Unexpectedly Mated (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance): An Alpha male. A curvy but sassy BBW. A trip to Sin City neither will ever forget. (Sassy Mates) (4 page)

The Wolfe’s had joined in the fight to help Caleb, but with Karla
expecting multiples, Nate spent less time with Caleb’s group’s hunt, and more time with his mate. So it seemed Jake the man-whore was now splitting his time between hunt and the strip joint. Talk about multi-tasking.

“So is everyone
ready to listen to our idea?” Barbara asked as she sat down on one of the super plush yellow sofas in Nic’s bright living room.

Nic loved those damn sofas so much. She swore if she had furniture it had to be comfortable enough to sleep in or she’d never buy it.  She had a tendency
to read on them and fall asleep, so she wanted to be comfortable. Grading papers sometimes took a while and it was better to do it in the living room. For some reason whenever she tried to grade them in her bed she’d get distracted with thoughts of the man-whore mutt.

Man bashing night and wine had somehow been turned into man
bashing, wine and wedding talk. Poor Jordan had started to look like she wanted the whole thing over and done with already. Her enthusiasm had gone from sky high to non-existent lately.

“What’s your idea, Barbara?” Jordan hugged a decorative gold pillow to her chest, her eyes wide with interest and a spark of curiosity. Then there was that gold ring around her iris. Nic wouldn’t get used to that. Jordan
had turned into a shifter. It made her friend powerful and dangerous. Not to mention she was mated to the future Wolfe Pack first born Alpha son, Aric. Jordan didn’t need Aric to be Alpha and save her. She was her own Alpha female with enough sass to string a man by the balls. One of Jordan’s many lovely qualities adored by all in their group.

“Well
…” Barbara handed Jordan a glass of wine, her smile wide. “I think you’ve been under too much pressure lately.” She glanced pointedly toward Emma.

“Hey!” Emma stopped her glass of wine mid-flight to her lips
with one brow lifted high. “I will have you know I haven’t asked her a single wedding-related question in the past–” she peeked down at her cell phone “–twenty minutes.”

“That’s because you’ve been busy complaining over Mason.” Ellie snorted. She dodged the pillow Emma threw at her and stuck her tongue out in retaliation.

“Settle down, girls.” Barbara sat down on a matching chair. “Nic came up with a great idea on our last shopping trip.”

“You guys went shopping without me again?” Emma pouted.

Hell yeah they went without her. Just the thought of Emma pointing out how the rows of shoes were not displayed to the ease of the customer. Followed by thirty minutes telling the store owner about it. The thought alone made Nic frown. They so did not want to go through that one again.

“Her idea is that we go away to Vegas for a few days,” Barbara said
, skipping over Emma’s question.

“Vegas?” Ellie and Jordan shouted at the same time.

“Vegas, baby.” Nic grinned.

Jordan sat up in her chair, took a sip of her wine and
smirked.  “I like where this is going. Someone tell me more.”

Nic was glad her idea had given Jordan a smile when referring to her wedding again. Her friend had lost some of the spark for her upcoming nuptials. Nic was sure it had nothing to do with
marriage to the love of her life, Aric. Probably more to do with the overwhelming details that went into a massive wedding. Apparently packs from all over wanted to attend and it created the need for bigger and better every day. Something Jordan just wasn’t into.

“Oooh! I know!
A Bachelorette party?” Ellie’s blue eyes sparkled with mischief.

“Hang on a second
.” Emma waved her glass in the air. “Is this like a girl’s only trip?”

Everyone quieted.  Barbara shifted in her seat. “I don’t see why not. I know Karla’s not here and she’s been feeling sick so she probably can’t make it, but Aric would welcome Jordan getting some time away from the tensions between our pack and the Rahounds.”

Ellie pursed her lips. “Yes. Not that Caleb will speak to me. He won’t even see me right now.”

This was the first time Ellie voice
d her frustration in front of the group. Nic blinked and glanced at the others. Poor Ellie. Caleb was being very hardheaded about staying away from Ellie. Jordan appeared to be the only one not shocked over her outburst.

“Things are not so simple, darling,” Barbara murmured.

Ellie’s shoulders drooped. Nic’s heart ached for her friend. Ellie reminded her so much of her sister Letty. They were both sweet but so strong and always willing to put themselves out there for anyone. She really needed to go visit her sister. Lately, she missed her more than usual.

