The Werewolf Queen of
Bourbon Street
City For Lost Souls Book 1
S. K. Gregory
Copyright © 2021 S. K. Gregory
All Rights Reserved
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the memory of Maxine. Gone too soon.
1
Jade
I’m in love with Harry.
I kept playing the thought over and over in my head, but I still couldn’t believe it. I mean it’s Harry. How could I be in love with him? Yes, I can admit that I have a crush on him, but I never thought it was anything more than that. We’ve been through a lot together though and he has saved my life a bunch of times. Maybe that’s all it is. Maybe I’m reading too much into it. There has been a lot of changes lately, I’m not sure what is happening anymore.
What would Harry want with a trailer trash wolf Shifter anyway?
We were friends and business partners, nothing more. Even if our private investigation business had been open officially for a week and we hadn’t had a single client.
Looking around the empty office, I sighed heavily. What if we never got any business? Harry might decide to cut his losses and move on. Then what would I do? I’d be a jobless loser once more.
My best friend, Kol, offered to let me do some shifts in his store, but the smell of all those herbs and potions drove my wolf senses crazy, it was bad enough living above the shop, I couldn’t work there every day too. I don’t think I’m cut out for retail anyway. All that ‘the customer is always right’ nonsense would end badly, I guarantee it.
Pushing the chair back from the desk, I got up and headed to the counter across the room to grab myself some water. Harry added a cappuccino maker too, which he claimed was for clients, but it’s really for him. The man is obsessed with coffee.
I’m not a coffee person, it amps up the wolf and that’s the last thing this city needs. I only drink it on rare occasions.
Harry has helped me get my shifting under control, but that doesn’t mean something won’t happen that could set me off. A wolf loose in the French Quarter would definitely draw attention and not in a good way. I asked Harry if he had another bracelet, like the one he gave me back in Crestwood, which would allow me to call him so he could knock me out if I lost control. He told me he didn’t have one and that I didn’t need it. I wish I had his confidence. I know I’ve gotten better, but I did spend most of my life as a slave to the wolf and it is hard to forget that. If I kept busy, I should be fine.
At least the weather seemed to be settling down at long last. The last month had been hell, but we were through the worst of it. Mother Nature did not seem to be a fan of New Orleans.
Hopefully now we would get some walk ins. Hell, even a missing dog case would be great right now. Not that we covered something as domestic as that. We wanted to work on supernatural cases since that is where our expertise lay. Well, Harry’s expertise. All his teacher knowledge had to be good for something. I hated to think that all the time we spent getting set up would go to waste. It took months to sort the licences, furnish this place and let people know that we were here.
Sipping my water, I knew I needed to stop thinking about Harry. I couldn’t risk him finding out and ruining what we had. And I couldn’t exactly trust my choice in men, could I? Not that there have been many, but I regretted them all. Brett, my ex, was murdered and I got the blame, which is how I ended up at Crestwood in the first place. I never did find out who killed him, but I assumed it was someone in the Pack.
Then of course there was the serial killer, Seb. I dated the psycho for weeks before I found out the truth, then he tried to kill me. He met a sticky end at the hands of my former Pack.
Not to forget the Nephilim brothers, although nothing ever happened with them. Only in my imagination before I knew they were crazy too.
It seemed most men in my life ended up trying to kill me. So far, only Kol and Harry were the exceptions, so I trusted them without question and I don’t trust easily. Why would I ruin that by telling Harry how I felt?
I glanced up to see Harry emerge from the other office, his attention focused on a folded newspaper in his hand. He was dressed as usual in a suit, although he had to opt for a lighter material since we left the pocket dimension which held Crestwood. It had been climate controlled and out here, it was a lot hotter.
“Jade, have you seen what I did with my coffee cup?” he asked, sounding distracted.
“You mean the one that’s in your hand?” I asked, trying not to smile.
He glanced down at his other hand which was indeed clutching the cup. “Oh. Right. Carry on.” He returned to the office and I chuckled softly. He is such an idiot. But in a cute way.
Nope. I forced myself to do something else, something to distract me from those thoughts. Moving to the coffee table in the waiting area, I started straightening the magazines, even though they didn’t really need straightened. The office was small, but it had what we needed. When you came into the office, you entered the main room, which held a desk to the left and behind it lay a smaller room which we would use to talk to people in private. Across the room lay the waiting area, with a small blue couch and a coffee table. Beyond it lay the stairs leading up to Harry’s place. I couldn’t call it an apartment, it was all one room, plus a bathroom, but he seemed to like it. I have to make do with the couch in Kol’s one bedroom apartment, at least until I start making some money of my own.
Dropping onto the couch, I sighed. I felt so bored. Maybe it’s because so much happened at my year at Crestwood, whereas here nothing ever seemed to happen. All we did was sit around, hoping someone would walk in.
Not that I’m complaining, it’s nice not to be attacked every five minutes. But I did think that New Orleans would be a little more exciting. Especially since Harry tells me it is a haven for supernaturals. They tend to flock here when they have nowhere else to go.
