A Cub For The Billion-were (Alpha Billion-weres Book 2) Read online

  He stared moodily off into space, barely hearing her. “That’sh nishe. Good for your boyfriend.”

  “Oh, I don’t have a boyfriend. I’m very, very single.” She leaned over the counter. “And you’re single.”

  He finally met her eager gaze. “Yeah. I like it that way. Give me a triple shot.”

  Her smile faltered, but she quickly served him his drink, and he tossed it back in one gulp.

  “After I give you your massage…who knows what might happen next?” She leaned so far over the bar, she was in danger of falling over. “If you got to know me, you’d really, really like me.” The woman’s voice was drilling into his head, and without looking at her, he got up and walked away.

  Images of Jennifer flooded through his mind. Jennifer – shy and sweet and vulnerable.

  Jennifer, the first woman he’d opened his heart up to.

  Jennifer, who had proceeded to cut that heart out of his chest with a rusty knife.

  Of course, his father hadn’t helped matters when he’d kidnapped Grant and held him captive for weeks to keep him away from her. There had been no way his son was going to mate with a human – and worse, a dirt-poor human with no family. They were the wealthy, internationally famous Bronsons. Grant would mate with a werewolf of equal wealth and prestige.

  His father had also hacked into Jennifer’s Skype account and gloated as he forced Grant to watch videos of Jennifer with her real boyfriend, a rogue lone wolf named Boone Mulcaster. Apparently whenever Jennifer was with Boone, she suddenly became double-jointed.

  When she hadn’t had her legs behind her ears, she and Boone had eagerly discussed how they were going to fleece Grant for everything he was worth. Fake being pregnant. Trick him into mating her. Demand half his assets, or she’d reveal that he was a werewolf. Yeah, Boone had told her all about werewolves. There was a kill on sight order out on Boone because of that, but so far the slippery bastard had eluded capture.

  By the time Lloyd Bronson released his son, Grant had wanted nothing to do with Jennifer. He’d gone overseas to Europe for a year, drowning himself in booze and women until he’d been thoroughly sick of both.

  Since he’d come back home, women had been constantly pestering him to mate with them. And there was the pressure for a wealthy Alpha to permanently settle down and start having cubs – which was not going to happen.

  Not after he’d realized how little he could trust his own heart. To discourage the endless stream of women throwing themselves at him, he made sure he always had a female companion with him – women who were paid to hang out with him and keep the other women at bay.

  It had worked for years, until Jennifer’s twin sister had showed up and blown his cover. Not only that, his physical and emotional reaction to her was batshit crazy.

  And now he couldn’t get her out of her mind. Damn her, damn her, damn her.

  Through a haze of anger and self-pity, he saw that Cliff and Taylor were hurrying towards him.

  He struggled to form words. “Get the flock… Get the frack…” He swayed where he stood.

  Then he saw the look on Cliff’s face, and an adrenaline surge sobered him up considerably.

  “What?” he snapped.

  “There’s a woman from Nevada Child Protective Services at the gate. She says she’s here to take custody of your son.”

  Chapter Five

  The motel was an hour away from the Mystic Lodge. It was cheap and dodgy-looking. A flickering streetlight leaned drunkenly over a parking lot choked with weeds. The chain-link fence around the perimeter was rusty, the sidewalk at the base cluttered with trash that had blown against it. It looked like the kind of place that rented rooms by the hour. In one of the rooms, a man and a woman were arguing so loudly their curse words drifted to Grant across the parking lot.

  Grant’s son shouldn’t be here. But it was Grant’s fault that his son was here right now, and he wanted to punch his own face in, knowing that.

  Grant, Chantelle, Mandy, Cliff and Taylor hurried down the walkway. They pounded on the doorway of Celeste’s motel room. There was a pause, and he saw the curtain rustle as she peeked out the window. Then she opened the door a crack, glaring at Grant.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t order a slice of douche pizza. Must have been someone down the hall.”

  “We need to talk.” Grant moved forward.

  “You need to talk. I need to sleep.” She tried to shut the door in his face. He put his palm on the door and pushed it open wide enough to wedge his foot in.

