Alpha's Fate: A BBW Wolf-Shifter Paranormal Mystery & Romance (Arcane Affairs Agency) Read online

  “You haven’t checked in,” Matt’s voice sounded the second the line connected. “Have you met complications?”

  I gritted my teeth. He’d like that—the last time we spoke he’d made it clear that the smallest bump in the road on this assignment would lead to me getting a partner, whether I wanted one or not.

  “No, Matt, everything’s peachy. I’m scoping out my lead suspect as we speak. Just been too busy to check in, sorry,” I said, refocusing my gaze on Poppy’s windows. The living room had gone dark while I’d been preoccupied with the sheriff and my own Wolf’s freak-out, and I bit down a curse. Where’d she disappear to?

  My question was answered the next second when the lights in the adjoining pair of windows switched on, and Poppy appeared behind the glass. I could see about half a bed through the window.

  “That was fast. What’s he up to?” Mark asked.

  “She’s going to bed,” I said, somewhat distracted. She was pulling her t-shirt over her head, her back turned to the window, and both my Wolf and I perked up at the sight of creamy, pale skin. “It’s a witch. To no one’s surprise.”

  “You wouldn’t be letting your prejudice cloud your judgment, now, would you?” Mark’s tone was more than a little warning. “Getting a suspect on the first day is fast even for you, Jackson.”

  “Of course not. I’ve been doing this long enough to not…” My voice died down, the mounting anger at his accusation fizzling away when Poppy turned around and unhooked her bra, displaying the most perfect pair of tits I’d ever seen. They were large and round, with dusky-pink nipples that just begged to be sucked on. I swallowed a moan as my cock hardened to full size in seconds and waves of lust pumped through my body in time with my suddenly rapid heartbeat. Oh, holy…. Shit! I’d never had a physical response like this to seeing a half-naked woman, not even when I had lived in a pack where mixed-gender naked swimming in the river was perfectly normal. But this? This was something else entirely. Forget trying to fight back my howling Wolf—my human half was having a hard enough time not reaching into my suddenly too-tight jeans to relieve the pressure. Over a pair of breasts.

  When she slid her hands down to unfasten her jeans I nearly gave in to my cock’s demand for attention.

  “Jackson? Everything all right?”

  Matt’s sharp voice broke through my trance-like state, and I shook my head and quickly spun around, looking away from the too-tempting display on the other side of the road.

  “Yeah, fine,” I ground out, doing my best not to moan with frustration at my cock’s hard pulsing and my Wolf’s pitiful whining.

  “Good. And I’m glad you can keep a professional mindset when it comes to witches. I know I promised you a go at this assignment on your own, as a nod to your years of flawless service, but if things go awry, I believe your best choice in partner would be a witch or a warlock. Especially when you’re dealing with something as volatile as a demon.”

  “What?” Outrage momentarily overshadowed raw lust, allowing me back partial control of my brain again. “I’m not working with a fucking witch!”

  Matt signed into my ear. “I’m not saying I’m sending one over straight away, but try to keep an open mind. Your only weakness is your lack of magical abilities. Just imagine what you could do with a capable witch partner. You two would be on the fast track to the top of the Agency within a year.”

  “I don’t want to be on any fucking fast track,” I hissed. “I want to keep doing my job without having to watch out for some hoity-toity magic user blowing up my ass with a misfired spell. I work best alone. Always have, always will.”

  “We’ll see. Finish this assignment without mishaps and I’ll reconsider. But Jackson… any complications and I’m sending you a partner—and you’ll just have to grin and bear it. Got it?”

  “Got it,” I gritted before hanging up.

  Fuck!

  The Agency had been my life since I’d had to leave my old pack as not much more than an adolescent pup, and apart from a brief training period, I’d been on my own in the field ever since. It was how I preferred it—no complications, no one to let me down. Just me and the job.

  And now they wanted to ruin that by forcing me to partner up with a fucking witch? No. I absolutely was not going to let that happen.

