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Chapter 1 — Drinking Alone On Borrowed Money
Grace
Today was my 30th birthday. I was divorced, mateless, a survivor of infidelity and broke.
If there was a woman in the werewolf or lycan community who had it worse than me, I’d like to meet her. Maybe we could split the cost of this drink that wasn’t doing anything for the sorrow in my heart or the direness of my situation.
The drink was a fruity cocktail heavy on the whiskey and worth a whole pack of the cheapest diapers and probably some applesauce. I would have rather bought either of those things than this drink. I would have rather been counting whatever change was hiding under the seats of my car to buy another container of formula than be here. But, Eason, my brother, had shoved a wad of cash in my hands, forced me into this dress that hugged every curve of me and probably cost too much, did my hair and said I wasn’t allowed to come home tonight without at least one drink in my system or before midnight.
I’d prefer it if you didn’t come home at all, he’d said with a wink. Go enjoy your freedom before getting into the swing of things.
It had taken everything in me not to tell him that getting a divorce when I was flat broke wasn’t freedom. I still didn’t know how I was going to tell him. A part of me hoped that I wouldn’t have to and that the financial crisis I was dreading was just in my head. I glanced up at the clock and winced. It wasn’t even my daughter’s bedtime yet. I clenched my jaw and sipped my drink at the thought of Cecil. What was I going to tell her when I couldn’t get her Christmas presents like usual? What would I tell Richard when he was old enough to do anything but cry, eat, and sleep?
Daddy cheated on mommy and went off to be happy with his fated mate. That’s why we’re broke.
I resisted the urge to toss back my drink and disappear into the haze of alcohol. I was only ordering one drink then hiding out somewhere in the city before going home and pretending like I’d partied my heart out.
Usually, I’d be in the kitchen serving up the feast I’d ordered for the Harvest Moon festival for the family and getting ready to open presents with Cecil, Richard, and Eason. This year, Cecil had made me a card. Richard drooled all over my apron. I cooked using a lot of simple recipes and whatever we had in the cabinet. I had tried to smile from the moment that the final divorce papers had arrive, but it was empty.
What was there to celebrate?
I took another drink as my eyes burned and checked the clock again. Barely a minute had passed. I finished the last of the drink, wanting to keep the rest of the cash. It was all the money I had to my name after the divorce had wiped out what little savings I’d still had from before we were married, and I wouldn’t have access to the pack accounts until early next week. Though I was almost certain that Devin, my ex-husband, had used all her could to cover his portion of the divorce. He had left our marriage with nothing that hadn’t belonged to him before, and left me with our two children and a broken heart.
Where had it all gone wrong?
It felt as though one day we had been happy, and he was the one who would always stand by my side. The next, I was hear nursing a drink and listening to the Lavender Pack’s rugby team getting crushed by the Redwood Clan’s team.
“You want another one?” The bartender asked nodding at my empty glass.
I shook my head. “No, but thank you.”
He nodded. “Let me know if you want anything else.”
He drifted away as another went up with a loud angry sound when the scoreboard went up another point in the favor of Redwood.
“Why do they even bother?” Someone nearby asked. “No werewolf team has ever beat a lycan team.”
“The money’s in the tickets. You know those lycans are eating this shit up. Someone has to take one for the werewolf world.”
“At least they get paid for it.”
The men burst into laughter. I almost sneered as a lycan in a red jersey barreled into a werewolf in a lavender jersey, tackling them to the ground and probably breaking something. Lycans had always been stronger than werewolves, but we cooperated for the most part for both of our sakes. The rest of the world feared us both, so it was in our interest to band together as much as possible. There was still lingering tension between our communities and it was usually the most obvious at sporting events.
I had thought my marriage to Devin would be the start of a new age. A lycan leading a werewolf pack? It was something Eason said would start the path to better lycan and werewolf cooperation. I remembered reeling him back from making it a big deal when he we got married. It didn’t take much convincing once Eason met Devin, but he said nothing at the time.
I almost wished he had. I didn’t know if I would trade my two children for the peace of mind of never letting Devin into my life or into my father’s pack, but I would have to make peace with my decisions and all the fall out to come.
I cringed at the thought of what would happen when people found out about our divorce. After five years of marriage and saying everything was fine, I’d be the laughing stock of the entire werewolf community, and it was only a matter of time.
