Valerie sighed. “My grandparents. They’re the ones who raised me, and now they’re being stubborn fools who won’t let me help them even though they’re about to lose their business. They’ve had a dressmaking and tailoring business for decades. They took on a new business partner a few years ago, who was supposed to help them modernize. Instead he embezzled most of their money. They’re about to go under, and— Shut up. No. They’re extremely proud. They would never, ever take charity. I even offered to lend them money, and they said no.”
“It wouldn’t be charity,” Eileen protested. “It could be an interest-free loan, even.”
“They wouldn’t look at it that way. They’re very old-school. They’d rather lose their business than…who is that?” She looked out the window with alarm. “We weren’t expecting anybody. Dear God, I think it’s Morgan’s family. Please don’t let it be his family. If anything makes him flip out, it’s…them.”
Three big SUVs had just pulled up in front of the building.
The doors of one of the SUVs flung open, and shifters started piling out. They bore a strong resemblance to Morgan – tall, darkly attractive, expensively dressed. The woman was wearing a black mink coat. The two teenagers with her wore cashmere overcoats.
They headed straight for the front door of Morgan’s office.
As the door flung open, Valerie braced herself. Eileen watched with interest.
The tall woman shouldered her way in first and headed straight for Valerie’s desk. “I’m Nelda Rosemont,” she said to Valerie. “I’ve come to meet my son’s new mate.”
“New mate?” Eileen glanced at Valerie, puzzled.
Valerie had gone as white as a ghost and her eyes were glittering with tears. Without a word, she turned and ran out of the room.
Chapter Two
“Excuse me,” Valerie said furiously to Morgan, who was shouting at someone on the phone. Morgan’s room was dark and imposing and masculine, just like him. The furniture was hand-carved mahogany and black leather, the walls adorned with oil paintings featuring nature and hunting scenes.
As she stalked over to him, he waved at her impatiently and made a shooing motion. “That was a deadline, not a suggestion!” he yelled into the receiver. His brows were drawn together in a ferocious scowl. “Every day you’re late, your company is fined! And no, I don’t make exceptions for Christmas! Don’t give me that ‘wife is sick’ bullshit – find a way to get it done!”
She stormed behind the desk, grabbed the phone out of his hand, and slammed it down in its cradle.
Arthur looked at her warily and edged toward the office’s side door. He wasn’t a huge fan of confrontation.
Morgan stared at her in astonishment. “What the hell?” he said. “Have you taken leave of your senses, woman?”
“Did you forget to tell me something crucial?”
“Like the fact that there are plenty of other secretaries out there who’d love the excellent salary and benefits I pay you?” Morgan said.
“Like the fact that your family wants to meet your new mate. So do I, for that matter. I’ll need to pick out a nice Christmas present for her.” Valerie felt tears of humiliation burning in her eyes. On some level, she’d thought she and Morgan were friends.
Well, if she had to admit it to herself, on a deeper level, she’d always harbored a secret yearning for Morgan, but he’d never even glanced at her in that way, and she accepted that. He was wealthy, stunningly handsome, and powerful. Valerie was full-figured and round-faced and cheerful and…she had a great personality. Yep. Everybody said that.
But up until this moment, she had at least believed that she was one of Morgan’s few friends. His confidante.
Morgan looked at her with a guilty expression on his face.
“Oh,” he said. “That. Yeah.”
“Yes,” she said bitterly. “That.” She looked him in the eye.
“I’m out,” Arthur said, trotting out the side door without a backward glance.
“Coward!” Morgan yelled after him. Arthur’s only answer was a slammed door and the sound of his hurrying footsteps.
Valerie glared at Morgan. Now was as good a time to tell him as any. “And by the way, I quit. I’m leaving right after Christmas.”
He shook his head, his expression a mixture of befuddlement and annoyance. “What, because of that? I can explain.”
