Chapter One
“Sorry! I didn’t realize it was a bad time.” Jane tried to step out of the office, but the couple stopped making out on their desk and called her back.
“Hold up there, Jane. We were just having a quickie before lunch. Nothing to fret about.” The owner of the restaurant, her boss, Rory Tasso, turned and grinned at her, dropping his wife to the floor.
His wife, Amy, cursed and mumbled something about his lineage and then started humping his leg.
“Hey! We have company!”
“Oh.” Amy’s face contorted with pleasure. “Want to join us?”
Jane stumbled, and her back hit the doorframe. “N-no thanks. I- I just wanted to talk about my paycheck, but I can come back later.”
“Nonsense. What’s on your mind?”
Jane averted her gaze from the woman on her knees slowly creeping up Rory’s leg, and gulped. The sooner she got out of here, the better. Besides, her son, Liam, was out there in the front, and she didn’t want to leave him alone for too long. “I know I’ve only been here a few weeks, but can I get an advance on my paycheck?”
“Are you in trouble, young lady?” The man only came up to her shoulder, but the menacing look in his eyes scared her. A flash that reminded her of her ex-boyfriend right before he—
“Honey, sit down.” Amy rushed forward and grabbed a chair for her. “It’s okay. Rory wouldn’t hurt a fly. Well…” She furrowed her eyebrows. “Maybe a fly, but not you. You’re our best new waitress, and he likes you. You do good work. Come on, sit.”
Jane took the chair and tried to keep her breathing calm. She couldn’t go through another hyperventilating spell. If she got too worked up, she would lie right down on the floor, press her belly toward the ceiling, and pass out. And Liam needed to get home as soon as possible.
“Honey, I tend to get overprotective of the females I work with. I’m like a guardian pimp. Ouch.” He glared at his wife who had just kicked the back of his calves. “I mean, you’re not a prostitute, sorry. Just. Dammit, woman.” Rory glared at his wife. “Now you got me all discombobbed.”
“He’s saying he will keep you happy and safe. A vulnerable young woman like you—it calls to his protective side.”
Jane frowned and folded her arms over her chest. “I’m not a damsel in distress.” She averted her eyes. “Sir.”
“Yeah. Every waitress here jumps ten feet when a plate breaks on the floor, or when someone new enters the restaurant.”
Okay, maybe she was a little bit jumpy. But she had good reason to be. Her ex wasn’t the sort of guy who walked his waitstaff to their cars after closing or said “discombobbed” while lovingly stroking his wife.
“So, what kind of trouble are you in, girly? I can fix it.” His eyes promised retribution for anyone who meant her harm.
But she wouldn’t put these nice people in harm’s way. The last couple who helped her ended up in pieces in their living room. How Seth had found her, she didn’t know. But she wasn’t taking any more chances with human lives. She’d just keep on with what she’d been doing for the last six years. Under-the-table jobs in new towns. Moving every month or two. Anything to keep Liam and her off the radar. Safe.
“I just need an advance, please. My son’s medication isn’t working, and he’s…” She considered lying but decided against it. “He’s not doing too well, and I need to refill his prescription before he gets any worse.”
If the medicine stopped working altogether, they would be on the run daily—until Seth found them. And then she’d die. And God knows what would happen to her little boy.
“Of course, you can have an advance.” Rory jumped up and grabbed their cashbox. “How much extra do you need?”
Fifty would get them through groceries for the week. Another fifty would refill his prescription. Twenty would give her the gas money she needed to get back and forth. “Seventy dollars, please.” She’d work out the food issue later. Liam got free breakfast and lunch at his school. And she could continue finding scraps. Besides, it wouldn’t kill her to lose a few more pounds. Seth always said she was too fat to be lovable.
“Here’s a hundred fifty.” Rory handed her the cash. “And don’t let me catch you taking food from a customer’s half-eaten plate again.” He growled, and she whimpered as her legs buckled. Thankfully, she was sitting down. “Our staff always eats free. You need a meal, you get it from our kitchen, you get me, girly?”
