E.A. Price - Valentine's Wolf (Grey Wolf Pack #11) Read online

  Shannon looked at her blankly. “Our what?”

  Val tapped her foot impatiently. “Our security guard. The one that Glenn hired to watch over the site at night. He’s doing a terrible job.”

  “That’s because he’s imaginary, we don’t have a security guard.”

  “But, the security guard’s salary is right here in the budget.”

  Shannon turned beet red, and she began stammering. “Oh, ah, umm, maybe Glenn hired one without telling me.”

  Val glared at Shannon. “What do you know about what’s happening here?”

  The young woman tried to make some noises of objection and Val narrowed her eyes and actually let out a well-timed snarl that made Shannon jump and start to sniffle.

  Val looked at her mercilessly. “Don’t start that with me,” she snapped.

  Shannon slumped in her seat. “Look, all I know is that Glenn wasn’t paying the suppliers. He ordered about a quarter of what we needed and sent them checks that were going to bounce. But, but,” she said quickly as Val let out a grunt of annoyance, “Glenn said that he had a plan. He said there was some kind of issue with paying people at that moment, but by the time anyone noticed it, would be sorted… but then Glenn just left.”

  She twisted her hands together as Val rubbed her temples, willing her fury to abate.

  “Why didn’t you say anything before now?”

  “I assumed Glenn sorted it all out…”

  “Before he disappeared you mean?”

  Shannon bit her lip and shrugged unhappily.

  Val felt he fingers tingle. She almost felt like claws wanted to push their way out. But that was crazy, right?

  At least things were starting to look a little clearer. It appeared that Glenn had stolen the money meant for the hotel and taken off. He made it look like the project was going forward for as long as possible and then decided to cut his losses.

  The problem was, now that she was the project manager, she was going to get the blame for that. Fuck, she could actually be arrested for this!

  And it seemed unlikely that she was going to get any help from her boss, who appeared to have done a bunker, too. Perhaps this all went higher than just Glenn…

  She grabbed her phone and started dialing. She needed to find someone willing to give her some answers. Pronto.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jake tapped his fingers on the keyboard of his computer. As much as he tried to concentrate, every thought he had just led back to Valentine.

  He’d stopped by Carly’s cake shop on his way to work and, of course, he thought of when Valentine brought him all those cinnamon buns. All of which he ate in one go.

  When he arrested the town’s resident bull shifter and unrepentant nudist, Winston, he thought back to the day he’d arrested Valentine. She was a lot more fragrant than his current arrestee - that was for darn sure.

  No matter what he did, he just couldn’t stop thinking about her. And the small pit of worry that was gradually growing in his stomach wasn’t helping. He didn’t like the fact that she lived in Ursa – not with brutal murders happening there. Yes, he knew that every city had killings, but only the worst of the worst made national news. Then there was the breakin at her apartment and the fact that she had a stalker.

  His wolf was fired up over her safety and adamant that he couldn’t allow her to return to Ursa. She needed to stay there with them and be their mate. He was in agreement over that. It had only been a few days, but instinctively, he knew he wanted to be with her. But how to make her stay?

  He supposed, in theory, he could actually move to Ursa to be with her. His wolf was less happy with that suggestion, but if it were the only way to be with her, then he would do it. It just didn’t take away the danger that being in Ursa posed.

  He thought back to the way her skin had felt under his touch; her soft, smooth, creamy skin. The way her ample breasts had easily filled his hands, and the glorious taste as he had suckled at them. Not to mention her honey – it was the sweetest thing he had ever tasted.

  He grimaced as his cock strained against his pants. As much as he was enjoying where his lewd thoughts were taking him, it was downright embarrassing to be running around with a hard on while he was trying to do his job. He had to try at least to look professional.

  Thankful that he had his own office, and that the door was closed, he slid his hand over his pant-clad groin and tried to readjust himself, so it wasn’t quite so painful, or obvious… He had heard all the jokes about carrying a loaded weapon he could stand every time Cain came back from seeing Carly. He did not want any of those coming his way thank you very much.

