, I'd be more than happy to work with you. Elvis trained you, and you've got some Bluewolf badassery in you. Taking down one bird shouldn't be a problem."

  "Hold on." Tegan put her fork down. "I've not agreed to work for you. I still have some questions. Who are you working for? You said this was a side hustle. I need to know what kind of side hustle it is. If things go wrong, I can't have someone breathing down my neck."

  "That won't be a problem. No one would know you're working for me."

  "Okaaay." Colton's mood seemed to have switched back to gruff mode. Tegan didn't want to ruin their time together, but she needed to go in with her eyes open.

  "Then tell me why you need to catch the eagle shifter. Is he a bad person? Did he mess with your garage?"

  Colton slammed his fork down on the table, and Tegan jumped. A memory of her father doing something similar when she was a child flashed before her, and she ducked her head.

  Tegan felt the blood drain from her face as the hair on her nape lifted. She pressed her back against the booth and did her best to slow down her heartbeat and to stop her limbs from shaking.

  Tegan knew Colton wasn't the memory, but sometimes little actions like the one that just happened took her back to a different time. It was one of the main reasons she'd asked to leave Elvis’ home.

  While the older bear shifter took good care of her and made sure the other men around treated her with respect, there were just far too many actions he did that reminded her of home and the men there.

  Tegan got tired of being triggered. Over the last couple of months, she'd thought she'd gotten better, but it appeared she was wrong.

  "Shit," Colton said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

  "It's fine," Tegan croaked. She took a couple of deep breaths and forced herself to look up.

  The guilt on Colton's face tore at her heart, and she straightened, lifting her chin to face him. "It's not your fault. It's, uh, a reaction. I couldn't help it."