Aspen Valley Wolf Pack (The Complete Series)

by Amber Ella Monroe

  Clothes and skin disappeared in a haze. Gray eyes turned into coal. She could no longer see the stranger, only the white underbelly of a wolf as it leaped into the air.

  The gunman screamed, but Trina could not…

  The sound of teeth ripping into the meaty flesh of the arm that held her immobilized was the last thing she heard before she passed out.

  Chapter 6

  When Trina woke up to the smell of antiseptic, bleach, and metal, and to an annoying chill racing up and down her arm, she lifted her heavy eyelids and took in her surroundings.

  She groaned when she realized that she was in a hospital bed. When she looked to the right of her at the large window, the curtains had been pulled open but all she saw was swirls of clouds against a dusky backdrop.

  She sat up in bed and recalled what had happened to her. Relieved to find that she wasn't hooked up to any offending IVs or needles, she pushed the blankets off of her and began to inspect her body for any traces of wounds. The only part of her body that burned with the remnants of the attack was the skin at her throat.

  She was still wearing her watch and she gawked when she realized that it was three in the morning.

  "Oh, my God."

  The moment she swung her legs over the bed was the moment a nurse pushed through the doors holding a clipboard and a bag of medication.

  "Oh, hello. Glad to see that you're finally awake. How are you feeling?"

  "I'm…Where am I?"

  "Aspen Valley Medical Center."

  Trina scanned the nurse's name badge. "Cecilia, I'm not sure why I'm here, but I really can't afford this."

  "Don't worry. It's all been taken care of. And you're doing just fine. You just seem to be under a lot of stress. We saw no harm in running some tests just to make sure everything was okay."

  "How did I get here?"

  "By ambulance. Don't you remember?"

  Trina shook her head. "No, I don't. When can I be released? The last thing I need is another large medical bill right now."

  "Like I said, Ms. Daniels, you're all clear. Your last test results should be ready in another hour, so you should be good to go by six a.m. I'll just need you to call someone to drive you home."

  Trina sighed. "You don't understand. My dad…he's…home alone."

  Nurse Cecilia frowned and narrowed her gaze at her, giving Trina the impression that maybe the nurse thought she was crazy. That wasn't good. She didn't want to give them any cause to perform any more tests.

  "Okay, yes…I can call a neighbor to come pick me up."

  Nurse Cecilia smiled and wrote something on a clipboard. "Very well then. Once you have it confirmed, please give me their names so I can relay this information to the front desk."

  "I will." Trina racked her brains trying to figure out who she could call that wouldn't inquire about why she was at LIVE nightclub anyway.

  "Also the cops might be in touch to ask you questions about the gunman later today. He's already in custody and has been charged…Thank God. They were in here earlier trying to ask questions, but I told them they had to go. I take care of my patients first and they can ask questions when you're all better."

  "Thank you," Trina said.

  "No problem, that's my job." She smiled. "Oh, I almost forgot, your boyfriend left this gift card here for when you woke up. It's good for anything you'd like from the restaurant on the first floor." She lowered her voice and said, "It's much better than our cafeteria, but you didn't hear that from me." She placed the gift card on the end table. "Either way, I need to see you eat something. Your iron levels are a bit low. Please include meat or fish. They have vegetarian options too if you'd prefer it."

  "I'm sorry. You said my boyfriend?"

  "Yeah…he had to go. We had a handful of folks come over from the nightclub…out-of-towners and such, but Dr. Nally stuck to his guns. He doesn't allow anyone in here who isn't a relative or next of kin of any of his patients or without prior written consent." Nurse Cecelia handed Trina a thermometer to place under her tongue. "Either way, your boyfriend wasn't listed on any of the forms in the medical database, and we checked both here and Cross City. You might want to get those updated if you need to add others. Plus, we figured he wasn't your next of kin either…he's a shifter. He seemed very out of place and paranoid. I could tell he was worried about you, but he didn't like this hospital for some reason. They have their own doctors and nurses, you know."

  Something clicked in Trina's mind, freezing her brain from all else except a clear picture of the sexy, dark stranger who'd saved her from the drunken creep who'd held her hostage.

  Nurse Cecelia took the thermometer and stuffed it back into the machine and then wrapped a blood pressure cuff around Trina's right upper arm. "But if you ask me, shifter or not, he was a complete gentleman about the situation the whole time he was here. Any man that leaves money to make sure his girl can eat when she wakes up and reroutes all of her medical charges to his credit card is a good man indeed."

  "Did you get his name?"

  Nurse Cecelia laughed dismissively. "You don't know your boyfriend's name? Honey, are you sure you're okay? Might need to check that medication dose again." She lifted up a sheet of paper on the clipboard and bit at her bottom lip as she stared at it.

  "I mean, sure I know his name. I just…" Trina swallowed. "I don't understand why he would…"

  A buzz sounded from the pager on Nurse Cecelia's hip. She answered the page, which turned out to be another nurse informing her that she was needed in another room.

