“No, Peyton, I realized that running can get old fast. Even if you’re not actively moving. I’m going to handle this. I control my life, not the other way around.”
Peyton smiles and pats my back. She leans down and whispers, “Don’t worry, Claire. You can get out of this. Just like his other wives.”
I know that’s true, but I’m still not happy or convinced.
Someone walks into the room to refill a water pitcher.
Peyton stiffens and says loudly, “Well, you’re looking beautiful in that wedding dress. I knew you’d like it. Since you weren’t around, Nigel asked my mom if I could pick it out for you. What a sweet man.” She’s frowning when she says the last part.
I burst out laughing and so does she.
“You’re a terrible actor,” I whisper behind my hand.
The room attendant hasn’t left yet. She comes over and tells us that I don’t have much time left. We’re already behind schedule.
“Just tell the coordinator, I need some more time with my hair. I want it perfect,” I lie.
On cue, Peyton fumbles with the daises in my hair.
The attendant presses her lips together and exits the room.
I sigh. So does Peyton.
“I’m so sorry.” She hugs me.
I needed that more than she knows.
While I’m silently contemplating, jumping through the fifth story window and running for the hills, the door flies open and my stepmother charges in with a mean expression laced on her face.
She better watch out. I’m already feeling rebellious.
“You’re stalling, Claire. Don’t you dare mess this up, child! I’ve worked too damn hard to—”
“Oh shut up. Shut the hell up! You worked hard to make sure you didn’t have to by writing up this agreement! Why didn’t you marry him if you want his money so much?”
Peyton backs up and lets me have my space to tell my cunt face of a stepmother off. I don’t feel small anymore. I don’t feel the way I used to when she’d come around and hover over me.
No, Lucas taught me one thing.
Fight. Don’t back down.
And I never will.
Watch.
“You little fucking bitch,” my stepmother hisses. She brings her hand up, but I beat her to it and smack the hell out of her. Her jewelry clinks as she steps back and holds her face.
All those rings, stones, gold and silver she has on weren’t gotten by her own means. She lied, she cheated, she stole. And I’m not going to be one of her pieces of jewelry gotten by ill means.
“I’m not your property. I’m not your prostitute you can pimp out for money. Now leave, you piece of worthless trash.”
My stepmother slinks out of the dressing room with her hand to her synthetic face. Nothing on it is real.
“Good job. Where did this part of Claire come from? Is she here to stay because I like her. I like this new you,” Peyton exclaims.
“This is me now. I just had to find myself.” I take another look at myself in the mirror to make sure my dress is still on correctly.
“Peyton. You haven’t even seen the beginning of it.”
“Uh oh, I like the sound of that.”
The music plays and I know it’s time to show this whole town who the hell I am. I’ll give them something to write about. And they’ll remember my name for it.
Lucas, wherever you are? This is for you.
20
Claire
I go to the double doors and ready myself for them to open when a warm hand hooks my arm.
“Hello there, sexy lady.”
I can’t believe what I’m seeing. “Oh my God, Lucas!” I practically jump him and kiss him. I don’t care about the helpers looking on in shock and disdain. They wanted scandal. They haven’t seen anything yet.
I haven't seen him in over a week, and I've missed him so much. He's just as handsome in his suit and tie as he is wearing old run-down flannels. I like both sides of him. Well…of course, there's more to Lucas than meets the eye. As I kiss him right in front of the double doors, I feel his wolf rearing up on the surface of his skin. His animal calls to me, and I'm seriously thinking of ditching this stupid ass wedding and running for the hills with him.
“Come with me instead,” Lucas whispers. “You don’t have to worry about any retaliation. Everything will be okay.” He cups my cheek and his strength flows into me.
“I will come with you. But walk me down the aisle. I have something to do first…”
The doors creak open and cameras flash. Lucas walks me down the aisle and I see Peyton staring with her mouth down to the floor as recognition sets in. She mouths over to me ‘is that him?’.
I grin because I’m the happiest woman alive, and I nod my head.
Peyton begins to jump up and down, clapping. She’s the only one clapping like that. People are looking at her all crazy-like, but she doesn’t care. That surprises me. She’s always been shy and sheltered. Peyton and I will watch the video years from now, even when we’re old and gray, and have a field day laughing and reminiscing.
Nigel gives Lucas a cautious stare from all the way down the aisle. He knows exactly who Lucas is. He knows that Lucas is the man who was there for me. The pastor looks puzzled.
I keep my arm hooked with Lucas and clear my throat.
Nigel coughs. “You can’t be serious, you little wench!”
“Nigel Compton, I am here to tell you to go to fucking hell!”
The audience gasps. Nigel looks like he ate a piece of hot coal.
“What? You know how much damn money I—”
Lucas steps in front of me. His loud warning growl is the only thing that anyone can hear over the dead silence.
“Watch your tongue, old man.”
“I got this.” I pat Lucas's chest and turn around to the people of this town.
