Misfit Fortune
The Misfit Series Book 3
Stephanie Foxe
Steel Fox Media LLC
“You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolf pack. But when my sister brought Doug home, I knew he was one of my own. And my wolf pack... it grew by one. So there... there were two of us in the wolf pack... I was alone first in the pack, and then Doug joined in later. And six months ago, when Doug introduced me to you guys, I thought, "Wait a second, could it be?" And now I know for sure, I just added two more guys to my wolf pack. Four of us wolves, running around the desert together, in Las Vegas, looking for strippers and cocaine. So tonight, I make a toast!”
- Alan, The Hangover
To growing your wolf pack, overcoming fears, and finding your way in the world!
AROOOOOO!
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Make a Difference
Acknowledgments
Follow me
More by Stephanie Foxe
Prologue
It buzzed in the air, crackling and scraping against the small chamber that confined it. The elf bit her tongue until blood filled her mouth, but she couldn’t stop it. The truth had to be released.
Bubbling up her throat like acid, it spilled through her teeth and past her lips in a scream. Even if she hadn’t been alone, no one would have been able to understand her. The words tumbled over each other too fast and out of order. There was too much that had to be said and seen. It had been so long since the truth had been spoken. Perhaps centuries.
Cassandra writhed on the ground, grime caking the strands of her white-blonde hair. If she could have seen it she would have recoiled in disgust, but her eyes were focused on something far away.
On blood and flame that fell from the sky.
On light and darkness.
On death.
The curse burrowed into her soul and latched onto her magic like a leech. For years she had searched for this. She’d thought it was a gift, but she had been wrong. So very wrong.
Hours, or perhaps days, later she stilled. Her eyes remained unfocused, a strange white fog obscuring her vision. Her blood-stained lips twitched as if they were still trying to speak truth.
Tears slipped from her eyes as she rolled onto her knees but she ignored them. It was clear now what she had to do. She hadn’t known or understood before.
“The angel…the angel…” she whispered as she crawled forward, ignoring the filth under her hands.
Chapter 1
Amber
Amber wiped a trickle of sweat threatening to roll into her eyes and accidentally smeared oil across her forehead. With a sigh, she tried to rub it off with the rag tucked in her pocket but it was a lost cause.
“I see you still can’t stay clean when you’re under a truck,” Derek said, kicking her foot lightly.
“Like you do any better. Only Dad and Jackson ever managed that.” Her old truck had been in desperate need of a tune up. Today was a slow day in the shop, so Derek had told her to bring it in and work on it. Of course, he’d added that she probably needed the practice, and she’d punched him in the arm too hard. Ceri had been mad at her for that, which had made Derek smug. Older brothers were a pain in the butt.
Derek chuckled. “Maybe they made a deal with a demon.”
“Ha. Ha.” She stuck her hand out. “Give me the 10mm socket.”
The tools clanked together as he dug through the box. It had been organized, but that had only lasted for one day.
“I can’t find it.”
“Of course you can’t. I swear that one has legs and just walks off.”
“I’ll check the office. I know I saw it somewhere weird.” Derek’s footsteps headed toward the back of the shop where his office was. The place was a lot less creepy now that they’d cleared out the dirt, cobwebs, and chased out the rats.
Rolling herself out from under the truck, she came face to face with her own personal demon. She jerked in surprise and almost hit her head.
A satisfied grin spread across Angel’s face. He’d made it his life’s missions to scare her whenever he could. Taunting him during that first meeting had backfired badly.
“I seriously need to put a bell on you,” she muttered, waving him away so she could sit up.
Angel snorted and transformed into a cowbell with an ominous pair of red eyes. He swung side to side and a low gong echoed through the shop. “Is this better?”
“That might actually be creepier.”
He reverted back to his usual shape –– a small, red demon complete with a spiked tail –– and hovered by her shoulder. “Have you found anything out yet?”
“No, have you?”
Angel crossed his arms. “Nothing helpful.”
