Wanted by the Alphas (An Extremely Sensual Paranormal Shifter Romance) (2 page)

Anchoring the town square is a lovely old
church with stain glass windows.

“Look out for Pine’s Bluff, will you?” Jared
growls.

He is not in a better mood because his
clothes are starting to dry in the car’s heater and they are
beginning to emit a rank odor. She supposes she smells no
better.

“I have no idea what we’re looking for,” she
says.

She supposes she should have asked the
handsome blond man where Pine’s Bluff is. But honestly, the
situation didn’t allow it. It was one akin to a Mexican standoff,
and if you were pointing imaginary guns at each other’s heads, it
wouldn’t be too cool to ask: ‘Um, where is this dueling spot you
speak of again?’

The town slopes up from its center and the
hillside dots with more houses. Every one of the houses is
different in style, and every one of them comes with a neatly
structured garden. Perhaps they give out prizes here for neatness,
because it is truly a picture perfect town. When it is not obscured
by rain, of course.

Shannon teases out her cellphone from her
purse. She is glad she left her purse in the car earlier or the
rain would have soaked through the suede. She shouldn’t have bought
suede. It is notoriously difficult to keep clean. Once suede is
wet, weird imprints are left on it, like geographical maps of
strange countries.

She taps her GPS application. It isn’t
foolproof, but since Jared won’t invest in a Garmin, it’s the best
she can do.

“Are you looking?” he says.

“I’m looking.”

His impatience makes her nervous. When she’s
being hurried, she tends to type in the wrong letters on the
Android touch screen.

Before she can press ‘Done’, he exclaims:
“Pine’s Bluff!”

She looks up.

The sign before the huge white mansion says:
‘PINE’S BLUFF’. OK, no mistakes to be made there. The house itself
is very Pacific Northwest in design with many sprawling wings,
gables and lots of wood paneling and plenty of roofs in every
aspect of the three floors it boasts. But the parking lot which is
half filled with cars suggests it is a commercial building.

The white Merc is parked at a spot marked
‘Reserved’. Either the Merc’s owner is a ‘Very Important Person’ or
he actually owns the place. Shannon remembers the ease in which he
mentioned ‘Pine’s Bluff’, as though it is a territory he has staked
out and laid out the land mines and heavy artillery.

The rain has tapered off to a drizzle. There
is an umbrella in the car, but someone has very wisely put it into
the booth, and neither she nor Jared has bothered taking it out.
Good planning, this.

The car grinds to a halt. The parking lot is
fringed by lawns, and she glimpses a flower garden beyond those
lawns going to the back of the mansion.

“Come on,” Jared says. “We better remove our
bags if we want to change into some dry clothes. I don’t reckon on
starting a fight if I’m sodden.”

“You’re not going to start any fight.”

She knows he has to struggle daily to keep
his temper under control, and she knows it’s not his fault really.
It’s the chromosomes he has in his makeup and the hormones coursing
through his flesh. To ask him to be any different would be to ask
him to alter his own DNA. She might as well shoot a tranquilizer
dart into him.

They take their suitcases out from the booth
anyway. Hers is a lot heavier than his, but he doesn’t offer her
any help. Jared has never been a gentleman for as long as she has
known him. He is too much of a selfish alpha to be one. Now they
have to find a restroom and change their clothes, if Pine’s Bluff
would be so kind to allow them to do so.

A ‘WELCOME’ sign loudly proclaims that ‘ROOMS
FOR RENT’ can be found in here. So her first impression is right.
It is a B&B. Maybe even a small boutique hotel.

The white double doors open into a reception
area. It is small, tasteful, and lined with oak paneling.
Watercolors of the cliffs and stormy blue sea line the wall behind
the reception desk. An elderly man looks up and smiles.

“What can I do for you, Sir? Miss?”

It wouldn’t be a bad idea to stay here, she
thinks. The whole place has a very homely vibe to it, and she knows
she will be happy here amongst the flowers. But of course, they
can’t stay here if the white Merc’s owner has anything to do with
it. It’s just a stop and go.

“Is there a place we can change out of our
wet clothes?” she asks.

“Certainly, Miss. The restroom is right down
the corner. The weather has been terrible lately with hardly a
break in the rain pattern.”

