by C. E. Black
Holding the phone with my shoulder, I closed the file I’d been looking at and slid it to the end of my desk to put away later. I really needed to hire a secretary.
“He’ll need to take her to school,” I said. “But seeing how she’s already late, a few more minutes won’t hurt.”
Theo cleared his throat. “Tess is fine.”
I paused. “She is? Well… Then tell her to get here, ASAP.”
“She’s unavailable. And so is Jake”
“Okay.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Then send someone else. Lynn or Rebecca.” Damn, this wasn’t rocket science. My Beta knew the drill. One of them drove Sara to school every day. And picked her. And watched her after school and weekends.
“No. And… no,” Theo said, causing my hackles to rise.
“What about Brandon?” I didn’t have time for this. I glanced from the mountain of work piled on top of my desk to my daughter still standing quietly at the door and groaned.
Theo paused before saying, “Locke, we need to have a talk. Tess tried, but you wouldn’t listen. We can’t keep this up.”
I whispered harshly as I turned away from Sara, “What do we need to talk about? I thought this matter had already been settled.”
When my life had turned upside down, the pack stepped up and helped me through one of the hardest times of my life. When my father had died, I’d inherited the pack. At thirty-five years old, I was the youngest Alpha in the Wild River Pack’s history.
And if that hadn’t been stressful enough, days later, fate sent another blow, when my mate suddenly collapsed. She’d never woken up, leaving behind a demanding toddler for me to raise alone.
There’d been hard times, I won’t lie, but over the last five years, Sara and I had gotten along just fine. She pretty much stayed to herself. I worked long hours—being an Alpha is no cakewalk—but I paid the bills and gave her everything she needed. And the pack helped by doing the stuff I didn’t have time for.
“I just don’t see the problem,” I said.
Theo sighed. “And that is the problem.”
“Excuse me?” A dull ache bloomed behind my eyes. My Beta wasn’t making any sense.
Sara shifted from one foot to the other catching my eyes. Head bowed over her cell phone, her fingers sped over the screen.
“I don’t have time for this,” I said to Theo. “Call me if you hear from the realtor.”
I hung up before dialing Brandon’s number. New to the pack, Brandon had joined about eighteen months before when he moved into the area to attend college. There had been plenty of colleges near his home pack in North Carolina, but he’d needed to put some distance between him and a girl. Always a girl, I thought with a chuckle.
“’Lo?” Brandon answered, his voice raspy from sleep.
“Brandon,” I said, using my Alpha voice. “Do you have any classes today?”
“No, sir,” he replied, much more awake now.
“I need you to take Sara to school for me. Please,” I added as an afterthought.
There was a pause before Brandon said hesitantly. “I’m not sure…”
“Brandon.” The command went left unsaid.
“On my way, sir.”
I tossed the phone onto the desk and gave Sara a triumphant smile. Problem solved. “Brandon is taking you to school. He shouldn’t be long.”
Now that I’d fixed that issue, I switched focus. Back to work.
“Why can’t you take me?” Sara’s whisper was so light I almost didn’t catch it.
I turned away from my computer to face her. “You know I’m busy, June Bug.”
Sara looked up from her phone, her eyes flashing. “Don’t call me that,” she snapped.
“Sara June Winfield,” I began but the words died as she stormed out of my office.
Well, that was new. The Alpha wolf in me was a little irritated by Sara’s attitude, but there was no time for it. Plus, I had everything under control. I trusted Brandon. He’d take care of Sara while I got back to work.
As far as the pack, I was sure everything would be back to normal tomorrow. They wouldn’t refuse to help their Alpha.
* * *
Chapter 2
* * *
“What do you mean you refuse to help me anymore?”
Gaze sweeping the room, I let them hear the growl in my voice. A few flinched, others ducked their heads. All of them lowered their eyes.
This was just another complication to add to the day from hell.
Brandon had taken Sara to school, but had failed to pick her up in the afternoon. Which, I could admit, was my fault. I hadn’t asked. So, I had to abruptly end an important phone call to do it myself.
Then had been the issue of what to make for dinner. But after a moment of panic, I’d remembered the pizza menu tucked away in a kitchen drawer. Presto! Dinner had been served!
However, when the quadruple meat pie had arrived, Sara informed me she only ate veggie pizza. After complaining she wasn’t hungry anyway, she’d run upstairs to her room, making sure to slam the door hard enough to rattle the windows.
I’d been ready to pull out my hair when I’d gotten the call from Theo about a pack meeting.
Sitting in a circle, with me standing in the center, fifteen of my thirty-three pack members had gathered at the community center. Then surprised me with this… this…
Pacing the circle, I sought out Theo. Looking at us, you’d think Theo was the dominant wolf in the room.
He was sitting in one of those folding metal chairs, but if he stood, he would have been at least four or five inches taller than me. He wore a thin, cotton t-shirt that displayed thick muscles under his umber colored skin. Especially, when he crossed his arms like the way he was doing now.
Though both of us were actually the most dominant wolves in the room, Theo’s wolf wasn’t as powerful as mine. Which was why I was Alpha.
“What is this?” I demanded.