  Behind her, he could just make out a little boy wearing blue pajamas with teddy bears on them, holding a toy stuffed wolf, and his heart leaped in his chest.

  My son? My little boy?

  Nothing would make him abandon his child. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Lucky me. How did you find us?” she asked him with an unfriendly scowl. She’d booked the room under a fake name.

  “I’m rich as hell and I have a lot of resources. It’s really important that I talk to you. May I come in?”

  She stood there in the doorway, looking at him with a mixture of contempt, hurt and anger that made him want to either drown himself in a barrel of tequila or go start another pointless fight. But he wouldn’t. He was a father, and it was time for him to grow up.

  Celeste looked at the people behind him. “You and all your flying monkeys? No. You had your chance.”

  He could force his way in, but that would terrify his son and alienate this woman and accomplish nothing.

  “There are some things that you probably don’t know about my son, that are really, really important for his safety. Let me in.” Then he winced at the harsh edge in his voice.

  Taylor stepped forward. “Hey, this is Flying Monkey Number One here,” she said. “I just wanted to tell you…Grant’s actually a really good guy. Listen, I’m a mother, so I know how protective you’re feeling right now. My son is one year old. He’s Jeffrey’s cousin. He’s back home with our pa— with our family members, and I’m talking to him on Skype every day for the next couple of weeks, and flying home to visit him every few days. I miss him like crazy. My son is my entire world, and I would trust Grant with him. In fact I’ve forced Grant to babysit him several times, and both of them survived the experience quite well.”

  “You were going to say your son is home with your pack,” Celeste said, but she opened the door a little. She still stood there blocking it with her body, though.

  Taylor cleared her throat. “Ahem. Yes. So you do know about us.”

  “A little. I also know that I overheard you and Chantelle talking about how…” Celeste glanced at Jeffrey “…popular with the ladies Grant is.”

  “Hey!” Grant said indignantly to Taylor.

  Taylor shrugged. “You have only yourself to blame. You’ve cultivated that image for years.” She glanced back at Celeste. “Believe it or not, it’s actually kind of an indication that Grant is a decent guy. Your sister really broke his heart. He does have one.”

  “What has he ever done that would make you think that?”

  “Aside from calling his lawyers and rushing here as soon as he found out that he really does have a son? Well, last year he saved a woman from an abusive mate – uh – husband. And Grant was named Alpha of our pack after an unfair contest. It’s a position that comes with enormous money and prestige, and he declined and gave the spot to my mate, Cliff, because my mate was the rightful winner. And Grant donates a lot of money to charity, and when he’s traveling around the world to all of those glamour spots, he’s also sneaking off in disguise to visit the charities and make sure they’re being run properly, and dropping off gifts for battered women and children. Yes, I know about that,” she added to Grant.

  Grant stifled the urge to tell Taylor to stay the eff out of his personal business. Not the time.

  Mandy raised a hand. “Grant is the opposite of a ladies’ man. He has paid me, and a lot of other women, to pretend to be his date just to keep all those gro
upies out of his face. That’s what you saw when you broke in to our room. His room, now – I’ve moved into my own room, which is a relief, because he snores, and sleeping on the fold-out sofa hurts my neck. I’ve suffered a lot of sleepless nights because of him, and not in a good way. Trust me, he has no sex life whatsoever. It’s actually sad.”

  “Thank you?” Grant shot her a look of annoyance. “This is your idea of helping?”

  Mandy smirked. “This is my idea of fun.”

  “Wait. What made you suddenly acknowledge that you have a son?” Celeste looked at Grant.

  “Because a case worker from Nevada showed up at our lodge demanding to take him into custody,” Grant said. “We stalled her for now. We have to be back in Nevada to meet with a judge day after tomorrow.”

  Celeste sucked in a gasp of dismay and quickly stepped back to let them in. They all filed into the small, shabby room. Jeffrey went and sat down on one of the beds, next to an alphabet coloring book. He had piercing amber eyes, just like Grant.

  Grant would never have believed he could feel such a powerful bond towards a tiny little person he hadn’t even known existed the day before. He wanted to scoop Jeffrey up in his arms and keep him safe from the world and never let him go. He was bewildered to find that his heart could feel so full just at the sight of a tousle-haired urchin in teddy bear pajamas.

