ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (6 page)

BONUS

SHE WOLF MAIL ORDER BRIDE

By Sicily Duval

Sasha was not a happy woman. And an even less happy she-wolf. She sat across from her pack leader, arms crossed angrily across her chest as she stared at him defiantly. As the Beta of her pack, she only had to take orders from her Alpha, and as far as Alpha’s go, Jake was a pretty laid back one. So it was no surprise that Sasha was in utter shock at his words.

“You can’t be serious Jake,” she said resentfully, restraining herself from baring her teeth. If she had been in wolf form, and Jake had been any other rank, her hackles would have been raised and she would have been circling him for a fight.

Jake sighed, leaning back in his chair and raising his hands helplessly. “I’m sorry Sasha, but there’s no other way. Our pack is weak, especially with the regions’ other packs moving in closer; we need to increase our numbers.

“Then why don’t you mate?” Sasha snapped.

“Sasha,” Jake said reproachfully, clenched fist banging on the table and making her jump. “You are well aware that I’m working on it; this is all we can do for now.”

Sasha bent her head down submissively, hating that she was being reprimanded but hating even more that she hurt her Alpha. Jake was Alpha and had lost his mate several years back. Going through such a loss still grieved him tremendously.

It was hard to gain Sasha’s respect, but out of everyone, Alpha or otherwise, Jake had her utmost.

“Alright, I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand why it has to be me. Mate some of the Omegas, or the Gammas, but not me.”

“We will,” Jake sighed, standing and walking towards the window of the pack home, staring out at the woods behind their cabin wistfully. Sasha could tell that he’d like to be doing anything but this. “But they will be less restless if they see us doing it. I’m courting Bryan, and I have thoroughly vetted your arranged mate; I think he will be a good match.”

Sasha snorted, “If I have to take orders from anyone other than my Alpha, I’d rather I got to choose.”

“Yes, I took that into account,” Jake said, arms bulging as he repeatedly clenched and released his fists. “I did a lot of follow up on his character. He has a strong personality, almost as strong as yours; I think you’ll be able to handle him.”

“Is he a stick?” Sasha asked. She was what could be considered a curvy woman. She had an ample bust, a thick waist, and curves in all the right places, if she did say so herself. She had long brown hair with luscious curls and full lips always perfectly painted in a scarlet red. And, with her equally full personality, she could be a lot to handle. She had no time for men she could push over with a feather.

Jake chuckled. “He’s bigger than me,” he said, flexing his relatively large bicep for effect.

Sasha pursed her lips, attempting to determine whether or not that was a good thing. She didn’t want a stick, but she didn’t know if she could quite handle someone with a professional body-builder’s physique. There came a point, somewhere around when your muscles have their own muscles, that you were too built.

“Just give him a chance. Please. For me?”

She shook her head, still in disbelief at the whole situation. “How long do we have until this whole joining of mates ceremony is supposed to take place?”

“Two weeks,” Jake sighed, “he’s arriving tomorrow; I’ve arranged for you two to spend the time before the ceremony in a nice bed-and-breakfast an hour away. It’s all paid for, courtesy of me. It helps when you come from a line of Alphas who had no qualms about breaking laws that they saw to be irrelevant. It lead to the stock market crash but that was just a tiny hiccup. Don’t worry about any of the costs.”

Sasha grinned at Jake, an almost predatory smile. “Oh don’t worry. In fact, I think I’ll order a nice pricey bottle of champagne just for the occasion.”

Jake rolled his eyes, knowing that Sasha would do it too. “Alright, do what you will, get it out of your system, just as long as you make it work.”

Sasha smirked. “I’ll give it a shot.”

-x-x-x-

Sasha waited on the front porch of the pack house, wanting to get this whole thing over with. She would acquiesce to her Alpha’s request, but she had no intention of going easy on this potential mate of hers. If it wouldn’t work, it wouldn’t work, and she had no intention of simply forcing it to work. If this guy couldn’t handle her, she would just have to let Jake know that he’d have to go back to the drawing board and try again.

She sat on the front steps, dressed in a simple black pencil skirt and a white blouse, with her lips painted red to match her fingernails. She had made sure to curl her hair, and had even put it up with a white headband to better show off her face.

Jake had asked if she wanted him there for the initial meeting, but Sasha knew that’d he’d only try to play peacekeeper. She needed to do this on her own; no peacekeeping, no easing the waters, she’d be blunt, and she’d be honest. If he couldn’t handle that, that wasn’t her problem.

She heard the car’s wheels on gravel before she saw the car. In a few seconds a black Mercedes was rolling up to the front of the house. So the pack they were dealing with was a wealthy one, no wonder Jake felt he could spend freely; he hoped to be getting a return on his investment.

