by Cara Adams
Werewolves of Hanson Mall 1
Publicly Exhibited
Sisters Willow and Hawthorne Cunliffe are fleeing from Hawthorne’s ex-boyfriend, who thinks she’s insane and is trying to force her into a mental health institution because she saw a shape-shifter. They arrive at Hanson Mall not knowing it’s a shape-shifter community.
Cadfael Hanson, the Alpha of the pack, and his second-in-command, Rhion Jones, are instantly attracted to Willow, but telling her about their identity could send the women running away again. They offer the women safety and shelter and try to demonstrate their care for Willow while still trying to discover what made Hawthorne's ex want to lock her away.
The women begin to relax and make friends, but can they ever be safe while Hawthorne's ex is searching for them? And will they lose faith in the mall community once they learn some of the people are really wolves?
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 35,655 words
PUBLICLY EXHIBITED
Werewolves of Hanson Mall 1
Cara Adams
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
PUBLICLY EXHIBITED
Copyright © 2014 by Cara Adams
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62741-362-6
First E-book Publication: March 2014
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
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Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
About the Author
PUBLICLY EXHIBITED
Werewolves of Hanson Mall 1
CARA ADAMS
Copyright © 2014
Chapter One
Cadfael Hanson leaned over the railing of the fourth-floor balcony at Hanson Mall, idly watching hundreds of shoppers moving over the lower three levels. This was his favorite place to stand and think. The color and action below relaxed him and freed his mind to work on knotty managerial decisions as his gaze wandered from floor to floor, and store to store.
Today the sun was shining down through the central well of the mall, lighting the entire building. Cadfael mentally flipped the bird at the architects who’d tried to tell him it’d never work. It’d be far too expensive. The building would be impossible to heat. Yes, sure it cost a lot to heat the building in winter, but the natural light was a huge drawcard offsetting the costs, and on days like today the blaze of sunlight was worth more than money could buy in engendering happiness in his clients. Who he hoped would spend up big in the stores, keeping his retailers happy and well able to pay their rent.
His gaze was caught by the swiftly moving figure of a woman whose hair shone red in the sunlight. People seldom moved fast inside the mall. It wasn’t like they had a bus to catch or anything. A young mom running after an escaping toddler was usually the fastest anyone ever moved.
As he watched he noticed another young woman following her, moving just as fast. The second woman’s hair appeared brown, until she, too, was under the dome, and then it shone red. Okay he was looking at two women with red-brown hair, not two redheads. But very likely sisters.
Cadfael stepped to his right where he had a better view along the lowest level of the mall. He couldn’t see security looking for anyone. Actually he couldn’t see security at all. Had the women stolen something? Were they running from an irate store manager?
Cadfael snatched his cell phone out of his pocket.
“Security? Send some females to the women’s restroom on the first floor. Potential shoplifters. Two of them. Reddish hair, youngish.”
Cadfael remained leaning on the balcony although he couldn’t see the entry to the ladies’ room from here. The facilities were tucked against an outside wall of the mall, in the same northeast corner of the building on every level. What he could see was Dakota and Maelor making their way smoothly but quickly through the crowds to that northeast segment of the mall. Dakota was a human woman, but Maelor, a male, was one of the werewolves in his pack, the Hanson Mall pack.
Of course the pack hadn’t always been named after the mall. The werewolves had gradually become store owners instead of farmers over the years, then businessmen. They’d owned this land. It was the original farm site and home of the pack, but turning it into a mall had been the best decision the previous Alpha had ever made. There’d been three long years of endless pain and headaches, but the mall was a success, and Cadfael’s own improvements, like the glass dome, and adding two more stories to the parking lot, were already bringing in greater profits.
However, he wouldn’t tolerate shoplifters. Whether kids or adults, he turned them over to the
police. He had to send a message to would-be criminals that this mall was off limits.