  Ugh. Fooling around with his pants just served to remind him of how good it felt when Valentine’s slim hands were wrapped around him. Damn, she had felt heavenly, almost as heavenly as being inside her…

  His phone chirruped, and thankful for the interruption, he snatched it up, barking out a hello.

  “Hi, it’s me… uh Robyn.”

  Jake blinked a few times, and his wolf let out a wary grumble. “Robyn? Wow, this is a surprise,” he admitted.

  Honestly, they hadn’t talked in three years. The last time they did communicate it had been an argument over their popcorn machine. It had been a wedding gift, and Robyn was adamant that she wanted it, even though she didn’t like popcorn. She slyly suggested that her next husband might like popcorn. At that, Jake had given up and let her have it. He hadn’t actually eaten or wanted any popcorn in the last three years, so he figured it was the right decision.

  “Yeah, so how are you?” she asked in a stilted voice.

  “Good,” he replied truthfully. “You?”

  “I’m fine. How’s life in Rose?”

  “Good.”

  She waited a couple of moments before snickering. “Same old chatty Jake,” she said ruefully.

  Jake grunted and waited for her to get to the point, ignoring his prowling wolf. His beast hadn’t been upset the day they got divorced. He seriously doubted she rang up to talk. They barely talked when they were married. Thankfully, she wasn’t all that chatty either.

  “Have you seen the news?” she demanded in her no-nonsense way.

  “You mean about Ursa?”

  “Yes.” She blew out a breath. “We think we have a copycat of Morgan. We think we have a killer who knew Morgan.”

  Jake froze, and even his wolf hushed. Now he knew why he had felt so uneasy about those killings. Fuck, it was happening again. He just prayed it didn’t turn into as big a mess as last time.

  “How do you know?”

  “There’s just so many coincidences, so many things that are the same. The weapon, the markings on the bodies… all things we didn’t tell to the press. If our killer didn’t know Morgan, then… we have no idea how all these things can be the same.”

  “Do you know how he’s finding his victims?”

  Robyn groaned. “Not yet. I called because I thought you should know… after last time. And since you were the one who broke the case last time…”

  Jake let out a mirthless laugh. “I didn’t break it; I got lucky.” More like unlucky. His wolf still smarted over what happened. He should have known what was happening…

  She clucked her tongue. “We could bring you in as a consultant if you wanted.”

  She said it so nonchalantly, that he almost believed she was trying to do him a favor. No, she was worried about the case and wanted all the help she could get. His beast let out an inward snort; she was better off trying to solve it without him.

  “No, I can’t leave Rose right now.”

  He didn’t want to leave Valentine or his pack, and he definitely didn’t want to get sucked into that kind of thing again. It nearly broke him last time.

  “What’s the matter? Is a cat calling you from a tree?” she snapped.

  His wolf huffed. Same old Robyn.

  “Good luck with the case, Robyn.”

  She sighed. “Yeah, thanks, Jake.”

  He hung up
and shuddered as his wolf let out a howl. The thought of another Morgan being on the loose… no, it was too much. His beast wanted to be let out; he wanted to shift and change, but Jake resisted.

  There was nothing they could do about what was happening in Ursa. He had faith that Robyn and her team could get to the bottom of it. For all her, frankly, irritating quirks, she was a good agent. Hopefully, better than he had been.

  He and his wolf would do better to concentrate on what was happening in Rose. To concentrate on Valentine and how he was going to stop her from ever returning to Ursa. Yep, the more he heard about that city, the less he was okay with her living there.

  She should live in Rose where she would be safe with him.

  But regarding a plan to stop her from leaving… so far, all he could think about was chaining her to his bed until she gave up and agreed to stay with him forever. That was probably a bit too much like kidnapping. Probably. Although, he hadn’t quite ruled it out just yet. He was just saying that there were some kinks that needed to be ironed out, which is why he was calling that plan B.

  Speaking of his luscious angel – or should that be luscious devil, sometimes she seemed to straddle the line between the two – she was calling him.

