“Yes, Beta,” they chorused like good, well-behaved school children. They managed to stay silent for a full minute as Dalton reversed his car out of his driveway.
But the silence didn't last. Even before Dalton could turn out of his street, the twins had started whispering and chuckling. Jason scowled and elbowed them hard.
Dalton glared into his rear view mirror. “What's happening back there?”
“He started it!” Connor pointed a finger.
“He started it first!” Curtis shot back.
Bruno twisted round in the front seat and gleefully joined in the bickering and ribbing.
Dalton shook his head and concentrated on getting them to Candybar. Ever since JD told him that she worked as a stripper during the weekends, he had been checking out a different strip club every weekend without fail. Dalton worked long hours during the week, and on some weekends, he had to hole himself up in his study to catch up on some paperwork. Cole had called earlier in the afternoon to ask if he wanted to join Abby and him for dinner at a new restaurant, but Dalton had declined. He had simply told his Alpha that he already had plans for the evening. Which he had. He was planning to track JD down.
Dalton had wondered briefly whether to tell Cole about JD, but decided against it. After all, it was Cole who got them all on that dating site.
Cole knew that as a clan, they had to grow and stay strong. That meant they had to plan for renewal and leadership succession. But with less than half of their clan members mated, they weren't producing enough cubs to grow their numbers. If they weren't reproducing and growing, they were shrinking and ageing. And an ageing, weakening clan would be preyed upon by the other more ambitious, avaricious packs and clans in Moonstone Creek. So Cole had gone ahead and signed Dalton, Tony and Brad up for an online dating service.
Dalton had stoutly supported his Alpha's plan even though he had been cynical at first. It was a long shot they would find their mates through the dating site, but Dalton figured they had nothing to lose. To his utter amazement, the plan had worked. Cole found his human mate, Abby through the dating site. And through Abby, Tony met Terri who was Abby's best friend. Brad had found his mate, Lisha, quite by chance and was now the proud father of twins, Daren and Rita.
Dalton used to scoff at the dating site's arrogant claim that they could match their members with their soul mates. How accurate could a computer algorithm be?
But he had seen Abby and Cole's case. They had matched each other a hundred percent. They were each other's perfect match.
Dalton had answered the site's questionnaire briskly but honestly. Then watched in amazement and horror as his inbox exploded with messages.
The females on the dating site kept sending him sexy, flirty messages. He had stated that he was a werebear in his profile, and he knew there were hordes of shifter groupies around. When he was younger, he'd found sex with these enthusiastic women fun and exciting. But sex was just sex, and after many meaningless, unfulfilling encounters, he discovered that there was such a thing as too much sex. His younger brother had laughed at him then, but now, Tony wouldn't even glance at another female. There was only Terri for him. Dalton was really happy for his brother and cousins. He loved his brave, spunky sister-in-law and cousins-in-law as well. And he absolutely adored Brad's twins. But playing with Daren and Rita made him wish that he could have his own cubs as well.
Almost all the messages he received from the females on the dating site were inane and insane. And they left his heart cold. The women either wanted to experience shifter sex, or they were interested in his wallet. They asked about the house he owned, the car he drove, how much money he made, but not one of them asked him about him.
In exasperation, Dalton had taken down his photograph from his profile page. He had been about to delete his profile from the site and call it quits when her profile popped up on his page. She was a ninety-nine percent match for him.
JD was her profile name.
She sounded wary and cynical when he first messaged her. She didn't believe in soul mates, and she didn't think much of the dating site's members. Most of them are just looking to get laid. They weren't on the site looking for a real relationship, so she figured they didn't give any real answers to the questionnaire. A ninety-nine percent match was just a fluke, she'd scoffed.
She was straightforward, unpretentious and she didn't try to flirt with him, unlike all the other women on the site. The very first message she'd sent him was a rude, rambling rant. She'd let him know just how shitty her day had been when he sent her a short, innocuous message. She had messaged back with an apology almost immediately. Her messages were both funny and poignant. Dalton knew that she didn't have an easy life, and he wanted to find her and help her. But she didn't want his help. She'd refused to accept a loan from him, and she didn't want to “get him in trouble”. Those were her words.