She nodded.
“Good help is hard to find. You keep yourself healthy, so you can keep bringing in the bachelors. They like you.” His eyes twinkled.
Men liked her? That was a crazy thought. She knew her face and hair were aesthetically pleasing enough, but she was too large. Her weight, combined with her five-foot-two frame, made her appear even bigger, and most men did not appreciate that. “Thank you. I’ll be back for tomorrow’s shift after I get my son to school.”
“All righty. Anything else you need?”
She shook her head, grasping the money tightly in her fist as if it were a lifeline. It was.
“Good, then get out so I can screw my gorgeous wife before my balls fall off.”
On that note. “Th-thank you both. Um, I’ll lock the door behind me.”
The loud yells started before the door was even closed, and she knew what that meant. The strange couple was about to get it on—very noisily. The loud crash of the office chair toppling over sent her surging toward the front.
“You all right?” her friend Sam asked as she set a cup of coffee down on the bar. Sam was the only woman Jane had called a friend in years. Her hair was dyed jet-black, and a new streak of purple ran down the edge. Her pierced eyebrow furrowed as she analyzed Jane. She was always doing it. Cocking her head, taking a small sniff, and then pulling Jane into a much-needed hug. Though she acted like a badass, Sam had a soft side. She’d helped Jane get the job at the restaurant, and had even offered to babysit. But, right now, she was giving her that look that said she was reading every little emotion on Jane’s face, every lie, every tiny detail of her life. Jane smiled and shook her shoulders to release some of the tension.
“I’m fine. Just had to talk to the bosses for a second before I take Liam home.”
Sam’s eyes widened. “You walked in on them between rushes?”
Jane laughed, and her face heated at the reminder of the diminutive couple getting it on, on the desk. “Yeah, I won’t make that mistake again. Where’s Liam?” Her heart jumped into her throat when she didn’t see him sitting on the stool she had placed him on five minutes ago.
“It’s okay. He’s over there talking to my cousin Bo.”
Jane’s gaze traveled to the other side of the restaurant where her son was jumping up and down, practically talking the ear off a bear. Holy crap! She calmed herself. It wasn’t a bear. Just the largest, most well-toned, tallest man she had ever seen. He towered over Liam—he had to be at least six feet tall—and Jane rushed forward.
“Liam! What are you doing? I told you to stay put.”
Her almost six-year-old son turned to her, his eyes glowing so brightly he could have lit up the place with the power turned off. Crap. These poor people would freak out if he changed into a furry animal right in front of them. She’d worked so hard to keep his first shift from coming—monitoring food dyes, sugar, processed foods, medication to help him calm down and dull his other half’s senses—but nothing was working. Each day, his shifter side seemed to grow stronger and closer to the front. She felt terrible denying his true nature, but it was the only way to keep them both safe from the monster that would track them. The lion who hurt her and got her pregnant seven years ago could only track Liam if her son shifted. Some amazing stroke of luck that shifters could only scent each other when in animal form. It had bought her enough time to escape his henchmen these past few years. But, now, with Liam’s first shift looming… She didn’t know what to do.
Jane froze. Her little boy’s eyes were a brilliant ice-blue with a ring of gold at the edges, and that terrified her more than anything in the world. Not Liam becoming the monster his father was. But Liam’s father stealing his son from her and keeping him for his own sadistic purposes. She swayed.
“Hey, sorry, J, but you need to pull yourself together and get Liam home.” Sam’s low voice startled her out of her immobility. “Don’t mean to be harsh, but the kid’s about to go wild. Know what I mean?”
Jane knew exactly what her goth-looking friend meant, but her friend would probably bite the piercing right out of her tongue if she saw Liam go furry. Humans weren’t meant to be scared like that. Jane hadn’t been ready for it, either, and look where that got her. On the run from shapeshifting lions that wanted to kill her and steal her son. She sprinted over to Liam and scooped him up into her arms.
