by T. Cobbin
Whisper Pride Pack
by
T. Cobbin
Whisper Pride Pack
Copyright © 2015, T. Cobbin
ISBN: 9781940744957
Publisher: Beachwalk Press, Inc.
Electronic Publication: October 2015
Editor: Pamela Tyner
Cover: Fantasia Frog Designs
eBooks are not transferable. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
Back Cover Copy
What happens when the Alpha of a wolf shifter pack discovers that his mate is human and she has no idea shifters even exist?
Conan, the Alpha of the Whisper Pride wolf pack, has to hire a new veterinary nurse when his current one leaves to have her pups. As soon as Josie walks through the door and he picks up her scent he knows he’s found his mate. But there’s a slight problem—she’s human and has no idea shifters actually exist.
Josie has had to flee her hometown to escape the local thug who has some very nasty plans in store for her. She strikes it lucky, finding a job that also offers a free apartment as part of the package. Discovering that her boss is sex on legs is an extra bonus. When Conan informs her that he’s a wolf shifter and she’s his mate, she thinks he’s nuts…until she sees him shift. She’s fascinated, but wonders if she could ever fit into this strange new world.
Trouble isn’t far behind Josie. It’s not long before the thug tracks her down, and that may mean the end of everything.
Content Warning: contains strong language, some violence, and lots of hot, steamy sex scenes
Dedication
This is for you Debbie—the constant in and out of my life. You are my pain and my pleasure. Thanks for being there.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Pamela Tyner and Beachwalk Press for giving me a chance to tantalize some readers with my imagination.
Chapter 1
“Dammit to hell,” Josie cursed as she hopped about on her left foot.
This morning just hadn’t gone as she wanted it to. First, she had woken up to her alarm clock flashing a constant 12:00. Bloody electricity must have gone out during the storm last night. She had then burned her toast and spilled her coffee, and now she’d nearly broken her toe kicking the damn settee while she was looking for her only pair of decent boots. It was the first day at her new job, and she had really wanted to get in early and make a good impression.
She had gotten the job straight off without any interview. Her new employer had said that her resume, along with a few emails back and forth, had been enough. A one-bedroom apartment came with the job, and it was partially furnished, so that had taken a huge weight off her shoulders. She’d had exactly one weekend to move in, and having only a few bags of clothes she was able to do that immediately. Buying other essentials had taken up most of the money she had squirreled away, but as she looked around it didn’t bother her. She was safe here at the moment, but for how long was anyone’s guess.
Josie had started work as a veterinary nurse right out of college. Living with her mother she thought would be cheaper than living by herself. Alas, as the years went by her mother had gotten deep in debt. She wasn’t too bad as a mother, but when Josie’s father died from cancer, leaving her with a little girl who had adored him and was constantly asking when he was coming home, her mother had grown steadily worse. She had an addiction. It wasn’t for drugs or drink, it was for perfume bottles. The house was crammed with them.
Every day her mother scrolled through website after website looking for bottles she didn’t have. The woman couldn’t remember what month it was but could say if she had a certain bottle or not. She had spent every penny she had, and Josie’s too, on them. Her motto was I see, I like, I want!
She ended up taking out a loan here, a loan there, and another one to pay off the others. She had dug herself a very deep hole. The last straw though was when Josie had come home early with a headache, having slipped into the house and up to her room without her mother even knowing, and she’d fallen asleep only to be woken a little while later hearing her mother arguing with a man. It turned out to be with the town’s loan shark.
Everyone in town knew Harry Hall. He was a beast of a man. His arms were covered with full-sleeve tattoos. He had a clean-shaven head, and a long, thin face with a pointed nose and chin. He was always in combat trousers with black, tight-fitting t-shirts, and steel-toe capped boots. The man looked utterly sinister, and everywhere he went his ever-present two henchmen were behind him. Harry’s reputation was one of pure evil. People only went to him if they were beyond desperate.
“I don’t have this week’s payment, Harry. I’m sorry,” she heard her mother whimper.
“That’s two weeks now, Shirley!” Harry growled at her.
Josie crept onto the landing, looking down the stairs toward the front door. Her mother was so thin that a strong wind would blow her away. She was bowed backward, leaning on the hallway wall behind her, cringing away from the man looming over her.
“I’ll find it, I promise. I just need another week. Please, Harry,” she begged.
“No, lady, it’s too damn late. I’ll just have to break a few bones, and then next week I’ll have the full three weeks, won’t I?” he asked menacingly.
Josie watched as her mother collapsed to the floor in a pile of skin, bones, and tears, all wrapped up in fear. Josie had been stashing money away for a while, determined to get a place of her own, away from her mother’s constant money grabbing. Should she intervene? Would the woman learn her bloody lesson? Could she stand there and watch the man break her mother’s bones?
One of Harry’s henchmen grabbed hold of one of her mother’s small hands and lifted it, and her mother let out a loud cry. “Please,” she begged. “I’ll find it, I promise. Please!”
