Free Alpha's Howling Desire (BBW Paranormal Romance) by Meg Ripley

him and removed his glasses, bleakly rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Seven buildings irreparably damaged. Two will have to be shut down for expedited repairs. Three we can keep operational during cleanup, but two we’re going to need to pull down and rebuild. Frank’s Tires and the pie shop just aren’t capable of standing for repairs.”
    Evan groaned and shook his head, his dark-skinned features finally showing his agitation after two hours of brainstorming. “Frank’s wall can’t be fixed right now without being remodeled?”
    “It’s load-bearing,” Thomas answered. “It’s gonna have to come down entirely. I mean, it’s going to come down one way or another. I’d just rather it be by choice, and not on Frank’s head one afternoon.”
    Evan leaned back in his wicker chair and nodded, his eyes still hidden behind his mirrored shades. Thomas knew the lion had been having trouble keeping his eyes from looking too wild—after fighting off the rogue lioness who tried to pick off their pride, his emotions had been unpredictable, even something approaching volatile. Evan was normally calm, collected, stoic: it was part of the reason why he was in the upper levels of their pride as far as status in the pack. The last few weeks, he and his wife Ariel had been a little jumpier and seemed to need far more space, choosing to only leave their home during mandatory meetings and joint clean-up efforts. He was finally settling back into his own skin, but his pupils kept slipping into the distinctive cat’s eye shape and vivid hue that marked lion shifters. Thomas didn’t mind, but the humans were still dropping by their respective homes unannounced, eager to find out when they could continue with their business, and scaring one of them would be bad for all of them.
    The sun was gone, and thanks to the ordeal in the previous weeks, many of Sierra Leandra’s brighter lights were off; this left the sky astoundingly clear and dark, holding more stars than Thomas even thought they could see without leaving the city. His backyard was a sprawling square of lush greenery that sloped downward and connected with a field in the distance, eventually turning into farmland miles beyond that. Susanna’s rose bushes were in full bloom, bursting below the window sill to their right and glimmering condensation under the light of the stars. Despite being surrounded by such undeniable beauty, Thomas couldn’t shake his grim mood.
    “It’s going to take weeks to get the pie shop back up and running, even though her shop is small,” Thomas continued wearily. “I called some of my relatives in London, and they’ll lend us a hand.”
    “The London Council approved our request?” Evan asked, sitting up straighter in her chair. Lion shifters were close-knit regardless of distance, simply because they took shifter solidarity seriously, but international affairs were often muddied by cultural differences. The English Council was notoriously isolationist, only sending aid in the event of clear emergencies—usually meaning all-out war.
    “They didn’t,” Thomas admitted. “I really do have relatives that can help us in London, five or six at this point. Half are shifters, and the other half are just good sports. They’ll add to our numbers, maybe keep all of work down to under a month.”
    “Good thinking,” Evan said, and his tone showed how impressed he was. Thomas smiled; coming from Evan, this was a round of applause.
    “I’m happy to be useful,” he said as he put his glasses back on. “You kept Susanna and I calm while that… monster was in our neighborhood. I wish I hadn’t been so hysterical.” Thomas dropped his eyes as shame washed over him. He’d nearly passed out from breathing so hard.
    “The front line isn’t where you’re used to being,” Evan reminded him. “You’re a diplomat and a medic. That’s always been your role, and you’re better than anyone else.”
    He stood up, and Thomas was thankful