  "Alright. I'll be back in a few minutes." She thrust a menu at Trina. "Here's that menu from the restaurant. I want you to have your order ready when I get back. While you're waiting on your food, please think about who you can call to check you out of here."

  With that, Nurse Cecelia was gone, leaving her in more shock than she'd been when she'd woken up.

  The stranger had come with her to the hospital and paid her bills…?

  Trina didn't even know his name. She didn't know him at all. How was she going to thank him?

  Chapter 7

  Four days later…

  Trina was surprised and rendered speechless when a woman answered the phone, but she looked back down at the slip of paper again to confirm.

  "Bachelor Looking for Temporary Wife," it said. "Call to inquire…" She scanned the number displayed on her phone again. It was a little early in the morning. Maybe she should have called after nine a.m.

  "Hello," the woman said once again on the other end. "Anyone there?"

  "Yes." Trina cleared her throat. "I'm responding to an ad I saw."

  "Can you be more specific?"

  "There's a guy looking for a temporary wife. I need more information."

  "That's about all the information I can lend. If you're not serious, I suggest you hang up now," the woman spoke in a chastising manner.

  Or at least Trina found it off-putting.

  "When I called, I expected to get the man who placed the ad. I'd like to speak with him directly to get more information."

  "I'm his corporate secretary and I'm the one doing the screening," the woman replied, curtly.

  "Screening?"

  "Yes…if you are serious, I just have a few questions for you."

  "I'm serious."

  "Good. Like I said, I'll just need to ask you a few questions. I'll be taking some notes that I'll share with him. If he picks you for a second interview, I'll call you back and we'll go from there."

  "Okay."

  "Are you a shifter?"

  Trina wondered why that would matter. The ad didn't say anything about her needing to have shifter blood. "No."

  "Bachelor is a shifter. Do you have any problems with that?"

  Trina swallowed. The ad hadn't said anything about the man being a shifter either. She had friends and did business dealings with shifters and she'd even had a few shifters on her team when she worked as the lead marketing executive at the New York firm. But…she'd never dated on
e. Her only problem was whether she could relate. For six weeks…

  Yet, anything was better than walking around uncomfortably in a nightclub. After what happened to her, she doubted that she'd ever visit another nightclub again. Although, she had thought of returning to search for the anonymous stranger who had saved her life and saved her ass from being one step closer to dead broke with the medical bills. The investigator who'd questioned her about the shooting had warned her to stay away from LIVE nightclub and she had assured him that she would.

  “He’s a shifter. Any problems with that?" the woman repeated.

  "I don't have any problems with that at all," she replied.

  "Do you have children?"

  "No."

  "Pets?"

  "No."

  "How old are you?"

  Everyone she'd never met personally took her seriously until they found out what her real age was. For some crazy reason, she'd met a few hiring managers back in New York who measured abilities, smarts, and business-savvy expertise based on age. She supposed they were right half of the time, but her accomplishments to date had always proved them wrong. She thought maybe she should fib about her age but then decided against it.

  "Twenty-eight."

  "Ever been married?"

  This was a tricky question. She'd almost been married. It took a tragedy to reveal her fiancé's true side.

  "No."

  "Would you mind giving us your name? This will be kept confidential, but your chances of nailing this opportunity are greatly increased if he knew a tad bit about your background."

  Trina swallowed. "Sure, as long as it's not broadcasted around town. I lead a very private lifestyle."

  "That's even better," she said. "Don't worry. We won't be broadcasting anything. After all, my boss is a shifter and he'll be requesting confidentiality as well—if you're chosen. Now, what's your name?"

  Trina gave the secretary what she needed. Even after that, she seemed to have dozens of other questions, not just a few, but Trina needed cash fast—if at all possible, and the other opportunity had almost put her in a wooden box six feet under.

  "Well, that's all for now," the secretary said when she was done with her prying questions. "I have your contact information and if he wishes to move forward with the next steps, I'll give you a call. If you don't hear from us in two days, you can assume that you weren't chosen. Thank you for your time, Trina Daniels."

  After Trina hung up the phone, she laid back on the sofa and closed her eyes.

  The memories from that dreadful night just five days ago still haunted her. Maybe it was too early to be looking for extra work again. She'd need more than a few days to get over the attack. Never in a hundred years would she have anticipated a gun being held to her back and her life threatened. On the other hand, she'd never thought her desperation to help a parent would lead her out of her comfort zone.

  But if she hadn't been lead out of her comfort zone, she never would have realized that it was possible to experience attraction so hot that she could hardly control herself. How could she have wanted to offer her body and slap the sexy stranger across the face at the same time? Had she made the right choice by slapping him and running?

  She sighed.

  In the days after being released from the hospital, she had tried to find her shifting savior, but it seemed that he was a mystery. Something told Trina that she'd have to return to the shifter community if she ever wanted to reunite with him again.

  But first, she had serious matters to resolve. If she ever wanted to be happy with anyone again, she wanted to have a clean, emotional slate.

  Chapter 8

  "You’ve got to do something about this, Dane. You can't just idly stand by. Time is ticking away. What have you got now, huh? Seven…eight more days until they strip your shit from you. Get engaged, get married, stop this right now."