Her profile picture showed only her eyes. And they were the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. Jade green, sparkling, soulful and a little sad.
JD had never even seen his picture since he'd already deleted his photograph from the site. But she didn't seem to care about his looks, or his species, or his status and wealth.
For months now, he had only interacted with her online, but he knew. His bear knew as well. His bear had growled and almost mangled his phone with its claws when he was typing out a message to her. His bear didn't want to just type to her. His bear wanted to claim her.
Well, so did he.
But first he had to find her. His mate.
“Are we there…?” Jason began. A huge hand clapped over his mouth as Connor shushed him furiously.
“Do you want him to turn the car around?” Connor hissed
Jason shook his head mutely as Bruno turned up the volume of the radio, perhaps hoping the heavy metal would distract Dalton from Jason's slip.
As the four of them yelled out the lyrics and began headbanging in time to the music, the car swayed from side to side, and Dalton stifled a chuckle.
They were already enjoying themselves way too much in his car. And they hadn't even had a single drop to drink. Those boys were planning to paint the town red tonight.
Dalton's eyes narrowed as he spotted the flamboyant, neon sign. He turned into the parking lot opposite Candybar and glanced at the queue in front of the strip club.
His bear was uneasy and agitated, and a low growl rumbled from his throat in warning as he cut the engine.
His clan members got out of the car and waited. They'd heard their Beta's growl and were all tense and alert.
“Beta?” Connor asked quietly.
Dalton shook his head. “No danger. It's business as usual for the wolves. Let's go, boys. We're here to have fun,” he said firmly, trying his best to convince himself and his bear.
CHAPTER THREE
The elevator door opened and Joyce tried to keep her face impassive as she stepped out into Randell Wyle's office. She wouldn't appear weak and scared in front of a wolf.
The two bouncers walked back to the elevator, leaving her alone with Randell. With a deep, steadying breath, Joyce took a step forward and stood in front of Randell's large desk.
The Beta of the Crimson Wolves leaned back in his high-back leather chair and languidly swirled the amber liquid in his whiskey glass. His eyes were the same color as his drink, and there were streaks of white running through his coppery hair. He was in a three-piece suit as always, dressing the part of a refined businessman. But he was a wolf through and through. Joyce had never met the Alpha of the Crimson Wolves. She had only dealt with Randell, the Beta. But she had heard rumors about the Crimson Alpha, and she knew that if ever she was called to meet with the Alpha, she wouldn't be leaving the meeting alive.
“Take a seat, Joyce.” Randell waved a manicured hand and smiled.
Joyce pulled out a chair and sat stiffly, folding her hands across her lap. She shook her head politely when Randell offered her a cigarette.
“How long have you been working here, Joyce?” Randell began casually, fixing his glowing eyes on her.
“Eight months.”
“And how much of your debt have you paid off?”
“It's not my debt,” she said through clenched teeth.
Randell shrugged and rephrased the question, his eyes narrowing. “How much of your ex-husband's debt have you paid off?”
“Not much.”
“Hmm.” Randell nodded and put his glass down. “Being a nice, helpful gentleman, I did the math for you.” He started pressing the buttons on his large calculator. “At this rate, you'll finish paying the debt in...let's see, twenty years. Twenty fucking years, Joyce. I don't have twenty years. I'm already graying at the roots.”
Joyce swallowed but returned his stare steadily. The last sentence was meant as a joke, and a threat. If she was causing him to have a few more gray hairs, she was a problem. And a problem had to be solved, usually violently and viciously.
“Randell...”
He put up a hand to stop her. He wasn't interested in hearing what she had to say at all. He hadn't called her up to his office for a discussion. They had nothing to discuss.