“Is it always like this in the Pacific
Northwest?”

“Not always, but close at this time of
year.”

Jared places his fist on the reception
counter. His stance of aggression is unmistakable.

“We’re also looking for a man. He’s the owner
of the white Mercedes you have parked outside.”

At this, the man seems taken aback. “You mean
Mr. Lucien Walker?”

“Is that his name?” Jared grins. “Lucien.
Kind of sissy, ain’t it?”

Shannon jabs him. “Pardon his rudeness.
Actually, we don’t need to disturb Mr. Walker – ”

“Hell no,” Jared interrupts. “A challenge is
a challenge. I’ll never back down from one. You can go sit on the
couch over there and wait till it’s all over.”

“You’re not going to fight him!”

“The hell I’m not.”

The receptionist begins to look worried.

“Ah, sir, Mr. Lucien’s family owns this
hotel, among other properties. He is a very prominent member of our
community. I wouldn’t want to have to call security.”

“It’s OK,” says a voice to their right.

Shannon turns. Lucien Walker, prominent
member of Dolphin’s Bay, enters the reception area. His hair has
been toweled dry, and every inch of him affirms the towering blond
god that she thought he would be on the rain-soaked road.

In fact, he is far more magnificent in the
clear light of day.

His eyes are a piercing blue. She is a woman
of medium height, and he stands so tall that she has to crane her
neck up to peer at his face. His family is obviously of
Scandinavian origin. They have emigrated years ago, as his North
Western accent suggests, but his physical characteristics still
bear his Viking roots. His shoulders are broad and he has a
V-shaped waist in comparison. His body is strong and muscular under
his dry white shirt, and she can see little blond hairs peeking out
of his unbuttoned lapels.

God, but he is staggering!

Lucien says again, “It’s OK, Peter. I asked
them to come here. I believe I owe this gentleman the conclusion of
our argument on the road a little earlier.”

Peter seems worried. “Uh, sir, your father
would not like this – ”

“My father has nothing to do with this,”
Lucien snaps. To Jared, he says, “You and I seem to have an
argument about who cut who off on the road. How shall we settle
this?”

“Jared,” Shannon warns. She eyes Lucien
pleadingly. “Please, we don’t want any trouble. We are new here in
this town.”

“All the better to test the waters with the
locals, eh?” Lucien says.

He sizes Jared up. Jared is a tall man,
though not as tall as Lucien. But he is a good several inches
taller than most men at six feet two. Jared’s body is lean and hard
due to his nightly activities. She remembers what she has seen
Jared do before and her chest contracts with sudden fear for the
blond man.

“So what do you say?’ Jared challenges. She
can tell he is itching for a fight. “How good are you at
wrestling?”

Lucien laughs. “Wrestling in the mud? I’m
afraid our weather does not allow for such proclivities. I’m
looking more at a contest of strength. Arm wrestling, if you
will.”

At this, Jared grins. Shannon knows why.
There is no better arm wrestler than Jared Bellamy in Tupelo,
Nevada – from where they came from.

At least they are only arm wrestling. She
almost heaves a sigh of relief. She has seen Jared break men before
in terrifying ways, which is one of the reasons why they had to run
for the Pacific Northwest.

As for the other reason . . . she’s trying
her best to put it out of her mind.

“Fine.” Lucien smiles back. He is poised and
confident, something which does not surprise her. Men of his looks
and obvious riches usually are. But then, he has not met the likes
of Jared. “Let’s raise the stakes, shall we?”

Raise the stakes? Her antenna pricks up. Why
is he so confident? Because he is the bigger man? Because he is
used to being a big man – and she doesn’t only mean physically – in
a small pond?

“What do you have in mind?” Jared says,
suspicious.

“Something I’m sure you’ll agree to. If I
win, you both get free room and board at this fine hotel for as
long as you need to stay.”

Shannon can see the wheels in Jared’s head
churning. Free room and board for as long as they wish to stay?
They might be choosing to stay for a long, long time if she has her
way. Jared, of course, has more wanderlust genes in his body.

Lucien turns to her. “And is this your
wife?”

Jared says quickly, “She’s my sister.”

