Wild One (Wilding Pack Wolves 4) - New Adult Paranormal Romance

by Alisa Woods

  He grinned. “Yes, I can absolutely see it.”

  “We’ll call it Adopt a Shifter, and each one will be handcrafted and hand tagged with a heart that says Love Enough for Everyone. People can buy them to give to their kids. Or display them in their homes or office to show their support. Or even share them on social media! There are all kinds of things we can do with this.”

  This time, he cut her off with a full-blown kiss, holding her cheeks gently, but putting everything into the press of his lips against hers.

  “Love Enough for Everyone,” he echoed. “That’s just… how did I ever get so lucky as to find you?”

  His words seemed to choke her up for a moment. She visibly swallowed and then said, “You were there when I needed you. You were there when everyone needed you. Good things happen to people like that—or at least, they should.”

  That was all he could take. He pulled her into his arms. “Can we talk about our new business later?” He ran his hand along the smooth skin of her back down to her bottom, gripping it hard. “I have an urgent need to make love to the new CEO of Adopt a Shifter.”

  She grinned, and he couldn’t wait to turn that smile into moans and gasps of pleasure once again.

  And again and again and again.

  Forever.

  Julia could hardly believe it—in less than a week, Adopt a Shifter was in full swing.

  The idea was taking off like crazy. Their Kickstarter had fully funded within the first twenty-four hours, setting all kinds of records, and the pledges kept pouring in. They were having to scale up their operation almost faster than they could handle. Each day brought in new ideas, new stretch goals, and most important of all… new hope blazing in the eyes of every shifter in Marco’s pack.

  Her pack.

  Her family. It was almost more joy than she could contain in her heart. Except that her heart was soaring and growing more each day, pumped up with the love and magic that flowed into her from Marco. Her mate. He was her world, and he made all of it possible. And worthwhile.

  Julia surveyed the makeshift headquarters they had set up in the gym—the kids were hard at work coloring the hand-crafted tags that would go on each and every Adopted Shifter. They were inventing names and putting their initials on the back, so people would know that a real-live shifter had been involved in the creation of each one. In one corner, Casey was banging away on his computer, maintaining the Kickstarter and working on new status updates and uploading videos they had made. Each update got a new video, and the hits were just insane… people kept coming back for more feel-good videos about where their pledge dollars were going and how they were helping these down-and-out shifters make a new life for themselves and their pack. Marco was bent over the screen with him, giving him guidance on something. A brigade of grandmas and unmated female shifters led by Isabel were pouring over plans for the stuffed animal designs on a series of tables set against one wall. And the men—the big, burly shifter men—were busy bringing in another shipment of bolts of fabric and sewing machines and super fluffy stuffing… all the materials they would need to create the toy animals themselves.

  The temporary truce she had brokered with Cruz’s pack had been extended, and some of the men who were helping with the loading and unloading and setting up of the operation were actually from his pack. Julia caught more than one of them smiling at the unmated females—not in a lecherous way, like she might have expected, but in the first bloom of flirtation.

  Love was literally in the air.

  Julia couldn’t be more pleased. If she could help cement that truce with jobs for Cruz’s men, maybe they could bring all the shifter gangs in the downtown area under their umbrella.

  She took a deep breath. One step at a time.

  Marco left Casey’s side and strode her way, a phone glued to his ear. He was listening intently and speaking intermittently. He crooked a finger at her, beckoning her, and she was more than happy to intercept him and give him a quick peck on the cheek. They still were going a million miles an hour in bed, but she could never get enough of her gorgeous alpha.

  “Yes. Absolutely,” he said into the phone, leaning away from her kiss and giving her a warning look like she was making trouble. “Thank you.” He was speaking to whoever was on the other end of the line, but he was also directing it to her, as if thanking her for not molesting him anymore.

  She grinned wickedly and slid her arms around his waist, rubbing up against the full front of him and not-so-subtly digging her hip into his crotch. As always, his body responded to hers like it was preset for instant lovemaking. She could feel him getting hard under his pants.

