Troy stopped in the garage, all the guys following over to Range Rover to help unload. He stepped out and grinned at his only biological brother in the group, Gabe Walker.
“I met the hottest little thing this side of the mountains!” He laughed, pulling Gabe to him. “Her name is Riley and I think we-”
“Riley Stern?” Andrew’s head snapped up from where he was grabbing bags. Troy looked over to Andrew and nodded. They weren’t biologically related but Troy considered everyone here a brother and they all felt the same. They grew up together, them against the whole fucking world. And truthfully, fuck the world, it sucked.
“Yeah, you met her and didn’t tell any of us?” Troy wiggled his eyebrows at Andrew, who just shook his head. Troy knew Andrew was a shy guy and loved to poke at him, especially over pretty women. Plus, if Andrew had met her, he damn sure should have told the family.
“No, she’s a waitress at the diner. We bought Starry Night Diner, remember?” He mumbled. “I was just looking over the roster there since I wanted to know everyone’s names before I got started there.”
Troy laughed and grabbed a couple bags himself as the others just watched. He could feel Brenton’s disapproval aimed at his back. Brenton had made it clear he didn’t want them messing with locals. He wanted them to live low profile but Troy didn’t do low profile. And she was hot, golden blonde waves with natural dark streaks in it, short as hell with enough curvy to keep him interested. Her amber eyes had fascinated him with a fire blazing in them that made him hot. No, he definitely didn’t want to keep a low profile.
“Shit, I forgot about that. Joey said she worked there. Even crazier…,” Troy walked with all of them into the kitchen and took stock before he continued. Andrew was watching him patiently. Gabe was smiling at him and Troy knew he had his attention. Brenton was putting every away, trying to ignore him. Normal. And Zachary was sitting on a counter in Brenton’s way, being an ass and throwing stuff around. Also normal. “She’s a half-breed.”
He watched bags fall to the tile floor in their giant kitchen. Apples and oranges rolled around. He smelled anger off Brenton and Zachary. He knew that reaction was expected. They didn’t want to deal with anyone from their world here in Wild Junction, it’s why they came back. Andrew was a little pale but Troy wasn’t able to get a good whiff of his scent and Gabe was now all teeth. Troy knew for certain it was half snarl and half grin. Gabe would find messing with this chick even more fun.
“Excuse me?” Brenton hissed to him, turning slowly.
“You heard me, I got a good bit of her smell on the passenger’s side of the Range Rover. Half-breed, and she’s feline at that.” Troy grinned at him, leaning against the kitchen counter. “Ten bucks she has no idea what she is and she definitely had no idea who I am.” She had a great scent too, Troy admitted to himself. Strawberries and peppermint, probably from her girly shampoo or something. He had loved it and it made him hard.
Zachary ran back to the garage and Troy had a feeling he was checking for Riley’s scent. But he kept his eyes on Brenton, their leader. Brenton would have final say on what to do about her being here in Wild Junction.
They were all feline shifters and that was exactly what it sounded like. Troy was a snow leopard specifically and Brenton was a lion, which made him higher on the food chain. Riley being a half breed meant she could possibly have no idea what half her genetics meant and half breeds were bottom rung in the eyes of most shifters. Gabe was a leopard but he was more then just that. He was a melanistic leopard and an incredible specimen at that. So black in his feline form that the spots were practically invisible. Andrew was a cougar, a common large cat for most shifters here in North America while Zachary was a rare white tiger. Not a good thing for Zachary but it wasn’t something they liked talking about. Unless they wanted Zachary to pummel their asses.
“She’s definitely a half-breed?” Brenton growled, throwing things into the fridge and causing Andrew to freak out. Andrew was the resident chef and treated food with respect to the point that no one really knew what to do with him. Finally, as Troy watched, Brenton threw his hands up, letting Andrew take over and reorganize everything.
“Definitely. Without a doubt,” Troy nodded as Zachary came back in snarling.
