Claiming Clara

Claiming Clara

Shifters of Hillside, Book 2

Cherie Nicholls

Published 2012

ISBN: 978-1-59578-962-4

Published by Liquid Silver Books, imprint of Atlantic Bridge Publishing, 10509 Sedgegrass Dr, Indianapolis, Indiana 46235. Copyright © 2012, Cherie Nicholls. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Liquid Silver Books

http://LSbooks.com

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

Blurb

Harvey “Wall” Wallbanger—yes his mother actually named him that on purpose—likes to act the simple jock, but he isn't. He is a man who knows what he wants, and right now, he wants one Miss Clara Marsterson. When she refuses his mark to make her his mate, Wall stands unmovable in her path, demanding an explanation. Before he lets her go, she’s going to have to explain to him why she is throwing everything they have away. Wall knows she is hiding something from him and sets his mind and his body to getting the truth. After all, he is a man of many talents…

Clara is a woman who has supported her brother's rise to Alpha, stood by him through everything, and will now do what she can to protect him from those who want to cause him harm. She turns away from the only man who understands her in an attempt to save both the men she loves. To protect them no cost is too high … not even if the price is her own life.

Dedication

As always for my mum, who is still not allowed to read my books because they are a bit rude. For my family because they support their brat of a little sister; for Tracy, Natasha, and Erica who stick around even when I am day dreaming, not listening to a word they are saying; and for the UCW ladies who put up with my self-doubting rants.

But a special thank you to Kylea, Claire, and Jayne. Without your support and “err, where is the next one?” emails and comments, I would have still been “planning” on writing this story.

Chapter 1

Clara sipped her beer. So what if she put the bottle down with a little more force than normal? It didn't mean she was angry. Why would she be angry? After all, it was her decision to end the relationship.

Just because less than forty-eight hours later, her ex was sitting on the other side of the bar with some of his boys and a tiny blonde—easy to kill if Clara thought about it—full human sitting on his lap, didn't mean she was angry or hurt. Oh no sir, she was happy he was moving on.

“So on a scale of one to ten—ten being uncontrollable pain, screaming, and asking for his mother—how much pain do you want to inflict on Wall right now?”

Clara turned to Laney Marsterson, Alpha female and Clara’s sister-in-law.

“I am thinking eleven, maybe twelve,” Clara told her honestly.

“Do you want me to let Heath off his leash? ’Cause you know he’s wanted to get his hands on Wall since he walked in on you telling me what happened.” Heath was Clara’s Alpha, and more worryingly, her big brother.

“No, I shouldn't be angry. Logically, I know I broke up with him. He didn't do anything wrong. But there's a part of me that wants him crying into his pillow, not out on the town with some cheap, dime-store hooker!” Clara growled, causing Laney to look at her in surprise.

“You know, as alpha queen bitch, I can totally order him back to the pack house minus plastic fantastic if you want me to.” Laney said it with such a straight face Clara couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yeah, I can see him really loving that!” Clara said when she finally had control of herself.

“So you want me to pull rank?”

Clara thought about it, but as much as it hurt to see him with another woman, it was no more than she had expected. She was the one who’d broken up with him. Wall had every right to play wherever and with whomever he wanted.

“No, it’s fine. I’m a big girl. I can handle it.” Clara winked at her sister-in-law just as a shadow fell over her. Clara turned and looked up at her big brother.

“What can you handle? Is it Wall? I saw him with that blonde barfly. I warned him what would happen if he hurt you.” Both Clara and Laney made a grab for Heath as he started toward the other side of the room.

“No!” Clara growled as she grabbed her big brother’s arm.

Laney jumped in front of her husband and placed a hand on his chest.

“Whoa there wolf-boy, no one said you had to go all Neanderthal. Clara is a big girl. She can look after herself,” Laney spoke calmly.

“She is
my
little sister.” Heath growled.

“Yes, she is.” Laney nodded.

Clara rolled her eyes. She loved her brother more than anything, but by God, he was a pain in the ass sometimes.

“Wall made her cry. That means I get to smash his face in.” Heath smiled, showing his fangs.

“I don’t need you fighting my battles,” Clara insisted.

“I decide what this pack needs, and he needs his face rearranged,” Heath commented matter-of-factly.

“Is that right? You decide what this pack needs?” Laney gave him a small smile.

Clara let go of her brother’s arm when Laney gently tugged her hand away.

“Yep, that’s right.” Heath crossed his arms over his chest. Seriously, her brother, who had fought for the Alpha role, taken control of the pack, and fought to keep it safe, was such a big dork sometimes.

“Well can you tell what I need?” Laney winked at him as she stepped closer. “My Alpha.” Clara barely heard the last word.

She clearly heard her brother’s deep growl before he reached down, grabbed Laney around her waist, and threw her over his shoulder. Without a backward glance, he strode toward the exit.

Laney pushed herself up with a hand on Heath’s butt and gave Clara a thumbs up. Clara laughed and waved as they left the building.

She may have a healthy fear of her sister-in-law. After all, the full-human woman had taken on and stood toe to toe with a very powerful, older wolf before helping Heath kill the psychotic man, but she loved her all the same.