“I don’t care. Mate with whoever you want. I’m not quitting because of that. I’m quitting because…well, okay, to be blunt, you’re an unappreciative jerk, I’ve put up with it for three years, and all that time, I’ve had plenty of other job offers, and I finally accepted one. You’ve never shown the slightest bit of appreciation, but I’m actually an excellent executive assistant.”
“I appreciate you. I haven’t fired you yet, have I? And I send you presents on all the appropriate holidays,” Morgan said, looking astonished.
“You have me pick them out and send them to myself. Not exactly the same thing. What’s my favorite flower?”
“Roses?” he guessed.
“No. Daisies. What kind of coffee do I drink?”
“How the hell would I know? You’re the one who gets the coffee.”
“Cinnamon latte. What’s my favorite color?”
He looked at her calf-length wool skirt. “Herringbone tweed?”
At her snort of disgust, he said impatiently, “Valerie, you’re not quitting. I’ll double what anyone else is offering. I need you here. And I don’t have a mate, by the way. I just lied and told my family that I’d chosen a mate. Last week, when my mother called me and pestered me about it.”
“I don’t care how much you’re paying me. I’m leaving. And why would you lie about having a mate? Did it not occur to you that they’d want to meet her, pronto?”
He looked at her with alarm. “You’re not actually quitting, Valerie. And I lied to my mother because my pack charter states that if I haven’t picked a mate by the age of thirty, then I’m permanently disqualified as Alpha. I can’t even death-challenge anyone for it; the position would go to the next qualified male heir in the pack, or if there are multiple candidates, which there are, they fight it out. I haven’t selected a mate yet, and my mother called me up last week freaking out about it, so I told her I’d picked a mate.”
“Are you kidding me? You turn thirty in two months.” Valerie stared at him in disbelief. “When’s my birthday, by the way?”
“Sometime in the next three hundred and sixty-five days. Valerie, I’m bad at that kind of thing, okay? And yes, I put it off for too long. The mating thing. It was stupid of me. I’m just not good at relationships.”
“You think?” Valerie said. “Still. It’s not like you to put off something so important. If the fate of your pack is riding on it. I mean, if there’s one good thing I could say about you, it’s that you’re organized.”
“One good thing?” Morgan looked offended. Then he waved his hand in exasperation, as if to dismiss the problem. “Anyway, don’t worry about my pack. I’ll have to call my mother and stall her. It’s fine.”
“Call her?” Valerie said. “She’s in the front office. Your whole family is there.”
He leapt to his feet and rushed for the door. “Why didn’t you say so? Wait, they’re out there with Eileen? There’s no telling what she’s saying to them right now! She hates me!”
“Hate is a strong word,” Valerie said, following him as he flung his door open. “I think mild dislike is much more…oh, hello.”
Eileen was standing there in the hallway, shaking her head. She looked at Morgan and made a tsking sound of disapproval.
“Eavesdropping? If you still worked here, I’d fire you,” Morgan snapped at her.
“I’d fire myself,” Eileen said drily. “And I’d give me a terrible reference, just for the heck of it.” Then she grinned at Valerie and held up her hand. “Score! High-five,” she said, and Valerie slapped her palm, but with less enthusiasm than usual.
They headed down
the hall to face Morgan’s family. Morgan’s mother looked at Eileen with interest, ignoring Valerie.
“Mother. I didn’t know you were coming,” Morgan said to her, and his tone made it clear that the surprise was not a happy one.
Valerie glanced nervously at his family and tried to slide casually behind Eileen, which was not very effective because Eileen was a toothpick and Valerie was a big, round apple.
She wanted to be as far away from this family feud as possible. Fortunately, she doubted they’d recognize her, since they’d only met her face to face once, when she’d first started working with Morgan in their pack’s home state of California.
She recognized them all from the pictures on Morgan’s desk and from the pack’s company brochure.
There was Nelda. She was a widow. Morgan’s father had died when he was in his teens, and he never talked about it. The subject was strictly forbidden. Valerie had tried to ask Arthur about it a couple of times, and he’d suddenly gone deaf and then remembered that he had an urgent something he had to do immediately, in another part of town.