Before Josie could come out of her hiding place and defend her mother she heard the crunch of bones followed by her mother’s scream of pain.
“Wait!” Josie yelled, frantically running down the stairs toward her mother, who was now sobbing as she cradled her broken hand in her lap. “How much does she owe?”
“What’s it to you?” Harry asked, turning toward her. His henchmen, who had quickly gone into defense mode at her presence, started to relax beside him.
She reached the bottom of the stairs and placed herself warily between the huge men and her mother. “I’m her daughter Josie. How much does she owe?”
“A couple of thousand. Can you pay it?” he asked with an evil glint in his eye.
“I mean how much does she owe this week?” Josie asked, watching the men leer at her. It made her feel dirty having these horrid, evil men look at her like they wanted to rip her clothes off and have their terrible way with her.
She wasn’t ugly, but she wasn’t beautiful either. She had always been on the large side. She was sure her boobs had grown instead of her height in her teens. She stood at barely five feet tall. Her curly, brunette hair reached just below her bra strap when wet, but once it was dry and the curls kicked in it came to her shoulders. She had a small, oval face that had been gifted with being acne free during her teenage years; her mouth, however, often got her into trouble. She wasn’t afraid to protect those smaller than herself.
“She owes two thousand pounds this week,” Harry said slowly as if she was simple.
“Oh my God!” Josie’s heart thundered in her chest. “Fucking hell, how much did she borrow?” She was so damn shocked she swore she could h
ear bells ringing in her ears.
“That’s between me and her,” he said, pointing at her mother.
“We don’t have that kind of money,” she whispered. She didn’t have that much saved, only a few hundred.
Harry stepped toward her, so she herself was now slightly leaned back. He ran a hand down her neck, over her breast, and lower still toward her jean-clad center. Fear froze her from resisting his actions. She noticed each knuckle had a tattooed letter on it spelling HATE. His cold, steel eyes never left hers.
“How about I clean your mother’s slate this week, and in return you spend the night with me and my men?”
His head dropped, moving closer to Josie’s neck, and she could hear him sniffing, his long, pointed nose just skimming her skin. She couldn’t hold back the cold shiver than ran down her body. She swallowed repeatedly, trying to hold down the bile that threatened to rise. Puking on this man, however amusing, could turn very unpleasant she was sure. Oh God, how the hell had she gotten herself into this situation?
“Josie?” he asked when she didn’t answer him. His voice was tight, his top lip curling in disgust at being ignored.
“No...no, I can’t do that,” she stammered. She was twenty-five years old and had only had one sexual experience. The thought of sleeping with scumbags like this was just... She felt the bile rise again as her stomach revolted.
“I’ll just get Tony here to break a few more bones then.”
She could only stand there staring at him like a startled rabbit caught in some headlights. What was she going to do?
Her mother’s voice broke the tentative silence. “Josie, you can do that for me. I don’t want any more bones broken. Please, baby, it hurts. It’s only one night.”
Josie swiveled her head toward her mother, who was still crouched on the floor behind her, cupping her hand. “What!” she screeched. “You owe money and I pay with my body? You cannot be serious!”
“Josie, please, it’s only one night,” her mother begged as if this were a normal thing.
“You’re selling me off like a whore? You’re my mother, not my pimp!” Josie was beyond angry now. How dare the woman! Yes, she had given birth to her and brought her up, but for fuck’s sake...selling her off? That was going way too far!
Josie watched in horror as her mother stood and looked at Harry, agreeing to his terms without even glancing at her daughter.
“There you go—decided!” Harry nodded with satisfaction and stepped out of Josie’s personal space. Beckoning to his men, they all walked to the front door and began to leave. Harry stopped and looked back. “I’ll be back at the end of the day, Josie. Wear a dress, no panties, and be ready by seven PM. You’re in for a long night! Oh, and one more thing, don’t think you can run, ’cause I’ll find you, and your mother will still get hers too!” With one last leering glance at her breasts, he licked his lips and winked. He stepped out the door and closed it behind him.
Josie ran to the bathroom and emptied her stomach.
Chapter 2
Looking at her watch, Josie saw she was right on time. She had a bloody coffee ring stain on the knee of her brand new blue scrubs, but she walked into work at her allotted time. The small building was painted an off-white with a few glazed double windows. The blue tiled roof made it look a little quaint. The building was in a woodsy area with plenty of space out back where she assumed the dogs were walked during or after their treatment.
“Good morning.” She smiled at the young woman at the reception desk. The thin woman had short blonde hair and was covered in enough fake tan to make her look slightly orange. Even the huge amount of makeup she wore didn’t cover the blotches. “I’m Josie White, the new veterinary nurse. Do I just go straight back through?”
“Oh, yes, I was told you were coming today. My name is Cassie West. I’m the receptionist here. Mr. Lyall is waiting for you. He has asked several times if you had rung or turned up yet. Are you late?” she asked, making a point of looking down at the coffee stain on Josie’s pants. Josie didn’t miss the slight sneer on the woman’s lips. Looked like she had already made a friend...not!