I do wonder how things might have gone if I had been allowed to stay at Crestwood, not that I wanted to after the way Principal Blake behaved. She used a powerful student to make money to keep the school open and when he figured it out, he went on the rampage. We almost didn’t get out alive and to top it off, Blake fired Harry when he threatened to report her. I understood why she kicked me out, she hated me from the start, but Harry dedicated his life to Crestwood. It wasn’t fair.
He wandered out of the office again and poured himself some more coffee. His third of the day, I noticed.
He glanced over his shoulder to see me on the couch. “Don’t worry, it will pick up,” he said, seeing my face.
“I hope so. Maybe we should go out and talk to people instead of waiting for them to come to us.” We already handed out a ton of business cards and spoke to some of the local store owners, but nothing ever came of it.
“There’s a lot of people in the city. Someone will show up sooner or later.”
“Yeah, I’m sure someone will find themselves in a crisis soon enough.” He obviously knew my idea would be a waste of time.
Harry leaned against the counter, sipping his coffee. His lean frame wore the suit well but looks could be deceiving. Harry was a black belt and a magic wielder, so he was not to be messed with. I know I didn’t exactly take him seriously when I first met him, but I knew better now. He had been teaching me how to fight. As a Shifter I’m no stranger to fighting, but I lacked technique. I’m more of a brawler. Now I know a few moves that could take someone down quickly.
“What do you want to have
for lunch?” Harry asked.
I glanced at the clock on the wall above my desk. “It’s eleven fifteen.”
“Not now, but in a while. We can decide now.”
“In case we get a mad rush on and there is no time to ask?” I teased.
“Exactly.” He smiled at me and my stomach fluttered.
“I really liked that place from the other day, with the hot sandwiches. Or maybe some gumbo?” All the food was so good here, making it hard to decide.
“Sounds good. I have to admit I don’t miss the cafeteria food at Crestwood,” Harry said.
“I kind of miss their bacon, but that’s about all I miss.”
A look crossed Harry’s face and I quickly steered the conversation away from Crestwood. “I can hand out some business cards later, if that helps.”
Harry nodded. “Yes, that will be great.” He headed back into the office. I think he is trying to put on a brave face since getting fired. I’m sure he’ll feel better about his decision once we get some actual business.
Returning to my desk, I picked up a pencil and started doodling on a notepad. Glancing through the open door, I could see Harry engrossed in his newspaper again.
Turning to a fresh sheet of paper in the notepad, I drew a line down the middle and wrote Pros and Cons at the top of each column. I wanted to really consider my reasons for telling Harry, or not telling him, depending on which side I came down on.
I decided to go with the cons first. We work together. We’re friends. He used to be my teacher. Well, mentor technically, and I was twenty-two when we met, so that doesn’t count. He is older than me though. Just over a decade, but there’s so much more than that. I come from a trailer park, from a crappy Pack who treated me like dirt and then tried to kill me. I’ve never had any money, I dropped out of high school, Crestwood was my last shot.
Harry was educated, he grew up in a completely different world compared to me. As a magic wielder, he did work with packs in the past and its true he fell in love with a Shifter, once upon a time. A woman called Marion who died giving birth to their child. The child died too. I cannot imagine going through something like that, but Harry managed to survive it and rebuild his life. I’m sure that wasn’t easy for him. He had too much going on to ever consider a relationship with me and after all – it’s Harry!
Glancing into the office again, Harry lifted his coffee cup and accidentally spilt some of it down his tie. “Bugger!” he muttered, grabbing some tissues to mop it up.
My pencil poised over the Pros column, I could think of only one thing to write – It’s Harry. I suppressed the urge to groan. Why did I have to go and fall for him?
Ripping the sheet of paper free, I crumpled it into a ball and tossed it into the trash. If Harry ever saw it, I would die of embarrassment. No, even if I did have feelings for him, I could never tell him. Why ruin what we had?
The door slammed open and I looked up to see two goons strut into the room, dressed in suits. Clients? I tossed my pencil into the office to get Harry’s attention.
A moment later, a blonde glided in behind them. My nose immediately told me that I was in the presence of a wolf. My body tensed. I haven’t had a lot of interaction with other wolves or Shifters outside my ex-pack and from Crestwood. Rival packs don’t usually get along.
The woman looked around the room, pulled a face, then turned to face me. In her forties, she dressed like she had just walked off the set of a 1940’s film noir. I wondered if she was going to ask for our help to find some nightclub singer.
“Can I help you?” I forced myself to say, even though the wolf in me wanted to go for her.
Harry heard us and came out of the office. “Good morning.”
The woman’s eyes never left me. “I heard there was a new Shifter in town. I had to see it with my own eyes.”
“Is there something we can do for you?” Harry asked. “I’m Harry by the way and you are?” He offered his hand for her to shake, but she gave him a disdainful look, ignoring the hand.
“Regine. But I’m more interested in who she is,” she said, pointing at me.
Why was she singling me out? “My name is Jade. Is there some kind of problem here?” I asked, trying to stay calm, but I was fighting hard to keep the wolf under control.