  His brother Garrett Justice paced back and forth on the other side of the office.

  Dane frowned. Yes, he was in quite the dilemma, but his mind was elsewhere. He couldn't get the image of the sexy beautiful woman from his mind. Her slender perfect neck. Pretty brown curls. Her eyes were so fucking enchanting that whenever he slept at night, he saw them in his dreams. Heck, for the past few days all of his dreams had involved lusting over her.

  He had tried to find her. Tried to use all of his resources to find her, but the hospital nor the police would identify her. Something about her giving information freely about the gunman and protecting her from further threats. He understood that fully well. The reason why he wasn't as adamant about hunting her down was that he wanted no harm to come to her. He wanted her protected. At the same time, he wanted…and needed her.

  "Dane…?" Garrett was getting impatient.

  "Here's the thing…I met someone and I was trying to locate her. I failed," he said, averting his brother's gaze. "When I met her, I lost interest in marrying anyone else, even to save my property."

  "Oh, damn." Garrett dropped his forehead in his palms. "You're going to lose your land over a woman you can't find."

  "I think she's mine." Dane leaned back in his desk chair and ran his fingers through his hair. "I actually think she's mine to claim."

  "How are you certain? Where is her birthmark located?"

  Dane shrugged. "That's just it. I've barely even touched her. I don't even know her name. All I know is that when the gunman had her and threatened to shoot her, I knew I had to save her. And not just save her, I wanted to keep her."

  "Man, I know this mating thing is bound to happen, but this is some fucked up shit you're dealing with about this land. How about this? You've got under seven weeks to marry and divorce a human woman and then after that, you can go search high and low for your runaway mate. Shit, I'll even help you, but please, under no circumstances should you delay this any longer. Both Brock and Raoulf agree that you've been walking around in a trance ever since you mauled that gunman's face up really badly at LIVE. I have to leave out soon on a job, but when I come back, I don't want to hear that the land was taken away from you."

  Dane crumbled the piece of paper that he was holding his hand. "I should have killed him for touching her."

  "In due time, brother. Do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do."

  "Yeah…" Dane grumbled. "You're right."

  "I'm gonna go grab us a beer," Garrett said. "I'll be right back."

  When Garrett was out of earshot, Dane picked up his cell phone and called his assistant. She answered promptly.

  "How may I assist you today, Alpha?"

  "I reviewed your notes from this morning about the woman who called in response to my ad. Trina Daniels. She's more interesting than the previous twenty or so who've been phone interviewed. I'd like you to call her back and set up a face to face meeting to be held at my home."

  "Yes Alpha."

  "I need this done as soon as possible with minimal delay. I would like to speak to her this evening, if at all possible."

  "I understand how time sensitive this is. I'll call her back right away, Alpha."

  Chapter 9

  At any point, Trina could have backed out of this meeting and asked the private driver to turn around to take her back home. Instead, she sat in the back seat of the fancy Rolls Royce as the driver took her farther into the other side of the town. They had already passed over the set of train tracks that marked the end of the city and the beginning of the countryside. Farther beyond the countryside sat the mountains and dark valleys. Only the most adventurous of residents in the surrounding area ventured out into the mountains. Other than that, the rugged landscape and intricate paths of the valley was like a maze to tourists and, from what she heard, the sunset at mountain's peak was a view that even expert climbers had died to see. Except for the occasional visit to the market with her parents as a child, she'd pretty much kept to the city.

  She glanced out of the tinted window at the fields of sunflowers. When Trina was just a young girl, her parent's wo
uld plan picnics—family time was what Mom had called it. Those times had been all about devoting time to each other, telling stories, enjoying food, and capturing moments. Tiffany Daniels had been a pro at capturing those memories through her love of photography. Her late mother had been talented in many other ways, but the photos she took in the years prior to the car accident displayed only one of her many skills. Venturing into the countryside again brought back vivid memories from Trina's carefree youth.

  The car veered right down a paved, wooded path. Much like the rest of this town, the neighborhood was secluded between thickets of leafy cedar trees with murky gray moss overhanging the branches. Brick mailboxes lined the narrow road, spaced hundreds of yards apart. Back in her little homely subdivision, she was used to homes being only dozens of feet apart, and instead of sitting on acres and acres of land, they sat on mere lots. Where she grew up, everyone was literally in each other's backyards. Her time in Manhattan following graduation had been no different, except she lived in a high-rise condo instead. So Trina was used to her city roots, not the rich seclusion afforded by the town of Aspen Valley.

  The driver turned on a cobblestone path and stopped right in front of wrought iron gates and a stone wall. The gates swung open only moments after the car came to a complete stop.

  A massive two-story brick home came into view as the driver maneuvered through the gates. The landscaping and lavish center garden caught her attention first. Red rose vines trailed along the brick encasing and up the trellis in the center.

  The car came to a halt beside a silver motorcycle with a helmet lying on the leather seat. There was a three-car garage attached to the home, but no other cars outside. From what she understood, the bachelor lived almost entirely by himself.