Table of Contents
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
About Amelia Rademaker
Other books by Amelia Rademaker
Connect with Amelia Rademaker
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Wolves of Black Bird
By Amelia Rademaker
Copyright © 2017 Amelia Rademaker
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author’s permission.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is coincidence.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
About Amelia Rademaker
Other books by Amelia Rademaker
Connect with Amelia Rademaker
Acknowledgements
Thank you to all those who helped during this process. You know who you are. Your feedback, support and work had been greatly appreciated. I’m sorry for all of the swearing.
Chapter One
Grace stopped what she was doing. She couldn’t help it. It was an involuntary response every time she caught his scent in the air. Grace stood still, eyes closed, in the middle of the sidewalk trying to pinpoint what made Jack Taylor smell so damn good.
It could have been his aftershave. No one else in the small town of Black Bird used his aftershave. It could have been the sawdust that was always lingering on his clothes. It could have been that wild smell that permeated through everything else. Whatever it was, it added up to one thing in Grace’s mind. Mate.
The one person that was destined for Grace.
“Hey, crazy, how about you stop daydreaming and help me with these boxes.”
“Sorry, Anne,” Grace ducked her head embarrassed that she had been caught, nose in the air.
Anne Kane, Grace’s best friend, just shook her head and walked into her boutique. Grace was helping Anne part time with her store while Anne looked for a permanent assistant. Her last one had moved to a different town. The two women were supposed to be bringing in new merchandise but Grace was frozen where she stood, box in hand, looking for the source of the distracting smell.
The bell over the door of Chic Chick rang as Anne walked back onto the sidewalk.
“He walked by while you were in the back. You missed him, Grace.” Anne sighed, exasperated. “Now, can we get on with business? I want to get these dresses up before lunch.”
Grace picked up another box from Anne’s car and followed her inside.
Rows of clothes hung on galvanized steel pipes that serpentined through the single room store. The exposed metal, coupled with the antique white hutches, gave the store a rustic feel. Anne’s ability to pair modern and old world styles was what made her main street shop a success. Grace may have helped build the clothing racks and paint the walls, but it was Anne who kept selling out of merchandise.
Without a word, the two women started opening boxes and shaking out dresses. They had done this so many times in the last four years since Chic Chick had opened that they had it down to an art. Anne pulled out the steamer while Grace started making room to hang the metallic and jewel toned dresses.
The weather was cooling. The snows were coming and the holiday season was just around the corner. The shiny dresses Anne had picked out would give ladies the incentive to buy new dresses. The front window was the perfect way to lure people in during their lunch breaks.
It also gave Grace an excuse to keep an eye out for Jack. In case he walked back this way again.
“I thought you had a sure fire plan to corner Jack yesterday,” Anne said breaking the silence.
Grace barely contained a growl, “I did.”
She had bribed old man Johnson at the lumber yard to call Grace when Jack arrived to pick up his shipment that week. What Grace hadn’t anticipated was that old man Johnson’s loyalty to Jack was greater than his love for butterscotch brownies. The old coot had taken the brownies but never called Grace.
That type of solidarity was typical when it came to Jack Taylor though. Jack had only lived in Black Bird for a year, but somehow he had gained more loyalty from the town than Grace ever had. And Grace had lived here her whole life! Yet she was a second class citizen. The last twelve months had hammered that point home.
“You would not believe how cunning that man is and how much people like him.” Grace grumbled. “Hell, I’ve only managed to talk to him once and I’m already in love.”
Anne shook her head in disbelief. “How has he been able to avoid you for this long? The town is so small the school is K-12.” She leaned around the dress she was steaming to purse her lips at Grace. “Only you could get mated to a man who can hide like a chameleon in a town of less than five thousand.” Anne cringed. “To be mated,” she amended.
That was the problem in a nutshell. Somehow, Jack Taylor had roped the whole town into helping him avoid Grace. Not that he had done it knowingly. They’d helped him without being asked.
When he had moved to Black Bird last year, Grace had been a part of the welcoming committee. The instant their hands touched it felt like lightning had struck. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and Grace’s wolf howled. Grace had seen Jack’s eyes widen in surprise. She had been sure he felt it too, but he had dropped her hand like it was a snake and had gone out of his way to avoid her since.
For a while, Grace let him do his own thing. She assumed it would be stressful moving to a new place. Not that Grace had ever moved. She heard people complain about boxing up their houses often enough though. Meeting your fated mate on top of that must be overwhelming. But when she started making an effort to meet with Jack, she couldn’t find him. It was only after the tenth time of “just missed him” that Grace started to suspect he was avoiding her.
“He’s meeting with Ben and the other enforcers to talk about a group of rogues that are making their way here.” Anne finally said.
The dress in Grace’s hand slipped from her fingers as she whipped her head around to see Anne’s expression. Anne was pointedly focused on steaming the wrinkles out of a gold sheath dress but Grace could see the tension around her friend’s eyes. Anne was worried.