  “Uh huh,” he said into the phone. “That won’t be a problem.” He scowled at her and lifted his arms away, pointing to the phone, like she shouldn’t be harassing him while he was on it.

  She just smiled with more glee and ground her hip harder.

  He gave her a look that spelled trouble, and an instant later, he had flipped the phone up away from his mouth, fisted his hand in her hair, and brought her in for a fast and devouring kiss. She felt consumed and possessed and infinitely loved, just as she always did when he kissed her this way. Then he pulled away just as quickly and wiped his mouth.

  “Yes, sir, Mr. Mayor, she’s right here.” He held the phone out to her with a smirk.

  Julia coughed on her own spit—the mayor?—and scrambled to recover from the scorching hot kiss. She shot him a dirty look and mouthed the words you will pay.

  His eyes just blazed more as she took the phone from him.

  She cleared her throat. “Hello?”

  “Hello, Ms. Holloway, it’s the Mayor of Seattle calling, how are you?” His words were smooth and practiced, but friendly. Her stomach still quivered.

  “Um, I’m uh, fine, sir. Um, how are you?” She grimaced. Jesus God, could she be any more inarticulate?

  Marco was silently laughing at her expense. She smacked him, hard on the shoulder, and he cowered away a couple feet, grinning like a fiend.

  “I hear your business is booming,” the mayor said, his voice light. “I just wanted to call and express my appreciation for what you’re doing. It’s a true gift to the city, this inspired business concept of yours, not only fighting some of the darker elements that have been plaguing the city lately but also bringing parts of the city to life that have been downtrodden too long.”

  “Um… yeah,” she said, frowning. She got the weird sense that all those words meant he wanted something from her, but she couldn’t tell what it was. But that didn’t change how proud she was of what they were doing, so she decided to just go with it. “We’re amazed and super excited about the response to Adopt a Shifter. It’s blowing away every expectation and hope we had for it.” Julia waved to Marco and pointed to the phone, silently asking, What in the world does the mayor want?

  He just shrugged.

  “I can only imagine,” the mayor continued smoothly. “I hear that you have plans for a storefront in the works. An actual brick-and-mortar place where people could visit downtown and pick up one of your stuffed animals. Is that right?”

  “Well, yeah.” She squirmed. Was that it? Were they violating some kind of ordinance about having a store downtown? “That’s just in the planning stages right now, though.” She waited to see if he had some kind of objection to that.

  “Well, it’s a fabulous idea,” he gushed. “A wonderful way to start revitalizing the downtown area. When you have your grand opening, I do hope you’ll send me an invitation. I would love to be there.”

  Her mouth dropped open. She shut it quickly. “Of course. Yes. We would love that.” She gave an incredulous look to Marco, who was giving her quizzical stares.

  “Great,” the mayor said, brightly. “Well, this is my personal line. Please don’t hesitate to give me a call if you need anything, Ms. Holloway. And best of luck to you with your new business.”

  “Thank you.”

  The mayor hung up.

  Julia swiped the
phone off and stared wide-eyed at Marco. “The mayor wants to come to our grand opening.”

  “We’re having a grand opening?” he asked, eyebrows lifting.

  “I guess we are now.” Her mouth was still hanging open.

  He laughed and swooped in for a quick kiss. “Well, of course, he does. You’re the hottest thing going these days.”

  She curled her hands around the back of his neck. “I think you’re confusing our bed for the world at large.”

  He growled low, the kind of growl that set her girl parts on fire. “A man could be forgiven for making such a mistake.” Then he kissed her thoroughly, and she was lost in it for a while. That happened with Marco often enough that they were getting a reputation for always being late for meetings that happened too early in the morning, but she couldn’t help it. The world telescoped down to just the two of them whenever they touched. She wondered if it was the magic, or her love for him, or if it was just like this with shifter mates. In the end, she decided it didn’t matter. She just enjoyed it for all it was worth.

