Free Undercover Alpha: BBW Paranormal Werewolf Romance by Zoe Chant

come along,” Ophelia whispered in her ear. “He’s so fine…you think I can ride up front with him on the way back? I’m hoping—”
    “O,” Frieda said. “Come here, I want to see what you think about this.” She grabbed Ophelia by the arm—none too gently—and steered her toward the back of the house.
    Uncle Oliver’s house was really more like a mansion. It was a big white two-story farmhouse, with exposed beams inside. The furniture was old and expensive, and there were big Oriental rugs on the hardwood floors. Every room had a different color scheme.
    Lucy wondered what Frieda was telling Ophelia.
    “There were a few small considerations,” Richard said, “but the bulk of the property is split evenly between the three sisters. Now, none of you are planning on keeping the house?”
    “I don’t know,” Dad said. “They haven’t made that decision. Whoever did would have to buy the other two out, right?”
    “Legally, yes,” Richard said. “But of course, the terms would be entirely up to them—Sir?”
    “Yeah?” Jason was halfway up the stairs. His arms were on the railing, and Lucy could see his muscles.
    Lunch had been really nice. They hadn’t talked about werewolves, or money, or alphas and queens. They’d just talked, like two normal people with normal jobs and normal lives. Jason had told her some stories from the bodyguarding work he did, and she’d told him about her students, about what it was like to help guide these kids—especially the more stressed and directionless kids—to find their own voice and express something. He really did seem to care about her, about what she cared about. And…well, honestly, she was kind of curious now to see if Richard was a werewolf. How many werewolves did she know? Were they everywhere?
    “Sir, you’ll need permission from the family to go up there. And you’ll need to be careful. Nothing can be broken or removed until after the probate process is finished.”
    “Oh,” he said, and Lucy couldn’t smell anything like a werewolf could, but she knew tension when she saw it. “Is it all right with you guys?”
    “Sure,” Lucy said.
    “Of course,” Ophelia said, walking back from where Frieda had dragged her.
    “Don’t break anything, that’s all,” Frieda said, with a little wave.
    “Got it,” he said, and disappeared.
    “At any rate,” Richard said. “There’s quite a bit to go through, including some personal effects he specifically asked be returned to you ladies. Nothing of monetary value, so I asked the court to go ahead and release them. And you’re welcome to look around and see if there are any items—furniture, mementos—that you might want. Mr. Rome asked to have the entire estate auctioned and divided. But we can certainly take care of some items. There’s an appraiser coming on Tuesday, if any of you wish to be present.”
    “I’ll come,” Lucy volunteered. She always found appraisal interesting, and she wanted to know more about some of the older furniture. It looked like it had history, and the appraiser would know at least some of what that history was.
    She could hear James upstairs, moving around. What was he doing? A little part of her wanted to sneak upstairs. Just to talk.
    Who was she kidding? She didn’t want to talk. She wanted to test out that big four-poster bed she’d seen in the pictures Richard had sent. They could start at that little settee at the foot of the bed and work their way around the room.
    She wondered how much work those tight jeans would take to get off.
    “Are you all right?” Richard asked.
    “Oh,” she said, pulling her attention back to the paperwork. “I’m fine.”
    “I’ll send you the time,” Richard said. “If there’s anything you’re particularly interested in, do let me know, I’ll let the appraiser know.”
    “Thank you,” she said, but her mind was running in loops now, stripping Jason naked in every room of the house, feeling Jason’s big, strong