His dark brown eyes flashed gold, meaning his wolf was close to the surface. I held his glare with one of my own, but within seconds, he dropped his eyes.
“An intervention,” Theo finally said, clearing his throat.
“A what?”
“An intervention,” Brandon, offered. His chin bobbed up and down as though he was listening to music as he explained, “It’s where friends and family come together to confront a person in a non-threatening way about—
I growled, cutting him off with a swipe of my hand. “I know what an intervention is, Brandon. What I don’t understand is why we’re having one. For me.”
“We just want to help you.” The quiet words came from Tess. Though her arms were crossed and her chin held high, her expression held concern.
“Help me with what?” I asked, my voice softening.
When no one spoke up, I growled out my frustrations. “Someone, please. Tell me what’s going on. You said you weren’t going to help me with Sara anymore. Why? Do I need to pay you? I’ve offered you money time and time again—
“We don’t want your money, Alpha,” Theo said.
“Then what do you want?” I clenched my fists at my sides so I wouldn’t pull out my hair.
“We want you to take care of Sara yourself,” Tess said. “She needs you.”
I shook my head. “You’re making no sense. What does Sara have to do with this?”
“You’re a bad dad, Alpha,” Theo blurted.
Silence descended. In fact, it got so quiet, I couldn’t hear a single one of my pack mates breathing. However, I could hear the galloping of their hearts.
I inhaled and let the accusation wash over me. It hurt. It did. But I wasn’t sure I agreed with the statement. I wasn’t a bad dad. Was I?
My gaze swept the room once more, noting the tense expressions on their faces. However, not a single one of them looked like they wanted to oppose their Beta’s opinion.
“Is that what you all think?” I asked, my voice flat.
When no one answered, I sighed.
“I just don’t see it. I’ve never hurt her.”
“Of course you haven’t,” Theo said. “That’s not what this is about.”
“Then what is this about?”
“It’s about Sara needing her dad and not just a bankroll.” He talked over my scoff. “When was the last time you spent any time with her?”
“Her birthday,” I answered immediately. “She had a party. I was there.”
“That was last year.”
“No, it wasn’t. It was a month ago.”
“Her birthday is in June. It’s January.”
“Really?” I gave him a dubious look. “What about her ballet recital? That wasn’t that long ago.” The pack all gave me a look like I was crazy. “What?” I asked.
“Her last recital was four years ago. She doesn’t take ballet anymore.”
I rubbed at my forehead. “How old is she again?”
Someone scoffed.
“Nine, Alpha,” Theo said patiently.
“Wow,” I whispered. “Time flies.”
“That it does,” he agreed. “But not that fast. We won’t enable you any longer, Alpha. Taking care of Sara is your responsibility.”
“Of course, she’s my responsibility, and I’m taking damn good care of her by having my pack, who I thought cared about us, help us out while I do my job. You know, the really important one you all seemed to have forgotten about.”
“You work too much. We can help you with pack business. Please, call me, or any of us, for help.”
“The pack is my responsibility,” I replied, my voice clipped.
Theo shook his head. “It’s obvious you’re not going to listen to us.”
He turned away from me to pick up his chair. The pack followed suit and the room soon filled with the sound of chairs scraping against tile as everyone began stacking them against the wall. Then one by one they stopped to pat me on the shoulder, offering small words of encouragement.
“You’ve got this, Alpha.”
“Don’t worry. She loves you. Just show her you love her too.”
“Take her shopping. Girls love that stuff. What? It’s the truth.”
“Don’t listen to Brandon. He’s an idiot.”
“Call us if you need help with anything other than babysitting.”
“Unless it’s an emergency.”
“Tell Sara we love her. And I’ll come by and visit soon.”
As the pack finally drifted away, I was left alone with my thoughts. According to them, I was a bad father who needed to spend more time with my daughter. But what about work? As the Alpha, I couldn’t exactly take any day off I wanted. That’s not how it worked. How was I going to do this all by myself?
Brandon stuck his head back into the room. “What you really need, Alpha, is a mate.”
“Brandon!” the pack all called from outside.
“What?” he said over his shoulder before disappearing behind the door once more. “It’s the truth!”
As the others chastised the boy, a slow grin spread across my face. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t thought of it before. It was the perfect idea.
“Brandon, you’re a genius!”
* * *
To find purchase links for Makeshift Mate and more,
Click Here.
* * *
And be sure to sign up for her newsletter so you never miss an update.
Burn For You Preview
by Gwen Knight
Chapter One
Keaton
* * *
Purrs4You: Hey handsome. Wanna fuck? I’ve never ridden a dragon before.
I bit back a laugh and stared at the words, astounded by her lack of effort. Seriously? Was this what amounted to dating these days? Just sign up on a website and fire off a few risqué sentences with the hope someone responds? And her username? Purrs4You. Really? A dig at her shifter form, most likely. Probably some type of cat—I hadn’t bothered to read her profile.
Purrs4You: Well? You interested, baby? Bet I can set your loins on fire.
Yup, this time I laughed. Who the hell was this woman? Did she honestly think this sort of message would work? I shook my head, about to close down the conversation when I saw those three little dots scrawling across the screen, indicating an incoming message.