I knew Devin well enough: hotheaded, rash, and insensitive. He was probably going to make some big showing about their relationship. A press conference or news announcement that would lead to reporters streaming to Mooncrest to get a snapshot of my children, grieving our broken family and me. The tabloids would eat it up, and there would probably be some group of lycans in a bar just like this laughing at my pain.
I sighed again and wondered what my father would say seeing me now. He’d been the former alpha and had handed the seat to me a year after I had started the pharmaceutical program at Werewolf Elite Academy. I had been twenty-five years old, grieving and determined when I’d met Devin. He was nineteen at the time and there as an exchange student for his business, program.
He pursued me relentlessly. I remembered being annoyed at first then flattered that he’d taken such an interest in me. There had been something about him that had drawn me in. They said that alpha lycan oozed a natural sex appeal, but I had never thought I was susceptible to it. I’d met alpha lycans before. They were different from alpha werewolves, but a man who was full of himself was the same no matter the species.
I had thought Devin was different. Despite not being mates, I believed I had found true love as being with him had felt like my grief wasn’t crushing me. I was happy. He made me happy. Our age difference was inconsequential. Werewolves didn’t live extraordinarily long lives. In some ways, I was already middle aged and life was too short to pass up a real shot at love.
He told me he would take care of anything. He told me that we’d be happy together for the rest of my life. He told me he loved me.
“Stupid,” I grumbled, shaking my head as I let my gaze drift into the distance. Stupid to believe him. Stupid to let myself be blinded by my emotions.
I scowled thinking about it all and hating it more by the second. Every second of our relationship had been a lie. The sounds of happy people in the bar faded away as I thought back to all the mistakes I made starting with giving in to Devin’s advances in the first place. My phone buzzed in my clutch. I opened it and winced seeing the message from my bank telling me that the latest transaction from my bank had been refused due to insufficient funds.
It was the payment to my maxed out credit card. Great. Another bill to add to the stack. I knew the pack was strained for money, the city’s economy wasn’t doing so well and my pack’s company, Wolfe Medical wasn’t much better. I didn’t know how bad. I wouldn’t know until I got into the office Monday, but I wasn’t looking forward to it.
What I would do for at least a moment’s distraction.
“Excuse me.” A rich, deep voice said from behind me. I could almost feel the heat from the man’s body on my bare back. “Is this seat taken?”
Chapter 2 — The Handsome Stranger
Grace
I turned around and tilted my head up to look into the man’s face. He was tall, towering over me. In a crisp green button-up, a dark vest, and dark wash jeans. He wasn’t so close to loom over me, but he was warm enough that the air between us was sizzling. It was the confidence in his tone and his easy expression that told me he was an older man, but I wasn’t sure how much older. His hair was dark and styled just short of messy, brushing his forehead. His face was clean-shaven and chiseled. He was handsome, but it was his eyes, a rich forest green that seemed to glow in the low light that got me. There was something about his face that felt familiar, but I couldn’t place it.
His lips twitched. “Though I would take your name in lieu of a seat.”
My face heated as I turned back. “It’s Grace, and the seat’s yours if you want it.”
My heart fluttered with anticipation and anxiety.
He settled into the seat beside me easily. The heat of his body so close sent a shiver of awareness through me.
“A pleasure, Grace. I’m Charles,” he offered me his hand.
He lifted my hand to his lips and brushed his lips across my knuckles. The heat of his breath sent goosebumps up my arm.
“Can I buy you a drink?” He glanced at my empty glass. “Whatever you’d like?”
I hesitated for a moment, feeling a bit flustered. “I… really shouldn’t. It’s… been a long time since I’ve drank, and I think that one was a little strong.”
He smiled and gestured vaguely as if calling the bartender. “I’m sure the renowned White Claw has at least one mocktail to your taste.”
I thought to protest, but he was already turning to the bartender and ordering with easy confidence. When the drink arrived looking suspiciously like the fruity whiskey thing I had ordered before, topped with a huge chunk of pineapple, I looked at Charles with a raised eyebrow.
“Your former drink had a non-alcoholic twin,” he said and lifted his tumbler to his full lips. “What brings you here tonight?”
I tore my gaze away and decided to play it safe. “It’s… my birthday.”
“Happy Birthday,” Charles said warmly. “Though you are dressed for the occasion, I noticed you hadn’t moved from the bar since you arrived.”
He’d been here the whole time? How had I not noticed him? Had he been watching me all this time? I scanned him. He didn’t look like a reporter. There was something a bit too dangerous about him that made me think that. Was he in security? Was he a lycan Enforcer?