They’d been looking for anything that might prove that the sorcerer, who had been destroying magic all around Portland, wasn’t acting alone. Zachariah, the half angel Evangeline had killed, had worked for a powerful organization. They had to have known what he was doing. They’d likely been helping. What Amber couldn’t figure out was why.
She also couldn’t figure out what Angel really wanted from her. The threat of him calling in the new demon mark hung over her head like a storm cloud. More often than she’d like to admit, she’d realize that she was rubbing it absently as though it ached. The habit bothered Ceri most of all.
Derek stepped out of the office with an irritated expression. “Are you talking to yourself or…Kadrithan?”
That was one of the demon’s names, t
hough she knew it wasn’t his summoning name. Kadrithan wouldn’t explain the difference. No one else liked calling him Angel, though the nickname had stuck for Amber.
“Kadrithan,” Amber said, walking away from the demon who seemed lost in thought.
“So creepy,” Derek muttered, shaking his head. “I found the 10 mm socket hiding under the paper towels, but can you come look at this invoice? I can’t read your handwriting. You got grease all over it too. You need to be more careful, I don't want everything getting trashed constantly.”
Amber raised a brow at his tone. “Alright, grumpypants.”
He sighed. “Yeah, yeah, just stop messing up the invoices. We kinda need these to get paid.”
“I guess that’s important,“ she muttered, snatching the invoice out of his hands, getting more grease on it. Maybe he did have a point. She sighed at the smudged writing. "I'll redo it. I remember this customer, but I can't read it either."
"You are an extremely messy person," Angel observed as he followed her toward the makeshift front desk they'd set up to handle customers. They didn't have a ton of them yet, but there was at least one or two every day. Enough to pay rent and get her a paycheck that was big enough to start covering groceries again.
"And you're annoying." She squirted some anti-grease soap Ceri had made the day before last in her hands and started scrubbing. Her fingernails seemed permanently stained, but the witch-made soap was helping. Slowly.
Angel snorted. "I am wise, cunning, and devastatingly handsome."
"You're two feet tall and look like a cartoon."
The demon tutted at her. "Perhaps one day I will permit you to look upon my true form. I'd show you now but I can't risk you swooning over me when there is so much work to be done."
He was right about the work part at least. Ever since the fight with the sorcerer it had felt like there was no time to rest.
They'd talked with the werewolf council, the police, and had been forced to ward the property against reporters. When the first group had managed to pop up at the front door, she'd nearly bitten their head off. Luckily Genevieve had been there to smooth things over and tell them politely to go the hell away.
If that wasn’t enough, her council duties had become even more annoying. The paperwork was already miserable, but the torture she was going to be put through in a few days was...well...going to be torture.
She wished Donovan Lockhart was still alive just so she could kill him again before he stuck her with this crappy job.
The sink cracked under her grip and she realized she'd just been staring into the mirror growling. With a guilty glance over her shoulder, she dried her hands and grimaced at the state of the sink. At least it wasn't completely broken. Maybe Derek wouldn't notice.
"Amber, are you done yet?" Derek shouted from the other side of the shop. He was starting to get irritated. He’d had a short fuse for the past week.
“Almost!” She sighed and headed back to the desk to rewrite the invoice.
It was obvious something was bothering him, but she'd already asked once and he'd nearly bitten her head off. He was even more allergic to chatting about his feelings than she was apparently.
Wait for them to come to you. If you nag them to come to you every time they're upset, then they'll really start hiding things. Trust them to know when they need help. And that includes me.
She'd promised Ceri she'd take her advice, but it went against her instincts. She was their alpha. How could she protect them if she didn't know what was wrong?
“Well, this has been great fun, but I’ll have to leave you for now.” The demon yawned mockingly, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Amber snatched a new invoice from the paper pad and grabbed a pen. After this, she was spending the rest of the day under a truck. They weren't complicated and moody. If there was a problem, she just found it and fixed it. No stupid emotions necessary.
Chapter 2
Genevieve
“Amber is so not ready for this,” Genevieve said, dropping the book on the bed and putting her head in her hands. “This is all about politics and kissing ass. The two things she sucks at the most.”