“We need to figure out why she’s here and then run her ass out of town,” he grabbed an apple and tossed it into a wall. The apple had no chance and Andrew just stared wide eyed at it. Troy rolled his eyes at Zachary. The damn tiger was angry about everything and he was Brenton’s second in their pride. “We don’t need or want others of our kind here, and they all fucking know it. I don’t care how long we’ve been gone, this is our fucking town. We’ve already got the bear here but another feline? Fuck no.”
“No,” Troy groaned. “We don’t. She’s living off the pitiful pay of a waitress and lives in the Dump. She’s harmless and poor. Plus, like I already said, she had no idea who I am, so she probably doesn’t know who any of us are.”
He watch Brenton consider this as Gabe helped Andrew now, before the cougar had a heart attack. It was quiet for a long time as Zachary and Brenton both glared at him and he looked them both back down. This wasn’t the time or place to behave like this and they all knew it. It was Andrew who finally spoke up, quiet and reasonable, like always.
“If she works at the diner, I can keep an eye on her,” he sighed, shaking his head wearily. “I’ll be her boss, I’ll try and see what she knows. There’s no reason to ruin her life if she’s never done anything to deserve it.”
“She’s a half-breed in our fucking town,” Zachary snarled at him, his cheeks red with anger. Troy could only watch and hope Zachary didn’t decide to get physical. Troy didn’t care either way about Riley but she was hot and he wanted a piece of that action before they did whatever they would do to her.
Brenton stayed quiet, and Troy let him continue thinking it over. Brenton was their leader for a lot of reasons, one of them being his cunning intellect. He could think of a hundred solutions to a single problem and then pick which one had the best end result for them. They all trusted his judgment even if any of them disagreed.
“How long has she lived here?” Brenton asked finally, his tone not allowing for any argument while he gathered information.
“She’s worked for Starry Night Diner since she moved in, so a couple years,” Andrew answered, finally done putting all the groceries away and starting something for dinner for them.
“We didn’t announce out intentions to move back until a year ago, so let’s just keep eyes on her,” Brenton sighed, running a hand through his perfect brown hair. Troy knew the massive lion wasn’t happy about a half-breed being here but Brenton also wasn’t an asshole who would run her out if she was innocent to their world. “Gabe.”
“Yeah, Brenton?” Gabe looked to their Alpha and Troy knew what was coming.
“I want to know everything about her, do that for me. School records, birthday and locations. Previous relationships, who her family is. All of it.” Brenton threw out the command and looked to Andrew. “And Andrew, get close to her. Be fucking nosy. Why is she here in Wild Junction, why does she live at the Dump? You two hear me?” He looked between them and both nodded.
Troy looked to Zachary, who was barely holding on to his temper. Their Alpha had spoken. Now they both awaited orders. Brenton finally looked to Zachary, who bristled.
“Stay away from her. Same goes for you Troy. I’m also going to keep my distance. We don’t need all five of us on her ass, especially if she has no idea why.” Brenton then turned on his heel and left them all staring at each other.
Troy groaned but knew better then argue. He would keep distance and he had other shit to do anyways. He looked to Gabe, who was grinning at him.
“How long is that going to take you, bro?” Troy watched Gabe shrug. “We got to get the garage ready for work.”
He and Gabe built custom motorcycles for private clients. Troy was all design, the look and Gabe was the guy who made it run. Th
ey were a great team and made millions if they were having a good year. Not like any one in this house was hurting for money, except maybe Andrew but they all helped him achieve his dreams. Hell, they sent the cougar to culinary school in their early twenties.
“A day, maybe. Plus the snowstorm is perfect for it. We can’t work out in the garage and anything serious done while the universe is dumping snow on our heads,” Gabe chuckled. “And no one hides anything from me, so I’ll know everything about her in twenty four hours, tops.”
“Thank fuck,” Zachary snarled. “I can’t believe this shit. All the work we put into leaving the fucking shifter world behind us and there’s one on our doorstep.”
Troy had to agreed to that. Zachary was an angry and violent mother-fucker but he truly cared about the family. None of them had good lives within the shifter community at large and spent years slowly peeling off. All their lives and goals led to them being free of the politics and judgment.