Yeah, that’s usually his line and what has
most people’s eyebrows rise a tad. They look nothing alike, she
knows. And they shouldn’t, because they are not blood related. He
is auburn-haired and she is dark. Very dark, with hair that gleams
midnight in its darkness. His eyes are brown and hers are a
startling violet. He is tall and she is petite in frame, though she
is not short.

“Sister.” Lucien seems amused by this
revelation.

“We are not related by blood,” she quickly
offers. She wonders why she did that. She is not trying to let him
think she is available, is she?

She finds herself wondering if he is
available too. A man who looks the way he does? No way in hell. She
can imagine all the debutantes lining up to spread their legs for
him.

“And if I lose?” Jared demands in that kind
of lofty tone which indicates that he does not think he will be
losing.

Lucien’s mind seems to be churning quickly as
well.

“If you lose,” his cavalier tone suggests
that he thinks it is a forgone conclusion, “then your
sister
will have to go out on a date with me.”

Shannon lifts her chin in surprise. A date?
Her pulse begins to beat a little faster.
So he is interested in
me too?

Jared is surprised too.

“You want a date with Shannon?”

She bridles at his tone.
Hey, I am
considered very attractive, you know
.

“Fine,” Jared says. “To each his own. He
flexes his right arm. “Let’s do this.”

“Great,” Lucien says, smiling. “Let’s adjourn
to the restaurant. There are plenty of tables there to carry out
our bet.”

WAGER

The one restaurant in the entire hotel is a
modest affair, with red and white checkered tablecloths and neatly
folded napkins in the shape of crowns. Silverware bedecks lacy
place settings. Several tables are occupied, and the patrons turn
their heads to size up the three very attractive young people
coming in.

Shannon’s gaze is immediately drawn to the
garden beyond the wide French windows which surround two walls of
the restaurant. The garden is in full bloom, and the roses are
bountiful in yellow, red, pink and white amid leaves heavy with
raindrops. She almost gasps at their largesse. Coming from a
desert, she rarely sees such growth profusion.

And no wonder, if it rained the way it did
here . . .

An entrance opens out to the patio
surrounding the restaurant. Out there, several tables have also
been placed. However, the tablecloths have all been folded up and
no one is sitting outside. Raindrops speckle the surfaces of the
tables.

A waiter bows deferentially to Lucien. “Table
for three, sir?”

“Not in the way you mean, Tod. Clear a table
for us over there.” Lucien points at a table for two next to the
garden. Not out in the patio, but just inside.

“Clear it, sir?”

“Everything off. We want it clean.” Lucien
motions to the brother and sister pair. “This way, please.”

Jared struts ahead in that cocky way of his
that she detests so much. Plenty of girls find Jared very
attractive – and she supposes he is in his ‘I’m all butch male and
I know it’ kind of way – but she is not one of them. Maybe she did
find him attractive when they first met . . . but not anymore. Not
after living with him and putting up with his moods for all these
years.

Jared pulls a chair and seats himself on it.
Lucien pulls a chair for her and gestures, “If you will be our
witness, Mademoiselle.”

“Thank you.”

She is charmed despite herself. She sits,
taking care to ensure her narrow skirt doesn’t ride up her thighs
too much. He seems to notice this, and she notices that he
notices.

Lucien takes the chair opposite Jared. Jared
places his elbow on the table and proffers his hand. Lucien does
the same. Every single eye in the restaurant is riveted on them,
and Shannon is self-conscious to be in the center of so much
attention.

The two young men lock their grips. Jared’s
eyes are brown steel while Lucien’s are a bright cornflower blue.
She finds herself admiring Lucien’s well-toned forearms with their
sparse blond hairs. She wonders how his large hands would feel like
on her body.

Suddenly, she is not sure who to root for to
win.

It isn’t that she doesn’t love Jared. They
have been together for a long time, for better or worse. But he has
been increasingly volatile of late. She understands the reasons,
but does not actually relish being in the firing line.

Nevertheless, Lucien Walker is turning out to
be a very interesting prospect. Very interesting indeed. Shannon is
not looking for a relationship. She has had too much heartache in
that department, especially with Jared being so unpredictable, but
she is not dead set against having one either.