Shifters on Fire: A BBW Shifter Romance Boxed Set (39 page)

Mine

It had taken two whole days, but she had done it. Menus were “prettied up,” a computerized ordering and billing system was in place, an inventory with computer generated recommendations for what to order from which vendors, based on current prices, was set up, and she was able to integrate a payroll system complete with tip recording. She had managed a miracle, just as she had promised.

It felt great to do this kind of work. Work that made a difference in someone’s life. True, she wasn’t creating world peace, but she managed to give them the starting point needed to make a good go at their dream.

“So what do you think?” Zara handed them the drives with all the back-ups, as well as a cheat sheet.

“I think we can’t afford this.” Brina’s face wasn’t the sunshine and glee Zara had been hoping for when she completed the project. Overwhelming them was the last thing she intended to do.

“You can’t afford dinner?”

“What?”

Conor’s wolf was close to the surface and it baffled Zara. She had done them a solid and he looked almost feral. And then it hit her. His wolf needed to feel like he was providing for his mate.

“I told you that was my price when you agreed to let me do this.” Zara filled her voice with as much joyful glee as she could for Brina’s sake, but also filled it with her alpha power. She hated to do that to Conor, but his wolf needed it right now whether he realized it or not. “No renegotiating now. It’s in bad taste.”

“That
might
be fair if you used the technology we had, but all of this is too much.” Brina appeared oblivious to the power struggle Zara was having with the wolf.

“It
is
fair. The inventory design will run on your current computer, I just need to transfer it over.” Zara held up the back-up drives she tried to give them earlier as proof. “It’s just easier for me to show you on here.”

“And the tablets?” Brina pointed to the pile on the table.

“The tablets were from the second hand electronic store in town. They were all the discount junk no one wanted because they were out-dated.” She left out the piece about bartering for the tablets and drives. She owed the store a brand new website. “I did my computer mojo, and now they only contain the apps you need for the business. Done.”

“I call bullshit,” Conor said.

Her alpha push had settled the wolf, but the man was still not quite ready to let it go.

“Listen here, wolfie boy, a deal is a deal.” Conor’s eyes widened as she spoke. They were all human, which was good. She didn’t want to fight him. “I want my burger with cheese fries. Rare.”

“Ohhhh, he is so trying hard to ignore the wolfie boy comment.” Brina giggled as she leaned into her mate. “I usually go with furball.” Conor’s arms wrapped around her, not at all minding the
furball
comment. “Nice touch. I may steal it.”

“Steal away.”

“Let me see the receipt. At the very least I want to pay for the tablets.” Conor was still not letting it go. Stubborn wolf.

“There is no receipt.” She let out an exasperated sigh for effect. She was running out of tricks and she wanted no part of their money. “I paid in trade.”

“Trade.”

Zara nodded.

“Really?”

She let a little bit of her lion out so he could see the truth in her words. Lions trusted their animals more than their human side and she hoped wolves were the same.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“Yes on all accounts. I am a master trader. I just managed to get the hot new restaurant in town to give me my favorite dinner in exchange for getting to play computer goddess. Double win for me.”

“Make her burger, Conor.” Brina smacked him in the chest playfully. “She’s not gonna budge.”

“Fine, but this isn’t over.”

And that was where he was wrong. Zara needed to move on from this town as soon as her lion would let her. She had played grown-up, independent human long enough. It was time.

“Is he always like this?” Zara tried to break the tension that still hung in the air.

“Pretty much.” Brina’s eyes sparked as she spoke. Oh, to be so smitten. “May I ask you something and have you not get mad?”

“What the hey?” Zara braced herself for awkwardville. No questions prefaced that way were about how you liked your coffee. “Sure.”

“Why were you stalking this place so badly? I thought it was the lion thing, but that doesn’t make sense, because other shifters have been here or walked past here without taking such an interest.”

“I’m not really sure.” It had been bugging Zara too. She’d been compelled to walk by almost as if she needed it to breath and then once she came in, she had to keep coming. She could have finished the computer work so much quicker at her place without the noise and distractions, but she marched in with her laptop as soon as the doors were open, needing to be there.  “I was dead set to go live in my brother’s clan after quitting my job, and then I walked by here and it became my new obsession to see if you were open yet.”

“Not just once a day.”

“No.” It had started as once a day, and then became anytime she could find an excuse, and then it became twice a day and finally….goodness, no wonder his wolf was so on edge. She had full-out stalked them.

“Conor says you’re acting like a shifter who’s crossed paths with their mate, and whose animal is all confused and connects that feeling with the place instead of the person.”