  There was a long moment of awkward silence.

  “I guess I’m sorry about the flying monkey comment,” Celeste said to Taylor.

  Taylor shrugged. “Hey, I’d love to be able to fly. I probably wouldn’t want to be a monkey, though. They’re cute, but they throw their own poop.”

  “They do?” Jeffrey looked at her, eyes wide.

  She nodded, walking over to him. “Yes, they do. Hi, my name is Taylor. I’m your aunt.”

  He moved back a little, looking alarmed. She reached into her purse and pulled out a children’s book about trains. “I hope you like this,” she said.

  “I don’t know how to read yet, but I’m learning,” he said, holding up his alphabet coloring book.

  Grant cleared his throat. What was the right thing to say when you were meeting your six-year-old son for the first time? “Hello, Jeffrey. I’m your father,” he said. “My name is Grant.”

  Jeffrey’s smile vanished instantly. He leaped from his bed with a growl.

  “No, you aren’t!” Jeffrey ran over to Grant and kicked him in the shin. “You didn’t even want to see me.”

  Well. He’d expected Jeffrey would take it badly. Jeffrey had not disappointed.

  “Jeffrey!” Celeste gave him an exasperated look. “We don’t hit people!”

  “You don’t hit people,” Jeffrey corrected her.

  “Why would you think that he didn’t want to see you?” Celeste asked him. “He’s your father. Of course he wants to see you.”

  He scowled up at her. “Because I heard you out in the hallway talking on the phone. You were telling someone that this was the fifth time you’d left a message for Grant and if he didn’t even want to see his own son, that was his loss.”

  Grant shot Cliff a murderous look. Cliff shook his head in denial. “I had nothing to do with that!”

  “Right,” Grant growled.

  Celeste looked stricken. “I was all the way at the end of the hallway! The door to our room was shut!” she said to Jeffrey.

  Jeffrey gave her a haughty look. “I have very good hearing.”

  “Werewolf,” Taylor said. “I also have very good hearing. Different werewolves have different special gifts.” She pointed at Mandy. “Mandy has super-strength. She can pick up a grown man and throw him across a room.”

  “She can?” Jeffrey looked at Mandy with interest. “Can she throw Grant out of the room into the street?”

  “She probably shouldn’t.” Celeste gave Grant a dirty look. “Although the jury’s still out.”

  “What’s a werewolf?” Jeffrey asked Taylor. “Why is everyone talking about werewolfs? Am I one?”

  “Your father can tell you about that. You guys have a lot to talk about.”

  Grant felt a red cloud of rage swelling up inside him. “I never got any messages from you,” he growled at Celeste. “Not a single one. This is my son we’re talking about here. My flesh and blood. I would have come the second I found out he existed, if I’d known.”

  He looked at Jeffrey. “Jeffrey, I am really, really sorry. I didn’t know about you. If I’d known that I had a son, I would have been over the moon with joy. I would have taken care of you. And I will do that now, I swear.”

  “Mom, make him leave. He’s not going to try to take me away from you, is he?” Jeffrey ran over and hid behind Celeste.

  Grant gave her a look of astonishment. Mom? She let Jeffrey think she was his mom?

  She flushed and looked away.

  “Jeffrey,” she said. “I need you to just sit here with Taylor and these other folks while I talk to Grant outside. In the parking lot, so nobody is eavesdropping,” she added to Grant, with a glance at Jeffrey. “Nobody is taking you anywhere. I promise.”

  “Fine. Leave me,” he said bitterly. “I know you won’t be back.”

  “I’ll read you the book,” Taylor offered. “It’s a really fun book. I swear.”

  “I can read a little.” His tone was sullen. “My mom is teaching me. I know ten words now.”

  “Great!” Taylor said brightly. “You can help me read!”

  “I will be right back. I promise on my life,” Celeste said.

  “Never heard that before,” Jeffrey muttered as Celeste grabbed Grant’s arm and hurried him out of the room.