“This man next to me is who I love. The man I was due to marry, Nigel Compton, is an abusive man who uses his money to get what he wants and then throws them aside like yesterday’s trash. There are others before that can attest to that. My stepmother wanted this. But I’m no longer bending over for anyone else ever again.” I look at my stepmother. She’s scowling. “If you want the money, you marry Nigel. Here he is. The wedding’s all planned and paid for. Eat all the cake you want!”
There’s whispering among the crowd, but who gives a damn when you have Lucas Zander next to you.
“My husband will now be the man you guys all should know…he’s the one who saved me when I went missing in the mountains. I wasn’t kidnapped or held hostage for ransom like Nigel lied about.”
“Who is he?” someone yells from the crowd.
“Lucas Zander,” he answers.
People gasp once again and the cameras go on a flurry of flashes.
I didn’t think he would do that now. I mean, people would find out sooner or later, but now everyone knew who I loved.
Lydia comes out from the double doors and runs down to the altar.
“Claire!”
“Lydia!”
I catch her in a hug. It’s so good to see her again.
“Hey, I think you need to give this to someone,” Lucas says, taking out the golden bracelet from his jacket.
“That’s right!” I take it and hand it to Lydia. “I think you wanted this back.”
Lydia took it and slipped it onto her tiny wrist. "Yep, and damn does it look good! Can we go home now?"
Lucas hooks his arm around my waist and pulls me close. “Yes, we can.”
We kiss and people begin to clap. Nigel somehow vanishes off somewhere, and that’s good. Because this story isn’t about him.
It’s about love and learning the value of how you see yourself.
If you can’t fight for yourself, you can’t fight for anyone else, nor can you protect them.
Lucas lowers his mouth to my ear. “Let’s get you home. I still need to punish you for being so sexy like that.”
He growls teasingl
y and I squeal in delight in his arms.
“I’m a little jealous, I think, that you didn’t wear this for me.”
“Don’t worry, mountain man, you’ll get your day,” I say. And I mean it.
“Yes, I will. I have my woman, my mate. I have what I want. Now, let’s go plan our own wedding.”
“What are we waiting for?”
My sexy lumberjack throws me over his shoulder and hauls me out of the venue. Cameras are flashes like crazy. People rush out behind us.
Once outside, Lucas places me down gently on the sidewalk where there’s a big white limo waiting. He opens the door for me, but I throw my arms around his neck, and declare, “Love you.”
He smiles. “I love you, too, Claire. Now, it’s time to go home.”
Message from Amber Ella Monroe
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Preview: Breaking the Wolf’s Rules
Breaking the Wolf's Rules: a Howls Romance
(Wolf Mated 1)
She was supposed to be my personal assistant—a temporary aide to help me work through an unrelenting agenda. After a few days with her, I know she's not the best fit for the job…but she is the right woman for me.
* * *
I crave her curves. Even when I make demands, I take one look at her and lose control under her seductive stare. She has become a permanent distraction. All I can think about is taking her on my desk and keeping her for myself.
* * *
There's one other issue—the animal inside me lusts for more than a temporary fling. I want to make the little office vixen mine forever.
Chapter One
Jada
I took a sip of my cocktail as I watched my friend, Kennedy, thumb through a listing of jobs on her iPad. We worked for the same temp agency but we were both in the market for new jobs.
We got laid off after the firm we worked for downsized and move headquarters to a different city. They had offered very few people job transfers and neither me nor my boss made the cut. They handed me a pink slip, gave me one month’s worth of severance pay, and sent me on my merry way. Since then, I’d gotten hired on temporary gigs here and there but none of the jobs had really stood out for me. Although I wasn’t in any position to be choosy, most of them only wanted temporary help to begin with which wasn’t a big motivator.
Kennedy scrambled something down on a notepad. I wished that I was as enthusiastic as her about job hunting, but I had given up hope on ever finding the perfect personal assistant position again. Maybe it was time I applied in other fields or weighed the advantages and disadvantages of moving back home to the country.
Kennedy had received her pink slip from the same firm right about the same time I did. Except for the CFO and a few other finance executives, the entire accounting department had been laid off. Like myself, Kennedy had taken on some temporary positions hoping to find a permanent one. The job market in the city wasn’t what it used to be, and we were competing with a slew of recent college graduates.
“Oh, Jada…look. Here’s one for you…corporate secretary at BossUp Entertainment,” she said, sliding her iPad across the table and pointing to the job listing she found.
“BossUp Entertainment…hmmm, that sounds familiar,” I said, reading through the job requirements. I opened up another browser and did a search on the company. “Oh…I know why it sounds familiar. This is a shell for a company that owns a handful of strip clubs.”
“Wait? How do you know that?” She leaned over and glanced at the tablet. “All it says is food and beverage industry.”
“Of course that’s all it says. You don’t even want to know how I know this.”