Randell threw his calculator across the room, shattering a crystal vase. Joyce jumped, and forced herself to remain in her seat. She clenched her teeth, fixing her eyes on a spot above Randell's head.
The wolf peered at her out of his human face. Randell bared his teeth in a parody of a smile and steepled his fingers. “You need to step up your game, Joyce.”
“I...”
“Prancing around the stage isn't bringing in the money.”
“I don't do lap dances.”
Randell smirked. “Lap dances won't cover your debt either. Felix owes us a debt the size of a country.”
Joyce bit her lip hard.
Killing me won't pay off the debt either.
So what was he asking her to do?
“There are customers who will pay big money, to have you in their private rooms,” Randell said, smiling benignly at her. “In fact, I have two tycoons in the club tonight. You will service them after your dance.”
Joyce blinked before the full import of his words hit her. “No!” she gasped. “I only agreed to dance in your club. I never agreed to...”
But Randell wasn't listening. He had said what he wanted to say.
The meeting was over.
Joyce felt hands close around her elbows and haul her to her feet. The two bouncers were back and were leading her towards the elevator. She protested but Randell didn't even bother looking at her as the elevator door closed. He was fixing himself another drink at the lavish bar in the corner of the room.
“I won't do it. I won't do it,” Joyce whispered numbly as she staggered back to the dressing room. “They can't make me.”
“Jade! Your turn!”
Disconcerted and dazed, she managed to stumble onto the stage just as the music began.
“Dance!” Karen hissed at her.
Joyce blinked rapidly but remained frozen. Karen swung herself from the pole and nudged her lightly. Karen was valiantly trying to distract the audience's attention from Joyce by throwing glitter dust all around and making her movements bigger and bolder.
“Hey, wake up!” Karen nudged her again. Joyce started and managed to give Karen a small, grateful smile.
She began to dance, going through the motions but not seeing anything beyond the smoke and lights. She usually couldn't wait for her routine to end, but now she didn't want to get off the stage. The irony wasn't lost on her. The stage had become her refuge. Up here, where everyone could see her, she was safe, way safer.
At least up here, she was in control of her body. She danced, she stripped, but she was untouched.
She half turned to the deejay, imploring him with her eyes to keep playing the music. Don't let the music stop. Please!
Joyce forced herself to continue dancing. Moving mechanically, she removed and waved bits and pieces of her costume on cue. The sequin mask might cover half her face, but she knew it couldn't hide the terror and despair in her eyes.
Her eyes flew frantically across the sea of faces in front of her, and focused on a pair of intense, brown eyes. Her breath caught at the sight of his grim, handsome face, a face she found strangely and achingly familiar and comforting.
Joyce took another shuddering breath and turned sharply away. She had to try to find a way out of this.
But she had no one to help her. Her only friend, DJ, wasn't here. If he was, she had no doubt at all that he would come to her aid. But it was better that he stay away from her and stay alive.
She could feel her panic rising as the music wound down. She would have to step off the stage soon. But there was nowhere and no way to run.
CHAPTER FOUR
Dalton hardly touched his drink. He kept his eye on one particular dancer on the stage.He'd heard her stage name clearly. Jade.
He watched her swirl her sheer cloak around, giving everyone a tantalizing view of her delectable, bountiful curves. She was wearing the tiniest black thong he had ever seen and a stingy bikini top that could barely contain her generous breasts. A shiny, sequin mask covered half her face, but it couldn't hide her eyes. Those wide, startling green eyes. He'd recognize her eyes anywhere.
She was JD. He had found her.
She danced gracefully but the fear and tension radiated off her hot, curvy body in waves. Her little fists remained tightly clenched as she danced. When she removed her cloak, the audience went wild, hooting and clapping. Dalton had to keep his bear in check. The beast was about to burst out of his skin and claw out the eyes of every male in the room.
Dalton kept still as a statue, ignoring the catcalls and wolf whistles around him. As Jade tottered off the stage, two burly bouncers went up and took her by the arm. She struggled as they steered her towards a room at the back of the club.