“Jade,” she said, sounding out the word. “Jade who?”
I glanced at Harry. I could see his jaw was set, but he didn’t make a move. I didn’t have a surname as such. I adopted the one from my Pack, but I stopped using that when I left. I couldn’t very well give them my father’s name because they would recognize it as being from one of the biggest packs in the country. Instead, I opted for the name on my birth certificate from my mother. “Jade Williams. Seriously, what is this about?”
“Williams, Williams,” she muttered, probably trying to place it. “And what exactly are you doing here in New Orleans?”
I waved my hand around the office. “Uh, working.”
Her face hardened. “No stray Shifters are allowed on my turf without pledging fealty to me.”
I looked to Harry for a translation. “She wants you in her pocket,” he muttered.
“Look, lady, I don’t know who you are, but I don’t want any trouble. I’m just trying to do my job, that’s all. I’m not a threat to you.”
“Where’s your Pack?”
“I don’t have one.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Lone wolves don’t last long.”
Planting my hands on the desk, I went to stand, but Harry shook his head slightly, indicating for me to stop. If we escalated this, God knows what she would do.
“Then you won’t have to worry,” I said finally.
Regine took a step toward me. “Around here, I’m in charge. If you want to live here, work here, then you need to show me your loyalty.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
She leaned on the desk, staring me down. “Let me make myself clear. You either pledge your loyalty to me or you can get the hell out of my town.”
Straightening up, she threw a glare at Harry, before heading to the door. “You have forty-eight hours to decide.”
The goons followed her out and the door slammed shut behind them.
“Who the fuck was that?”
2
Jade
“I can’t believe this is happening,” I said as I paced the room. “I mean can she really do that? Run me out of town?” How could this be happening?
“Without knowing who she is, I’m not sure. But I’ll look into it and I’m sure we can come up with a solution,” Harry said, ever the voice of reason. Right now I didn’t find it comforting, I found it infuriating, but he wasn’t the one being threatened. After all, he paid for this building, he could carry on the business without me. I’m sure he could find someone in no time.
Stop catastrophizing, I thought. So this woman like to throw her weight around, it didn’t mean she actually had the power to do what she said. For all I knew, she might do this to every new Shifter to see who ran and who didn’t.
Pulling out my cell phone, I typed her name and the city into the search engine. God, I love having a phone again. A year at Crestwood with no internet, I don’t know how I survived. Not that I had a choice, the bubble dimension it lay in blocked any kind of service. Harry bought two cell phones as a business expense, but he had to be persuaded to do so. He’s gone a lot longer without one, I’m not even sure he knows how to use one.
“There’s a few articles, no pictures. Might not be her,” I muttered. I did find a brief article referring to her as a local business owner and the name of a few clubs.
“Jade, please. Let me look into it.”
“Really?” I said looking up at him. “Are you going to use your phone? Or the laptop I got you.”
He ran a hand across his dark hair. “I don’t think I need to. There are more reliable ways to get information.”
“Hmm hm. You are such a tech
nophobe.” We wouldn’t get far in this business if he thought he could get by without them. Everyone was online these days. I did suggest that we get a website, but he vetoed the idea. Given that we were dealing with supernaturals, he didn’t want to advertise what we did too much. Supernaturals use the internet too, he was costing us potential business.
“I spent years without it, I don’t see why I need it now,” Harry argued.
“Because now we’re in the real world and we need it in the real world.”
He sighed. “Fine, I’ll take a look at it.”
“Good and I’ll grab us some lunch.”
Harry pulled out his wallet and removed a few bills, holding them out to me. I stared at them for a moment. “I hate taking money off you.”
“It’s just lunch, Jade.”
It was more than that. He paid for everything, it felt like he was giving me an allowance. I hated it. “I know, but I want to earn my own money.”
“We will. As soon as we get a paying client.”
Shaking my head, I took the money and tucked it into the pocket of my slacks. “Fine. I’ll swing by the shop and see if Kol knows who Regine is while I’m out.”
“Good idea.”
Strolling down the street, I tried to enjoy the sights of the city while I had the chance. In forty-eight hours I could be leaving here. Kicked out. Again.
Urgh, why am I so ready to give up? This isn’t Crestwood, I can stay in the city if I want and no one is going to drive me off.
We would find a way to get Regine off my back, something that hopefully didn’t involve me pledging my loyalty to her. By doing that, I would essentially be accepting her as my Alpha. I wouldn’t have the same connection that I would with the Alpha in my real Pack, but it meant she could give me orders whenever she wanted. I was done taking orders. I was in charge of my own life, end of story.
Pushing the door open to In Sickness and in Helf, Kol’s apothecary, I braced myself against the onslaught of scents that hit me. I should be used to it by now, but they still made me sneeze every time. On the outside, it looked like a regular herbalist store and Kol did sell some ordinary products for human customers. He kept the magical stuff in the back. According to him, there are certain herbal remedies which have no effect on humans but are vital to supernaturals. He makes everything himself in the back room.
The Werewolf Queen of Bourbon Street: City For Lost Souls Series Book 1 Page 1