Purrfect For Me: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Misty Valley Shifters Book 3)

by Natalie Kristen

  Maybe she could ask Allison about Sean Hunter. Allison was friendly and chatty, and she seemed to know almost everyone in town.

  Dressing quickly, Lindsay made her way to the kitchen for a quick breakfast. After gulping down a cup of bitter coffee with some toast, she grabbed her coat and rushed out the door. Her hair was still wet from her shower, but she didn't care. She added a few more scratches to her hubcaps as she pulled sharply away from the curb and drove into town.

  As she drove, she kept replaying the events of the night through her mind. Even though she couldn't recall everything she'd said to him, she could remember every word that Sean had said. She could even hear his deep, gentle voice in her head.

  Her hands gripped the steering wheel as her chest and throat constricted painfully. She was a fool. She was just setting herself up for heartbreak and disappointment, yet she couldn't help it. Lindsay found herself hoping and wishing that all the words he had murmured to her last night weren't just lies.

  They couldn't be just meaningless words uttered in the heat of the moment. He didn't just say all those things to her to get in her pants. He had to mean them. She wanted him to mean what he'd said.

  Because it meant something to her. It meant a lot.

  “Oh! Oh God!”

  Her car screeched to a stop just inches from three laughing women who were strolling across the road, balancing generous scoops of ice-cream on their ice-cream cones.

  The women's laughter died as they watched three large blobs of ice-cream fly from their cones towards Lindsay's windscreen. Their black eyes rounded in dismay and one of them wailed, “That was the last scoop!”

  Lindsay scrambled out of the car and rushed to the three women. “Oh my God, are you hurt? Are you sure? I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, really, I...I was going too fast, and I...I was distracted...” She wrung her hands and gulped. “Are you sure you're not hurt? A bump, a scratch? Did I...hit you anywhere?”

  The three women shook their heads again, their eyes never leaving her. Their eyes were identical, so were their faces. Lindsay figured they had to be sisters, triplets probably. Only their hair color was different. The one standing closest to her had short, stylish black hair and was flanked by a scowling brunette and a wailing redhead. The raven-haired woman turned and snapped over her shoulder, “Peyton, stop that infernal caterwauling!”

  Peyton stuck her lower lip out. “I will, if you get me another scoop of chocolate swirl and honey chip ice-cream!”

  Lindsay glanced at the three large blobs of ice-cream which were making their messy way down her windscreen. “I'll pay for your ice-cream,” she offered immediately, not knowing what else to do.

  “Nah.” The black-haired woman waved away her offer. “Don't worry about it. No damage, no offense.” She took a step forward and squinted at Lindsay. “I know you,” she said at last. “You're Mina's mom.”

  “Yes.” Lindsay cleared her throat awkwardly. “Yes I am. I'm Lindsay Stone.” She stuck out her hand.

  The woman shook her hand graciously and smiled. “I'm Layla Wilette. These are my sisters, Kaylee...” She jerked her thumb at the brunette. “...and Peyton.” The redhead stopped pouting and flashed her a sudden grin. Peyton fished a business card out of the back pocket of her tight leather pants and pressed it into Lindsay's outstretched hand.

  “We own The Magical Mechanics,” Peyton announced. “We fix anything, and everything.”

  “Cars, machines, people...” Kaylee ticked the list off her fingers. “Broken hearts...”

  “No we can't,” Layla corrected Kaylee with a frown. “We haven't perfected that spell.”

  “Spell?” Lindsay's eyes rounded. “Oh, you're witches.”

  “Uh-huh.” Peyton nodded and started nibbling at her dripping cone. “We can fix things, and we can find things too. Things, and people,” she added emphatically.

  Lindsay watched Peyton polish off the rest of her soggy cone. The witch turned to stare longingly at what was left of her ice-cream on Lindsay's car bonnet.

  “I'll get you another ice-cream...” Lindsay began.

  “I scream, you scream, we all scream for some dream...” Kaylee chanted mysteriously, wiggling all her fingers at Lindsay.

  “Wha—?”

  “Dream,” Kaylee repeated with a dramatic flourish and pirouetted all around her. “You, Lindsay Stone, are looking for a dream. You're looking for romance, pink hearts, chocolates and flowers...”

