“Great!” she said brightly, relief in her voice. “So, I guess we can let bygones be bygones now, and release my father from custody, right?”
“Wrong. First of all, there’s the damage to our property that occurred when your father broke in. Secondly, while some of the saddles were covered in plastic, two of them weren’t, and they were damaged by rain and are now unusable. Two very nice hand tooled ladies reining saddles. You’re welcome to inspect them if you question their condition.”
The smile faded from her face. “No, I take your word for it. How much are the saddles worth?”
“Thirty five hundred each. And about fifteen hundred dollars worth of damage to our building. We have to replace two doors and their locks.”
Her eyes went wide with surprise, and then her expression quickly turned neutral again. “I see,” she said carefully.
He knew what she was thinking. She didn’t have that kind of money. Her family was dirt poor, her father a con man and a thief who’d nearly driven them to ruin. Her mother had abandoned them years ago.
She’d had to drop out of high school in her senior year because her father was a suspect in a series of house burglaries, and the Padfoots had basically been run out of town. They’d moved to Crystal Falls, and she’d never gone back to high school. Instead she’d worked to support their family while their father fled the state and hid out for a couple of years, waiting until he felt safe coming back to town.
Karen was so bright she’d been able to get a scholarship to go to college and then law school, but she’d had to take out loans to support her family while she was in school
She had to make payments on those loans, and she had a fourteen year old brother and twelve year old sister to support. She was waitressing on weekends to put food on the table while she built up her clientele. Many people wouldn’t do business with her, because of her father’s reputation.
He knew all of that because he’d been checking up on her. Waiting until the right time to make his move.
He watched her splutter for a minute, struggling for an answer. Finally he took pity on her.
“We can make a compromise,” he said.
“Oh?”
“First of all, your father is not allowed in Timber Valley, ever again. You should know that if we catch him on our property, we will skip the legal system and go straight to a Death Challenge. He’ll lose.”
She nodded enthusiastically. She thought she was getting off easy.
“Secondly, and this is non-negotiable, you will come work for me as a waitress at The Zoo for one month. You will also move to our compound.”
“What?” she stared at him in astonishment. “You want me to waitress? Why, to humiliate me? I’m a lawyer!”
“You already waitress on weekends,” he pointed out, earning him a suspicious look.
“How did you even know that?” she demanded. “That’s in Crystal Falls. I’ve never seen you in our restaurant.”
He shrugged. “The shifter community is a small one. Word gets around.”
She shook her head. “I can’t lose that job,” she said.
“You don’t have to. My family does business with the owner of that restaurant; they’ll work with me. I can send over one of my waitresses to cover your shifts,” he said. He was prepared for every argument that she might come up with. She’d slipped through his fingers twice before; now they’d close around her like a steel trap. A humane trap, of course, not the kind with sharp steel teeth; he wasn’t pure evil.
“That doesn’t make sense. If you can spare a waitress, why do you need me at your night club? And why have me move here?”
“To make a point.”
“By publicly humiliating me and displaying me as your servant,” she glowered.
He smiled. Her heated response spoke of her passionate nature. He’d bet she was a real tiger in bed. The thought of finally making the prim, buttoned-up kitty lose her inhibitions and unleash that passion stoked a roaring firing him, and caused a swelling in his pants that made him very glad he was sitting behind a desk.
“That’s one way to look at it,” Ty said. “We need to make a very public showing of the fact that the Padfoot family is making amends for their transgressions against us. Having you both work for me, and move in to the compound, where you can help us out as needed, will do that. Let me remind you how things work in the wolf world. It’s not that different with felines. A pack, or a pride, that is perceived as weak is also perceived as vulnerable. If we let people break in and steal our stuff without some kind of retaliation, people would start to question our ability to defend ourselves. There would be challenges to the Alphas. This is the second time your father has stolen from us in recent months, and we need to make a very public point.”
“Second time?” Her eyes went wide.
She really hadn’t known.
Ty felt a twinge of sympathy for her, but he wouldn’t budge. She was very lucky that his pack hadn’t killed her father when they’d caught him.
“Second time,” he said firmly. “We picked up his scent outside of one of our delivery trucks in town three weeks ago. While our driver was inside Flapjack Fannie’s eating breakfast, he jimmied open the door and stole several of our saddles from the truck. It’s likely that whoever he sold them to wanted more, and that’s why he came to our shop.”
“I see.” She drummed her fingers nervously on the table top.
“Of course, if you choose to contend our claim, we can turn the matter over for investigation. It would be a joint investigation carried out by Sheriff Battle and Sheriff Burke, to ensure everything was fair.”
This was common practice when a shifter from one species was accused of committing a crime against a shifter of another species. Sheriff Burke, in Crystal Falls, was a mountain lion shifter, so he’d be representing the feline community. He knew the Padfoots only too well; he’d arrested Karen’s father Ellwood on drunk and disorderly charges several times, and brought him in for questioning on burglary charges.
Ty knew that he wasn’t playing fair. The last thing that Karen would want was an investigation by Sheriff Burke, who was itching for an excuse to see Ellwood Padfoot locked up.
That was all well and good. Playing fair was for suckers.
