Free Grayslake: Furrever Yours (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Georgette St. Clair Page A

supposed to be married to the Northeast Alpha’s son, right?” she said. “Isn’t the Northeast Alpha kind of your boss?”
    “No, that would be the Southeast Alpha. Eugene is the Northeast Alpha. He is what is called a Territorial Alpha, which means he rules over all the packs in the Northeast. But he does basically outrank me in werewolf hierarchy.”
    “Well, doesn’t that mean that if he decided he was going to take Margaret and give her to his son, you’d have to do what he said no matter what?” she asked.
    Knox stopped outside the emergency room door and handed her the bag of donuts and the tray of coffee cups. “I mean…I don’t know what would happen. I’ve never been in this circumstance before.”
    “I’m sorry, but I’m not telling you where Margaret is until I have an absolute guarantee that she won’t be handed over to them. If you tell me that she won’t be handed to them, I will trust you, but you need to mean it.”
    Knox nodded. “I want you to be mine, Heather. I won’t lie to you. Which means that right now, I can’t make any promises.”
    * * * * *
    Knox sat in his patrol car in the emergency room parking lot, resisting the temptation to crush his cell phone in his bare hand.
    “Listen, Knox, I’m sorry, but I’m hearing one thing third-hand from you, and I’m hearing a completely different story from the Northeast Alpha, and also from the girl’s father,” Fenris, the Southeast Alpha said, his voice crackly and far away. He was calling from Florida, and their connection wasn’t great.
    “I know for a fact that the girl’s father is a liar. I could smell the lies rolling off of him,” Knox said. “And what I’m hearing from the Northeast Alpha doesn’t entirely add up either. This girl was beaten unconscious when she arrived at the emergency room. And she’s a shifter. Think how hard she must have been beaten to end up in that state.”
    “I understand,” Fenris said. “But if I were you, I’d be very careful about calling the Northeast Alpha a liar. That’s the kind of talk that starts wars. I think a lot of you, or we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. I’d be ordering you to make the human talk.”
    Knox felt his wolf snarling inside him, longing to tear flesh. He pushed down a growl and forced himself to sound civil. “The human’s name is Heather, and she’s my mate.”
    “So you’ve claimed her?”
    “Not yet. But I will. And she’ll be a great asset to us,” Knox said. “She works in the emergency room in an area with a high shifter population. She can help us keep our existence a secret. And since she’s human, if the humans started talking about shifters, she would hear about it and she could report back to us.”
    “That’s true,” Fenris acknowledged. “But keep a lid on things. And keep me updated on what’s happening. This has the potential to blow up in a big way. So far, until I see proof otherwise, this girl accepted a cash payment to marry Kevin, and so did her father. And she blew through all the money and then ran off. As far as I’m concerned, the girl is obligated to go through with the marriage.”
    Knox felt frustration and anger boil up in him, but he kept a lid on it.
    “Yes, Alpha,” he ground out, and hung up the phone.

Chapter Nine
     
    Heather, Olive and Clarence climbed out of Clarence’s pickup truck. They were parked in front of Jerry’s Gas Station; they’d come on Olive’s recommendation, to talk to one of the clerks in the store.
    “Her name is Trista. Maybe she can help you,” Olive said. “She’s part hyena shifter, and she’s an absolute whiz when it comes to the law. She knows all about the laws governing shifters.”
    Knox had to work, so he’d ordered that Clarence be with Heather at all times to keep her safe, if he couldn’t be with her.
    When they walked in, Olive gave Trista a big hug.
    “Everything will work out for you, dear,” she said warmly.
    Trista managed a faint smile.