  Grant felt a rush of arousal from her touch. The warmth of her fingertips seemed to blossom across his skin, and the heat was echoed in his belly. His cock stirred, and he resisted the impulse to reach down and readjust his suddenly too-tight pants – Celeste already thought he was a pig; he didn’t need to give her any more ammunition.

  They quickly walked down the walkway and halfway across the parking lot.

  “Hopefully this is far enough that he can’t hear us,” Celeste said. “I never meant for him to hear any of the messages I left for you. All right, we need to talk.”

  “Yeah, we need to talk. ‘Mom’?” Grant said furiously. “I didn’t think much of the Hennessy women, but grifting your own nephew? That’s a new low— Ow!”

  She raised her hand to slap him, which he easily blocked. But at the same time, she snaked her foot around and hooked it behind his knee, throwing him off balance so he tripped and fell. She lashed out and kicked him in the knee.

  “Don’t you dare accuse me of grifting my nephew!” she spat as Grant leaped to his feet. “At least I was willing to take him in. I didn’t turn my back on my own flesh and blood. Unlike some people I could name, you bed-kicking weirdo.”

  “‘Bed-kicking weirdo’? Your insults need work. Maybe I could help you with that. Empty-headed pretty-boy, useless man-slut…those are halfway decent. Your self-defense skills are top notch, though, I’ll give you that.”

  “Thanks, learned when I was eight. One of my foster sisters got me started. It was the only way to keep our foster dad out of mine and Jennifer’s bed.” At his look of horror, she averted her gaze. “And I don’t need your pity.”

  “You don’t have my pity. My dad used to beat me and my brothers on a daily basis. He beat my little brother Austin until his bones broke. We heal fast, but it still hurts. We had rotten childhoods, and we moved on. Then he died, and we held a big party to celebrate.” He paused, his breathing harsh and angry. “But if I could find your foster dad, I’d kill him. Maybe I will, in fact.”

  “Too late. One of his intended victims already did.” She managed a faint smile at that.

  He glanced at her face, and her gaze fell to the ground.

  “The scar? When we were fourteen, staying with a highly respectable youth pastor and his wife, the guy tried to force himself on Jennifer. We were scrappy little fighters by th
en, so he came armed with a kitchen knife. I put him in a coma. After that, we were only ever put in group homes, no more families.” There was a look of weary resignation on her face that broke his heart. “I’m no good at families.”

  “Speaking of families. Jeffrey. You let him think you’re his mom,” Grant prodded her. “That’s all kinds of fucked up.”

  She winced, pushing her hair out of her face. “I got a phone call from the coroner’s office telling me Jennifer had died in a car crash, so I flew to Somerville and went to her house. Jeffrey was there, and he was filthy and hungry. When I walked in, he called me mom. I have tried to tell him several times that I’m not his mother, and he freaks out or shuts down every time. He won’t believe me, and I’m not surprised. Jennifer was a manipulative liar, and after six years being raised by her, he has very good reason not to believe anything she tells him. And since I look just like her, that means he assumes I’m her – lying to him again. I don’t know what to do.”

  Grant stood there, trying to sort through his tangled emotions. “I had a son all these years, and she never told me.”

  She looked at him. “My sister told me that you were dating and you suddenly disappeared on her. She said that when she contacted you and your family and told you she was pregnant, you guys threatened her and told her if she didn’t get rid of it, they’d kill her. She got fake paperwork from a doctor saying she’d had an abortion, and then she went on the run. I helped her get fake ID so she could hide out from you guys.”

  Grant felt a red haze of fury surround him like a cloud. His son had been raised in miserable circumstances for the last six years – because of his brother and his father. Those manipulative bastards.

  It’s not like it was a secret that Cliff was a conniving son of a bitch who would do whatever he thought was best for the pack, and the hell with how it affect anybody else. But keeping Grant from his own son? Cliff and Grant were going to have some words about that in the near future, when nobody else was around, and Cliff would need to grow back a new set of fangs when Grant was done with him.

  “She never contacted me,” Grant gritted out. “Ever. I did not hear word one about her being pregnant. Even if she had wanted nothing to do with me, I would have stepped up to the plate for my son.”