Morgan didn’t have any pictures of his father in his office, or anywhere else that Valerie had ever seen. She’d always wondered about that. Did he hate him? Had he been abusive? Was that why all talk of his father was forbidden?
Nelda was accompanied by Honoria and Homer Rosemont, Morgan’s twin brother and sister. They were both seventeen. They looked like young, lean versions of Morgan. Their personalities couldn’t have been more different than his, though. Homer was a computer nerd, and Honoria was planning on being a lawyer. Valerie knew because she was the one who picked out their Christmas and birthday presents.
“Alpha,” Nelda said, with a nod of her head indicating respect for the pack’s leader, even if he was her son. Homer and Honoria both murmured, “Alpha,” and nodded their heads as well. It was pack tradition to start out that way, especially if one was greeting him after a long absence.
“Yes, that’s what they call me.”
“So,” Nelda said, nodding at Eileen. “I recognize this young lady from her debutante ball. Eileen Pennyroyal. And you’ve already Mate-Marked her. I mean, the fact that you Mate-Marked her before we could meet her is a violation of pack tradition, and you and I will talk about that later, but a Pennyroyal is quite acceptable.”
“What?” Eileen burst into laughter. “Oh, no. I’m already mated, to a lovely man named Marcus. That’s Morgan’s new mate. Valerie Dickinson.” She pointed at Valerie.
Valerie stifled a gasp. Then she looked at Eileen and mouthed, “I will kill you.” Eileen blinked at her with big, innocent eyes. Great. She was using Valerie’s own move on her.
Nelda scowled and slowly looked her up and down.
“You’re human,” she said to Valerie.
“Thank you for noticing,” Valerie said, annoyed.
“Are you from a respectable family?” she asked.
“She means rich,” Honoria said helpfully.
“Honoria, really!” Nelda chided her, looking appalled.
“Well, you do.” Honoria said, her tone self-righteous and wounded. “As a future attorney, I believe in stating all facts clearly and truthfully.”
Nelda resumed her scrutiny of Valerie. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make sure that my son isn’t marrying a gold-digger.”
“I can assure you of one thing. I did not mate your son for his money,” Valerie said stonily. “In fact, I didn’t actually ma— Ouch!” she squealed as Eileen elbowed her sharply in the ribs.
“Thanks for my birthday present, by the way,” Honoria added, speaking to Valerie. “I know it was you who picked it out. Morgan still buys me stuff for twelve-year-olds.”
“No problem. He means well,” Valerie said. Honoria quirked an eyebrow as if to suggest that she questioned Valerie’s assessment.
Nelda looked at Valerie in confusion for a moment. “Birthday present? Wait a minute. Valerie Dickinson? I’ve met you before, I know that name... You’re his secretary? No.”
“Mother, watch yourself,” Morgan said angrily. “I’m your son, but I am also your Alpha. You will not speak to Valerie in that fashion.”
His mother shook her head stubbornly. “No. I do not accept this mating.”
Before he could answer, more family members began trooping in through the door, shaking snow from their hair and stamping it off their feet. Most of them, like Nelda, wore expensive clothing and expressions of disgust. Trailing behind them were a half-dozen or so pack members who carried themselves in a more submissive fashion and were dressed more modestly. Probably the family’s servants.
From Morgan’s family pictures, Valerie recognized Morgan’s Aunt Elmira and her two sons, Festus and Camden, who were in their early twenties. They’d graduated from college with business degrees, and Morgan had given them both low-responsibility jobs in one of his companies to keep them busy. She knew he didn’t think much of them, and he’d promoted non-family-members above them, which spoke volumes.
There was also CoraBelle and Hud Breedlove, a mated couple. Hud was Morgan’s cousin twice removed or so. They were well-suited for each other. Blandly handsome, blond, with yellow-gold eyes that matched the gold jewelry dripping from their necks and wrists. They wore the expressions of people who’d smelled something terrible and then their faces had frozen that way forever.
