Chapter One
Amelia Fernandez loved the smell of ink toner in the morning. There was something about it that screamed, 'I survived the primordial swamp to be a foundation of civilization.' She always felt alive with the scent of ink in the air.
There weren't many people that became as excited for office work as she did. Being an insurance broker wasn't most people's idea of a good time, but Amelia loved her little cubicle, her personalized desk, and the view of the garbage bin in the alley below. She loved the constant hum of people on their phones or computers. She even didn't mind the angry customers shouting at her over problems in their claims that she had no control over. She loved everything about her work.
Today, though, she paid no mind to the delicate layers of coffee, perfume, or Jerry from two cubicles down, who thought showers were bad for his skin. She was too busy focusing on keeping her voice down so as not to disturb her co-workers while she chewed out her brother.
"I can't believe that you would do that to me," she hissed, clutching her cellphone to her ear so tightly it was a wonder it hadn't snapped already. "I told you I didn't want anything to do with Mr. Abs, yet you give him my number? What is wrong with you?"
She had been getting texts from Daniel Thompson all day. Or, as she liked to call him, 'Mr. Aren't My Abs So Great, I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt, I Don't Know How To Make A Sandwich, Hahahahahahaha, What Do You Mean You're Breaking Up With Me?' He was, unfortunately, one of her brother's best friends.
Adrian still didn't understand why Amelia didn't want a boyfriend who constantly talked about how much he worked out and didn't know the difference between a broom and a mop. The problem was that all of Amelia's boyfriends had been exactly like Daniel, which was why, after months of frustration, Amelia always ended up dropping their loser asses.
"Daniel is a great guy," her brother said. "He's always been really nice to you. Not all men would overlook the fact you need to lose a little weight."
Amelia hissed through her teeth again, imagining bludgeoning her brother with a zucchini. Sometimes she wondered why someone who could be as sweet and protective as Adrian could be friends with someone like Mr. Abs, but then he said something like this and she could see it.
"Daniel is an asshole," Amelia replied bluntly. "It was always, 'Babe, get me a beer. Babe, I can't wash dishes because I worked out for three hours. Babe, why are you mad at me after working an 8-hour shift and then having to clean up the whole house because I had a party with my frat bros? My mother's chili is better than this, I'll get you a recipe.' Can't you just butt out of my love life? The guys you choose for me treat me like crap."
A sigh from the other end of the phone turned her imaginary zucchini to a baseball bat. She already knew what Adrian was going to say. He just didn't get it.
"Why do you always have to exaggerate everything? You're not going to find a guy that bows to your every whim. You need to stop being so picky and learn how to compromise."
There was nothing more to say to him after he made a statement like that, so Amelia hung up. She flicked her cell to silent and set her work phone to automatically go to voicemail. Adrian would no doubt phone back half a dozen times to chastise her for hanging up on him. She would sort out her clients later.
Amelia blew out a breath, trying to calm herself. She was in no mood to deal with customers right now, so she turned to her computer and checked the profile she had set up on a shifter dating website three days ago. 'Meet your one true mate' was the website's slogan. After years of picking all the wrong guys, birthdays steadily ticking by until she reached the big 'three-oh' last year, the idea of a shifter, with their rippling muscles and utter devotion to their mates, sounded great.
She hadn't received any messages since she signed up, but she had been warned to expect that. Shifters generally didn't run around willy-nilly, flirting with everybody that they thought was cute. They waited and only contacted the woman they thought was ‘the one.’ Humans had to slog through hundreds of contacts only to hopefully find that one that they could click with.
Today, however, Amelia had a surprise waiting for her: contact from a shifter.
Wait.
Not a shifter.
Two shifters.
Amelia had to scrape her jaw off the floor and shove her eyes back into their sockets. The message came from a single profile showing a picture of two men. Both were dressed in clean, neat, but cheap-looking suits, each holding a red rose.
The man on the left was Timothy Pond, Amelia read. He was pale with brown hair and green eyes, his confident smile bordering on arrogance. The man on the right, Xavier Knight, had bronzed skin. His hair was in short, tight curls, his black eyes softer, yet more intense than Timothy's. His smile was cheeky, like he had a secret that he couldn't wait to share with her. Amelia looked between the two men, unable to decide which one was hotter.
These Alphas of the joint Rocky Ridge and Lakeland werewolf packs are looking for a female to complete their triad. Likes: empty. Dislikes: Also empty. She checked the joining date. Two hours ago. Seriously? It was like they saw her profile and created theirs just to contact her.
This had to be a scam.
Amelia flicked back to the message they had sent. It contained a phone number and nothing else. A triad. So, if this wasn't a scam, they were basically a couple looking for a woman to join them? She'd heard that shifters were often into that ménage à trois stuff, but it had never occurred to her that she might be invited to join a threesome.
Well, not that kind of threesome. More than one previous boyfriend had brought a floozy home expecting her to just jump into bed with the two of them, not kick him out and take his key back.
It must be a joke, she thought, chewing on her lower lip. Still, what harm could it do just to phone? Snatching up her cell phone, ignoring Adrian's latest call, she dialed the number. It rang three times before there was an answer.
"Xavier Knight." His voice was deep, velvety, and Amelia had to swallow down a fresh bout of nerves. There was no way a man that good-looking could also sound that good and be interested in her. It had to be some sort of sick joke.
"Hi. I'm Amelia Fernandez."
"Amelia, one moment please." The sound of a hand muffled the speaker, but not enough. "Tim, come over. It's Amelia."
Amelia stifled a giggle–this couldn't be real, could it?
"It's Amelia?" A new voice, just as delicious, asked. "Put her on speaker."
There was a clicking noise.
"Hey," Timothy greeted. "Amelia, right?"
"Yes, and you must be Timothy," Amelia said nervously.
"Yeah, that's me."
"I'm phoning because of the email you sent me. I was uh... hoping we could meet in person." Amelia toyed with the strands of her hair. Even if this was a joke, it couldn't be worse than spending another Friday night on her own, could it?
***
Xavier was so busy listening to the delectable tone of Amelia's voice that he almost forgot to confirm their date before he said goodbye. After he hung up, he glanced at Timothy, grinning at him.
After spending years looking for their mate among the werewolves of their joint pack, they had both started fearing that there wasn't a female out there for them. That changed the moment they saw Amelia's picture when they were casually browsing through the shifter dating website.
"Before I forget," Timothy said, his face falling, "Lucinda stopped by again with brownies."
Xavier's good mood was cut short. He and Timothy were the Alphas of the pack, but their council of advisors was pushing them to mate with Lucinda. She was a beautiful female with a strong will and came from good family. She seemed to think that because the council had advised it, it was her duty to make the Alphas mate her. She was constantly bringing them baked goods. It was getting annoying.
"We'll deal with her later," Xavier said. "Once we introduce Amelia to the pack, she'll see. We found our mate, Tim."
"Our mate," Timothy repeated. "I like the way that sounds."
"Me too," Xavier agreed.