  I just had to get this job done without letting any complications get in my way, just like Matt said.

  Reluctantly, I looked back over my shoulder to Poppy’s now darkened bedroom window. And that right there was one such complication I really didn’t need. I had no idea why my Wolf seemed to be gagging to get balls deep in my key suspect, but I couldn’t let it get in the way of this investigation.

  As much as every instinct in my body told me to stay and keep watch over the witch, it was time to approach this job from another angle.

  Hunting for the demon she’d summoned, for instance.

  4

  POPPY

  I hardly slept all night, and when I finally managed to drift off, it was to the same nightmares I thought I’d gotten rid of years ago.

  When my alarm went off at five a.m., I was coated in sweat and my heart was pounding as if I’d been running all night. Just like last time, I could never remember much from my nightmares, except that I was fleeing from a terror too great for my mind to fully comprehend.

  I still felt like I’d been dragged through the bushes backward when I practically crawled down the stairs thirty minutes later to start the day’s baking.

  Normally, I loved being up before the rest of the town got eyes, and my favorite thing in the world was baking up breads and sweet treats to sell to my faithful customers. Thompson’s Mill had received my little shop with open arms when I came as an outsider five years ago, and it made me happy to know that I could brighten every one of their days with a cup of coffee and baked goods.

  But today, that normal tingle of excitement I felt when I entered my bakery’s kitchen was squashed underneath sheer fatigue and the knot of anxiety that hadn’t left my gut since I visited the sheriff’s office yesterday.

  I’d spent the entire night trying to drown out my fear with mindless TV, but clearly it hadn’t worked.

  After my visit to the sheriff’s office, I knew two things for certain. The first thing was that a demon had killed Molly Perkins. The second was that I had to make sure that the shifter agent didn’t find it.

  Which meant… which meant I had to get rid of it by myself. And quickly, if I didn’t want the Arcane Affairs Agency looking into just where that demon came from.

  I drew in a deep breath and stopped scraping chocolate filling into the customer favorite Triple Choco Cupcakes. There was still no guarantee that the demon who had killed Molly was the same one I’d come across five years ago, but I wasn’t going to sit back and wait to find out. Because if it was the same one… Well, the best case scenario was that Agent Jackson would lock me up for a very long time.

  * * *

  The merry jingling of the shop’s doorbell out front announced Jade’s arrival, and the hands on the cute little wall clock above my workbench ticked to seven—the start of the morning rush.

  “Hi, Poppy,” Jade called cheerfully from out front, as I desperately tried to pipe decorative whipped cream over a tray of blackberry tarts while also filling the last lot of cannolis. I was running way behind, thanks to my shaky nerves and lack of sleep.

  “Are you running late?” Jade asked when she popped her head in through the door. Her freckled face behind her brunette fringe looked surprised. “Want a hand?”

  “Yes, please,” I sighed and gestured toward the blackberry tarts. “Would you mind decorating these? Just like the pattern I’ve done on the first three.”

  She gave me a cheerful smile and grabbed the bag of whipped cream while I threw myself at the cannolis.

  “I think this is the first time I’ve come in and you haven’t had everything all lined up in the showcase already. Is everything all right?” she asked.

  I gave
her a quick smile that I hoped looked sincere. “Yup, everything’s peachy. I just got out the wrong side of bed.”

  “If you want, I don’t mind coming in earlier to help you with the baking,” she said, flashing me an eager smile.

  Ever since I’d hired her about a month ago when she came to town looking for work, Jade had tried her best to get into the kitchen with me. It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate her ambition, but usually baking the day’s cakes and breads was my own little morning ritual. It was where I cleared my mind and prepared myself for the day ahead, and I wasn’t all that eager to bring someone else in to disturb me.

  Even though I did feel bad for her. She’d come to town without anything but a run-down car and a bag with all her belongings in it, much like I had five years ago. I’d hired her pretty much on the spot because I could empathize with her situation. I hadn’t asked why she’d upped and left wherever she came from, but I could recognize a runaway when I saw one.