Shifters were born into it. Long family lines of shifters of several different species. Felines, wolves, bears, foxes. Species normally stuck together and ignored each other. It was easier that way. There was no real territory factor outside of a specific species and the wolves were the most notorious for infighting over land. Felines instead did battle in board rooms, assassination, and general under handed nonsense.
Troy was fucking tired of it and so were the other guys, Zachary being the worst about it. Troy looked to Gabe and knew that he was upset too, even if he didn’t show it. Gabe was second to Zachary about hating other shifters with a passion.
Andrew was cooking quietly and they all just watched. He was the only one who didn’t have his entire life ruined by shifter politics. Andrew’s life was ruined by completely different problems and Troy knew better then to assume Andrew’s life was any better or worse then his own.
Troy took a moment to consider Riley and what she was. She was definitely feline in origin but scent couldn’t tell him what her secondary form was. Which meant she’d never shifted, reasonable for a half-breed. Shifting the first time for a feline was something they could naturally and very young but not half-breeds. They had to pushed into the shift or it came to them in an illness at some point or another at random.
Finally, dinner was done and Brenton was back. Dinner was special to them, something they did together as often as possible, even if not all of them could make it. It was the time where they reinforced being a family and held a group meeting about problems they were facing. It was the time where they could talk to each other about themselves and their pasts.
Andrew dished up plates and passed them around. Fucker spoiled all of them, Troy laughed to himself. He’d always had.
“Do we know her secondary form?” Gabe asked, a mouthful of food already.
“No, she’s never shifted,” Zachary growled. “Obvious in her scent. So we have no idea who one of her parent’s might be. Or if she’s the kid of two half-breeds herself.”
“Shit,” Brenton sighed heavily and Troy thought he and Brenton realized the same thing at once. “What if she gets the Fever?”
Groans and growls echoed in the dining room. The Fever was the illness a half-breed got when the shift was going to happen for the first time. It could prove deadly if the half-breeds of any species since someone should be caring for them during it. Once they went through the first shift and survived then all their kids would be shifters and normal ones at that. They just had to survive it and that was the challenge.
“Let her die?” Zachary snarled at him.
“We can’t do that!” Andrew sputtered. “One, she works for me so I need to keep my employee alive. Two, a dead half-breed in this town would just look bad. Every shifter in North America would be looking at like we’re monsters! We would be brought up on charges since it would be completely stupid to say we didn’t know she was here. It’s legally out responsibility to help her at least shift, Zachary. You’re a fucking lawyer, you know that.”
Zachary snarled at Andrew over that and the argument between was started. Troy wanted to laugh. Andrew wasn’t confrontational but he wasn’t so softhearted to let a girl die to avoid a fight with Zachary.
“Let’s teach her,” Gabe finally snapped. “Let’s get close to her and slowly introduce to our world, what we are. If she gets the Fever, she’ll be close and know what’s happening. Or we could teach her to shift if she wants it!”
They all looked at Gabe, eyebrows high. Shit, his brother had a point. But then that meant they needed to get close to her. Then they all turned to Brenton, who was lost in thought.
“Fine,” he nodded to them. “Let’s find out everything about her then… become her friends?” He snarled at the thought. “Andrew, that’s on you. You’ll be on her ass about what her story is and bring her into the fold.”
Zachary looked like he was about to blow and Troy scooted a few inches away from the angry tiger on the end of the table opposite to Brenton. Gabe handled it though, taking a spoon full of mashed potatoes and flicking them straight onto the tiger’s forehead. Troy tried his best not to laugh, he really did. Then the damn potatoes slowly oozed down Zachary’s nose and fell off and Troy couldn’t stop himself. He and Gabe roared in laughter as Zachary sat in shock. Andrew snickered and Brenton could only roll his eyes.
Then a handful of mashed potatoes flew into Gabe’s head, beaming him in the temple. Troy looked up and saw Zachary smirking.