“Conor reads too many romance novels.” Zara pointed to the stack behind the counter opting for denial technique one: change of subject.

“I’m so telling him you said that.” Brina leaned in conspiratorially. “He says he only reads them to know what I’m reading. So we have something in common.”

They burst out in laughter. Zara tried to mask the uncomfortable feelings that were building inside her. There was something pulling her here, but mate had to be wrong. Her mate was important to her clan; there would be no need for them to be here. Besides, she was picking her own mate. Fate wasn’t controlling her.

“And is he wrong?”

“He is. I’m to meet my mate in Lionville.” Or was, until she got all stubborn.

“If you know that, why are you here?”

“I’m here because I know that.” Or that had been why. The longer she avoided her clan, the more she questioned her decisions. Her mama always told her stubbornness was both her biggest strength and her biggest fault.

“You make no sense.” Conor was back with her burger and fries, his voice more wolf than human. Of course his wolf wouldn’t get it.

“Eavesdropping, honey?” Brina patted the seat beside her.

“Of course I was. You know my wolf enough to know he is still not all together comfortable with you being alone with a lioness.” He put the plate down in front of Zara and took his seat.

“At least your mate is an
honest
over protective weirdo.”

“That he is. He is
mine
.”
Mine
was such a shifter thing to say. Being human didn’t seem to stop Brina from understanding Conor’s wolf.

“I gave you extra cheese.”

The fries were oozing with cheese. Zara had to lean over the plate to eat them. They were out of this world yum.

“Buttering me up.” She snatched up another fry.

“You better believe it, because you are not going to like what is coming next.” There was a slight tease to his voice, but his eyes were tense. Zara dropped her fry.

“And that is?”

“Why do you always sit on this stool?”

Zara looked at the chair she was sitting on. It was just a chair. She couldn’t remember sitting at this high top before. She usually sat away from the window, but today…why did she sit here today?

“I don’t. I have sat in at least three different places since I first walked in here when you thought I was a stalking lioness.”

“You jerk.” Brina gave him a slight push. “Is that why you moved that seat twice?”

“Did you think I was bored?”

“No. I thought you were being OCD.” Her face broke into a smile. “Do you really think?”

Zara didn’t understand this conversation. Not at all.

“More and more by the moment.”

“Eeeeep.” Brina hugged her mate. “How do we fix this?”

“We don’t. She does. We just give her the means.”

“
She
does what?” Zara asked. “Why are you guys being all cutsey mated couple talking in code?”

“Because we know why you came here so many times.” Brina grabbed Zara’s hand as she spoke, her eyes sparkling and her smile beaming.

“And… why is that?” Zara’s knee was bouncing. Pieces were starting to click together, but the picture was still a jumbled mess.

“That’s the seat the structural engineer sat in.”

“So?” Zara prepared herself for what she now knew was coming next.

“The structural engineer is a lion friend, and we think he is your mate.”

Run Run Fast As You Can

Three days. It had been three days since she sat in the bar. Three days since she discovered that her probable fated mate had been the reason she was so drawn to the place. Three days since she panicked, cussed like a sailor, and ran out of the bar, straight to the woods. Three days since she let her lion take over. Three days since she had been human. Now it was time. Time to put on her big girl panties and figure out what to do next.

The moon was barely a sliver, which suited Zara well as she regained control of her human side. She had barely managed to remove her pants before transforming. The pile of clothing before her included a pair of dirty, dew-soaked, muddy jeans, some completely torn undergarments, and a shirt that was miraculously able to cover the twins up even as the rest of her hung out. Zara felt some relief that it wasn’t the weekend. Chances were she could slink home without being seen. She was confident that she looked like a crime scene victim more than a drunk wandering home.

When she first moved into her apartment she paid extra to have the landlord install a touch pad entry lock. She thought it would be easier on days she went to run to not have to worry about her keys. Never did she think she would need it because she ran away like a loser head just because someone might know where her mate was. Ugggg. She needed to face them in the morning. Her purse was still at the bar.

Shower, food, bed. In that order. After some sleep, she would make a plan. She’d had three days to think as a lion, but she had let her lion completely take over and hid her human in the backdrop. She hadn’t been ready to face the music then. Not that she was now, but it was time.

Kicking off her shoes as she shut the door behind her, the red light of her answering machine caught her eye. Great. Zara hoped her grandfather hadn’t called days ago, causing him to worry. He didn’t trust those “fancy new cell phones” even though, as she often reminded him, they weren’t actually new. So she kept a landline there for him.