“Does that mean you were watching me?”
He licked his lips. “It was hard to do anything else with all your lovely skin on display.”
He leaned close and murmured in my ear. “You also smell delicious.”
My heart started pounding. “You’re… a lycan, aren’t you?”
His eyes glinted. “What gave it away?”
I swallowed. “I used to be married to one. He was always talking about how I smelled.”
He sat back. “How long have you been divorced?”
I checked my watch. “Exactly twelve hours now.”
“Hell of a birthday present.” I lifted my glass and took a sip.
Without the whiskey, it tasted better, like a tropical punch. I smiled, drinking it, enjoying the tang on my tongue.
“Last I checked, a newly divorced woman should be celebrating,” he smiled. “How old are you today?”
“Thirty,” I said.
He leaned closer with a grin. He was so much larger than me, much larger than Devin had been. The spicy scent of his cologne filled my nose and made a mess of my head. I wanted to be closer, to press my face into his chest and breathe deep.
“I’m not usually so forward, but is there any chance I could convince you to come back to my hotel with me? This dress is too sexy to end up anywhere but on the floor tonight.”
My eyes widened. My heart jumped, and heat pooled in my gut that felt almost foreign. Desire. I had forgotten what it felt like to want a man.
“I’ll make it worth your while, birthday girl.”
I bit my lip, and despite the fear and the sense of wrong that twined through me, I closed my eyes. This was the distraction I needed, and I was going to take it.
“Let’s go.”
As we entered his top-floor suite, he cupped my face in his hands and pressed our mouths together in a searing, possessive kiss. I melted, whimpering as my back hit the door and he pressed against me, rocking his hips against mine so I could feel the hard, hot length of him against my stomach.
“Perfect,” he growled, slipping his hands under my dress and lifting me. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and we kissed as he carried me toward the couch. I’d popped a few buttons on his shirt, desperate to get my hands on him, when his phone rang. He groaned, pulling back. He lowered me onto the couch as I stared at the mark on his chest.
“Don’t go anywhere,” he growled, stealing another kiss, and turned to take out his phone.
My body went cold with disappointment. The mate bond mark on his chest was whole and still a vibrant red like blood: he was still with his fated mate and cheating with me.
Fury filled me, but I pushed it down, glancing over at him as he fumbled his shirt open, revealing the sculpted planes of his body and the entirety of the mark that spanned most of his right pectoral. He was a beautiful fucking liar. The scum of the earth and so much like Devin, it made my blood boil. Were all lycans cheaters? Did they think being stronger meant that they had the right to play with other people’s emotions?
I wanted to lash out and storm out, but he was closer to the door than I was.
He was a lycan in his prime. He was definitely an alpha lycan, bigger than me, and clearly intent on having sex tonight. I couldn’t afford to anger him. If he got violent, I’d fight, but I didn’t think I’d be able to fight him off. As he shot me an apologetic look and turned to leave the room, still on the phone and undressing, I opened my clutch and opened a text message to Eason.
SOS
I tucked the phone back inside my clutch and took a deep breath trying to get back in the mindset to fake it until Eason called me.
“If only I could count on Do Not Disturb,” Charles said, scoffing and setting his phone on the far bar. He smirked and reached for his belt. “I told him not to call back unless he’s dying, since he’s basically a recluse, we should be fine.”
He dropped onto one knee on the other side of the couch, staring at me with so much desire my stomach turned. How would his mate feel knowing he was here with me like this?
“Now, where were we?” He asked softly, dropping his gaze as he skimmed his hands up my thighs. “I think I promised to make it worth your while, hm?”
Then, my phone rang. His head turned to my clutch then back to me as I bit my lip. He bit his lip, taking a deep breath. His gaze dropped back between my legs. He looked starving. I almost wanted to let him continue, but my conscience wouldn’t let me be the other woman.
I had enough of that to last a lifetime.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, sitting up. “It’s my brother; he’s watching my kids…”
Charles grabbed my clutch from the floor and offered it to me. I couldn’t hold back my look of surprise. His lips quirked.
“You have young kids. I can wait to taste if they need you.”
He sat back on his heels and watched me as I pulled my phone out and answered.
“Eas’?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s the tiniest Wolfe,” Eason said. “I called the 24/7 line, but nothing’s working to get his fever down. He’s asleep now, I’m getting Cecil ready to go to the ER.”
