United (The Ushers)

Cover

Title Page

United

The Ushers Book Two

Vanessa North

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An imprint of
Musa Publishing

Copyright Information

United (The Ushers 2), Copyright © Vanessa North, 2012

All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher.

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This e-Book is a work of fiction. While references may be made to actual places or events, the names, characters, incidents, and locations within are from the author’s imagination and are not a resemblance to actual living or dead persons, businesses, or events. Any similarity is coincidental.

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Musa Publishing
633 Edgewood Ave
Lancaster, OH 43130

www.musapublishing.com

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Published by Musa Publishing, December 2012
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This e-Book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. No part of this ebook can be reproduced or sold by any person or business without the express permission of the publisher.

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ISBN: 978-1-61937-430-0

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Editor: Jennifer Murphy

Cover Design: David Efaw

Interior Book Design: Coreen Montagna

Content Warning

This book contains adult language and scenes. This story is meant only for adults as defined by the laws of the country where you made your purchase. Store your books carefully where they cannot be accessed by younger readers.

Dedication

For Mark,
thanks for sharing this crazy beautiful life with me.
I love you.

Prologue

T
HE
O
LD
W
OLF
R
EACHED
for one of the silver cuffs that were attached to the wall. Tightening it down around his wrist as he did every month, he shuddered against the compulsion to shift. With shaking hands, he locked the second cuff around his ankle. His teeth snapped together as he felt the shift begin. He felt that sweet siren call all the way into his bones, and he began to pray.

Chapter One

M
ONICA
R
OLLED
O
UT
O
F
B
ED
, looking over her shoulder at the man behind her. She felt a twinge of sadness as she looked at his handsome face, bronze against her white sheets. In sleep, Angelo looked so much like an angel. She knew when he woke up, his face would be riddled with sadness. He was her best friend, her third-in-command. Seeing him once again asleep in her bed, she felt she was taking advantage of his friendship. She swallowed her guilt. There was no point in dwelling on things she couldn’t change. She walked from her bedroom to her closet, pulling a T-shirt and a pair of jeans over her still youthful body, piling her hair into a messy knot at the back of her neck.

At two hundred fifty years old, Monica knew she could live at least another century or two, but the thought made her even lonelier. The wolf who was supposed to be her mate, Fionn Murphy, slept across the street in a tiny dormitory room, while Angelo shared her bed. Monica felt a wave of longing tinged with rejection—her mate refused to claim her.

Fionn was the charismatic brother of Monica’s Second, Jack Murphy. Fionn was tall, handsome, tattooed, and was the most powerful wolf she’d ever met. He was her destiny, yet he wanted nothing to do with her. She heard Angelo stirring, and she closed her eyes against the pain she felt when she thought of what she’d done, calling him in a fit of need. He always came to her. He’d listen to her cry, and then he’d make love to her, trying to ease some of her pain. He wouldn’t ever let it show if he were hurt that she called out another man’s name.

Angelo stood behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist. “
Querida
. Don’t do this to yourself,” he whispered in her ear. “This is harder for you than it is for me.”

She turned to face him. “Angelo. I’m sorry. I keep saying I won’t let this happen, and then—” She held up her hands.

He took them for a moment and smiled at her. “Shhh. I was mated before; I know how it feels. That’s not what you and I have. Your true mate is across the street, thumbing his nose at you. You need that connection with him, and he denies you. I’m a substitute, and it’s okay. If I could change it, if I could be your mate,
Querida
, you know I would.”

“I know.” Monica smiled at Angelo, watching as his brow creased with emotion. She didn’t need to eavesdrop on his thoughts to know how he remembered the way it felt to be mated. She felt it too: nostalgia and grief together.

“It doesn’t seem like he could possibly deserve you. But the Goddess doesn’t make mistakes. I hope he figures it out soon. If you need a friend in the meantime, I will never, ever say no to you.” Angelo folded one of her hands into his and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.

“I feel like I’m cheating on him,” she whispered. “How ridiculous is that? I’m cheating on a man who won’t have anything to do with me.”

“
Querida
…” Angelo sighed. “He hasn’t claimed you. You are not his. You have the right to share your body with whoever you want to. I can’t be sad that it’s me, because I’d rather make love to you than just about anyone, except…”

“Your mate,” she finished for him, understanding exactly what he meant. Angelo’s mate had died when he was in graduate school. The pain of it was still fresh for him—only decades old. For Monica, it had been over a century since Robert, her first mate, had died and she’d become a ghost wolf. The animal side of her nature had left her to escort Robert to the spirit world. During that time, Monica had been unable to shift, and the pack of her birth had treated her as though she’d died, too. Alone, she’d come east and built a pack of ghosts and outcasts like herself into the strongest pack in North America. Eventually, with her mate’s spirit at rest, her wolf had returned and her spirit had healed.

She still remembered the way it felt when she was first mated. The way Robert’s love had pulsed through their connection, the way he could make her want him with just a look. She missed him, but time had eased that hurt. Knowing she could feel that connection again—that she
would
feel that connection again, if Fionn Murphy ever got his head out of his ass—that knowledge kept her sane some days.

“I should go.” Angelo reached for his T-shirt. He’d left his clothes folded neatly on her dresser, like he always did. “I could use the excuse that I’m early to work if I’d been wearing a suit, but…I don’t dress like this for work.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek after he stepped into his jeans. “You didn’t do anything with me I didn’t enjoy, Monica. And you owe Fionn exactly
nada
.”

“Angelo, what would I do without you?” she asked. “You should hate me, but somehow, you don’t.”

“Hey, you’re my best friend, too.” He grinned at her. “With benefits.”

“Ugh, I hate that expression. It’s so tacky.” She wrinkled her nose. “But thank you for coming over here last night. I hope you find another mate someday, Angelo. You deserve it so much, I just wish it could be me.”

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “I wish that, too.” He dropped a friendly kiss on her cheek and left the apartment.

“Hey, Monica,” Jack Murphy called as he stepped off the elevator and into her apartment.

“In the office. Did you bring coffee?” she called back. As pack mates, they could speak inside each other’s heads, but Jack liked to talk out loud. He considered it more polite, and since politeness was never a crime, she humored him.

“Yes, Alpha.” Bianca followed Jack through the door, holding out a cup to her.

Monica breathed in the acrid coffee smell with a grateful sigh as she looked at her two Seconds. Bianca’s belly was round with pregnancy, and her lavender eyes glowed with happiness—and no one deserved happiness more than Bianca. Bianca was the first of the Ushers, and she’d lost her Guide in the terrible fight which had won Amazon’s legitimacy. As she single-handedly fought an alpha wolf on behalf of her pack, Bianca had been attacked from behind by a second wolf. The raven-shifter, Sara, had flown into the mouth of Bianca’s attacker to buy her enough time to end the fight.

“Bee. When are you having your ultrasound?” Monica asked, sipping her coffee. She gestured for the Guardians to sit in the stately chairs across from her desk. Monica’s office could have sprawled out of the pages of Traditional Home magazine. It was rich with wood and leather and a desk that oozed power, yet it retained an air of comfort and femininity.