  “I appreciate the offer, but really, it’s just a one-off. There’s no need for you to get up at an ungodly hour to just stand around and look at me bake,” I said, putting the final cannoli down just as the shop doorbell jingled once more, announcing the morning’s first customer.

  We worked through the first couple of hours in our usual, busy manner, serving people on their way to work sweet treats and sandwiches and enough coffee to fuel a small power plant. In the rush I could almost forget about my demon problem, and when the throng of people finally slowed down around half past nine, I’d managed to get some of my usual energy back.

  That is, until Sheriff Wilson stepped through the door and yesterday’s visit to his office came into sharp focus once more.

  “Poppy,” he said, plastering on a wide grin that showed all his gleaming white teeth. “A lovely sight, as ever.”

  I forced myself to return his smile when he leaned casually against my display case. “Morning, Sheriff. What can I do for you today?”

  “Cup of coffee, sandwich, and something sweet. Your choice—but I’m hoping for a kiss.” He winked at me.

  Right. I’d managed to run out of his office, too disturbed to remember our agreement yesterday, but I had promised. I beamed extra-brightly at him and turned around to get his order ready. I wasn’t entirely sure why the hair on the back of my neck always stood on end whenever he made a move—he wasn’t a bad-looking man, he was respected in the community, and he was certainly one of the only eligible bachelors in Thompson’s Mill below fifty. Maybe it was just that I really wasn’t interested in dating, and he’d been my only serious suitor since I arrived in town.

  But that didn’t stop me from giving him one of the blackberry tarts as his sweet treat. For some reason, not a single one had sold all day, and when I looked at them, I sort of knew why. Jade, bless her, had really done her best, but there was just something off with the piping of the whipped cream, even though I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

  “So, when are you free for dinner?” Don asked from behind me while I filled a paper cup with hot coffee from the machine.

  I stifled a sigh. Might as well get this over with. “Tomorrow night?”

  “That’s a date,” he said, knocking on the counter for emphasis. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

  “Looking forward to it,” I lied, putting his food and the cup of coffee down on the counter next to his hand. “That’ll be $15.95.”

  When he left my shop, my cheeks ached from the forced smile. I rubbed them both as I watched him through the window. He picked up the tart, frowned, and then swiped the whipped cream onto the ground before he took a big bite. I was pretty sure Sheriff Wilson’s infatuation with me stemmed from some vague notion of getting free pastries for the rest of his life.

  “You don’t look all that excited.” Jade’s voice cut through my spying, and I quickly busied myself with wiping down the counter.

  “Oh, I’m just not really interested in dating anyone right now.”

  “Then why’d you say yes?” she asked, giving me a curious glance.

  “I kind of owed him a favor,” I said with a shrug. “And he’s a nice guy, I guess. Maybe it’ll be good for me.” Who knew, maybe I’d get over my antipathy during a nice meal and some flirting. Maybe dating was exactly what I needed to get over everything. Of course, if the demon who’d killed Molly was the one I feared, right now really wasn’t a great time.

  Though, if it was, then why had it killed some innocent woman instead of coming for me?

  “Maybe you’re just more interested in that guy who came by yesterday. He was pretty hot,” Jade teased. “Why’d you take him out back?”

  For no reason whatsoever, I flushed. “He just wanted directions. And no, thank you, I prefer not to get tangled up with his sort.” I eyed her and felt a stab of motherly protection. Jade was twenty years old and just six years younger than myself, but something about her really got my protective instincts going. She was a pretty small girl, with big brown eyes and an easy smile, and whatever she’d run away from to end up in Thompson’s Mill likely hadn’t been a fun experience.

  “You should keep your distance too, young lady,” I said, pointing a mock-stern finger at her. “He’s not the kind of man good girls like us want to get mixed up with.”

  “I dunno,” she said, grinning cheekily. “I bet he’s got abs for days underneath that t-shirt he was wearing, and that ass… not all of us can be prudish nuns, ya know.”