Cadfael waited and watched for another ten minutes, but he received no text messages and saw no further problems. Sighing, he straightened up and walked back to the glass doors leading to the professional suites. In the elevator there he swiped his card and punched the button for the top floor. It was time for him to get back to work. Although he would check with the local community food bank. Sometimes shoplifters were actually good people driven to steal by the desperate need to feed their kids. The people at the food bank would tell him if the community service program needed more donations right now. No way would he let people steal from him, but he was ready to provide some gifts if they were needed.
* * * *
Willow Cunliffe pushed open the door to the ladies’ room, holding it wide as Hawthorne followed her in. It was a purely functional room with half a dozen sinks set in a long counter, plus four stalls, none in use right now. She’d hoped there’d be a stool or a chair or something for Hawthorne to sit on and rest, but apparently not. Well at least Hawthorne’s crazy ex couldn’t follow them in here. Although they’d need to come up with some kind of plan about where to go next and how to avoid him.
And that was another thing. She had no idea what time the mall would close. Five? Five thirty? Seven? They simply had to leave in the middle of a crowd, not be the last ones shown out when most people had gone. Fuck. What a fucking mess! Damn that idiot Bailey Hamilton to hell.
Willow pushed her heavy backpack off her shoulders and stretched her back, grateful to be free of the weight even if it was only for a few minutes. Hawthorne copied her and then said, “We might as well use the facilities while we’re here,” and disappeared into a stall. Willow turned to the mirror and looked at her face. She had dark shadows under her eyes, just as her sister did, and her cheeks were pale. Lack of sleep and worry did that to a person. She turned the faucet on and splashed cold water over her face, hoping it’d revive her.
Just as Hawthorne stepped out of the stall, the door to the ladies’ room opened and Willow stood in front of her sister, aiming to protect her. But it was just a woman in a security guard’s uniform. The woman looked at her a bit strangely and asked, “Is everything all right in here?”
“Oh yes, thank you,” she replied.
The security guard looked more closely at her, and at her sister. “Are you sure? I have to say, ma’am, you don’t look real well.”
“I’m fine.”
Willow could have slapped Hawthorne when she said, “I’m hiding from my ex-boyfriend. He’s…”
Willow looked at Hawthorne, saw the fear and pain in her face, and grabbed her into her arms for a hug.
“He’s a piece of shit. But we’ll be fine. Thank you for asking.”
The guard leaned against the door, effectively holding it closed. “Ma’am, if he’s abusive I’d be real happy to help you report him to the police. I don’t like men who hit women. Would you like to come upstairs with me and we can call Protective Services for you?”
“It’s much more complicated than that.” Willow let Hawthorne go but only stepped back a few inches, ready to hold her again if she needed her.
“Is there somewhere we can wait in private? We’ll go before the mall shuts, I promise, but if I could just rest somewhere safe for an hour or two…”
“My name’s Dakota. There’s a First Aid room upstairs and the nurse on duty is an absolute dragon. No one will get past her without your permission. Why don’t I take you there and you can nap a while?”
Willow smiled at the guard. “That would be wonderful. It’s so kind of you. Thank you.”
They picked up their backpacks and put them on, then followed Dakota out of the ladies’ room. A male security guard glanced at Dakota but she shook her head and the man fell in behind them. It made Willow feel safe. For the first time in a week she knew Bailey Hamilton wouldn’t be able to scream and shout at them or convince the mental health authorities to lock up her baby sister. For the next little while they really would be able to sleep in safety. And after a rest hopefully she could think more clearly about where to go next.
* * * *
Rhion Jones looked at the text message on his cell phone.
They’re victims not perpetrators. Taking them to First Aid.
“Well thank you, Maelor, that doesn’t tell me anything.” As Cadfael’s second-in-command, Rhion was used to jumping into situations where he had absolutely no clue what was going on, hoping someone would help him out before he made a total idiot of himself. This looked like yet another one of those days. He considered knocking on Cadfael’s door and asking for some information, then shrugged and ran down the stairs to level four. Four was the top level of the mall itself, the highest floor where customers were welcome to walk around unsupervised. Opposite the movie theater and three restaurants was a double glass door into the professional suite. Immediately inside that area was a desk where Sophie the receptionist sat, fielding phone calls and visitors.