“Food fight!” Troy roared as Brenton retreated from the dining room. They were all laughing and food was hitting the walls.
Children all of them. They might have been in their late twenties but they were fucking children. Troy loved it. Riley could be a problem tomorrow but right now, they were having a fucking blast.
RILEY
Riley watched as the sun showed back up on day four of the snowstorm. It was finally over, thank God. She was due for the diner in only a couple of hours and while there was a ton of snow on the ground, it wasn’t actively snowing anymore.
She ignored the small ache from her fall a few days before and ate a quick breakfast, consisting of… ramen! She was getting tired of that shit. It was her main food group in the last five years of her life.
She showered slowly, using her strawberry shampoo and conditioner. It was her favorite smell followed by her peppermint body wash. A weird combination for some, but she loved it. She blow dried her long wavy hair and then smiled as she pulled it back into the standard work ponytail. She had gorgeous hair and it was cooperative. She didn’t do much for makeup, since she was going eight hours at the diner today. Finally, the uniform. Fairly standard for a waitress but Starry Night was special in some ways. It was a deep navy dress with a white star pattern on the bottom and the name badges were stars. It was paired with a black half-apron to hold pens and notepads that had gold accents. It was cute and pushed the theme of the restaurant, Vincent van Gogh’s A Starry Night.
Ready, she realized she had only forty-five minutes to get to work. She grabbed her phone and purse, checked for her wallet and ran out. She locked the door and waved at her weird neighbor, Craig (the guy she bought the couch and TV from) and ran. The diner was normally a thirty minute walk but she had to get through the snow, so it would take a little longer.
She walked as quickly as possible, happy for the black tennis shoes she was wearing. Last winter, she’d decided to keep a pair of black flats in her locker in the dinner so she could travel in normal shoes. Reason? Four feet of snow and flats didn’t mix. Her first winter in Wild Junction was a mild one, where the town never got more then a foot of snow. She had thought it was crazy to call that mild but then she lived through an average winter and realized what they meant. Twice she had to walk to work in four feet of snow in flats. Once she had to call in since the snow had been too deep for her to make it safely to the diner on the other side of town.
She needed a car but at least the walking kept her in shape.
A honk caught her attention and she grinne
d at the old red truck pulling up her.
“You need a ride, hot stuff?” A red head bombshell was grinning in the driver’s seat. Her blue eyes twinkled and she was licking her lips seductively.
“I don’t know…” Riley laughed before squealing and jumping into the truck. “Haley, this is hot! When did you get it?”
“Last week! During my vacation, I realized it was time for an upgrade from the beater I was driving. Jeff even put chains on the tires!” Haley laughed. “Plus, it’s an automatic. I was tired of driving a manual, if you’ll believe it.”
Riley laughed. Haley had been her best friend since her first day at the diner, only a week after she moved to Wild Junction. Haley grew up in the small town and was married to high school sweetheart, Jeff. He was okay guy who worked at the mechanics near the diner. They were happy and loving and sometimes it made Riley a little sick. But she loved Haley, so she kept that last part to herself.
“Well, I love it. And thanks for the ride,” Riley looked Haley over and cocked an eyebrow at her. “I didn’t know you were on the schedule today!”
“Yeah, there’s a big announcement today, so we’re all coming in to hear it. We’re even opening late so we can have a big meeting. You didn’t know?” Haley looked at her incredulously.
“I think I missed that bit of news but since I was already on schedule, it might not have been mentioned to me.” Riley waved a hand dismissively. “Must be something big if we’re opening late though.”
“Yeah, something to do with Ruth’s retirement. She’s been wanting to since before you got here but hasn’t found a way to make it happen. I’m hoping it’s good news.” Haley sighed heavily. Ruth was the owner of Starry Night Diner and built it up in her own image decades ago. Now at seventy-five, she was due a solid retirement even if the community was sad to hear it. They all had been looking for ways for her to go and have an easy retirement but never could figure something out. No one wanted her working in the diner until the day she died with no family to pick up the reins.
Wild Pride (The Kingson Pride Book 1) Page 2
