Opal: A Contemporary Reverse Harem Romance (Jewels Cafe Book 4)

by Candace Wondrak

  I watched with a lifted brow as she disappeared again.

  “What is she doing?” Ace asked, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “I have no idea, but please be nice,” I begged. The guys slowly made their way to the couch, plopping themselves down and glancing at each other with curious expressions.

  When Sofia returned, she had…a notepad. A notepad that I saw was full of questions, scribbled down in her messy handwriting. She sat herself on the coffee table, staring at my guys like she was some drill sergeant about to address lowly recruits.

  “Hi, I’m—” Ace started to introduce himself, but Sofia’s look stopped him short.

  “I know who you are. If you think Opal hasn’t told me everything about you guys, you’re in for it. I know every little detail about your personalities, your looks…just assume I know everything.” She crossed her legs. “This interview might take a while, but I assure you it is totally serious. Answer all questions honestly. Do not lie to me. I will know. I will not tell you how I’ll know, but I’ll know.”

  Sofia sounded so utterly serious, it was hard to hide my smile, especially when the guys began to shift in their seats, looking uncomfortable.

  “If I decide whether you’re unfit to date my friend, I’m sorry, but the relationship will have to end today,” Sofia went on. For a split-second, the corners of her mouth quirked up as the guys glanced to me, but the seriousness came back full force when she said, “Let’s start with perhaps the most important question you’ll ever be asked in your life.” A pause. “What is your favorite color?”

  Brock questioned, “You’ll break us up if you don’t like the colors we choose?”

  “Is this a game to you, Brock?” Sofia said, knowing exactly who he was. “I assure you, this is a very serious matter. Opal is my friend, and only I get to decide if you three are worthy of her. Colors. Now, or forever hold your peace.”

  I knew Sofia well enough by now to know she was going to drag this out as long as she could and make those guys squirm. Even Kent seemed a little apprehensive, probably because I’d told him how important Sophia’s approval was to me. The way everyone was acting, it was like Sofia was my father and it was her permission they needed to marry me.

  Not that anyone was talking about that yet.

  “Blue,” Brock muttered, though his voice softened when he watched Sofia make a disappointed face and scribble something down on the pad on her lap.

  “Black,” Kent said, to which Sofia merely shook her head.

  Ace took his time in saying, “Green.”

  “Green,” Sofia muttered with a sigh. “We have a green. I can’t believe this.”

  I bit my lower lip, crossing my arms as I watched the scene unfold. With every question came answers from them, and each and every time Sofia had a comeback that made them wonder if they answered incorrectly.

  All in all, though, they seemed to get along, which was good. The four most important people in my life had to get along, especially if this was going to be long-term. And, God, I desperately wanted it to be a long-term thing. I wanted to grow old with these guys, spend countless nights in each of their beds, get to know every little quirk they had.

  Was it overkill? Was it too soon to think about those things? Maybe, but I didn’t care. After throwing caution to the wind and agreeing to be with them all, I didn’t want to take things slow. You know what they say, right? When you know, you know.

  And when you’re not sure, sometimes all you need is a pumpkin spice latte to push you in the right direction.

  If you liked Opal, you’ll enjoy these other Jewels Cafe books:

  Amber by Mia Harlan

  Sapphire by Eva Delaney

  Peridot by M Sinclair Author

  Topaz by J.E. Cluney

  Ruby by Ann Denton

  Amethyst by CY Jones

  Pearl by Tabitha Barret

  Emerald by Jade Waltz

  Onyx by Melissa Adams

  Moonstone by Lucy Felthouse

  Rose by Jewels Arthur

  Flip the page to read a preview of Topaz, by J. E. Cluney!

  Not many people looked my way normally, but when you’re running down the street in a sky-blue ball gown with tears running down your face at the crack of dawn, they’re going to notice.

  I’m Topaz, a tiger shifter, now chosen partner of our leader’s son. A complete and utter jerk of a shifter.

  I didn’t get a say in it, clearly.

  I’m not about to write my life off to be the mate to some egotistical, self-centered asshat.

  But when my best friend tries to help and cheer me up, things go from shit to complete crazy when we hit a shifter on the road.

  Things keep spiraling out of control, and I find myself crazily attracted to three unexpected men. I’d never have thought I’d feel this way for any of them, but here we are.

  What the hell is going on?

  Chapter 1

  Not many people looked my way normally, but when you’re running down the street in a sky-blue ball gown with tears streaking down your face at the crack of dawn, they’re going to notice.

  I was in the mood to gouge their eyes out with my claws, but that wouldn’t change the fact that I’d just been declared the intended mate of none other than Tyler Harrison.

  The utter tool that was also the son of the Pride leader.

  He was an absolute jerk, and a complete player.