“I have a fourteen year old brother and a twelve year old sister. School is out. Trust me, those two can not be left unsupervised. They’d burn the whole town down,” Karen said.
“Great news. We’re having a sleepover camp on our property,” Ty told her. “I’ll make sure that my cousin Virginia is watching them. She’s great with kids.”
“But – I mean, you’re wolves, we’re cats…” she trailed off, her eyes wide with panic.
“It’s a summer camp for shifters of every species. It’s a new thing we’re doing, to encourage interspecies interaction and cooperation.” He smiled at her fiercely. “They’ll be fine. Cats and dogs are quite capable of playing nice with each other.”
That delicious red blush stained her cheeks again. She knew exactly what he was getting at, but she refused to acknowledge it. That was fine, he had all the time in the world to make her see how well a wolf could play with a pussy.
“My siblings are a huge pain in the ass. That’s the big deal.”
“Virginia loves to mentor. She volunteers to teach at our grade school. She can handle it just fine.” He’d make sure she could handle it. He’d bribe her.
A frown creased her forehead as she desperately searched for excuses. “The money that I earn waitressing for one month wouldn’t cover the damage or the loss that was allegedly caused by my father.”
“No, it sure won’t. I’m giving you a huge break. You should be thankful that I’m such a nice guy.”
She didn’t look thankful. She looked panicked and angry. “I have law clients. I’m just starting to get my law firm up and running.”
Nope. Nice try, though, he thought. He wasn’t going to let her squirm out of this one, any more than he would let
her squirm out of the furr-lined handcuffs he had waiting for her in the drawer back at his house. Of course, by the time he got her in those cuffs, she wouldn’t want to be released. She’d be begging for more.
He shifted uncomfortably in his chair as his erection strain at his pants. Looking across the table at her, he shook his head gently. “Your firm currently has two clients. You will be waitressing at night. You can take care of any business that you have during the day. If you can’t handle matters on the phone, you can drive to Crystal Falls to meet them. You don’t have any court appearances scheduled this coming month.”
Karen looked at him suspiciously. “How did you know all that?”
Because I’ve been checking up on you, he thought to himself. Because I can’t stop thinking about you.
“I’m very thorough.” He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. “I want you here Friday morning. Day after tomorrow.”
“I know what day of the week it is,” she scowled. “Why are you even the one handling this? The property was stolen from your uncle, not you.”
“When you trespass against one Battle, you trespass against all Battles. Besides, my uncle was busy, so I volunteered to handle it.” He flashed a wicked grin.
He saw the warring emotions in her face, watched her struggle to think of a way out of this. There was none. She knew he was right. The Battle family couldn’t let her father’s thefts from the Battle pack go unchallenged. The option that he was offering her was a very generous one.
Finally she gave up.
“Fine,” she said, her eyes sparking with anger. “One month. I expect my father to be released immediately.”
“You’re welcome,” he called after her, as she stalked out. A slamming door was his only answer.
Chapter Three
Karen glanced around her tiny office, and felt a pall of gloom descend on her. It would make zero difference to her business if she was here or not for the next thirty days. Even her plants would be fine without her; they were all plastic. She’d picked them up at a yard sale because they were cheap and her office needed sprucing up.
After her visit to the Battle’s office, with its warm, solid handmade décor, her cheap particleboard furniture and polyester curtains looked unbearably shabby and sad.
To top it off, Isadora was just way too excited about Karen’s impending indentured servitude.
“Oh, my God, you’re going to be Ty Battle’s love slave for a month? His sex kitten? His playtoy? Can I please, please be you for the month of August?” Isadora clutched at her chest dramatically and pretended to swoon into her seat.
“Isadora, I will kill you. I will fire you. I will beat you up, fire you and then kill you,” Karen threatened. “Not necessarily in that order.”
“No, you won’t. You can’t afford to get rid of me. I work for free,” Isadora pointed out. “Also I’m the only person willing to babysit your siblings, and once they’re booted off the Timber Valley compound, you’ll need me to watch them while you’re at work.”
It was true. Isadora’s parents were wealthy and bored and liked to travel, and they tossed a generous monthly allowance at her so they wouldn’t have to feel guilty that they preferred her younger sister Diana to her. Therefore, she’d volunteered to help Karen out by being her legal clerk.
Of course, Isadora’s appearance didn’t exactly scream “law firm”. Then again, with no money coming in, Karen couldn’t be picky about someone who was a fast note taker, knew how to do legal research, and didn’t require a paycheck.
Isadora was one of the few people in Crystal Falls who found the terrible reputation of the Padfoots delightful, rather than horrifying.
There was actually a surprising amount of legal work necessary for shifters. While pack law was regulated by a council of thirteen called The Elders, that was for larger issues like supervising Death Challenge matches, territory fights, and the like. When it came to minor issues like contract law, divorce, petty crimes, and the like, shifters used lawyers just as humans did.
There was one big law firm in Crystal Falls, but they’d turned Karen down when she’d applied, telling her point blank that no Padfoot would ever work for their firm. She’d been forced to start up her own business. If things didn’t pick up soon, though, she didn’t know what she’d do.