Rogues were groups of wolves who didn’t have territory. They had been kicked out their own Packs or left to avoid the law. Rogues were half feral destructive forces.
Considering Ben Thompson was Black Bird’s Alpha, and Anne’s boyfriend, Anne would know if there was a reason to be worried. Ben scheduling a meeting with the Pack’s enforcers did not bode well either.
“Are they here for us?” The question dropped to a whisper on the last word.
In the last few years the American
Packs had become volatile. With was no central leadership to police interactions between Packs groups were taking advantage of that. There were territory wars going on all along the West Coast and the smaller more isolated Packs were being preyed on.
That scared Grace the most. Black Bird wasn’t big and it wasn’t well allied. A rogue Pack of wolves could sweep through and decimate the territory.
No one could prepare for rogues. They weren’t like other Packs who organized direct attacks. Rogues were groups of lawless lunatics driven crazy by their duel natures. They didn’t strategize or maneuver in any way that could be predicted. They attacked. They gave themselves over to their animals and slaughtered.
The thing that scared Grace the most was that they had no self-preservation. It didn’t matter if the fight was one against ten, they fought. And they kept fighting even as their lifeblood drained out of them. There was no defense against that. One rogue wolf could take out three enforcers because he was too enchanted with the bloodlust.
Grace hadn’t heard anything about the Packs around them being attacked but with the increasing aggression, it was only a matter of time. No one outright said it, but the town was nervous.
“No,” Anne’s voice was clear, definitive, “they’re just a group of rogues that a few Alphas have seen passing through. They haven’t approached anyone and they haven’t been violent. Ben’s just,” Anne let out a breath, “being cautious. You can’t be too cautious.”
Grace nodded. No argument there.
Attempting to lighten the mood, Grace bumped Anne’s shoulder as she went to grab the next stack of pressed dresses. “How would our illustrious Alpha feel if he knew you were giving out his schedule to strangers?” Grace teased. “Word might get around that you have loose lips.”
Anne snorted. “I would rather have the town calling me loose lips than a loose woman. Also, considering you were planning on hunting Ben down to ask him if he knew where Jack was, I am sure he will thank me later.” Anne cocked her eyebrows tempting Grace to deny it.
Grace huffed at being found out. To be fair she had pulled that move often so often that it wasn’t as subtle as it used to be. And Anne had reason to get upset about it. Grace had crashed a few dinner dates between Anne and Ben trying to find Jack. Grace couldn’t be too upset at the bite in Anne’s tone.
“You just have trouble sharing Ben’s time.” Grace said playfully. Not that Grace could blame her. Ben was a hunk. He was tall and built, with thick black hair. Having known him her entire life, Grace could safely say that he was one of the best men on the planet.
Grace punched a price tag into a dress with too much force and the gun jammed. Throwing it down in frustration Grace snarled, “I’m so pathetic, Anne!”
“I know, honey,” Anne stopped steaming clothes and gave Grace a sad look, “but if you can’t be pathetic about your mate, what’s the point?”
It hurt that Anne was agreeing with her so quickly. Grace sank down into a chair.
“Being pathetic is one thing, but I’m turning into a creep! That man doesn’t want anything to do with me and I’m stalking him all around town.” Grace sniffed.
It was time to throw in the towel. If Jack had wanted to get to know Grace, he had had ample opportunity. Jack acted like he didn’t even want to be around Grace. If Grace walked into the diner, Jack walked out the back. If Grace turned down the same grocery aisle, he would drop his basket and hightail it out of the store.
She didn’t even know why he was doing it. This was the main reason she had started her militaristic campaign to corner him and call him out. In the last few weeks, she had started gathering intelligence and planning her ambushes. Grace was going crazy just trying to get a minute of her mate’s time and he was doing his best to deny her.
She sniffled louder.
“Oh sweetheart,” Anne walked over. “Don’t even go there. It’s not you.” Anne wrapped an arm around Grace’s shoulder. “The man probably has some rare brain tumor. He’s trying to save you the grief of having to be mated to an invalid. Or, more plausible is that his penis is tiny.” Anne wiped a tear off Grace’s cheek. “He’s a hero for not subjecting you to his tiny dick. We should throw him a parade.” Anne jumped back throwing her arms wide. “We could put banners in every storefront and we could make a float depicting his miniscule package. Mrs. Henderson’s Pomeranian could pull it through Main Street.” Anne winked.
Grace laughed weakly. “Based on what I overheard Becky Jameson say at the bar last night, we might need Clydesdales to pull a parade float of that man’s junk.”
Anne pulled her lips back in disgust. Anne hated Becky Jameson. It all began when they had worn the same dress to junior prom.
“Well, that girl dated Cory Tate for years. I’m sure in comparison, Jack’s mini weenie looked like the Rock of Gibraltar.”