Steven, who was sitting cross-legged on the other end of the bed, grimaced. “But she has to do it, right?”
“Yeah, she has to.” She flopped back and stared up at the ceiling, tracing the old water stains with her eyes. There was no way out of this. It wasn’t something they could run from or avoid. Amber, as an alpha on a council, had to show up at The Gathering –– the colloquial term for the National Gathering of Werewolves.
It was a huge conference that hosted hundreds of packs. Luckily, it was held in Seattle, otherwise they’d be forced to fly to wherever it was. Last year it had been in New York City.
Supposedly, the idea was to make sure laws and rules were being enforced, put new rules to a vote, and introduce new alphas. In practice, there was a lot of posturing. Alliances were forged among the more powerful packs, of course. On the other hand, there were challenges. Some alphas lost their packs. It was rare but it made her nervous nonetheless.
She dragged her hands down her face with a groan and tossed her feet in Steven’s lap. He absently massaged one with his free hand, nose still stuck in a book.
“When are you meeting with Shane?”
“Ah, crap.” She scrambled for her phone, fumbling with it to turn on the screen. “In five minutes. I’ve gotta go.”
Steven frowned as she jumped out of bed. “I thought we were going to get lunch.”
“Shane had to move up the meeting. Sorry I forgot to tell you. I obviously forgot myself.” She shoved her feet in her black boots and yanked on her jacket. “We’ll reschedule.”
Steven sighed, curling back up and staring down at his book. He was mad. Again.
Antsy to leave, she didn’t have time to coddle him right now. “Look, we’ll reschedule soon, okay?”
“Sure,” he said tightly.
With a sigh, she left. Things had been getting awkward between them. He wanted more attention than she had time to give. Work and her duties as Amber’s beta took up all her energy. Sometimes she thought she should just break up with him and save them both the pain but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not again. If she was honest, she didn’t want to either. She just didn’t know how to make it work.
Traffic worked in her favor, but she was still ten minutes late by the time she jogged into the restaurant. She followed the distinctive scent of Shane’s cologne to a table near the back.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said as she hurried toward the booth.
He waved away her apology. “I know you well enough now to not expect punctuality.”
“Glad to know I’ve made a good impression,” she muttered as she plopped down across from him.
The corners of his mouth lifted as he picked up his menu. “You’re a good beta. Amber is lucky to have you.”
“Darn right she is.” She picked up the menu. “What’s good here?”
“Steak, rare, with a side of shrimp.”
She nodded and set the menu aside. Ever since they’d learned about The Gathering, she’d been full of nervous energy. Today was no different. She couldn’t stop her fingers from drumming against the table and she had an urge to shift and growl at the people that kept walking too close to their table as they passed by.
“Having a bad day?” Shane asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
“Have you been to The Gathering?”
He nodded. “Five times since I became Jameson’s beta.”
Genevieve curled her hand into a fist to keep her fingers from acting on their own. “I’ve been doing a lot of research on it, and it’s looking more and more…risky.”
Shane frowned and leaned back against the gaudy red pleather that lined the booth. She was picking the restaurant next time.
“Jameson’s pack is well-established, so we’ve never had issues. I’ve never seen such a new pack attend since it normally takes a long ti
me to acquire a council seat. So yes, it is a bit of a risk for your pack, but you won’t be alone. Jameson has your back.”
“We don’t have an alliance with Jameson.”
“Not everything is alliances and politics. He’s a good guy and he’s not going to let some other pack do anything stupid.”
“That’s easy to say now. In practice, these things are always messy. Amber is a bitten alpha. There are rumors flying around about my pack’s involvement with the sorcerer and demons. This isn’t going to be your typical Gathering.”
Shane sighed. “I guess I can’t argue with that.”
“I have to be as prepared as possible. I need to know everything about everyone. Alliances. Enemies. Alphas that just hate each other on principle. And I want to know which packs are more sympathetic towards bitten weres.”
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