Clara dropped back into her seat and picked up her beer bottle. As she took a sip, she glanced back over to Wall’s table. The woman on his lap was giggling loudly at something he had said.

Maybe I should have let Heath give him a beating, if for no other reason than to get that plastic limpet off him
.

She had just caught the eye of a waitress and waved the now-empty bottle at her when Duke, Laney’s big brother, dropped into the vacant seat beside her.

“My sister texted me,” he said by way of a greeting.

“And I am interested because?” Clara asked, unwilling to be polite when she was still far too sober and Wall was now stroking that dead-chick-walking’s leg where her too short skirt did little to cover anything.

“She gave me instructions. Now I’m not one for doing anything the little brat says, but I heard from Heath about how Wall broke your heart, so I figure if this goes some way to help, I’m all in.” Duke’s explanation did nothing but confuse her more.

“What are you talking about?” she asked seconds before Duke caught hold of her. With a quick tug, he pulled her out of her chair and into his lap.

“What are you doing?” Clara squeaked.

“Testing Laney’s theory.”

Clara didn’t get a chance to ask what he meant because Wall appeared beside them. He rested a hand on the table, leaning down into Duke’s face.

“Dude, you got to have a serious death wish.” Wall’s voice held more of his wolf than Clara had ever heard before.

What the hell was going on? She looked between Duke and Wall, frowning as the men tried to stare each other down. Clara threw a glance over her shoulder and caught sight of the now unhappy bimbo glaring at her from Wall’s empty seat. She shot the woman a smug smile before turning back to the two men.

“I don’t see your name on her. Last I heard, Miss Clara here was free to do what she wants with whomever she wants. Am I wrong?” Duke asked with a shrug.

Wall growled, low and threatening. There was no way she was going to let the man do something stupid.

With a quick cough, she caught both men’s attention. “Wall, I think your date is missing you.” Wall looked at her with narrowed eyes.

With a slow nod, he backed away. “Yeah, I think you’re right. Thank you for the reminder. Apologies for the interruption, Duke. You two have a good evening.” Wall gave them a small penetrating smile as he backed away.

Duke waited until Wall was back in his chair and smiling at the other woman before he laughed softly in Clara’s ear.

“Damn, if my sister wasn’t right.” He chuckled.

“Right?” Clara frowned down at him.

“She said to come and manhandle you some. She figured Wall was watching every move you made and that all he needed was a little nudge. I would have left you alone if you wanted me to,” Duke assured her.

“Your sister is sly. You know that, right?” Clara asked as she brushed the hair off Duke’s forehead.

“Know it? I have the scars to prove it!” Duke grinned. Clara ran her finger along his cheekbone and smiled.

“So what else did your sister say?” she asked curiously.

“That you were as sly as she was and not to turn my back on you.” Duke winked, making Clara laugh.

“Clever lady, my brother’s wife.”

“You know he’s pissed and still watching, right?” Duke asked as he pulled her higher on his lap. Clara gave him a half smile thinking if Wall could play, why shouldn’t she?

“Yeah I know. So what do you want to do about it?”

“More to the point, what do
you
want to do about it, Miss Clara?” he asked

She’d seen him grin at many women like that over the last five years. He was just about as tall at Heath, around six feet five, the same brown hair as his sister, and stunning gray eyes. Many women’s hearts had melted because of that smile, but she was unaffected. She liked Duke a lot. She just had no desire to see him naked.

Some of her thoughts must have shown on her face because he nodded and said, “But I am not the one you want, am I?”

She wanted to lie and say yes but couldn’t. She just shook her head. No, he wasn’t.

Her heart belonged to a six-foot-tall, six-foot-wide wolf shifter named after the side of a building.

“I’m sorry,” Clara whispered through the sudden tears clogging her throat.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Trust me. I’ve had worse dents to my ego. Think of it this way: we know nothing is going to happen, but Wall doesn’t. How about we head out? I can take you home, or we can catch a movie or something. It will drive him nuts thinking about what we could be doing.” Duke winked at her, and Clara couldn’t help but laugh.

“You know, you and your sister are more alike than you think,” she told him.

“Now you are just trying to hurt me!” Duke stuck out his lower lip in an attempt to look all sorry for himself. Clara laughed aloud. She thought she heard Wall’s low warning growl from the other side of the room but refused to look over at him.

“You know what? A movie sounds just perfect.” She smiled as she scooted off his lap. Clara took his offered arm as he stood.

“It would be my honor to escort you to the cinema, Miss Clara.” Duke grinned down at her.

Clara let him lead her out of the bar. She didn’t turn to see Wall’s reaction.

*

Wall watched the woman he loved leave on the arm of another man. All he wanted to do was rip that arm clean off Duke’s body.

He didn’t know what had happened. One minute they were so right for each other that he asked her to take his bite. He
asked,
for crying out loud. It was something shifter men rarely did. She’d then closed down and broken up with him. Two days later, she still refused to discuss it, and Wall’d had enough, which was why a woman, whose name he still didn’t know, was sitting on his lap, and
his
woman was leaving with someone else.