Finally the car came to a stop and a tall man stepped out. The sun was glaring off of the top of the door, obscuring his face. Carefully, she removed her sunglasses, standing up, brushing off the nonexistent dirt on her skirt and waiting for the man, whose name she still was not aware of, to come and introduce himself to her.

He shut the door, giving her a clear view of his face, and, she had to admit, it wasn’t a bad sight to see. He had a strong, chiseled face, a strong but neatly trimmed beard, and vivid blue eyes. He wore a simple red shirt and a leather jacket that she thought belonged in some 80s movie, and dark-wash jeans. He wore converse, an odd choice for footwear but it was better than the cowboy boots she had half expected to see.

He walked up to her, stony faced but eyes giving off a note of welcome. Finally, he came to a stop a few feet in front of her, offering a small smile in way of easing the slight tension that was already filling the air.

“Hi, I’m Chris. I guess you’re my new mate.”

Sasha raised an eyebrow; he had a hint of a British accent. Interesting. “Potential mate,” she corrected, extending a hand out for him to shake.

He smirked, taking it in his own and, instead of shaking it, placing a soft kiss on the back of it.

“Alright, potential mate then. I was under the impression that you didn’t quite have a choice.”

She scoffed, “You don’t know me yet, but I don’t take orders very well.”

Chris nodded, “Well, I don’t give orders lightly, but I like them to be followed.”

“Well, then I guess these next two weeks are going to rub you the wrong way. Because, last I checked you don’t have the authority of an Alpha, and even if you were my mate, you can only strongly suggest, never force. So, let’s get one thing straight,” she said, poking him in the chest firmly but not enough to hurt, “you can give all the orders you’d like, but I will decide if I think they merit following. Now, shall we get going?”

Sasha didn’t wait for a response, heading to the car, her heels clicking softly against the paved gravel.

“Are you at least going to tell me your name?” Chris called out behind her.

“Sasha,” she said back, “remember it because I’m not going to tell you again.”

-x-x-x-

The car ride to the bed and breakfast was interesting to say the least. Chris wasn’t a bad driver per se, but he was an erratic one. He tended to take turns too fast and he liked testing the edges of the speed limit much too often.

“You know, you are allowed to go under the speed limit,” Sasha quipped, manicured nails tapping nervously against the dashboard.

“Yes, but then where would the fun in that be?” Chris smiled.

“The fun, would be taking a leisurely, non-nauseating ride.”

“I’ll say again, no fun in that.”

Sasha growled low, something that Chris refused to admit sent a bit of a shiver down his spine.

“How much longer before we get there then?”

Chris shrugged, attempting to convey nonchalance after Sasha’s somewhat successful attempt at intimidation. “About another 20 minutes or so.”

Sasha sighed, sitting back and preparing for the ride as she fiddled with the radio, looking for a station that she could tolerate but that she hoped to annoy Chris with. Finally, she found an upbeat pop station; tolerable, but from Chris’ pursed lips, she could tell he was less than enthusiastic about her choice.

If his driving was going to remain erratic, she could at least encourage him to end it sooner by getting to their destination faster.

-x-x-x-

The bed and breakfast was a nice, quaint little inn on the edge of a sparsely populated but cozy town. Sasha had to admit, Jake had chosen well.

They found a parking space, and Chris got their luggage out of the trunk before they headed in. He made a point of opening the door for her in a show of chivalry, and she gave a somewhat sarcastic curtsey and a genuine smile in return.

The clerk was very pleasant, though she falsely congratulated them on their ‘recent nuptial’, having assumed from Jake’s call that they were on their honeymoon. Chris hadn’t bothered to correct her, and, after being informed that they were in the Honeymoon Suite, they headed upstairs to find their room.

Sasha was impressed. The room was huge. It had a bathroom with a luxurious whirlpool tub and a wide assortment of designer bubble baths.

The windows overlooked a quaint prairie with a lovely bubbling creek, and the room as a whole was very tastefully decorated in light blues and turquoise. There was one drawback however . . .

“There’s only one bed,” Sasha said, for some reason surprised by the fact. “Of course.”

“Well, we are going to be getting very close once we’ve mated.”

“IF we mate,” Sasha said, grabbing her suitcase from his hand and bringing it over to the bed to begin unpacking. “I’m sure there are some spare blankets in the closet; we can trade off sleeping on the floor.”

“No,” Chris said, sitting on one of the chairs around the tea table in the room. “We’ll share the bed.”

Sasha raised an eyebrow, placing her hands on her hips, “So you’re really going to make a woman sleep on the floor for two weeks. That’s a great man for you.”

“I’m not making you sleep on the floor, in fact, I won’t let you. You’re going to share the bed with me.”

“No, I’m not,” Sasha said, “I barely know you.”

“Well that’s the point of this whole visit now isn’t it?” Chris said, crossing one leg over the other and gesturing to the room, “getting to know each other. Now, I’m going to say this once, Sasha. We’re sharing the bed.”