  Marco finally broke the kiss. “As much as I’d like to haul you back to my room, I believe you have an appointment at noon.”

  “Oh, shit!” Julia smacked her palm to her forehead. “Grace!”

  He chuckled. “I think she’s out front. Stefan said he would set her up there for the photo op.”

  Julia kissed him quick and smoothed her hair. “I’ll be back soon!”

  Marco grinned as she scurried toward the front, hoping she hadn’t kept Grace Krepky waiting. She was the first openly-shifter politician running for the House of Representatives, and the election was coming soon. Grace wasn’t a Wilding, so not technically related to Marco, but she was married to one of the River brothers, and apparently, that was just as good. Besides, she’d been a hero of Julia’s ever since she came out—one of the few visible examples of shifters being respectable and responsible in the world.

  If she wanted a photo op with Adopt a Shifter, Julia was more than happy to help.

  She rushed outside to find the thin, blonde girl both younger and more worldly than Julia expected—Grace had a fresh, innocent face but was dressed in a high-powered red suit and heels that were so perfectly put together, Julia suddenly felt dowdy by comparison in her jeans and t-shirt.

  Grace held out her fine-fingered hand and smiled warmly. “Julia Holloway! It’s an honor to meet you in person.”

  What kind of world was this, with the mayor calling her and politicians saying it was an honor to meet her? Julia felt the fire in her cheeks but managed not to stumble in her reply. “The honor is mine, Ms. Krepky. I love what you’re doing for all shifters.”

  She beamed. “Please, for God’s sake, call me Grace.”

  Julia smiled. “Grace.” She tipped her head to the cameraman who was setting up in front of the furniture-store-turned-gym-turned-bustling-new-enterprise. Stefan was chatting with him about the angle or something, and next to him stood a man so broad and tall, he had to be a shifter. She’d heard that Grace’s mate, Jared River, went everywhere with her as her personal bodyguard, and she wouldn’t be surprised if that were him.

  She turned back to Grace. “Are you all set up?”

  “Yes, I believe so.” She gave a quizzical look to the cameraman, who gave her a thumbs up. Grace leaned in to Julia. “Just act natural and we’ll have a little chat, okay? Then we’ll edit it down to just the good stuff and throw it up on our website.” She smiled wider. “Although I’m pretty sure your website is getting more hits than mine, lately.”

  Julia’s cheeks heated again. “People are really being amazingly generous.”

  “I’ve always thought that was the true spirit of Seattle, not all these hate groups and that menace, the Wolf Hunter, don’t you think?”

  Julia nodded. It seemed weird to be talking in front of the camera without looking at it, but she did her best to ignore it. “That’s part of the idea of Adopt a Shifter—to show how the Wolf Hunter is a hundred percent wrong about shifters and about Seattle. We’re part of the city because we grew up here. We have families here. We’re falling in love and raising kids, just like everyone else. But one thing that’s special about wolves is that we know very well how strong we are when we stand together—as mates and as a pack. Adopt a Shifter gives everyone a way to stand with us, to show they believe everyone has the right to be treated with decency and respect.”

  “I love that part of your business,” Grace gushed. “Truly. I want to quit the campaign trail and come work here in this converted factory you have going.”

  “Oh no! You can’t do that! We need you in Congress, Grace.” Julia meant every word of that, even if it sounded like she was campaigning for Grace. But if it came down to it, she would gladly do exactly that.

  Grace grinned. “Thank you. I’m hoping the voters will agree with you.” She reached out to clasp Julia’s hands in hers. “And thank you for your bravery and for helping to bring out the best that our great city can be.”

  Julia beamed at that.

  The cameraman made a cutting motion across his throat. She guessed that was it for filming. Grace was still holding her hands, and she stepped closer to whisper to Julia while the men fussed with the playback on the camera.

  “I hear you’ve recently found a mate as well,” Grace said, her eyes alive with interest.

  Julia felt like her cheeks were permanently set on Blush Hard mode. “Yeah. Marco Wilding. We’ve been mated for about a week now.”

