Free Bride of the Alpha by Georgette St. Clair Page A

Valley Pack are wrong.”
    He laughed, but before he could answer, his cell phone vibrated in his pants pocket. He grabbed it,
    looked at it, and frowned. “I need to take this. Wait here for me; I’ll be right back.”
    He got up and walked away quickly, talking quietly into the phone. “Hold on just a minute, I’m going
    out back so I can talk,” he called out to me.
    I sat there feeling unsettled. I had the distinct feeling that he didn’t want me to see who’d called, and he clearly didn’t want me to listen in on his conversation. Why?
    Was he talking to some hot shifter babe, and if so, did I have any right to be jealous? I’d tricked my way in here, and he’d agreed to stay married to me to help Camille…then again, if he had planned on marrying Camille, he should have severed any romantic ties he’d had before.
    Or had he called up some former flame and let them know that they didn’t have to end things, because
    he would be single again in a few weeks and his marriage was a sham?
    That wasn’t the impression that I’d gotten from him up until now, but the fact that he’d practically run off to answer the phone call took me by surprise.
    I sat there and stewed for a few minutes until he came back and sat down on the porch swing. “So,
    where were we?” he asked, idly trailing a finger up the inside of my thigh. “Oh yes, I was talking about your duties as my sex slave.”
    “Quick question,” I said. “I know this is a weird situation, with the fake marriage, and me pretending to be your wife for three weeks and all. What are the rules?”
    “Rules?”
    “Well, I assume we’re not seeing other people for the duration, right?”
    He stared at me in astonishment, then threw back his head and laughed.
    “Are you serious? You even have to ask?”
    I didn’t want to tell him that I was asking because of the phone call, because that made me sound petty and jealous.
    I shrugged. “Never mind. Let’s talk about practical things, like the fact that I need clothing. My
    apartment is about two hours drive from here. My car’s parked there too. Should I go and pack up what I need?”
    “You can just go into town to the Timber Valley mercantile and get whatever you need,” Maxwell said.
    “Put it on the Battle family’s tab, if I’m not with you when you’re shopping.”
    Outside, slicing through the stillness, we heard the rumble of a truck approaching, with wheels rolling over dirt.
    “Hello, who’s come up here to interrupt my honeymoon weekend? Let’s see who wants their ass kicked
    today.” Max got up and walked over to the pickup truck that had just pulled up front.
    When he came back, his face was like thunder – and it looked as if he was mad at me.
    “What is it?” I asked, shocked at the expression on his face. What could he possibly be angry about?
    He’d already found out the worst thing possible, which was that I’d disguised myself as Camille on his
    wedding day.
    “Was there a reason you just asked me if we’re seeing other people?” he demanded. “Or do you just
    have a really warped sense of humor? Because I’m telling you, Josephine, this isn’t the least bit funny.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “My men are telling me that a wolf shifter just pulled up to our front gate. He says he’s here to pick you up for your date,” he said.

    Chapter Nine
    “My date?” I said, bewildered.
    “Peter Fallworth?”
    Oh, dear God. My blind date. What the hell was he doing here? He and I were supposed to get together
    at my home town of River Run, two hours away. How would he even know I was here?
    “But…I made a date with him before I knew I was getting married.” That was kind of sort of true, even.
    “And you told him to come here?” Max looked outraged. This was serious. This was bad. This was the
    kind of thing that undermined an Alpha’s authority.
    “No, we were supposed to meet in Riverbank, at a coffee shop. I told Bess to cancel it for me. I’ll