I worried my lip and swung my legs over the edge of the couch. Charles placed a hand on my shoulder.
“I can give you ride home.” He got up to my surprise, walked around to grab his phone and call.
“I’ll be there soon, Eas’.” I stood as I hung up. “I really—”
“Don’t apologize,” he said. “Your pups come first; you’re all they have now… Would you be comfortable taking my car? George will drive you wherever you need with a bit of direction.”
I swallowed and checked the time. It was nearing midnight. Taxis would be swarmed. I nodded. “That would be very kind. Thank you.”
He cupped my jaw. “I’d like to see you again… Even if we’re not picking up where we left off. Can I have your number?”
I shuffled my feet, feigning shyness even as my stomach was in knots. He was being so surprisingly kind, but I guessed even cheaters had consciences. I rattled off the standard fake number I gave any guy too pushy to take no. He walked me downstairs and though the lobby in his ruined shirt and put me in the car like a princess.
Chapter 3 — Bills, Lies And Regrets
Grace
“Right here,” I told George as we arrived in front of Darkwood Apartments.
Eason and I kept an apartment open for when we needed to escape from clubs, and bars in the middle of the night, and were too drunk to trust ourselves to make it home. Eason got more use out of it than I ever had, but I still had a key.
“Thank you, George.”
I stepped out of the car with a grateful smile and hurried inside, feigning urgency. When I was on the upper floors where the windows were mirrored, I looked down until I saw George drive off and sighed before shuffling my way up the stairs to the apartment. Then, I called Eason.
He laughed. “We haven’t had an SOS in a long time. You okay?”
“I’m here. Thank you… I’m never going out again.”
“What?” Eason asked. “That’s not acceptable birthday girl.”
“And I’m selling this dress at the first opportunity.”
He gasped. “Don’t you dare! I handpicked that dress for you and it makes your ass look fantastic. It would be such a waste.”
I scoffed and kicked off my heels. “It attracted a cheating scumbag…”
“Was he handsome?”
“Eason! That’s not--”
“What? You’re a free woman. How do you know he was a cheating scumbag?”
“His mate bond was perfectly intact.”
He hummed. “Fine, sore spot. Throw him back in the sea and go fishing again.”
“Not happening.” I sank onto the couch, pouting. “I went back to his hotel.”
He cheered in my ear. “There’s my Grace! You can’t let one bad catch put you off getting back out there.”
I shook my head. “I’m horny, but I’m also too angry and disappointed to want to get off.”
“Ah, it’s hard having a moral compass. Well, at least enjoy the bathtub and the quiet for the night. There’s food and everything there. Little Bit One and Two will hang in there until Sunday if you want the weekend.”
“I couldn’t—”
“I’m offering. You can. You will, so don’t argue.”
I smiled and shook my head. “Thanks, Eason. I’ll… I’ll see you on Sunday. I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I hung up as tears stung my eyes. I went to the window and looked out at the lights of the city, feeling worse than ever. The memories of the night crashed down on me. The way he held me close. The taste of his mouth on mine, the heat of his desire threatening to burn me up from the inside. I shivered and then scowled at my reflection.
I pushed away the guilt and the deep stab of grief that cut through me. It wasn’t my fault he was a cheater. I couldn’t have known he was a cheater. Up until that point, it had been everything that I had needed. Memories of my younger self, carefree and full of passion, flashed before my eyes. Cheater or not, he’d brought that part of me out when I thought it was completely gone, so while he was despicable, I couldn’t completely regret the night.
I took a deep breath and headed to the bathroom. I carefully slipped out of the dress. It was a gorgeous dress, but I needed the money. Eason would be upset, but when he found out about everything that had been going on, he’d understand. I dropped the dress into the clothes bin and stripped out of my underwear.
I stepped into the shower, hoping the water would wash away the tangled mess of emotions. The hot droplets cascaded over my body, but my mind was still racing as I thought about tonight and what would await me on Monday. I wanted the distraction. I’d gotten it. Now it was time to focus on the path forward. The Winter Moon Festival was coming up. Some werewolf or lycan woman would want to go out feeling as sexy as Charles had made me feel. I hoped that they’d pay top dollar for it too.