  She grinned wickedly. “And yet you’ve managed to leave the bedroom. You’re a stronger woman than I am, Julia Holloway. I stretched that honeymoon period for a long damn time.”

  “Oh, well… it’s not exactly a honeymoon.” Julia struggled for words. She and Marco weren’t married, just mated… although somehow that was much different and altogether better. But it brought an odd embarrassment to her cheeks to pile on top of all the rest.

  “No?” Her smiled tempered a little. “Well, maybe you should fix that.”

  Julia had no idea what to say to that. Then Grace lifted her chin, pointing to something over Julia’s shoulder. She turned to find Marco behind her, eyes alight with mischief. He was holding up one of the prototype shifter pups, the stuffed kind that would eventually make it into the hands of their many thousands of backers. He handed it to her.

  “Oh!” Julia should have thought of bringing out a prop earlier. “But we’ve already finished.” She glanced back at the cameraman… but he was filming them again. Stefan was grinning at her from behind the cameraman.

  Very odd.

  Marco stepped closer, into the camera range, and took hold of her elbow. “This is a special Shifter, just for you.”

  She looked at him like he’d suddenly lost his mind. “I don’t know what you’re—”

  Grace leaned close to whisper, really loudly, loud enough for the cameraman to hear. “Hey, I think that wolf has a collar.”

  What? Had everyone just suddenly taken a trip to crazy town?

  Grace held up the stuffed wolf and checked its neck. Sure enough, there was a thin black leather cord around its neck. It took her a second to realize… there was a gold band, a ring, hanging under its chin. She whipped a look back to Marco, but he was down on one knee in front of her.

  Her mouth dropped open, and she legit had no words in her entire brain.

  Marco said them for her. “Will you do me the honor, Julia Holloway, of becoming my bride?” He was beaming up at her.

  No words. Zero. None. Her mouth flapped like it was trying to carve the words out of air.

  Marco’s smile tempered a little. He leaned in, gestured over his shoulder, and whispered loudly, “If you’d like a different stuffed wolf, I’ve got four more in the back…”

  “Yes!” The word erupted from her lips. God, she sounded like an idiot. On film, no less.

  Marco looked confused. “Another wolf?”

  “No… this wolf.” Then she flung her arms around him, still k
neeling, and kissed the hell out of the man she loved, had mated with, and now… would marry. If there was a greater high a girl could experience while still being anchored to planet earth, Julia didn’t know what it was.

  Cheers and clapping erupted around her, and she realized that all of this was staged, all of it planned. It was probably Casey’s idea with his relentless pursuit of ever more material for the Kickstarter videos. She didn’t care in the slightest.

  Everything she could want in the world was in her arms.

  When she finally let Marco up from the sidewalk, there were congratulations all around, hugs, and more than a few backslaps among the men. As the cameraman was finally taking down his equipment, Grace pulled Julia and Marco aside to say goodbye.

  “There’s just one last thing,” Grace said quietly. “I don’t want to dampen your good mood—you two should immediately get busy on that honeymoon I mentioned.” She winked at Julia. “But the fact is that the Wolf Hunter is still on the loose. He’s still the biggest danger to all our hopes and dreams. And I want that bastard caught.”

  Marco nodded solemnly. “I think we have the attention of the police now, at least.”

  “Yes,” Grace said, “and believe me, I’m in contact with the Mayor’s office on a routine basis. But it’s going to take more than that. It’s going to take all of us working together. He’s not going to stop. As far as we can tell, he’s a man obsessed. The River pack and the Wilding packs can’t rest until he’s captured. Can we count on you, Marco? I know you’re estranged from your family, but you have a strong pack here, a virtual legion of wolves, and there might be a time when we’ll need to call on that.”

  Marco looked to Julia, but she was already nodding. “You can count on us for anything you need,” he said. “Anytime, any place. If you’re tracking down the Wolf Hunter, I want to be there. We stand together in this.”