“Shh, kiddo, it’s time to go home now.”
The handsome man introduced himself, and Liam chattered happily at his new, very large friend.
“We’ve got to go now. Excuse me.” She hated turning her back on the large man. It put her in a position vulnerable to attack, but she shuffled forward, step by step, with her squirming son in her arms.
“You should take him out to the woods sometime—let him run free. It’ll help him curb some of his energy.”
Jane had been doing that for the past week—going to the private wooded land the Alexander family owned. All it had done was made things worse. Her son was going to shift soon. If she didn’t get a handle on this, a lot of people could get hurt. And Seth would find them.
“Come on, big boy. Let’s go get your medicine refilled.” Tonight, she would start doubling the prescription. It hurt her heart, but it would keep him safe.
She carried him to her car and buckled him up. She could finally breathe again once she was driving and the windows were down. They’d make it. Just a few more months. Then they could move again.
~.~
Mate. Bo’s bear was getting more excited with every step she took away from him. Jane’s ample hips helped to carry her squirming blue-eyed son out to her car. His bear rumbled in frustration. She should be walking toward him. His arms would stretch as far as they could, so he could catch them both in his warm embrace. He’d hold them, protect them from anything that would dare try to harm them. Then he’d take them to his truck, gently place the boy in the back. Nah, the boy would probably prefer a bit of tussling and roughhousing—gentle of course, his bear reminded him. Okay, so he’d swing the boy around on his shoulders, throw him up in the air, and listen to his high-pitched shrieks for higher. Yes. Then the boy, flushed and tired from all the exertion, would curl into a tight ball in the back seat of Bo’s truck and fall fast asleep. Could you curl up tightly in one of those hybrid car seats made for big kids who still hadn’t grown enough to sit on their own? He furrowed his brow and watched the young woman drive away with her son in the back. The thing he was fastened into did not seem to allow for much movement. But the kid still managed to turn around and wave excitedly at him. Bo lifted his hand, a feeling of tension creeping through him. His mate and her young were getting farther away as his bear chuffed at the distance.
Why was he acting like this? Yes, the woman was glorious, with curves that went for miles. Her ass had left nothing to the imagination as she swayed away, her hips rocking back and forth in jeans that should have been a crime to wear in public. Her breasts had been even more exquisite. Firm, yet rounded, held in place by a piece of fabric he wanted to claw right through and destroy. Just so he could see them bounce unconstrained. His cock hardened at the thought of her rosy-pink nipples. After her son was tucked safely in his bed, and all was silent, Bo would feast on those nipples. He’d hold her down while she mewled and begged him to let her find her release. Oh, he’d give her release, all right. So many of them, she wouldn’t want to leave their bed the next morning. She’d shriek his name repeatedly as he pounded into her from behind… A thought hit him. Did Liam have good hearing like other shifters? If he was only half shifter, maybe he couldn’t hear as well as Bo could. But, just to be on the safe side, Bo’d turn on the bathroom fan outside the kid’s door. Maybe he should consider adding soundproofing to the master bedroom. He nodded, paying no attention to his surroundings as he stalked to his car. That was it. He’d get the materials this weekend, tear down the walls in his bedroom, and rebuild with the special soundproofing. Then a white noise machine for out in the hall. Maybe Jane should bury her cries of ecstasy into her pillow until they were sure they’d go unheard. The thought of her round ass jiggling, high in the air, as he pummeled into her from behind made him growl with arousal. She’d lift her butt even higher and press her mouth into the mattress. He’d cover her loud screams with his palm, and he’d come, feeling the warmth of her mouth against his hand as her inner walls clenched around his cock. He had already gotten into his truck and was halfway to the hardware store when he realized what he was doing.
What the hell?