In truth, the “professional offices” were for the management of the mall, and the general running of the pack. On higher floors several pack members had their own apartments. The list of businesses on the signboard was just for show and no floor levels were listed. The only way to use the elevator in this area was with a swipe card and to know which floor button to press. Of course, someone could steal a swipe card then press each button until one activated the elevator, but it hadn’t ever happened. Besides, the intruder would still have to break into the apartment he reached on the level he’d accessed anyway. It wasn’t a perfect system, but it was unobtrusive and reasonably secure.
Rhion smiled at Sophie, pleased he’d arrived before Maelor Powell and whoever he was with, and stepped into the office designated for the center manager, who was Dylan Upjohn. “What’s going on?”
“Fuck if I know. Cadfael saw two women running and thought they might be shoplifters. Maelor and Dakota went to investigate and Dakota’s asked the nurse to make up beds for them.”
Just then he heard Dakota speaking to Sophie, and he and Dylan walked to Dylan’s doorway. The nurse came bustling out of the First Aid room.
“Oh, you poor babies. You do look exhausted. Come with me and have a nice nap.” She ushered the two women into the room and shut the door with a snap.
Rhion felt the urge to giggle but managed not to. No one ever upset the nurse. He rather thought they’d find their balls nailed to the wall if they attempted it.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Come into my office,” added Dylan.
Yeah. That was a better idea. An innocent customer could walk through the doors into this area at any moment, and Sophie would find out everything from the nurse sooner or later anyway.
Dylan poured them all a cup of coffee from his personal machine, but even that didn’t clear his brain much as Dakota told them what she knew.
“An abusive boyfriend. Oh well I expect Nurse Eilidh will get the story from them. Thanks, Dakota and Maelor.”
The two guards left the office and Rhion sat down to wait. He knew the nurse would be able to give them a fuller picture when the time was right. It wasn’t much more than twenty minutes later when she tiptoed into the room.
“They’re both asleep, poor mites.”
Mentally Rhion shook his head. “Babies” and “mites” didn’t really apply to the two women. They were young and tired-looking, yes, but adults not children.
“So what’s the story?” he asked.
“You might want to Google Bailey Hamilton and see what you can find out about him. He’s been abusing the younger one. She had a dream or some such that she told him about, and he’s been using that to try to have her declared mentally incompetent. It made me wonder if she’s the heir to some wealth, or some property he wants to take from her, although surely she’d have willed it to her sister, not to a mere boyfriend. Anyway he’s chased her halfway across the state. I’d like
them to stay here for a few days until they get their strength back. They’re both totally exhausted.”
Rhion thought. They did have a couple of vacant apartments. They used them for when guests visited. But letting two human women stay in the heart of a mostly male wolf pack was a bit unusual. “If I let them use 7C would you be prepared to stay with them?” he asked.
“Of course. There’s nothing wrong with Hawthorne’s mental faculties. She asked me how my name was spelled and what it meant, and then Willow commented that Maelor’s name was Welsh as well.”
“So what did you say?” asked Dylan.
“What we always say. My name is spelled E-I-L-I-D-H, pronounced Aylee, and means light. And the reason for the Welsh names is that this area was settled by Welsh immigrants a couple hundred years ago and the names have stayed. I also told her that she’d likely meet more people with the last name Jones, none of whom were related to the others, here, than on the Welsh rugby team.”
The time half of the fifteen Welsh rugby players were named Jones, none of them related to any of the others, had gone down in history. Laughing, Rhion chanted, “Adam Rhys Jones, Dafydd Jones, Ryan Jones, Stephen Jones, Mark Jones, Adam M. Jones, Alun Wyn Jones, and Duncan Jones.”
Eilidh bustled away again, and Rhion stood. “Okay put them in 7C. I’d better get back to my own job.”
Dylan waved and Rhion went across the foyer and headed up the stairs. Some days the only exercise he got was running up and down the stairs. Ah well, at least he had a job he liked and a boss and Alpha who was his best friend.