Cory Tate had landed himself on Anne’s bad side after he “accidentally” mistook Becky for Anne at the junior prom and had gone home with her. Anne couldn’t take a breath to insult Becky Jameson without throwing a barb at Cory Tate too. It was as sure as an Amen after a prayer.
“I don’t know why he doesn’t want to be my mate. That’s the problem. The man is involved in everyone’s life in this town. He helps with Pack security, he visits the old folk’s home, he found Mark Boone a job but I can’t even have a single conversation with him.” Grace threw her hands up. “I can’t even make a good excuse for him because I haven’t ever talked to him!” A tear fell down Grace’s cheeks. “Why doesn’t he want me?”
This was the final blow to Grace’s self-esteem. Growing up in Black Bird was hard for a half breed wolf. It also didn’t help that her mom was infamous. Grace’s mom loved her dad so much that she had broken up with her high school sweetheart, who also happened to be her mate, and married Grace’s dad. They had been madly in love. Grace’s mom called her dad, “My heart’s mate.” And after her dad passed away suddenly a few years ago, her mom had passed on quietly only a month later. They just couldn’t live without each other.
While Grace loved her parents, the town felt otherwise. They could not forgive June Harding for not mating with Richard Pierce and they certainly could not forget that she had done it all for a human. The wolves in town barely tolerate of the humans, let alone humans who married eligible females from the Pack. Throwing Richard Pierce over for Nathaniel Copeland, a human, had gotten the entire family blacklisted.
Grace was lumped in with the witches in town, Black Bird High School’s rivals, and the IRS. Not many people passed up the opportunity to screw with Grace. Thankfully, when Ben became Alpha things settled down. Only for them to start all over again when Jack moved to town.
Grace wasn't known for being melancholy. She tried to be upbeat about life but her wolf was confused why they weren't mated and Grace couldn’t stop thinking that it was her fault. It was the recipe for a very emotional reaction.
“Let’s go,” Anne declared getting up from the chair.
Grace wiped the tear stains off her face and put her shirt in order. Without saying a word, Grace followed Anne out the front door. Anne didn’t bother locking up, so Grace knew where they were headed.
Dale Markman’s bakery was only busy two times a day: before dawn and before school. The sun was already up and the kids were in school, so the bakery was empty. Dale was bent behind the glass display counter restocking from the early morning rush.
Dale was a thin man, thinner than would be expected for a person who made donuts all day. He was just starting to show his age too. There were crow’s feet appearing at the corners of each eye and a smattering of gray in his hair.
Hearing the overhead bell ring, Dale arched his back trying to work out a knot.
“Morning ladies, getting some work in before the day starts?” Dale smiled, his eyes wrinkling even more at the corners. Grace liked Dale. He was kind and he worked hard. Everyone else in Black Bird might obsess over gossip, but Dale didn’t pay any mind to it. He hadn’t shown favorites when
Grace’s mom had married her dad instead of her high school sweetheart and he hadn’t gotten involved in the Jack Taylor fiasco.
“We sure are. I don’t know about Grace, but I could use a pick me up.” Anne rubbed her hands together excitedly. Anne didn’t even like donuts. She was here purely to drag Grace out of the dumps.
“I just put out some huckleberry filled ones.” Dale pointed to a line of fat fried dough leaking purple jam. Anne ordered two.
Grace was looking over the display, waiting for Anne to finish paying, when she heard the door open. Glancing over her shoulder, she barely bit back a groan. If Dale Markman was a saint, then Pearl Pierce was the devil. She was in her eighties and was always up in arms about something.
Last year, she had tried to get the community center shut down when they threw a Halloween carnival. Everyone rolled their eyes at the irony of a shifter thinking Halloween was going to corrupt the children but it had put a damper on the town’s celebration. If Pearl liked a person, she was vocal about it but nowhere near as vocal as if she didn’t like a person. Grace just happened to be a person Pearl didn’t like.
Pearl was also the mother of Richard Pierce. Her mom’s almost mate. From the moment Grace was born, she had been on Pearl’s shit list. And that meant that Pearl Pierce worshipped the ground that Jack Taylor walked on.
“Oh dear, they are letting all kinds of folks in here,” Pearl gasp, theatrically sniffing her nose.
Anne looked back and rolled her eyes. It was no surprise that Pearl hated Anne as well. Ever since Anne and Ben had started dating, Pearl had been going on and on about the sanctity of mates and how only loose women kept company with men who they weren’t fated for. Grace had the speech memorized since it was the same one Pearl howled at the Copeland family whenever the opportunity presented itself.
“Yeah, Dale, aren’t you worried about having bags of bones around the food?” Anne said deadpan. “The health inspector can’t condone that.”
Dale covered a laugh with a cough. Grace smiled but kept her head down not wanting to draw the old woman’s wrath.
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