  I swatted at her with my dish towel and nodded toward the broom leaning against the far wall. “That’s enough of your lip, missy! Less thinking about random strays’ backsides, more sweeping!”

  * * *

  It wasn’t until later that afternoon, when I was crouched in the bushes by the creek leading north out of Thompson’s Mill, that it dawned on me that Jade might have a point.

  It had been surprisingly easy to follow Jackson’s trail once I’d closed down the shop, as if my inner compass knew exactly where he was, and I’d been able to sneak unnoticed through the bushes—thanks to my grandmother’s amulet—until I was only about ten yards from the shifter agent. Close enough to appreciate all the rippling stacks of muscles in his torso as he walked around the empty field in nothing but a pair of low-hanging jeans, sweat gleaming off his tanned skin.

  Probably fresh back from a shift.

  A small shudder went through my spine at the thought of arriving just five minutes earlier. I’d never actually seen a shifter change from his animal form into a human, and a small measure of curiosity mixed in with the fear of what he’d do to me if he saw me spying on him.

  But, if I were to try and take down a demon all on my own without Jackson figuring out my involvement, then my best bet was to keep an eye on him to see if he’d got some sort of Agency trick up his sleeve.

  My greatest source of embarrassment growing up had been my weak powers. I came from a long line of full-blooded witches and wizards, but that didn’t help my failed magic much. It wasn’t that I couldn’t cast a spell—I was a witch, after all. It was just that, if they worked at all, they usually fell pretty flat. Like the time I bewitched my grandfather’s old clock to play the Happy Birthday tune on the stroke of midnight for his birthday, and all that happened was it lost an hour.

  I’d come to accept my derelict magic as I got older, but that also meant I’d need some help if I wanted any chance at taking on a demon. And an Agent from Arcane Affairs was bound to have something in his arsenal I could use.

  Said agent was currently pacing back and forth in front of the small pile of his clothes on the ground next to a large gym bag-looking thing. He looked like he was spoiling for a fight, the way he shook his head and flexed his muscles, only no one was there except him—and me, in the bushes.

  Crackpot shifter.

  But his no doubt testosterone-fueled pacing did give me ample opportunity to ogle his perfect physique—because there was nothing better to do, mind you—and I reluctantly had to agree with Jade. If you could di
sregard the fact that he turned into an animal, Jackson Dale was a fine specimen of a man.

  His hair was the sort of deep, dark brown that reminded me of rich forest earth, and his hazel eyes were so intense it was hard not to stare at them, even from my hiding spot behind the bushes.

  Rough stubble covered his strong jaw, and he basically looked like the sort of alpha male stereotype that’d have a girl climbing him like a koala if she didn’t know what he was.

  Which I did, I reminded myself sternly when I found my gaze dipping to the top of his muscular hips’ “V” that was visible above his low-hanging jeans.

  And not only was he a shifter, of all things. He was also an agent. It might have been more than five years since I was intimate with a man, but I wasn’t about to break my dry spell with a guy who would get me locked up before I could even blink.

  Even Don Wilson was a better choice than this shifter.

  But as I watched Jackson unpack a multitude of weapons from the bag and spread them out across the ground to look more closely at them, I couldn’t help the small pang of longing in my chest. Not for his body, but for the protection he could undoubtedly provide—if he hadn’t been much more likely to lock me up and throw away the key.

  He might be a shifter, but he was also clearly a very skilled agent. If things had been different, I could have confided in him the little I knew about the demon I thought killed Molly Perkins—and then I wouldn’t have been alone in facing the nightmare I’d brought to Thompson’s Mill.

  A crack in the bushes lining the opposite end of the field tore me out of my contemplations. It also got Jackson’s attention. Without hesitation he grabbed the gun from the spread of weapons on the floor and set into a jog toward it.

  For a second, cold tendrils of fear rooted me in place. If Jackson thought there was a threat, did that mean that the demon was here too, spying on him? Or was he just being overly cautious?