  He was concerned at how worried she sounded on the phone. But, without hesitation, he agreed to meet her after work at Bar Luna. She said she needed his advice.

  Lord, he hoped it wasn’t something serious. Like something that would take her away from Rose. She wouldn’t be drawn on the phone, but she was not the happy human he had come to know and lo… uh, care for deeply.

  Damn, he had it bad. His mind wandered back to plan B. Maybe he could make it work.

  *

  Val chewed on her cheek, impatiently waiting for Jake to arrive. She was so keen to talk to him that she had arrived at the bar half an hour early and was now frustrated that she was forced to wait for him.

  The huge bartender who already told her his name was Andy, that he was mated to Delilah and had then shown her a picture of the scan of their baby, placed another soda in front of her and ambled away to push the picture onto someone else. He was one happy daddy-to-be.

  Hmmm, she wondered how Jake would be when they had kids.

  Panic lanced through her. Where in the recesses of hell had that come from? She needed to get a handle on these strange thoughts assailing her. No, don’t want to, she thought sullenly. Mine.

  Would it be weird if she slapped herself? Possibly. Would anyone in this town care? Probably not.

  Only ten minutes until Jake was due to arrive. She guessed she should go and retouch her make-up. She figured Jake was the kind of man would arrive exactly on time. Not early or late. Just on time.

  Val made her way to the bathroom and was shocked when she heard an outraged squeak and the sound of a cheek being slapped.

  Her eyes adjusted to the darkened corridor, and she spotted three men and the small wolf shifter, Carly. Not just any men either, they were construction workers from her site. The corridor was deserted other than them, and they seemed to have taken the opportunity to crowd around her.

  “You bitch,” one of them spat.

  “Tell me something I don’t know,” she said crossly.

  Another grabbed one of Carly’s arms, and she growled at him. “Come on sweetheart,” he chuckled, “we heard wolfs were easy.”

  “You heard wrong, and I’m already mated to a bear who gets angry at men who even look at me!”

  The third guy sniffed her hair, and Carly recoiled slightly. “I don’t see your big bad bear around here. If you were mine, I wouldn’t let you leave the house on your own.”

  “Get your damn hands off me!” yelled Carly slapping at him.

  “Fuck, sweetheart, you could be a little nicer…”

  He was interrupted and howled as Carly stamped on his foot.

  He pulled back his hand to slap her, and Val shouted at them to stop. A flicker of fear passed through their eyes. Well, she was technically their boss.

  Val took on her Wonder Woman stance. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? She clearly isn’t interested.”

  “Bitch was asking for it, acting all flirty with us,” one of them volunteered.

  “How dare you?” squawked Carly. “I would never. I didn’t even know they were alive until they followed me when I was trying to go to the bathroom and wouldn’t let me go.”

  “You were begging for it,” the one she slapped sneered.

  Val fumed. “That’s it!” she hissed, eyeing the loathsome men in turn. “Your behavior is unacceptable – you’re fired!”

  She grabbed Carly’s hand, ignoring the sounds of outrage coming from the sleazy men and pulled the little she-wolf into the bathroom. Carly seemed to be quite tranquil about the whole thing, but Val was absolutely seething.

  She paced the small floor of the bathroom and threw up her hands. “I’m so sorry, Carly. Those guys are absolute assholes!”

  Carly shrugged and gave her a small smile. “It’s okay; I’m fine. They were just jerks.”

  “How are you so calm?” demanded Val furiously. “I wanted to rip those suckers to shreds.”

  She did too. She had an inhuman urge to grow claws and sink them right into their smug, disgusting faces.

  “They didn’t actually hurt me,” said Carly serenely. “It was just annoying.”

  “Men are… men are such buttholes!”

  Carly giggled. “I’ll admit that some are, but most aren’t. My mate isn’t.” She looked a little apprehensive. “And speaking of my mate, I’d rather we didn’t mention anything about this to him... or anyone who might tell him.”

  “Why not? Wouldn’t he want to know?”