  “I...” Lindsay was getting giddy just watching Kaylee. “I...no, that's not really...”

  “Kaylee!” Layla spun round and snapped. “You're reading her aura all wrong.”

  Kaylee planted her hands on her wide, leather-clad hips and raised a brow in challenge.

  Lindsay stepped back, giving the sisters some space. She wasn't sure she wanted to get caught in a family squabble. Besides, she wasn't even sure what they were squabbling about. What aura? She watched the identical, stubborn expression on their faces with some amusement. The three Wilette witches were all curvy, tall and beautiful. They wore skin-tight leather pants, high-heeled boots and halter tops. Lindsay looked round and saw a group of males ogling the triplets openly. They laughed good-naturedly and slapped one another on the back when the three witches turned and blew them kisses, lots of kisses. Lindsay had no doubt that the Wilette triplets were the sexiest mechanics in Misty Valley.

  Lindsay cleared her throat awkwardly as the witches hunkered down and continued their energetic discussion of her aura.

  “I did read her aura correctly,” Kaylee insisted. “There's something playing on her mind right now. Some dream.”

  “Yeah,” Peyton agreed. “She's looking for something. Even I can see that.”

  Layla shook her head at her sisters. “Not something. Someone. Look!” She pulled her sisters forward by their ears and pointed towards Lindsay. “Look carefully. See that?”

  Three pairs of identical intense black eyes roamed all over her. Lindsay glanced nervously over her shoulder and looked all around her. What exactly were they looking at?

  “Um, excuse me, but...” she began.

  “Shhh!” They shushed her in unison and continued staring in her direction.

  “You're right, Layla, I do see it...” Kaylee muttered at last.

  “I still don't see it...”

  “That's because you're not looking hard enough, Peyton.”

  Layla was the first to straighten up and walk towards her. “Sorry about that. My sisters still haven't mastered the art of aura-reading.”

  Lindsay managed a weak smile. “It's okay.”

  Layla lowered her voice. “Who are you looking for? We can help you, you know.”

  “Help me? Well, actually I'm looking for...” Lindsay took a sharp breath and his name escaped on her next exhale. “Sean Hunter.”

  “Sean?” The three witches exchanged a look.

  “You know him?” Lindsay asked hopefully.

  “I think the question should be, who doesn't know him,” Peyton snorted.

  Layla silenced Peyton with a glare and turned back to Lindsay. “Sean Hunter is the Alpha of the Hunter pride of lion shifters. The Hunter pride owns the Hunter chain of hotels. They're seriously wealthy and pretty influential in Misty Valley. So yes, we know Sean Hunter.”

  Lindsay gaped at them. “Hunter...hotels?”

  “Yeah. Grand Hunter Hotel, Hunter's Palace, Hunter's Resort, Hunter's Lodge...” Kaylee rattled off the list of hotel names.

  “Wait, wait, did you say Hunter's Lodge?” Lindsay asked eagerly.

  “Yes, why...”

  Lindsay broke into a smile. “Okay. Thank you! I know someone there. I'll go look for her now. Thank you so much for your help! I...I have to go now, but...we have a date, okay? For ice-cream!”

  As she hurried back to her car, she heard Kaylee and Peyton's baffled voices.

  “Help? Did we help?”

  “What did we do?”

  As Li
ndsay revved her engine, she thought she heard Peyton whisper loudly, “I think we may have done the opposite of help.”

  The Wilette sisters hopped onto the sidewalk in a hurry and gawked at her as her car jerked and skidded forward with a screech. Lindsay winced and threw the car into the right gear. As she zoomed past the wide-eyed witches, she stuck her head out of the window and shouted, “I'll call you! Ice-cream, yes!”

  Giving them a quick wave, she saw Layla mouth, good luck. Layla raised her hand and waved back, but she looked worried.

  Lindsay appreciated her concern, but seriously, the good witch had nothing to worry about.

  She knew exactly where to go, and what to do.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Lindsay pulled up right in front of Hunter's Lodge. Straightening her coat, she paused and stared at the entrance of the small, cozy hotel. She remembered that she had enjoyed her stay in this hotel immensely. The staff were all friendly, helpful and professional. And she had made a few friends as well.