Ignoring the young woman and her petty thoughts, Josie made her way to the back of the building. The place smelled like antiseptic, medicine, and animals. She had gotten used to the smell, had even grown to like it as the years went by. She had always wanted to work with animals, and even more so lately, because they never asked for anything but love.
While in college she had volunteered at an animal rescue center. It had been a great form of escape from her sad homelife. Watching the animals arrive in all kinds of conditions was sometimes quite harsh, but seeing them go to new homes, welcomed with excitement and love, was the greatest feeling she could ever imagine.
“Hello,” she called out as she went through the consulting room into the treatment room. Several rooms led off from this one leading to a laboratory and dispensary, an operating theatre with a small radiography suite, the vet’s office, and finally another to the kennels that were at the very back with a door leading outside to an enclosed, grassy area.
When there was no answer, she called out again.
“Yes...hello?” a rather tall, sexy looking man replied as he looked around the door leading to his office.
Her heart stuttered when she saw him. Hotdog! He was damn lickable. His face was pure heaven, delicious and yummy. It was tanned, chiseled, and had a five o’clock shadow that added to his good looks. His hair was quite long, just resting on top of his shoulders. Her heart sped up a little as she imagined running her hands through his hair and grabbing it tightly in a fist as he...
No, mustn’t go there, she thought. But when she looked down at his body, she saw that it was even more mouthwatering. She watched as he strode with confident steps toward her, his muscles rippling under the tight, dark green scrubs he was wearing. It wasn’t until he was standing in front of her that she realized just how bloody tall he was. He must have been at least a foot and a half taller than her. She would have to look up a lot!
“Hi,” she finally drawled out. “I...um...am your new veterinary nurse. I’m sorry if I’m late, but this was the time I was told to be here. I would have been in earlier if I hadn’t had a few mishaps,” she blurted out, still looking deeply into his bright blue eyes.
He smiled and held out his right hand, chuckling. “Don’t worry, you aren’t late, and it’s nice to meet you. I know it was a rush job, but we needed someone pretty much yesterday. My other nurse left to have her pu...baby.”
She took his huge hand and shook it gently, feeling a spark run up her arm, straight through her body to her clit. His scent seemed to surround her, mainly woodsy, with a hint of...wet dog?
“Josie, right?” he asked, still holding onto her hand. It looked damn small in his.
“Yeah, that’s right, and you are Mr. Lyall?”
“Aye.” He nodded. “You can call me Conan.”
“Oh, like the barbarian.” She giggled, then blushed when she realized what she had said. “Oh God, I’m so sorry. I tend to just jabber things out when I’m nervous,” she muttered, taking her hand back, feeling an immediate loss.
Letting out a small but booming laugh, he said, “Don’t worry. I’ve been compared to him before, so it’s nothing new. In fact, I’m currently working on getting huge biceps like him.” He lifted his arm and flexed his muscles . “As you can see, I have a long way to go.”
Shit, there was no way that man needed to work on his biceps, they practically bulged beneath his scrubs. She had visions of kissing them up and down, wanting to taste his skin while doing it. Blushing, she cleared her throat, looking up into his eyes, which shined with mirth.
“Ha-ha. Bum out the nurse on her first day.” She laughed. “Let’s get the day started, and hope no more mishaps happen to me.”
With a smile and a nod they started work.
* * * *
Conan couldn’t help but wind the pretty nurse up. When he had first heard her
angelic voice coming through the room to his office, he knew she was special. When he saw her he knew he was right. Taking a deep breath, he pulled her sweet scent into his lungs. She smelled like lavender on a summer’s breeze. The blood in his veins rushed straight down to his cock. He, Conan Lyall of the Whisper Pride Pack, had found his true mate.
She was a tiny little thing. He guessed about five feet. Her hair was currently up in a ponytail but even with that he could see all the curls. She had a stunning pair of pale green eyes that sparkled. Her small, oval face and her pert nose were just cute, but her lips... Damn, he wanted to kiss them, plump them up, and see her face with a just-thoroughly-kissed look on it. She would look even better with my mark on her.
Mate! His wolf growled inside of him, scraping at his insides to take her, throw her over his shoulder, find the nearest bed, wall, counter, or any kind of surface, and ravish her. His cock twitched in his scrubs. Taking a deep, calming breath, he pushed his excited wolf back and showed his new nurse/mate around the small surgery. He watched as she took it all in as he explained where everything was. He shook his head in wonder. Who could have believed it? His mate, standing right there in front of him.
Holly, his other nurse, had worked right up until her pups were due. It wasn’t until she was about ready to leave that he realized he hadn’t looked around for a replacement. His pack was small, with only about twenty wolves in it, and there were no other veterinary nurses, so he had to put the job out to the human side. His pack came first, so if he could have offered the job to one of them, he would have. But with the luck of the draw, he had found Josie and she was able to start immediately. Being his mate? Now that was the biggest bonus yet!
“I know this was a rush job, but was the weekend enough time to get your stuff settled into the apartment?”