  The she-wolf nodded and bit her lip. “Very much so; the problem is that he would then want to hunt the men down and disembowel them for touching me.”

  “Disembowel?” That sounded messy.

  “Yeah, Cain’s pretty visual when he’s making threats, and apparently that hurts a lot.”

  Val splashed a little cool water on her cheeks. They were so darn red if she went out into the street someone could easily mistake her for a stoplight. “Don’t you think that’s a little extreme? I mean, it’s over now, and hunting them down would be…”

  “An overreaction? Unreasonable? Insane?” supplied Carly. “Yes, probably. But I know what Cain’s like, and he gets upset over this kind of thing. He doesn’t like me talking to men he doesn’t know. Heck, he doesn’t like me talking to some men I do know. And he doesn’t like leaving me alone for any length of time, that’s why he’s always popping into the shop all day – just to check on me. Finding out some men were… umm, hitting on me aggressively would send him through the roof. It would send him on a rampage to find them and would mean that he wouldn’t let me leave our house without him escorting me everywhere.”

  Val gave her a look of disbelief and Carly sighed. “Clearly you’ve never been with a shifter before. Males are very possessive over females. Perhaps you should get used to it.” She added the last part with a grin.

  Was she suggesting that Jake would act like that? He always seemed to be calm and controlled, even when crazy women call him names like butthole. But would he really turn possessive over her? And why did that thought send tingles down to her nether regions?

  “Look, I won’t say anything to Cain, and I’m pretty sure when I tell Jake he won’t say anything to Cain either.”

  “No, he’s a great…”

  “I know,” Val cut her off sourly. “He’s a great guy. The women in this town have been tripping over their feet to tell me as much.”

  Carly pressed her lips together, but her eyes sparkled with laughter. “It’s just that no one’s ever seen him take an interest in a woman before; we’re pleased that he is.”

  Val really did snort. Tall, dark and sexy Jake not interested in women? Puh-lease. “What, never?”

  She shook her head. “Nope, you’d be his first.”

  Val
barked out a laugh. The idea of the virile wolf shifter being a virgin was ridiculous. She couldn’t imagine him as an awkward teenager having sex for the first time. It was much more believable that he was born the way he currently was – a sex god. Yep, a bonafide, panty wetting hunk of absolute…

  Carly was staring at her, and Val couldn’t exactly blame her. She was currently rubbing a finger over her lip while her other hand rubbed a circle on her stomach and, oh yeah, she was purring. Purring damnit! Cat who got the cream…

  Val cleared her throat. “I should probably go; I’m supposed to be meeting Jake.”

  Carly continued frowning at her but just nodded. “Yeah, as I recall, I did actually want to go to the toilet before all the excitement started. See you later.”

  Carly disappeared into a stall, and Val was pleased to note that her cheeks no longer had their lobster-like hue. With some annoyance, she did realize she was now late to meet Jake. He was probably out there waiting for her. So much for the extra layer of make-up.

  *

  Jake glanced around the bar. His wolf paced fervently. Okay, she’s only five minutes late, nothing to worry about. He’d give her another two minutes and then he’d organize a search party.

  It was with great relief to both him and his wolf when Valentine came sauntering toward him. Her hips swung to and fro, attracting more than a little attention from single males in the bar. Hmmm, he didn’t like that at all and neither did his growling wolf. He needed to make her walk a little less sexily. Was it too much to ask that she stoop and put on a limp?

  “Hey!” she said brightly. Her luminous eyes twinkled.

  Just in case any of the men were in any doubt as to who she belonged to, Jake stood up and pulled her into his arms. He pressed his lips to hers and gave her a searing kiss. Judging by the way her hands clutched at him, and the way she moaned into his mouth, she was only too happy to oblige him.

  When he pulled away, she panted a little and nuzzled against his chest. He enjoyed the closeness, but he wondered whether she was just doing it because she was embarrassed. He was well aware that all eyes were on them, and conversations had stopped. What? Had they never seen a wolf shifter kiss a woman?