Sasha gritted her teeth at the very clear command, her she-wolf rankling at an order from a stranger. Still, yet another part of her wolf side was trying to submit, warring with her other half on how to respond to the order.

She wrinkled her nose at the inward confusion, deciding that she could partially give in if it would at least appease her wolf side to some degree. “Fine, we’ll share the bed, but you’re sleeping on top of the covers and I’m not going to argue the point, it’s final.”

Chris smirked, knowing that he had gotten his way and asserted at least some authority. “Ma’am yes ma’am,” he said, giving her a mock salute.

“So, how do you plan to pass these next fourteen days anyways?” Sasha asked, walking over to the dresser and picking up one of the pamphlets laying on top. She flipped through it, making mental notes of some of the few listed attractions that sounded mildly appealing and wondering if she should have brought books or something of the sort to entertain herself.

“Well, I suppose we could play a couple hundred rounds of twenty questions,” Chris grinned, earning a begrudging smile from Sasha that made her quickly turn to hide the expression, though Chris caught sight of it for the briefest moment.

“I think I’ll pass on that,” Sasha said, picking up the next pamphlet and perusing through the different dining options available.

“Then how should we get to know one another?”

“Who says we have to?” Sasha asked glibly.

“Look,” Chris said, standing up and walking over to Sasha. He plucked the pamphlet out of her hand, giving it a brief once-over before tossing it onto the bed. “I’m a Beta, and I know, as headstrong as you are, you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t given a command from your Alpha. And, I was told you were a Beta. So, we both have extreme incentives to make this work. So, like it or not, we’re going to get to know one another. I just thought you’d like some input into how we go about doing so.”

Sasha was silent for a long moment, mulling over his words distastefully and considering her options. Finally, with a deep sigh, she said, “Alright, let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” Chris asked, following behind her.

“To the liquor store; if I’m going to act like a teenaged schoolgirl at a slumber party and play twenty questions with you, I’m sure as hell not doing it sober.”

Chris smiled, “To the liquor store it is then.”

-x-x-x-

For such a small town, there were quite a few stores advertising alcohol in the area, all sporting exceedingly creative names.

Finally, Chris pulled into the parking lot of a store titled Tipsy Tilly’s and got out of the car, quickly running around to the passenger side to open the door for Sasha.

“Thank you,” she said curtly, getting out and adjusting her blouse that the seatbelt had let drift to the side.

Chris winked, noticing her adjustment and internally pouting just a bit at the disappearance of her white lace bra and ample cleavage.

“Eyes up here,” Sasha smirked, pointing to her own brown eyes before turning away and sauntering into the store.

Chris didn’t mind the embarrassment, instead tilting his head to get a better angle to view her swaying hips. When deciding on whether or not Sasha would be a good fit for Chris, Chris’ Alpha had asked if he was a ‘boobs man’ or an ‘ass man’. Chris had politely and a bit embarrassedly declined to answer. So, it appeared his Alpha got him the best of both worlds.

“So, what’s your poison of choice?” Chris asked, catching up to Sasha.

“Vodka or tequila,” Sasha said, her red high-heels clicking against the linoleum as she perused the aisle. “I assume you’re going to be paying?”

“Tis the gentlemanly way m’lady.”

Sasha smiled in spite of herself. “Excellent, then I can get the good stuff.”

“How good is good?” Chris asked, a bit worried for his wallet’s sake at the mischievous smile Sasha gave him in reply.

He picked up a basket, following behind her like a dutiful puppy as she picked up bottles, inspected them, and put them back down.

After ten minutes, they were at the checkout counter with a $50 bottle of tequila and a $65 bottle of vodka, a chaser, plastic cups, and two penguin shaped shot glasses that Sasha had adorably insisted on.

“You weren’t kidding when you said only the best.” Chris joked, dutifully paying for the items and thanking the cashier when she handed him the bag.

Sasha smiled, walking to the car with Chris in step with her. “Well, I did pass up the $300 bottle of wine so, it could be better.”

“Are you always this difficult?” Chris asked, getting into the car and buckling his seat. He looked over to Sasha, frowning when she didn’t buckle her own seatbelt. “And buckle up; click it or ticket.”

“It’s a short drive, and the speed limit is 25 here, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“Nope, not on my watch. My mately duties require that I protect you, and ensuring that you are safe in a car is part of that.”

“Oh please, you’re just trying to get me to buckle up in the hopes that it’ll pull down my shirt a little bit.”

“Yes,” Chris admitted bluntly, “but I’m also genuinely concerned for your safety. There is no chance that I’m moving this car an inch until you buckle up.”

“Well don’t hold your breath.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Chris grinned, leaning in across her and grabbing her seatbelt, brushing against her chest in a happy accident and buckling the belt for her. “Now, let’s get going.”