Monday came too quickly. I didn’t even remember the blur of trying to take back all Cecil and Richard’s presents. I had barely made it inside the 60-day return window, so there was a bit more space on my credit cards, but not enough to celebrate. The threat of foreclosure that had been stuck in my mailbox felt like it was burning a hole in my jacket as I boarded the bus a few miles from my house, headed to Wolfe Medical’s headquarters. Eason was going to flip when he found out, but if I could just scrape together enough money and plead enough, maybe I wouldn’t have to tell him. I scrolled through the insurance company’s catalog of everything in the house and worried my lip. Most of the furniture that had been in the house since I was a kid was tucked in the attic. I could see everything that I’d bought since I married Devin. I didn’t know where it all came from, but it all told had to be enough to cover things.
As I sat back, my eyes caught the sight of one of my father’s old posters. His face, younger and alive smiled back at me.
We’re family, the poster said. And family gives each other a ride to work—free of charge.
I chuckled a little as my eyes turned misty. I remembered the PR team thinking that it was a terrible slogan, but it stuck, and everyone loved it. Making public transportation for everyone in the pack had been revolutionary at the time. Mooncrest was the only pack with a system like it in all of the Werewolf States. If there was one thing I told Devin not to change, it was all the public service programs my father put in place.
When my stop came, I stepped off and walked down the street to Wolfe Medical’s headquarters. My stomach was in knots. I hadn’t stepped foot in the building in so long, it felt odd to go in now, but I walked up to the door and watched the automatic door stutter and jerk until it slowly began to open. I frowned. There wasn’t a maintenance sign-up anywhere. The lobby was empty. The screens that had been there before were gone. There wasn’t even a receptionist at the desk.
Instead, there was one lone security guard.
He gave me a thin smile. “Alpha Wolfe, welcome.”
“Good to see you,” I said and headed to the elevator.
“I wouldn’t,” he said. “It’s usually broken.”
My lips twitched. “Thank you for the warning.”
I headed for the stairs instead, walking up to the top floor. By the time I got to the top floor, I was panting and a little dizzy. I hadn’t eaten much today. The floor was empty. I walked past rows of empty cubicles, and a sinking feeling started to fill me. I reached the senior assistant’s desk, but I didn’t recognize the woman. She looked up and turned to lift an entire box of papers onto her desk.
“Hello, Alpha Wolfe. I’ve had the mail gathered for you and organized by date.” Then, she put a letter on top. “As well as my month’s notice.”
I was frozen in place. My stomach plummeted. The woman couldn’t have been any older than I was when I had married Devin.
“Could I… know why?”
“I have to pay my bills somehow,” she said. “With all the layoffs, it’s pretty obvious that I’d be on the list eventually.”
I clenched my job and tightened my grip on my tumbler, before taking a deep breath. I glanced inside and saw bright notes saying “final notice” and “past due” before I looked back at her.
“Your recommendation will be fair as soon as I can review the HR records, but… I would appreciate it if you stayed the rest of the month, and if you haven’t found a new job, considered staying on permanently.”
She blinked but nodded. “Will you need help with the box?”
I shook my head and took it. “I’ll manage. Thank you.”
When I got to my office, I started opening the notices at the top of the box, scanning for due dates and amounts. My stomach turned. I felt ill with every notice I opened. Then, my phone rang.
“Claire? Are you in the office?” It was Gavin, the Mooncrest pack lawyer.
“I am. Where are you?”
He cleared his throat. “It seems you didn’t know. Your husband fired me years ago, but I’m calling to offer my services pro bono if you want me. I heard from a friend how the divorce ended.”
I sank into my seat. “T-Thank you, Gavin. I… I don’t know what to do. Is there anything? There’s a pile of past-due notices, I don’t understand. Mooncrest has never had money problems. Wolfe Medical has never been in debt…”
“Who is the guarantor?”
“It just says the Alpha of Mooncrest.”
He hissed. “Collateral?”
I frowned, looking for the information, and gasped as I saw a line of familiar addresses: they were all Wolfe Medical properties.
“Headquarters, the c-clinics, the factory?” I couldn’t breathe. “G-Gavin…”
“We’ll figure something out. I’m headed your way now.”
I looked up at the portrait hanging across the room. The one of my father the day that he signed the ownership papers for Wolfe Medical’s headquarters.
Hopeless tears slipped down my face even as my jaw tightened.
“Let me know when you get here.”
I hung up and stared into my father’s eyes, the exact same as mine.
“I’m sorry.” I sniffled and dabbed at my eyes. “But I’m going to make this right.”
Somehow.
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