He cursed and turned the truck around, back to his home on the open land outside of this little town. Just because his bear wanted her—and just because his cock wanted her—didn’t mean she was his mate. She was human. The shifter scent was all over the kid, but he couldn’t tell what he was. Not a bear. And she was definitely not a shifter. A huge grizzly of a man like him could not even think of mating with a tiny human female. Even if she was filled with curves that made him mad to touch, lick, and squeeze against his larger frame.
No. Dammit. He’d just hurt her. Besides—he growled in frustration at the new realization and sped out of town. If he took a mate, he’d have to accept the full power and responsibility of being the alpha of Bear Paw. He was just holding the position for Caleb until he came back. Caleb should be alpha, not Bo. Bo was the weaker, younger brother who didn’t deserve this honor. He frowned. It didn’t feel like an honor. It felt like a curse. And if he took a mate—especially a human one—everyone would get hurt. Bo couldn’t take the chance. He’d just hold the position as alpha until Caleb got back. He was coming back? Right?
His cell phone rang with “The Wolf” by Fever Ray. His younger sister, Nissa had gotten hold of his cell phone and thought it would be funny to prank him. Now, whenever her new mate, Zach, a wolf shifter called, this song played the ringtone. Bo could have changed it, but it was a pretty bitchin’ song. As soon as he figured out how to use the devil technology, he’d see about changing the ringtone for Nissa’s calls. Was there a song out there that had a lively, spunky beat and lyrics about a beloved, yet highly annoying little sister? If and when he did find it, and figure out how to change it, Nissa was getting her own ringtone. For the time being, he let Zach’s “song” play a few extra bars before answering it. It was a good song.
“What’s up?”
“You know you could just download the track from your music app on iTunes.” Zach’s voice was light with humor.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yeaaaaah. Okay, so we’re leaving town.”
Bo slammed on the breaks and almost crunched the device in his fists. “What?” His voice was a roar, and he was pretty sure he almost blew out his truck windows. He took a deep breath and told himself to calm. It wouldn’t do any good if he busted this phone. He was on his fourth, and the guy at the Apple store in the next town over knew him by name. Bo the Phone Killer.
“Relax, man. We’re not leaving for good, just for a few days, maybe a week.”
His chest filled again, and his shoulders slumped with relief. “You found a lead?”
“Maybe.” Zach’s voice sounded bitter. “The wolf pack that hired me went over my head.” He cursed. “My father is demanding a live meeting with all of us together on our pack lands.”
“Isn’t that what the royals do?” Bo shrugged and started back onto the road.
“Act like dicks, demanding my personal presence when a phone call or video conference would suffice?”
“Does your dad sit on a throne and wield his mighty scepter?”
“Shut up,” Zach growled at him, and Bo laughed. His sister’s mate was fun to rile up.
“So, you’re both going to meet with your dad and the pack that’s looking for their missing wolf shifter?”
“Yeah. Nissa wanted to meet my family, and my mom’s dying to meet her—God, she’s already talking about filling her belly with pups.”
“Nissa?”
“No, my mom.”
Bo couldn’t help it. He loved torturing the other man. “Your mom wants you to fill her belly with your pups? Man, you royals are kinda weird.” He laughed and held the phone away from his ear as the loud swearing and snarls echoed through the earpiece.
“Are you tormenting my mate again?” Nissa’s happy voice came from the other side. “Please stop before we have to buy a new cell phone for him.”
“I’ve got a good contact.”
She laughed. “I bet you do. We’re heading out within the hour, and will be back, hopefully, by next week. Are you going to be okay without me to boss around and nag all day?”
“I’ll figure something out. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Bo laughed and clicked end on the call. He cocked his head. Wow, he didn’t usually talk that much. Maybe the wolf was good for both of them. He drove the rest of the way home, thinking about who else would be good for him. Good in his bed, good under his tongue, good with his cubs in her belly. Dammit. He needed to get her out of his head.