Joy of joys.
Except, instead of more text, a picture popped up on my screen. A picture of… Whoa. I blinked, equally surprised and amused by this turn of events. Definitely a pussy staring back at me. And not the four-legged kind.
Clearly she expected a response. I imagined her sitting at a desk somewhere, tapping these long nails against the wooden top as she waited for my answer, a predator among prey. Well, dragon trumped kitty any day of the week. And this dragon had zero interest in making her purr.
I typed out a quick message. Simple and succinct.
Keats: Not interested.
Purrs4You: Bet I can change your mind. No one can resist petting my mouse.
Her…what now? I wasn’t entirely up on modern day slang, but I think I got the gist of that one. I exhaled and tossed my phone down onto my own desk.
My phone dinged again but I ignored it. Ever since Jasper signed me up on that stupid site, it’d been one message after another. Ding, ding, ding. Nonstop alerts filling up my phone until I wanted to break the damn thing.
God, I hated dating.
The entire process was maddening. The wooing, the flowers, the pretty words, the false promises… Not to mention the most difficult part: meeting someone. People often said the first obstacle was the hardest to overcome. But, seriously? What the hell did these women expect from me?
Back in my day, dating seemed so simple. Find a beautiful dragon-shifter, woo her with hordes of gold and plumes of fire, then settled down, marry, and pop out a few kids. I’d done all of that only to find myself widowed and alone within twenty years—a shockingly short timespan when talking about shifters.
Nowadays, it seemed like women wanted so much more. Not to mention my chances of finding another female dragon-shifter were slim to nil. We were a dying breed. The world had given way to the wolves and the lions—the more adaptable breeds. Us dragons had always been caught in the past. We missed our castles and riches, and the days when we could spread our wings and take to the skies. Now we needed a bloody flying permit. Even had to register with the Federal Aviation Administration. Somewhere in my wallet, I literally had a card that read recreational pilot.
I leaned back in my cushioned chair and stared at the matchmaking website in front of me. MeetYourAlpha.com—Where Happily Ever Alphas Are Only A Click Away. Catchy, I suppose. When Jasper first told me about this site, he’d claimed it catered to the paranormal community, though they did allow humans to join if they so desired. How my happily married second-in-command had heard about this site, I hadn’t a clue. Nor did I ask. Ignore was bliss.
Jasper had even gone so far as to make a profile for me, seeing as he was one of the few who not only understood technology but reveled in it. The marvelous things electronics can do, he’d said. Truthfully, I’d nearly torn a few scales off his hide when he’d first mentioned this to me. Until I’d see the hopeful gleam in my clan members’ eyes. For five years now I’d been without a mate, and it seemed they were of the unanimous decision that I needed to find someone new who would care for me and my daughter. It didn’t matter to them that I’d already had my chance at true love.
And lost it.
You deserve more than this pitiful existence of yours. And when that hadn’t worked, they’d driven the knife a little deeper, practically cutting out my heart. Jinx deserves better.
Jinx—or Virginia as her mother had named her—was my twelve-going-on-thirty-year-old daughter. The clan had decided that she needed a new mother. Guess me being a single father wasn’t good enough for them—an accusation I knew rang true. Jinx never complained, though Jasper’s biting response had been she’s never home to complain.
I pushed those thoughts aside and re-
read the biography Jasper had put together for me. It wasn’t anything special. Just my photo and a quick blurb telling those interested that I was the leader of the Baton Rouge Dragon Clan, a single father and widower, and a rabid LSU Tigers fan. Though, after the messaging disaster with Purrs4You, I clicked edit and added one single line: serious inquiries only. The last thing I wanted was more of those dreaded booty calls as Jasper called them. And, by the skies, I did not want to know how he’d learned about those.
I guided the mouse over to the save button and hovered there, suddenly contemplating deleting the entire profile. Jasper never needed to know. In the two days since he’d signed me up, not a single female interested me. Only one woman had ever caught my eye.
My gaze strayed to the square silver picture frame on my desk. I reached out and brushed my fingertips against the glass. Losing Ella had nearly destroyed both Jinx and me. A part of me worried about putting my daughter through that again.
She needs a mother… The words of Jasper’s wife. Renee was the only other female in our clan, and she and Jasper had married nearly three decades ago. Not that she’d ever interested me. The two had always made a wonderful couple, if a tad nosey. They’d found their bliss and now they’d made it their goal in life to ensure everyone else found theirs.
Ugh. Fine.
I clicked save, then leaned back in my chair.
Seconds later, my phone rang. I glared at the dreadful thing, then noted the incoming number before connecting the call. “Yes.”
“It’s me.” Jasper’s voice breathed through the line. “We have a problem.”
I arched a brow.
“Noel decided he needed some air and took an unscheduled flight.”
Smoke uncurled from my nose. That boy would be the death of me one of these days. Seventeen and already convinced he knew everything about this world. “Trying to impress some human female, I assume.”
“Seems like.”
“Where is he now?”
Jasper huffed. “The local PD has him in holding. They won’t release him until you or one of his parents bail him out.”