She nudged my shoulder. “Oh, come on. Have you worked there or something? Are you a stripper on the side?”
“No. I handled my old boss’s personal credit card bills. The charges showed up often, and he wasn’t exactly shy about his visits there. In fact, he took potential clients with him to close on some of his contracts.”
“Really?” Kennedy squealed in laughter. “But…I wouldn’t put it past him. I snuck in on a company owner’s meeting once and they repeatedly pitched to executives on doing whatever it takes to earn the sale.”
I nodded. “Exactly. But at this point, I’m not in a position to be picky. I’ve got a couple months to search around before I go broke.”
“Didn’t you say you were invited to interview with a petroleum company here in the city tomorrow?”
“The interview at the petroleum was on Monday. They wanted me back for a follow-up meeting, but that position was put on hold. The one you’re talking about is for an imports and exports firm and it’s tomorrow afternoon.”
“Really? What for?”
“A temporary PA. It’s not even temp to hire. I only agreed to interview because of the pay. It’s almost double what I’ve been offered in the past.”
“What company?”
“Vetrov Corporation.”
Kennedy’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. “Do you know how hard it is to get an interview with that company?”
I shrugged. “Must not be too hard. I got one, and I wasn’t exactly trying.”
“No, seriously. My recruiter tried to push my resume to someone in HR and they told her flat out that they only hire directly. They don’t work with agencies or third-party recruiters. So I submitted my resume directly to them three weeks ago and I haven’t heard anything back.”
“Maybe they changed their policies. You should follow-up,” I told her.
“You know what they are, right?”
I frowned. “What do you mean…what they are?”
“The owners. The two brothers. You know about them, right?”
I glanced at her and there was an awkward moment of silence between us. “I didn’t even know the owners were brothers. I’ll be interviewing with one of them though.”
Kennedy glanced around us suspiciously and then whispered, “They’re not like you and me.”
“They’re rich as fuck and they’re bachelors. Of course, they’re not like us,” I exclaimed.
“Yes, they’re millionaires, but that’s not what I meant,” she said.
“So…what did you mean?”
Kennedy rolled her eyes. “I forgot that you don’t get out much.”
I nudged her playfully. “What is that supposed to mean? I get out. And I go places. I even met you for lunch.”
“That’s only because I came to your apartment and dragged you out here,” she said.
“So…about these two brothers…what do you mean?”
She toggled through some pages on the internet and slid the iPad closer to me once again. She’d opened it to a website of the local newspaper. The headline read: Do we have our very own shapeshifter pack here in Red Beach Valley?
“Shapeshifters,” I mumbled, scanning the article and reading about how a wolf pack had apparently just taken up residence somewhere in our town.
“We had two wolf shifter packs in Montana where I grew up,” Kennedy said. “Their existence was already out by the time I was born.”
“How do you know the owners of Vetrov Corporation are shapeshifters?”
“Wolf shifters, to be exact. My dad has worked at the property appraisers office for over thirty years, so he knows just about every family in this county that owns large tracts of land. I’m not just talking small lots and fields, I’m talking mega acreage like neighborhoods, farm lands, and isolated woods. Woods that were deemed uninhabitable a long time ago even though folks already knew people lived out there. A while back, the County was able to link a few of those properties to prominent families who had already identified themselves as primarily shifters. Among them was the family name Vetrov.”
“Sounds like myths and legends,” I said, not sure what to make of it. Was it just a story or was I about to be interview to be a PA to a known shifter?
“Yeah, of course, but that’s how they stay so low key. A small portion of our city believe they're here but many of us don’t, which means the Vetrovs and the rest of the shifter families are left alone and unbothered most of the time. But I know the difference.”
“But what makes you think that these two owners are shifters? Maybe they were adopted or something. Maybe they're only related by marriage not blood.”
Kennedy shook her head. “I don’t think so, but I could be wrong.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it. Either way, it doesn’t make much of a difference to me. If shapeshifters are here in Red Beach Valley, they could literally be everywhere. Our neighbors. Our hair stylists. Our politicians.”
“Or that sexy ass guy sitting by himself,” Kennedy added.
I started to turn around, but then Kennedy hissed, “Don’t turn around. I think he’s looking at us.”
I giggled. “Maybe you should go talk to him.”
Kennedy grinned. “Maybe I should. I haven’t had good sex in ages.”
“Um…you told me you had sex a couple weeks ago. Your mechanic? Remember?”
“It wasn’t good sex. It was awful. He doesn’t count.” She cringed. “Awful sex. No job. I don’t know about you but that’s just a recipe for one super disgruntled bitch.”
I shrugged. “You don’t seem disgruntled to me. If anyone should be disgruntled, it should be me.”
“I don’t know how you do it. You were married for years and then—boom—you’re divorced just like that. It’s been what…a year since you dated anyone?”
What the Wolf Wants: Howls Romance (Wolf Mated Book 2) Page 10