It might have something to do with the fact Nic had moved to a stage in her life where she wanted
to explore new things. Like maybe having someone long-term. She’d half-assed dated for years. Never giving men a chance to really get to know her. To get to know the real her. All everyone saw was the high maintenance pretty face. But she had feelings. Even if she hid them in order to keep herself from getting hurt.

“I’m sorry, Ellie,” Nic said
, patting Ellie’s shoulder, level to her knees. “He is probably just worried about you.”

All the men of the Wolfe pack and even Caleb
, from what Nic knew, were very careful when it came to women. They were highly protective and would do anything to keep them out of harm’s way. Sometimes, harm had a tendency of finding them.

Barbara met Nic’s gaze and smiled. “He is very worried and won’t allow anything to happen to Ellie again. So he’s keeping a distance.”

“I understand.” Ellie sighed. “I don’t agree with it, but I understand.” She glanced up. Her gaze collided with Nic’s. “Oftentimes we have to make sure they see us. The real us. Even if it means throwing caution to the wind and going for what we want.”

Nic’s breath pumped hard in her lungs.
Her hands turned slick with sweat. She didn’t know what that meant but she knew there was a hidden message there. For her. Ellie knew her reservations about Jake. They all knew. So it was clear she wanted her to do something about it and stop letting her fear of emotions stop her from whatever they could have. Not that she had a frickin’ clue what that was, but shit, at least not let it stop her from trying to figure it out.

“Let’s do this
.” Jordan hopped off her chair to sit down on the rug by Ellie. She hugged Ellie to her side, the love for her friend clear for the others to see. “I think we can all use a short getaway. The men are busy and I know Aric would prefer for me to not be near now that tension is that much higher.”

“Since we’re pretty sure the men aren’t coming
, this is definitely a bachelorette trip. Oh! This is a good time to remind you all that my family has a home out there, but we aren’t on the best of terms.” Nic nodded. “Yes, you remember our conversation about my mother and step-father. They are ass-kissing high society suck-ups.” She downed a gulp of her wine. “On the plus side, my sister Letty just started working at the SAU Hotel.”

Emma frowned. “I don’t recall ever hearing of the SAU hotel.”

“It’s the Shifters Access Unlimited. All shifters, except vamps. They’re not welcome. But yeah, you can find shifters from all over the world in there.” Barbara grinned and placed a tray of mini cheeseburger sliders on Nic’s giant glass and marble coffee table. “That’s where we’re staying. The boys wouldn’t want us anywhere we couldn’t bring our own people.”

“Lovely.” Emma groaned
. She licked her lips as she stared at the food. “Oh, well. At least I get a break from Mason and his bitchiness over going to his club.”

Nic picked up a tiny cheeseburger to munch on. She could never decide what to eat, but luckily the small sliders were just one of four items on the menu tonight. If she had more choices she’d probably sit there for an hour trying to figure out what she was in the mood for. “Maybe if he stopped catching you snooping around, he’d actually
let you stay.”

Emma sniffed. “I’m doing research.
I heard there’s some talk about vamps.”

Nic rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m just saying, if you stop fighting the guy already and just give in, we’d all get some peace of mind.”

“Amen!” Barbara chimed in.

Everyone turned to glance at her. Then they all burst into giggles. Emma didn’t appear the least bit annoyed by Nic’s words. She smiled, a devilish brightness
entering her hazel eyes.

“I will have you know, the day I stop annoying the shit out of Mason will be the day he wonders what the hell is wrong with me.”

Very probable, considering they all worried when she wasn’t up to something.

“So…” Ellie cleared her throat. “Vegas?”

“I’m in!” Emma mumbled through bites of her small burger.

“Me too,” Barbara said, passing Ellie the bottle of wine.

Jordan twirled a long lock of dark hair between her fingers, light glinting off her engagement ring. “I don’t know. Will there be strippers?” She raised her brows. Curiosity filled her gaze. “I can probably be convinced if we go to one of those shows.”

“There better be strippers,” Barbara muttered. She gave a sheepish grin when they all grew silent and stared at her wide-eyed. “I mean, what’s a bachelorette party without hunky men gyrating in tiny G-strings, right?”

“Right on, Barbara.” Emma laughed.

Ellie chuckled. “Well if there’s hot half-naked or any sort of naked men, I’m in!”

Nic laughed and licked a smidge of mayo from her thumb. “You’ve all been spoiled by Jake’s club.”