“Hello, Morgan. Alpha. Which one is his mate? Is she here?” Elmira asked imperiously, directing her questions at Nelda. Her gaze lit on Eileen. Of course. A skinny, pretty little wolf shifter from a good family.
Eileen shook her head and silently pointed at Valerie. Elmira turned to Nelda with an expression of surprise.
“Well,” Nelda said hastily, “he said that he’s selected her as his mate, but he hasn’t gone through the pack rituals yet. So nothing is set in stone, and of course he’s going to change his mind.”
“Pack rituals?” Valerie looked at Morgan with alarm.
“He mated a human? I don’t know about that,” Elmira said. “I think that would disqualify him, wouldn’t it?” She glanced fondly at her two sons. They’d have a shot at Alpha if Morgan lost the position.
“No,” Honoria said. “We’d need to consult the Pack Charter for the specifics, but rules against human-shifter mating are considered discriminatory.” She looked at Valerie and nodded approvingly. “She sends good swag, so I say she stays.”
Homer nodded. “Ditto.”
“This is most irregular. We’ll call our attorneys,” Hud said to his wife, who nodded eagerly, her eyes glittering with avarice. She was picturing herself as the Alpha’s wife; she was practically smacking her lips.
“Hey!” Morgan barked angrily, and it ended on a snarl. They all looked at him, startled, and then gave short, sharp bows of their heads to indicate submission to their Alpha.
“Get out of here now. All of you. Mother, you and I will discuss this outside.”
“Well I never,” Elmira said huffily. “After we came all this way. You’ve raised a very disrespectful son.”
“At least he’s not a wimp like your Festus, or a bully like your Camden. Come along, children.” She inclined her head at Honoria and Homer, and they swept out of the office.
The rest of the pack trailed out after them, turning their heads to shoot curious stares at Valerie.
Chapter Three
“What the hell?” Valerie said furiously to Eileen. Valerie had stormed down the back hallway into Morgan’s office, and Eileen had followed her as Morgan hurried out front after his family. “Why would you do that?”
“Well, for starters, I think there’s something between you two,” Eileen said.
“There is. Barely concealed contempt.” Valerie peered at her friend suspiciously. Brain tumor? Or just a terminal case of the stupids?
Eileen made a gesture of dismissal. “I know you guys fight all the time, but as they say, there’s a thin line between love and hate.”
Valerie stared at Eileen with narro
wed eyes. “Who, specifically, says that?”
Eileen ignored her. “I think this is a perfect opportunity to find out if there’s something between the two of you.”
“You always say he’s a jerk,” Valerie pointed out, speaking slowly and enunciating each word, because Eileen had apparently lost about a hundred IQ points in the last few minutes. “Just today you said it. And worse. I believe the words “ass-face” crossed your lips. Why would you try to fix me up with an ass-face?”
“Yes, he acts like a complete tool a lot of the time,” Eileen acknowledged, “but you keep telling me that underneath it all he’s a good person. I mean, I don’t see it, but you’re very perceptive and one of the best people I know, and if you say he’s a good person, then somewhere deep down underneath it all, he must be.”
“What kind of Christmasy treacle is that?” Morgan stomped into his office. “Newsflash. I’m not a good person, I’m an asshole. I make no bones about it. And do you realize what kind of an awkward position you just put me in back there? What the hell were you doing, telling my family that Valerie is my mate?”
“Yes, heaven forbid,” Valerie said bitterly.
He shot her a dirty look. “That’s not what I meant at all. It’s just that you – you’re leaving. You’re quitting.” He scowled at her. “Also, you’ve made it quite clear how you feel about me.”
“Listen up,” Eileen said. “This solves both of your problems. It is a business deal. Morgan, you need a mate. And Valerie’s grandparents need an infusion of cash into their business.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me?” Morgan demanded of Valerie.
“I guess we’ve both been keeping secrets,” she said bitterly.
He shook his head impatiently and walked around to his desk. “I’ll just write you a check. How much?” He pulled out a checkbook from his top drawer and looked at her expectantly.
Shifters of Silver Peak: A Very Shifty Christmas Page 2