Well, for the next 30 days, anyway, she had other things to worry about, like figuring out what Ty’s end-game was, and preventing her siblings from burning down the Battle compound.
With a frown, Karen sat down on Isadora’s desk and sipped a bottled water.
“I am not going to be having sex with him,” Karen said firmly. “All he asked me to do was waitress and maybe help out his uncle with some legal work. Contracts and that kind of stuff.”
“Yeah, that’s what he’s saying now. This is an evil scheme to get you under his power. Oh,God, that sounds so sexy when I say it.” Isadora pretended to swoon again.
“Stop fainting! It probably is an evil scheme. I actually think that he’s still trying to get me back for standing him up in high school, which he richly deserved, by the way. Well, he’s getting nothing from me,” Karen growled. “Also, why are you so sex obsessed right now? I thought you and that bear shifter were doing it night and day.”
Isadora shrugged. “Meh. He ran off with some sow a couple days ago, and honestly, it was a relief. He lacked imagination. In the bedroom. If you know what I mean. For instance-”
“I get it! Friends don’t let friends overshare,” Karen said hastily. “I don’t want a blow by blow description of your sex life. Fine. Take Ty. He’s all yours.”
“Oh, if only I could. I’d take him in every way you could possibly imagine. Your mind would boggle at the many ways that I would let him take me. However, he only has eyes for you. I knew that from the minute he laid eyes on you at The Zoo last year.”
Karen winced at the memory. “Yeah, if so, he had a funny way of showing it.”
Isadora glanced out the window. “Get your furry butt off my desk and try to look professional,” she said. “Your ten o’ clock is here.”
“My butt is not furry at the moment,” Karen hissed, scrambling off the desk.
Mrs. Ramona Tufts came bustling in. A full-figured mountain lion shifter, she had just filed for divorce from her husband. They had six cubs, he was at the office all the time, she was sure that he was having an affair with his whore of a secretary, he never wanted to be home any more…and he was also a lawyer at Crystal Fall’s only big law firm, which meant that Mrs. Tufts had no choice but to come to Karen.
Karen led Mrs. Tufts back to her small conference room, and poured her a cup of coffee. Isadora settled in next to Karen, with her pen poised over her legal pad.
Mrs. Tufts’ hair was a tangled rats nest, with six inches of dark roots and a wad of gum stuck in it. Her eye makeup had run, giving her raccoon eyes, and her acrylic nails should have been refilled weeks earlier.
“So, what did he say when you served him with papers?” Karen asked, as Mrs. Tufts settled in across from her.
“Oh, he doesn’t want a divorce, he thinks I’m crazy, he claims that he only works all the time so he can provide a nice home for our family…” she waved her hand dismissively. “I know he’s having an affair. Why wouldn’t he? I look awful!”
Isadora looked her up and down, and nodded. “True,” she said.
Karen elbowed her in the ribs, and then pasted a polite smile on her face and returned her attention to her client.
“Has it occurred to you to try to reconcile?” Karen asked. “Marriage counseling?”
“He says he’s too busy with work to commit to seeing a marriage counselor regularly. Obviously saving our marriage isn’t important to him.” Mrs. Tufts let out a wounded sniff, as Isadora leaned forward and plucked the gum out of her hair.
Karen leaned forward. “You have six cubs. You’ve been married for ten years. You can’t give up this easily. So, before I am willing to go forward wi
th this, here’s what you need to do. Book a weekend getaway for just the two of you, for this weekend. Before you leave, go to a salon and treat yourself to a makeover.”
“Yeah, because you’re right, you kind of look like crap right now,” Isadora added. “You’ve really let yourself go.”
“Isadora!” Karen hissed, kicked her under the table, as Mrs. Tufts gasped.
“What? You don’t want me to be honest?” Isadora looked puzzled. “Geez, when it’s your brother and sister, it’s all honesty isn’t just the best policy, it’s the only policy, blah blah blah.”
Karen shot her a murderous look. Isadora ignored her, drawing little hearts on the legal pad with the words “Karen + Ty” in the center of them.
Gritting her teeth, Karen grabbed the legal pad away from her. “Do you have someone who could watch your children?” she asked Mrs. Tufts.
“Well, my parents are always wanting to see them more, but it’s a two hour drive…”
“Perfect. They can watch your kids this Friday morning through Sunday night. Drop them off, then go to the spa. I want you to go away for the weekend with your husband while you are feeling sexy and refreshed from your makeover. When you come back, I want you to schedule one marriage counseling session. Just one. Just sit there and at least talk things through. You’ve got too much history and too many kids to give up this easily.”
“I don’t know.” Mrs. Tufts looked skeptical. “Then again, a whole three day weekend without the kids, I mean, I do love them more then I love my own whiskers, but every once in a while it would be nice…All right. I’ll see you on Monday at noon, and I’ll tell you how things went.”
After she left, they went back to the front office, where Karen looked through the picture window and watched all the people walking by, not coming to seek her services.
Isadora sat at her desk and shook her head chidingly. “She was a paying client. She has money. Money that you need. You could have milked that divorce for all she was worth.”
Purr For The Alpha (A Paranormal Romance) (Timber Valley Pack) Page 2