“Hell yeah! Have you paid any attention when we’ve gone in there? Those shifters are hot!” Emma
shouted and then took a sip of wine. “All muscular and sexy.”

Nic hadn’t really paid any attention to the men stripping because she’d been too busy watching Jake move around the club with a handle of employees and customers following him around. It was damn frustrating.
She was turning bipolar. On one side she was fighting her emotions for him. On another, she was angry over his club and all those women. Pretty soon she’d tear her hair out if something didn’t give.

Jordan’s brows dipped and she pouted. “This blows. I haven’t been to the Naked Wolfe yet.”

Ellie patted her leg. “You go to the Naked Wolfe and Aric would probably scare the shit out of every male in there hauling you home.”

“He’s such a party pooper.” Jordan
tossed her hair over her shoulder and blew a raspberry.

Barbara
chortled and handed Jordan another burger. “Possessive, dear. The word you’re looking for when referring to any of my boys is possessive.”

Nic snorted. Not Jake. He’d been so casual about them it was like…like what? There wasn’t even a them. Maybe that’s what she needed to do. Go to Vegas and find someone who did want to be involved with her.

“Remind me again why I’m marrying him?” Jordan growled and bit down on her food with so much force the entire thing broke into small pieces.

“Love? Hot sex? Hot man? Hot man that loves you
and gives you hot sex?” Nic tried to supply her answers.

“Yeah
, yeah, it’s all of the above. Damn furball!” Jordan sighed. “I so hope this trip is what I need. I’ve been feeling so overwhelmed with this whole wedding thing. I swear if it were up to me we’d grab a license and be done with it.”

“Don’t worry, Jordan. We’ll make sure you have fun from the moment we arrive
,” Emma promised.

Uh-oh. Emma was going on planning mode.
By the worried smiles and frowns, Emma had knocked some of the fun out of the upcoming trip. She was really good at stressing people out with her incessant plans. “How about we just ensure she gets to a spa and sees some half-naked men. I think that will help,” Nic offered.

Jordan nodded
. Relief flashed through her eyes. “I like how you think, Nic!”

“Now all we need is to decide when.” Barbara’s enthusiasm was obvious
with the way she bounced in her seat like a kid ready to go play.

“Why wait? Let’s get out of here tomorrow
,” Jordan decreed.

“Let’s do it!” Ellie agreed with a firm nod.
“See ya later, Blue Creek. Hello, Sin City.”

“They’re off to
the SAU hotel in Vegas,” Aric answered when Mason questioned the exact location of the women.

Jake glanced around Aric’s bar and sighed. With his hand curled tightly around his beer bottle, he had to remind himself not to let his anger dictate his actions. But Nic’s message had done what fighting a bunch of rogues for the past few weeks hadn’t. Made his blood boil. He’d been neck deep in blood and gore when he heard of the trip. Glad that Nic and the others would be far from the instability of Blue Creek, he had encouraged his mother when she’d relayed the news.

Of course, his attempt to keep Nic calm about their relationship didn’t go as planned. So much had gone on. The club and the hunt with Caleb had kept him busy and he thought he’d give Nic room to breathe. It seems that had been the wrong thing to do.

“Jake, you alright?” Aric asked, his voice deep with concern.
He knew better than anyone how hard it was to get these women to commit to their matings.

“Didn’t you hear?” Mason answered before he could. “Apparently Nic is pissed at him for snooping around her house.”

Aric’s brows shot up. “Snooping?”

Mason laughed and lifted his beer in a mock cheer. “According to Ellie, he’s stalking her.”

“Why are you stalking her?” Aric appeared even more confused.

Jake growled, the anger over the messages she’d sent him all but pushing his shift. “I didn’t stalk her. I merely checked the perimeter of her house to ensure she’s safe.”
He squeezed his teeth together and swore his jaw would break at any moment from the pressure. “Seeing as she’s ignoring my every attempt at talking to her, I have been using the time to make sure she’s okay behind the walls of her house.”

Mason nodded. “Yep. That’s where the stalking comes in.” He gulped his beer before continuing. “You see, caring for their safety makes us somehow stupid. I still haven’t figured out how or why.”

Aric chuckled as if the damn thing was a joke. Jake growled again and his brother laughed harder.

“You have to learn to trust your women to know what they’re doing,”
he said as if he knew the inner workings of women’s minds.