She pressed the button and was shocked to hear, “You have seven new messages.” Crappity crap crap. People never called her landline.

Three were hang-ups from what looked like a spoofed number. Darn telemarketers. One was from Brina saying she had Zara’s purse and she hoped all was all right. The one after that was from Zara’s grandfather telling her to get her butt back to see her new friend because she sounded worried when she called him from Zara’scontact list, looking for an address or landline number. True to her grandpa’s way, he sounded worried not at all, just disappointed that she worried a friend for no reason.

As the last one played out, Zara’s body tensed. It was the call she didn’t want to get. Not ever.

Zara, it’s Leo. I’m calling because I need a beta. Tag. You’re it.

Fuckity fuck fuck. This would not do. Not at all. It was still not even close to morning, but that didn’t stop her hands from dialing her brother. She had enough garbage to deal with without being pulled into clan politics. Nope. Not gonna happen.

“Hello?” He sounded wide awake and his tone pissed her off. He knew who it was and why she was calling, and he thought it funny.

“No. Find someone else. I have enough shit on my plate.” With that, she hung up and took her shower, her phone chirping away as she took her time pulling all the debris from her hair. Three days in the woods had not been kind.

Leo wouldn’t give up and she knew that. She just wanted to get him as agitated as he got her. After she was dressed in her favorite jams and had made a cup of tea, she answered the phone.

“Who is it?” She snuggled into the couch. She was invigorated from her time as her lion, but she was also exhausted. It was such a weird combination.

“You darn well know who it is. Why did you hang up?”

“Because the conversation was over.” She took a sip of her tea, kicking herself for not making something to eat before she sat down. Something not meat. She'd had more rabbits the past three days than any lion should.

“No. No it was not.” He tried to push his alpha through the phone. She could hear it in the strain of his voice, but that was not how it worked. A part of her felt bad. “The clan needs me to take a beta. I don’t trust anyone to be my second who has expressed an interest. They all want power.”

She knew it was true. It was one of the reasons she didn’t want to be in Lionville. While it was now an honest to goodness clan in all ways, it still had some people who saw the past as the glory days and wanted things to be more pride-like. They were of course all lions who thought lions were better than others, and it made her blood boil.

“You know this. We can’t let the clan revert back to a pride.” He was hitting her below the belt because she did know it.

“Why me?”

“You have the born power.” Being a triplet sucked. Why did her sister have to find her mate and move all the way to Alaska? Then
she
could have been the one having this conversation. “Technically, you are second in line.”

“Only until you find a mate and she has your heir.” Please let that be soon.

“She is out there.”

She hoped that was true. Unlike her, Leo longed to find his mate. Being alpha, he didn’t have the option of playing human, and dating anyone not his mate would cause all kinds of not goodness within the clan.

“Anyway. Stop distracting me with mate stuff. Frank told me to call you and tell you I needed a beta and to get your butt home.” Leo always put more faith in their grandfather’s gift of foresight. It was still weird to hear Leo call him Frank. She knew it was part of the transition of taking his place as alpha, but she still thought of him as grandpa. He never had been alpha to her.

“He left a message here and said no such thing.” Which struck her as odd. If he wanted her home, why didn’t he say so? “He told me to get my butt back to the bar and get my purse and make nice nice with my friends.”

“You have friends?”

“You find that surprising?” Not that she blamed him. He always asked about her friends. She knew he was worried about her wellbeing. Shifters needed closeness, and she had none of that here.

“No. Yes. Maybe. It’s just that you seemed to be acting all miss loner, like you didn’t want to grow any roots.” He was more observant than she had realized. In the future, she vowed to protect him from her personal garbage. He had a whole clan to worry about. He didn’t need this on top of it. “I kept expecting to see you in Lionville.”

“Yeah, well, I almost came back three weeks ago.”

“What stopped you?” His tone changed. She wasn’t sure how to decipher it. He was either curious or ready to go to battle. Stinks, she probably had him thinking someone hurt her, over protective big brother that he was.

“I passed by a bar and I became obsessed with it.” It sounded far more crazy once said out loud.

“You don’t drink.”

“I know that, loser head. It wasn’t even open. I just couldn’t leave it.” And the crazy kept building. He was going to command her home if she didn’t watch it.

“You do realize you sound bonkers right now.”

“Says my brother who tried to make me a beta. Me, the woman who has been wanting to be more human for pretty much ever.” She stuck her tongue out at him even though there was no way he could see it. It still felt good.

“So explain then, why couldn’t you leave?”

