Free Taming the Alphas: Part Four: Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance by Kate Kent Page B

Jerry?”
    I caught Todd’s surprised face and Dave’s wide eyes before I turned to the door. I was frozen in shock. I couldn’t believe who was standing there!
     
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CHAPTER TWO
     
    “Margaret Redson! What…”
    Margaret put her hand up towards me. “Just a minute, Beverly; Jerry, what the hell do you think you are doing?”
    “He said there was a bounty on our heads,” Dave snapped. “He told Todd that a fight had broken out so that he would come to the restaurant on his night off.”
    Jerry furrowed his brow. “You said to round up the monsters,” he pointed at Dave, “and look, I got us an extra one!”
    Margaret shook her head. “Jerry, you were not hired to act as a bounty hunter. Your assignment was to invite Todd and Beverly to Calvin Peet’s Virginia estate. You could have done that on a night you were working with Todd. At no time were you told to use a gun or any other violent measures towards them.”
    “He’s been watching too much crime TV,” Todd said, grimacing.
    “But they got out of line…” Jerry whined.
    “We got out of line?” Todd cocked his brow. “What the hell did we do? You just wanted a chance to act like a big man and wave that gun around.”
    “Give me the gun now, Jerry,” Margaret demanded.
    Jerry frowned as he handed over the gun. “You can have it, but I want it back.”
    As Margaret took the gun, Todd’s body visibly slumped, some of the tension easing from his powerful shoulders. I moved over to his side and softly stroked his broad back. He’d been through the ringer tonight.
    Margaret sighed. “You royally screwed this up. I am sure you scared the shit out of these three. What were you thinking?”
    “I’ll still get paid, won’t I?”
    Margaret smoothed a few strands of her auburn hair away from her forehead. “You’ll have to take that up with Cal,” she exhaled deeply. “Todd, Beverly, and of course you too Dave… I am truly sorry about this. Calvin Peet would love to meet with you at his estate in Virginia this weekend. Jerry here,” she said, motioning to him, “was supposed to issue that invitation. I apologize that he went about it the wrong way.”
    Dave wrinkled his brow. “Margaret, what the hell is going on? You work for Homeland Security! How are you mixed up with Calvin Peet?”
    Margaret shrugged her shoulders. “Do you know what it’s like day after day going to the same old mind numbing, boring job? When I signed on to work for the government I wanted to serve my country and do something worthwhile. But the jobs I was assigned to boiled down to pencil pushing. I just couldn’t stand it. And I couldn’t quit—I’d lose all my benefits and my pension!”
    “You should feel grateful you have a job,” Dave replied tersely.
    Margaret ignored him, pushing ahead. “I begged and begged for a juicy assignment. Finally, after years of working for the government plugging away doing complete bullshit, I was assigned something worthwhile.”
    I looked at her quizzically.
    “I got the job of helping you werewolves assimilate into society; I worked my ass off in preparation for your release. But, then I heard through the grapevine that Richard Dawes was planning to replace me with a co-worker. Not for any real reason—just because they were friends. They were going to take over all the hard work I’d done and get all the credit and glory. I was going to get shoved back in my little cubicle again, doing the same old grunt work. Right around that time, one of Calvin Peet’s people approached me about working for him.”
    “He hired you to spy?” Todd asked.
    Margaret wrinkled her nose. “No, well, I mean ... He hired me to share what I learned at work with him—information about the two of you,” she pointed at Todd and me, “and some of the other werewolves, like Lisa and Shelby.”
    “What about me?” Dave asked.
    “I … I haven’t told him about you.”
    That was odd. She had talked to Cal about those of us who had