Mason rolled his eyes and slammed his beer bottle on the table. “Bro, you’re one to talk. Jordan is the first to actually accept the change as first mated and you still have guards on her ass like someone’s gonna steal her.”

“Fuck you, Mase.” Aric growled, showing his younger brother his large canines.

“I’m not judging. Hell,
I’ve told you guys before, if I could figure out how to put a tracker on Emma’s ass without her noticing, it would make my life so much easier.”

Jake choked on his beer and finally allowed some of his anger to leave him
with the laughter that blossomed. The visual of Emma beating Mason over a tracking device to her ass was priceless.

“Stop worrying so much
.” Aric motioned for more beer. “They’ve got Shaari and Kel and like four other enforcers.”

“Not to mention
we’re headed out there in a few hours.” Mason grinned. “Can’t let Emma run around wild for long or she might get herself into trouble.”

Aric sighed. “Trouble has a tendency of finding Jordan. Besides, I have a meeting with Jaxon Gold.”

“Nic never gets into trouble.” Jake chuckled. “Thank God for small miracles.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Aric said passing Jake his cell phone. “That’s from mom.”

“What’s she saying?” Mason jerked out his phone then glanced around. “I didn’t get a message.”

Jake shook his head,
then picked up a beer and took a long gulp. “Mom’s asking when I’m getting my ass to Vegas to claim my mate.”

“
She’s never been that pushy with me.” Mason ran a hand through his hair. “How come you get special treatment?”

If that’s what he wanted to call it. His mother knew something he didn’
t. Nic had been playing games. She pushed him away only to get angry when he wasn’t around. He didn’t understand and was getting tired of it.

“You should come with us.” Aric grinned at the sound of Jake’s growl.

Fucking hell. He hated that he glanced down at his phone and his last message from Nic was about how much fun she was going to have because she was a single woman. She had to be looking for a spanking.

“I think I will. My mate seems to think I’m some sort of toy to be played with.”

Mason’s eyes crinkled at the corners and his laughter boomed around the bar. “I’m glad I’m not the only one having issues with my woman. They’re a handful, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, but they’re definitely worth every single headache.” Aric laughed.

“Nicole?”

“Hi sis!” Nic felt awful calling her sister from the airport but she was dying to see her. That they’d stay in the same hotel Letty worked at made things that much easier for her. Sadness, along with annoyance that she’d allowed her mother and step-father keep her away from her sister, filled her. She needed to stop letting them piss her off. Misery wormed its way into her heart. It had been so long since she’d spent time with her sister. She was tired of arguments with her mother about the way she chose to live her life.

“Are you here yet?” Letty’s said breathlessly. “Sorry, lugging a box to one of the storage rooms and trying to hold a phone to my ear isn’t working well right now.”

“We’ll be there soon, but you’re sure you can make time?” She bit her lip and followed behind the group of shifters and friends, along with Kel, Karla’s brother who decided to join them, and Shaari who was their personal enforcer guard.

The moment they exited the airport, the heat slapped her in the face full force. It
overpowered with its dryness. She squinted and brought her sunglasses down from the top of her head. Beads of perspiration crawled down her back. She needed a shower as soon as possible. Hopefully her room had a massive soaking tub she could lay in for hours and just relax.

“I’m fine! I am dying to see you. We haven’t hung out since last summer and that was only for a weekend
,” Letty said, more shuffling noises coming from across the line. “Call me once you get here. I missed you, sis.”

“I will. I missed you too,” she mumbled and ended the call.
Guilt tore holes in her chest. She’d never do that again. It wasn’t Letty’s fault that their mother was a blood sucking leech.

A large black Cadillac limo waited for them by the curb. The words SAU and
decals with claw marks covered each of the doors.

“You ladies ready for some fun?” Kel asked, his gaze not once leaving Shaari.
Something was going on between those two, but by the way Shaari ignored him, it seemed he had a tough road ahead.

“I’m ready for a drink and a pool
,” Jordan said, fanning herself. “Why didn’t anyone tell me this place was the equivalent of hell on earth with all this heat?”

“Oh yeah, this is the reason I hate coming to Vegas,” Emma murmured. “I knew there was reason, I just couldn’t remember what it was. The infernal heat.”

“Is it just me or does anyone else feel like their sandals are melting into the sidewalk?” Ellie glanced down at her feet and wigged her toes. Her bright pink nail polish contrasted against her pale skin.