She put her now empty tea cup down, buying herself a moment to compose her thoughts. With his shifter hearing, he would know she was moving around and gave her that time.

“I couldn’t leave because...” She sucked in a huge breath of air, letting it out slowly. She was unsure how the rest of this conversation would go. He was so opposite from her and wanted a mate so badly, and here she was throwing away the chance to meet hers. “As it turns out, my mate had been there.”

“Had?”

“Had.”

“Oh, Zara, I’m sorry.” He meant every word and her heart broke a little for him. He was mourning her chance at a mate. He really was a well-meaning brother and alpha, even if he was a pain in the neck.

“Good, because I don’t want to be beta and you calling repeatedly won’t change that.”

“That isn’t why I was sorry and you know it.” She did, but distraction and sarcasm were her two favorite coping mechanisms. “Sorry you missed your mate.”

“It’s not like I can’t find him or he died or anything.” Oh goodness, she hoped that was true. She hadn’t realized it until the words were out of her mouth. She wanted to find her mate. “I just want to make my own choices. Fate shouldn’t take that away from me.” She didn’t believe her own lines anymore. For years, she had said them to herself, believed them, acted on them – and now? Now they hurt to say. Now she wanted to take them back.

“Is that what you think fate does? Fate just helps you see what it already knows. You really do like to cut off your nose don’t you?

Freakin’ A. He was right, she did.

“Whatever.” She needed this line of conversation to be over. Her head was spinning. “So as you can see, my lion isn’t letting me leave anyway, so you will have to find your own beta.”

“But that makes no sense.” Leo sounded so confused. “Frank told me to call you and tell you to come home because I needed a beta.”

“Well Grandpa told me I would meet my mate long before now, so don’t hold too much worth in what he says.” She failed to mention that the only reason she hadn't before was because of her own pigheadedness.

“So I’m coming to visit then.” Leo hadn’t been to visit in months.

“Why? You’re not going to change my mind.”

“I believe that.” He chuckled at his comment. Yeah, he knew her. “No. I am coming to hide for a bit while I figure out this beta stuff. I can’t pick wrong.” So much on his shoulders. He really did need a strong beta.

“Being Alpha weighs heavy on you, doesn’t it?” Zara got up and started pacing. Hearing her brother like this had her lion on edge. Her lion wanted to comfort his, to make it better. Instead her lion just had her pacing.

“It does, but it also feels like I can make a difference and that makes it worth it. I just need to break away for a bit.” That made her lion happy. The human side of her had grown up and understood people have their own lives. The lion in her longed for the days when they ran free together in the forest as siblings. Just the three of them. She really should call her sister. It had been too long.

“When are you coming? I have a website to create and an apology to make, but other than that, I’m open.”

“You, sweet sister, have a mate to find. Don’t forget that.”

As if she could. It occupied every other thought. She just didn’t know what to do about it yet.

“Are you visiting or not?” A yawn escaped her. “I need some sleep, as you can tell.”

“Yes, I’m coming. I have stupid town hall stuff to do tomorrow and the next day. So how about the day after?”

“I’ll see you then. You have the passcode for the door, so if I’m not here, just make yourself at home and I’ll be back soon.”

“Sounds good. Now get some sleep, sis.”

“I will.” She yawned again. She was going to crash hard. “And Leo…”

“Yeah?”

She knew she was going to regret this, but she had to offer. He needed her even if it wasn’t in her plans. Not that any of her plans seemed to work out anyway.

“If you really can’t find someone, I will do it. I just don’t feel like I am supposed to be the one.” She plopped the cup into the sink and wandered to her room while waiting for him to respond. She thought he would pounce, take her offer and possibly throw a party. Instead there was silence. She was all the way in her room, pulling the shades, before he began again.

“Honestly, I don’t think you are either. I was going by Frank.” That was a relief and a bit scary. A relief that he saw her lack of beta skills and scary that he would be so desperate that he would listen against his better judgement. “I was always told I would know. I just wish I knew now, because the whole clan counts on me.”

“You will.” Glancing at her clock, it read quarter past five. She hadn’t meant to keep him on the phone this long. Not when he had work in a few hours. “You’re doing amazing and you’re still so new at this.”

“How do you know how well I’m doing?” His insecurity showed her just how badly he needed his beta, whomever that was. Alphas weren’t meant to rule alone. When they did, bad things happened. Some lost confidence and were challenged. Others, went crazy with power. She feared her brother would fall to the first, losing his position and quite possibly his life.

“Because I believe in you.”