  Blowing out a breath, Lindsay rubbed her hands down the front of her old, frayed jeans almost self-consciously. She had to stop herself from grabbing her compact mirror out from her bag as she walked towards the hotel entrance. This was Sean Hunter's hotel. There was a good chance that she might just bump into him here.

  But Sean had already seen her at her worst last night. She had been drunk, disheveled and spouting nonsense. Did she...puke all over him?

  “Gah! Keep walking,” she commanded her legs. “You're almost there. You're just here to see Allison, and have a nice, friendly chat. She'll be able to tell you a thing or two. You'll see. But you'll see nothing if you don't keep walking.”

  She continued muttering encouragement and threats to herself. Hunter's Lodge loomed nearer and nearer.

  So far so good.

  She found herself standing directly in front of the entrance. Now she just had to push the door open and walk in.

  Lindsay put her hand against the wide, darkly tinted glass door. “Ready, steady...go!”

  She heard the musical tinkle of the door chime.

  “Welcome to Hunter's Lodge!” a familiar voice piped up.

  Lindsay blinked at the smiling young lady who had just jumped up from behind the reception counter.

  “Hi Allison,” Lindsay squeaked. She bit her lip hard. She sounded like a goddamn mouse.

  “Oh! Lindsay! What a surprise!”

  “Yeah, well, I...”

  “What are you doing here?” Allison whirled round to dump a stack of paperwork on the reception counter. She turned back to face Lindsay and her amber eyes lit up. “Oh! I know! I remember you said that your friends will be coming to visit soon. I bet you're here to place a reservation for your buddies! This is so exciting!” Allison hurried back to the reception counter and typed furiously at the computer. “Let me see. Okay, we have a few vacancies left...”

  “No, Allison, I'm not here to place any reservation,” Lindsay said quickly. “Actually...”

  “Oh, silly me!” Allison slapped her forehead. “I heard from Mina that you've gotten a nice little house here. Of course your friends will be staying with you, and not in a hotel!”

  When Lindsay just stood fidgeting in front of the reception counter, Allison rounded her eyes in concern. “Lindsay? Is...everything okay? Did you come here to talk to me...about something?” She tried to lighten the mood by winking and whispering, “Or did you just want to stop by and catch up on all the latest gossip about town?”

  Lindsay's smile froze when she glanced down at Allison's name tag.

  Allison Hunter.

  Allison was a member of the Hunter pride. Why hadn't she noticed that before?

  Lindsay swallowed. “Allison, can I...ask you something?”

  “Sure. What do you want to know?”

  “You belong to the Hunter pride.” Gulp.

  “Yes. I'm a werelion. I thought you knew that.” Allison cocked her head at her. “I know you're human, but I don't eat humans.” Allison snorted at her own joke before frowning suddenly. “Why are you asking about the Hunter pride?”

  “Do you know Sean Hunter?”

  Allison's eyes widened. “He's my dad.”

  “You...you are the Alpha's daughter?”

  Allison rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. “Yes, yes and yes. For the umpteenth time, yes I am the Alpha's daughter. What is the big deal? Why is everyone so surprised to learn this? Am I too young and frivolous to be the Alpha's daughter? Am I not fit to be the future Alpha of the pride? Sheesh! Give me a break!”

  She blew her blond hair out of her eyes and folded her arms. “I'll have you know that I'm young but I'm not frivolous. One day I'll be Alpha of the Hunter pride and I have to know everything about the pride's business. And I mean, everything! So here I am, working as the chambermaid, the kitchen help, the receptionist....” She stuck her fingers out one by one. “I'm learning the ropes, all the ropes, from the ground up. No one's going to pull any wool over my eyes.”

  “And I think you're doing a stupendous job!” Lindsay couldn't help saying. “You're an amazing young woman, just like my daughter...” Lindsay trailed off and stared at Allison.

  “What?” Allison prompted.

  “You...are the Alpha's daughter. You are Sean's little girl,” Lindsay repeated with a soft, nervous chuckle.

  “Yeah.” Allison's amber eyes narrowed. “You were asking about my dad earlier. What is this about, Lindsay?”

  Lindsay bit down the answer that was gushing up her throat.