The drivers held doors open for them to hop right into
the limo. Cool air filled the inside and killed off some of the exasperating heat.

“It’s a definite. We’ll have to make sure we never leave air conditioning if we don’t want to burn to ash
,” Jordan hissed, popping open her bottle of water and taking a gulp.

“I thought vamps were the ones that had to worry about turning to ash,” Nic said, pushing her wet bangs away from her sticky forehead.  She’d left without saying a word to Jake and it annoyed her that he never bothered to call her. His single text message from that morning had annoyed her even further. ‘Don’t get married.’ Obviously the others were wrong. He loved the single life and he wasn’t giving it up.

And maybe if she figured out what the hell
she
wanted, she could demand from him some kind of either sexual or emotional commitment instead of having herself and him in limbo. She had given herself a migraine thinking so damn hard.

The drive through the desert to the hotels wasn’t long. Nic was used to visiting her family there once she left home. For years her mother refused to forgive her for giving up modeling.
She’d made a lot of money and her mother couldn’t understand why she didn’t want the constant spotlight.

“We finally get to meet Letty!” Ellie
cheered.

It seemed just leaving Blue Creek had done wonders for Ellie and Jordan. There was much more life and enthusiasm in both of them.

“Yeah. She looks a lot like me, which is weird since we have different fathers, but I guess it’s because we sort of take after mom.” Nic winced. “At least in looks alone. Personalities? Not even a little.”

“Isn’t your mother on like every charit
y board there is?” Barbara glanced down at her cell phone, typing furiously fast with her thumbs.

She sure was. Anything that would get Dina exposure to others in high society meant she wanted to be a part of it. Dina was lucky Nic’s dad had worked hard and had a massive bank account
, along with life insurance to his name, before he passed. It really was the only way her mother had been able to spend the past twenty five years without having to work or lift a finger other than to tell her staff what she wanted.

“Yeah. Everything that revolves around making her seem like she’s at the top of society, she’s there.” Nic hated that her mother was so superficial. So obsessed with making herself and her family appear so materialistic. Even with all those charities, Dina’s ultimate goal in life was to fit in with the who’s who of the west coast.

When they arrived at the beautiful all glass SAU Hotel, Nic’s brows flew upward. The hotel was massive. It easily rivaled one of the larger strip hotels like the Bellagio or Caesar’s Palace.

The lobby, all glass with stainless steel along with some columns thrown in, created an atmosphere of modern and antique that blended beautifully. A giant bear, wolf and cat marble fountain sat in the center of the open space.
Their big domineering stances showed off the danger as well as the power in the shifter community.

Chills ran down her spine and goose bumps broke over her arms. “Geez, think the AC is a little high?”

“I think it’s perfect.” Jordan sighed. She twisted her long hair into a bun and clipped it up. “Have you looked outside? It’s like the bowels of hell opened up without the flames.”

“There’s no need to be so dramatic
,” Emma grumbled, lips twisted in a pout.

Ellie laughed. “Dramatic? I think Jordan was right on point. I dare you to go sit out in the sidewalk for ten minutes and not come back with blisters on your ass.”

Emma sniffed. She waved her hand dramatically at Ellie. “My ass is perfect, thank you very much.”

Kel and Shaari
, along with a second enforcer, got their rooms and luggage. Nic’s phone buzzed. ‘Don’t get married!’

Jake was such a
dick. If he didn’t want her to do anything like marry someone else then he should open his mouth and talk about what he did want. A spark of evil lit inside her. She decided to reply. ‘Oops. Too late. I plan on getting roaring drunk and hitched tonight. See you on the flip side, mutt!’ There. Take that and suck on it Jake-too-damn-hot-for-your-own-good Wolfe.

“Nic?”

Nicole whirled around at the sound of Letty’s voice. There was a blink of silence before she and Letty squealed and hugged. Her heart raced with happiness. It felt like forever since she’d seen her. She pulled back and stared at her baby sister.

“You look amazing!” Nic grinned.

Letty’s eyes, the only thing she got from Nic’s step-father, were big, an almost amber color, and sparkled liquid gold. If she wasn’t her sister she’d swear Letty was a shifter. But she wasn’t. She was a regular human just like Nic with way too many issues with her parents.

Nic made quick introductions of Letty to the others and continued to
stare around the massive hotel. Everything from well-dressed couples to men and women in muddy torn clothing passed by. All shifters.