  Why on earth had our Chief chosen me as his mate?

  I wanted to shift, to tear off this ball gown and escape the suburbs, to run free in the woods.

  Happy fucking twenty-first to me.

  I growled as I kicked the road in my silver heels. So much for celebrating my big twenty-first. I guess the night had gone well, until the Chief had declared the rest of my life over. No more dreams of travel or anything. I would have to become a mate and bear that wretched man’s children.

  Ha! As if.

  I slunk into the shadows, clutching my iPhone as it vibrated.

  I glanced down at the caller ID.

  Darcy.

  I sighed, harshly wiping at my smudged mascara and eyeliner.

  I answered, forcing myself to pull it together.

  “What?” I snapped.

  “He can’t do that,” Darcy growled.

  Darcy, my best friend since I was just a small child. We’d been more like siblings growing up, without the rivalry. Inseparable, and many questioned our strong friendship. But friends was all it was, he was practically my big brother, being a year older than me.

  “He’s the Chief,” I muttered.

  “I don’t care,” Darcy said dismissively.

  I managed a small smile. Always standing up for me. What would I do without him?

  “What the Chief says goes, he’s our leader,” I murmured, my chest tightening at the thought.

  “You really want to be the chosen mate for Tyler fucking Harrison?” Darcy snorted.

  “What the hell do you think?” I growled.

  Tyler fucking Harrison. The biggest tool of our Pride.

  High school jock and massive asshole. Even now out of school, he was still the same, even at my twenty-first.

  Why was he there? Well, when a tiger shifter turns twenty-one, the entire Pride comes to celebrate. The birthday person gets to choose their theme, and me being me, I decided I wanted some fairy tale party. Why? Because I’d jokingly promised Darcy that I’d be a princess for my twenty-first and he’d be my prince when we were just young. I’d clung to the strange little promise I’d made when we’d been having a sleepover and watching a Harry Potter marathon.

  It had been going amazingly well, everyone dressed up like we were a part of some Disney movie, and the food was amazing. I’d been enjoying the night and then early hours of the morning, until the Chief decided to make a toast, congratulating me on my birthday, and assigning me my mate.

  Tyler was already twenty-one, but hadn’t been assigned a mate at his birthday. Being the next in li
ne to lead our Pride, he was to have a mate chosen for him, but if the one they’d chosen wasn’t of suitable breeding age, he wouldn’t have the mate named on his birthday.

  They’d be named on theirs.

  Fuck my life.

  As the Chief had made the announcement, there were whoops and cheers, and a number of filthy looks from the other females of our Pride who’d been hoping to become his mate.

  Tyler looked almost as shocked as I was, especially since he’d been one of my bullies in high school.

  And me being the calm and collected young woman that I was, handled it with utter grace and dignity.

  Lol, fuck no, I bailed like my dress was on fire.

  “T?”

  I blinked as Darcy’s voice rung in my ear with my nickname.

  “Yeah?”

  “You went awfully quiet there, you didn’t even reply,” Darcy murmured.

  “I can’t become his mate. He’s horrible, he bullied us at high school, he’s a complete asshole,” I groaned as I massaged my head. I’d enjoyed quite a few drinks now that I was legal, but being a shifter, it was only now starting to kick in. Tyler, on the other hand, had downed more than I could count, and he’d become quite intoxicated at my party.

  He’d sobered up quick with his father’s announcement though.

  “Neither of you want it, I’m sure we can figure something out. Surely your parents can help you get it sorted with the Chief,” Darcy said, and I closed my eyes in frustration.

  “Maybe I can just run away?” I mused.

  “Um, no, I vote against that,” Darcy stated.

  “You’re not the one chosen to be with a jerk,” I grumbled.

  “We can fix it. Tyler wasn’t happy either, surely he has some pull with his father,” Darcy said, his tone full of belief in the spoiled brat.

  Spoiled. That was definitely Tyler.

  “Maybe,” I said, a sliver of hope creeping in.

  Surely the Chief would take our feelings into consideration. He’d just jumped the gun on all of this.

  “Want me to come pick you up? We can head into Silver Springs to finish off your birthday night?” Darcy offered.

  “Please,” I sighed. Not that there was much of it left. The sky was turning grey at this early hour, and I knew I’d instead probably be getting breakfast with Darcy.

  Silver Springs was the next town over, only a half an hour drive from my home of Scarborough, and I’d spent many days in the supernatural town. There were more supes than humans it seemed, which was always a nice change. Whereas Scarborough had a decent population of humans. Not to mention our town was much smaller, with only a post office, autoshop, and corner shop as the main businesses.

  “Happy birthday to me,” I mumbled.

  Read it here: Topaz

  Click here to read the rest in KU today!

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