  Wellllll...I don't really know what this is about either, but...I'm thinking of asking your dad out. There, I said it. And yes, I think I'm crazy too! But this is a chance, a risk, that I'm willing to take. No, I'm not easy and I'm not desperate. I've never done this before. But, I've never met a man like Sean. He's kind, sweet, responsible, a great parent—I mean, look at you! He must be so proud! So, what this is really about is...

  “Oh. My. God!” Allison was staring at her neck, her eyes bulging out of her skull.

  “What? What is it?” Lindsay started and swatted at her neck, face and chest in a frenzy. “Is there something on me? Some insect? A stain...?”

  “You...” Allison's eyes flashed as she leaned in and sucked in a long breath. Her face twisted, in shock and disbelief. Was that...disgust, that Lindsay saw in her eyes?

  “He marked you,” Allison said, stepping away from her. “What did you do to him? What did you make him do?” Her voice was seething with hostility and revulsion.

  “What are you talking about? Allison...”

  “My dad,” Allison spat. “Sean Hunter. You have his mark and his scent on you.”

  Allison's claws glinted dangerously and the sharp tips of her fangs pushed past her lips. Lindsay stared into the eyes of a snarling predator, an enraged, ferocious lioness. Allison didn't shift into lion, but her eyes were fully feral and feline.

  “I didn't do anything to Sean. I didn't make him do anything!” Lindsay answered in her strongest voice.

  “Liar! You made him mark you,” Allison snarled, advancing towards her. “God! And I thought you were different. But you're just like the rest of them. Power-hungry, slutty gold diggers! I liked you, Lindsay, I really did. I thought you were so nice, and fun, and...real!” she spat. “I thought better of you, Lindsay. I really did.”

  “I didn't...”

  “My dad wouldn't mark you.” Allison shook her head. “Ever since my mom died, the lions in the pride have been advising him to take another mate. They said it was for the good of the pride, for my well-being, for his own sake, blah blah blah. I agreed with them. I didn't think he ought to be alone for the rest of his life. But my dad was never interested in taking a mate, a true life mate. Sure he had women, but they were all temporary. Nothing permanent. No mark, no claim. No claim to the Hunter wealth and fortune. So tell me, Lindsay. Why would my dad suddenly mark you and claim you as his mate? You've only been in Mi
sty Valley, what, a month or less?”

  Allison raised her claws, but Lindsay didn't back away. She wouldn't back down. She had done nothing wrong. She hadn't tricked Sean into marking her. She didn't even want to wear his mark. She didn't know that he was the Alpha of the Hunter pride when she took him to her bed, and even after she found out who he was, it made no difference to her. She just liked the man, plain and simple, and she wanted to see him again.

  “I'm not a gold digger, Allison.” She kicked her chin out and squared her shoulders. “I have my own money, and I will earn my own money. I'm not going to stay idle here in Misty Valley. I intend to work and contribute to the community. I've always been independent. I raised my daughter single-handedly and I have never asked for handouts. I don't know what mark you're talking about. I didn't ask for it and frankly, I don't want it. It seems to be much more trouble than a one-night stand is worth. Yes, I was drunk and I slept with Sean. But...” Lindsay sighed deeply. “I realize that I like him, a whole lot, and I would like to get to know him better. And that's before I found out that he's the Alpha of the Hunter pride,” she added, jabbing a finger into Allison's chest. “So back off, young lady. What you've just said is...uncalled for.”

  When Allison stumbled back and growled, Lindsay added in a softer tone, “I know you're concerned for your dad. I can understand that. I can fully understand the shock, the confusion, the apprehension. You're worried that I'll hurt him. You care deeply for your dad, your family.” Lindsay smiled. “You really are a lot like Mina.” Frowning suddenly, Lindsay muttered half to herself, “I wonder what Mina would say if she knew that I'd slept with a lion?” With a shrug, she came to the inevitable conclusion, “She'll probably throw a fit. Like what you're doing now. Ah...”

  Lindsay sighed and looked up into Allison's blazing eyes. The lioness's claws were still out. The helpful, hardworking and lovable young woman whom Lindsay had come to regard as a friend was now glaring at her with suspicion and rage.