His shifter senses were heightened as his bear rose and rammed against his skin. Dalton's claws sliced out as he lowered his mental shields, preparing to let his bear out. He was in agreement with his bear. He had to get to her.
Dalton stood silently and followed JD's scent. He stopped in front of a door with thick frosted glass and tensed. He could smell shifters in the room, and he could scent JD's fear. The door was locked. Dalton placed his palm against the frosted glass for a moment, letting the shifters in the room see and scent his presence. He was giving them a chance to open the door. He could play nice, for a while. A very short while.
Dalton heard a muffled cry and he saw two hulking silhouettes converging on JD's hunched shape in the room. In the next heartbeat, Dalton's fist was through the frosted glass. He roared and reduced the door to splinters in a matter of seconds.
There were shouts and out of the corner of his eye, he saw bouncers coming at him from all angles. But Bruno, Jason and the twins got his back. At his roar, his clan members had leaped up from their table and bounded after their Beta. They were already in position behind him.
The four Nightfire werebears formed a solid, growling wall behind their Beta and faced off with the bouncers.
Dalton snarled at the two men in designer suits in the room. One of them was breaking out in spots. Dalton could scent their animal distinctly now. They were leopard shifters, which would explain the spots on the younger man.
“Dalton, what a surprise.”
Dalton turned, recognizing Randell Wyle's voice.
“Randell.” Dalton greeted the Beta of the Crimson Wolves with a curt nod.
“Oh, Mr Will, Mr Xavier.” Randell gave the two wereleopards his most charming smile. “I do apologize for this little...misunderstanding.”
Mr Will, the younger wereleopard, grabbed Randell's collar and snapped, “What's the meaning of this? We paid for the girl!”
“Yes, yes, you did,” Randell said, straightening his jacket. “It's just...”
“You said yo
u had a beautiful, curvy girl who would be happy to do a threesome. Well, she's certainly beautiful and curvy,” Mr Xavier, the older wereleopard said calmly, throwing JD a glance. “But she's not happy. She wasn't willing to do this.”
Randell's eyes glowed but he managed to keep the rage out of his voice. “Jade is willing, Mr Xavier. She is perfectly willing.” He turned and bared his teeth in an ugly smile. “Aren't you, Jade?”
JD stood up shakily, her eyes darting from Randell to the two leopard shifters and finally to Dalton. Dalton saw her eyes widen when she saw him, and he thought he heard her whisper, “DJ.” But she shook her head quickly and looked away, her features hardening as she tilted her head towards Randell.
“I'm a dancer,” she said, firmly and carefully. She was in the middle of a circle of deadly shifters, and she was skating on thin ice. One wrong word, one wrong move, and she could be dead. “I will dance to pay my debt.”
She still had her sequin mask on, but it sat askew over her eyes. Her red hair was mussed up and there were scratches on her arms. Nevertheless, she held her head high as she addressed Randell. She had done nothing wrong and she hadn't allowed her body to be sold. If nothing else, her pride and dignity remained intact.
Randell's eyes flashed dangerously. “You...”
“I will pay her debt.”
All heads turned to Dalton. He sensed his clan members fidgeting behind him and he heard Jason's incredulous whisper, “What? There's nothing wrong with my ears, right?”
“There's plenty wrong with what's between your ears,” Bruno hissed. “Just shut up and keep your eyes on the wolves.”
Randell regarded Dalton with a sly smile. “She owes the Crimson Wolves a lot of money.”
“I will assume full responsibility for her debt,” Dalton repeated.
There was a gleam in Randell's eye as he jerked his head at one of the bouncers. “Get the paperwork from my office.”
Randell was all smiles as he turned to the two leopard shifters. “Mr Will, Mr Xavier, I will refund your payment since the services—have not been performed. Everything is on the house tonight. My manager will show you to another room.”
A Mate For The Bear: BBW Paranormal Alpha Shifter Romance (Bear Brides Book 4) Page 2