Free Ravaged By The Pack (The Alpha's Mate) by Ellen Waite Page A

concerned. She'd lived with a few other girls in a small house near campus up until then, sharing a single, cramped bathroom. Rare was it that she got to the shower first and managed to enjoy warm water. As she finished up, shivering, Jenna was thankful she hadn't told her roommates she was moving to Twinbrook. Leaving college meant cutting ties with everyone she knew. That was the only way she'd ever manage to lay to rest the memories of those wasted years. Not that the student loans she would have to repay in the coming months wouldn't serve to remind her.
    Jenna toweled off her hair and looked at herself in the mirror. Studying her face, she was pleased to find it clear. Her eyes traveled about the rest of her body, to her shapely breasts, soft stomach and the curve of her hips. Brushing her hair, she liked what she saw. She'd had trouble back at school with a few who couldn't seem to stop needling her about her weight. There were a few extra pounds there, sure, but it wasn't as though she was unhealthy or obese. Hers was simply a fuller figure-- a figure she happened to like. So many of the people in her life had tried to convince her that she was just a bit too “thick”, or that she needed to diet. Some had been well-meaning, others malicious in their suggestions. Jenna had ignored them all as best she could, though it would have been a lie to say that these constant critiques of her figure weren't grating. One of her roommates, an athlete, had always regarded her as gross or lazy, simply because she wasn't as petite as she was. She shuddered at the thought, memories of fights and sadness coming to the fore now.
    No , she thought. No more of that. This is a new start. They don't know you here. Today, you start fresh. It's time to make a good impression . Finishing her hair, she left the bathroom and rifled through her valise for an outfit to wear. She had a nice skirt, knee-length, that looked dressy and a tapered white blouse that fit well at the waist, accenting her assets tastefully. She put them on and checked herself out in the mirror, doing a turn. “All right,” she said. “Game on.”
    She knew little about Todd Blackston and his business, except that both were well-regarded in town. She'd seen an ad in a local paper upon her arrival the day before, and had called to arrange for an interview. The position was a secretarial one, something she felt she could handle. Blackston himself had answered her call, gruff and deep-voiced, and agreed to meet her in the morning for a face-to-face interview. That had been all. The whole thing had been a shot in the dark for her; if she met him and found she didn't like the sound of the job, she'd have a huge list of other positions to choose from. The local paper was teeming with wanted ads for all sorts of different jobs.
    Jenna wondered why it was that Twinbrook had so many open jobs when the rest of the country seemed to have so few. An economic downturn had seen people in the major cities fighting tooth and nail for even menial jobs. She'd known a few people with degrees who'd had to face stiff competition simply to flip burgers. Here however, there were a variety of job openings and, so far as she could tell, no one was terribly interested in filling them. The town's population was somewhat older than what she was used to, which probably meant that most people had settled into jobs long ago. She hadn't yet met anyone her own age in Twinbrook, and wondered if college-aged people lived there at all.
    Jenna still had a fair bit of time before her interview; time enough to grab a bite to eat and still make it early. The cafe across the street was serving breakfast and she was in need of a caffeine boost to ward off the last of her sleepiness. Checking herself out once more, she grabbed up her purse and set out.
    ***
    Something had come over him. Todd Blackston sat in his office, tensing his jaw as he considered the strange feeling that had so subtly crept into him. The