Furever Mated (BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance) (8 page)

K
urt pulled forth all
of his alpha power as he walked into the conference room. He made sure to look every member of the other clan in their eyes, letting them know who was the alpha of his clan.

The conference room was not a huge room, but it wasn’t a small one, either. There was a long table in the center of the room with several chairs around it. Kurt took his seat at the head of the table while Frank sat next to him on his right, and his third rank on the left. The rest of his clan filed in behind him.

At the opposite end of the table sat the alpha of the other clan. The alpha looked to be a little older than Kurt, in his mid-thirties. He had some gray in his short military-style haircut, and carried himself with just as much authority as Kurt did. Kurt recognized him immediately as Jacob Harrison, the alpha of their neighboring clan back home. Fuck, if this all didn’t blow over this could get extremely ugly.

Kurt spoke first. “It’s nice to see you again, Jacob.” Kurt and Jacob had been in the same military unit when Kurt had first joined the army. Kurt had left first for the special testing, and he found out years later that Jacob had followed in his footsteps.

“You too, Kurt,” Jacob said. “Though I am sorry to see you under these circumstances.”

“I agree, but I think we can work to make things right,” Kurt said honestly.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” Jacob asked. Kurt started to explain the incident. When he mentioned how Scarlett was his mate, Jacob broke into a large smile.

“You have found your mate?” Jacob asked.

“I believe I have,” Kurt smiled. “So I am sure you can understand why I reacted the way I did.”

Jacob nodded. Out of the corner of Kurt’s eye he spotted the bear that had grabbed Scarlett, and his bear bristled underneath the surface.

Jacob motioned over to the bear, “Adam, why don’t you explain your side?”
Adam
, Kurt thought. It couldn’t be Adam, the guy that Scarlett had spoken about. She never mentioned that her ex was a shifter.

Adam smirked as he walked up next to Jacob. “Scarlett was mine before you came along,” Adam sneered. “I had already claimed her as my mate.”

Kurt slammed his hand down on the table and let out a loud growl. It took all of his power to control his bear not to take over.

“What do you mean, you claimed her?” Kurt asked through gritted teeth.

“She is mine, and you stole her from me.”

Kurt’s eyes glowed amber. He felt his bear just underneath the surface clawing to get out, but he held strong. He knew he needed to remain calm so he didn’t start a war between their clans. He respected Jacob, and he wasn’t about to ruin their clans’ peace.

“That is not possible,” Kurt said. “She had no idea that she was claimed, and we would not feel this way about each other if she were your true mate.”

Because Kurt’s bear was so close to the surface, all of his senses were heightened. Scarlett’s distinct scent caught his attention.
What the hell is she doing near the conference room?

“She is lying to you,” Adam said. “We had just gotten into a fight before she went on vacation with her friends. She was just toying with you to get back at me.”

Kurt let out a low growl. Scarlett’s scent grew stronger, and he knew that meant she was close to the room. Kurt’s head snapped to the door when he saw her auburn hair peek around the doorframe. Adam’s eyes followed his eye line and he smiled. Adam walked over and pulled Scarlett into the room.

“So nice of you to join us, sweetie,” Adam said.

Kurt stood up from his chair quickly and grabbed onto the table. “Let. Go. Of. Her,” Kurt growled.

“Adam, let go of the girl,” Jacob growled.

Adam reluctantly dropped Scarlett’s arm. She stared wide-eyed at everyone around her.

“Scarlett, come stand behind me,” Kurt said.

Scarlett started to slowly move away from Adam, but his hand shot out and grabbed her arm again. Scarlett yelped in pain at the force of his hand around her wrist. In an instant, Kurt’s bear took complete control. He needed to protect Scarlett. Kurt shifted faster than he had ever done before. He stood to his full height at eight feet and let out a loud roar.

“KURT, STOP THIS!” Jacob stood and yelled, but Kurt ignored him. Kurt only saw red as he dropped down on all paws and stalked towards Adam. Kurt expected Adam to drop Scarlett’s arm and run, but he saw that he was frozen in place in fear.

“Kurt, stop,” Scarlett said. Kurt’s head snapped towards Scarlett’s pleading face.

“Adam is not worth starting a war over. He let his pride get to hime. You are my mate, not him.”

Kurt’s eyes softened. His anger slowly subsided at the sound of her voice and he sat back on his hind legs.

“I love you, Kurt,” Scarlett said.

The anger consuming Kurt’s mind rushed out of him. He felt himself transform, and once he was human again he rushed towards Scarlett. Adam quickly let her go and she ran into Kurt’s arms.

“Only a true mate can tame the beast,” Jacob said. “Kurt, I believe that you have found your mate, so all of your actions have been justified.” Jacob turned towards Adam and forced his alpha dominance over him. Adam grunted and dropped to his knees.

“I will deal with your insubordination later,” Jacob growled. He motioned to his beta to take him out of the room.

Kurt held on tightly to Scarlett as everyone walked out of the conference room. Once they were alone, he looked down at her face. “Why did you come back here?”

“I had to tell you who Adam was,” she looked down, ashamed. Kurt reached underneath her chin and pulled her face up to look into her beautiful eyes.

“Thank you for trying to warn me,” Kurt said. “It was stupid to try to come into a room full of bears, but still, thank you.” Scarlett let out a slight chuckle as she wrapped her arms around Kurt’s neck.

“So I am your true mate because I can tame you, huh?” Scarlett teased.

“Apparently, but don’t let anyone else in on that secret.”

Kurt leaned down and pressed his lips to Scarlett’s. Pure joy coursed through his body as he explored her mouth with his tongue. Scarlett broke their kiss and leaned her head back to look at him.

“We should probably get you some clothes,” Scarlett smiled.

Kurt let out a low growl. “I don’t think I need them just yet.”

M
y heart pounded
as I went up the steps of the huge skyscraper building that was the home of my new job. I told myself to calm down as I self-consciously ran my fingers through my long blonde hair. Should I have styled it differently? Should I have worn my other dress?
Stop it Avery
, I thought. As I reached the elevator doors I was able to take another quick look at myself through their steely reflection. My black pencil skirt and button-up blouse fit my curves perfectly. I wasn’t skinny by any means, but this skirt did wonders for my hips. I looked over my shoulder quickly to make sure no one was watching me check myself out. That would be great on the first day, “Yep, hi, I’m the girl who was checking to make sure granola wasn’t stuck in her teeth when the elevator doors opened.” I checked my hair again and smiled as I finally realized I looked good.

I was so lucky to be have been given this job offer. I was a recent graduate and had thought I would be pounding the pavement for months looking for a job. After only a few weeks of searching, a Seattle corporation called me in for an interview and the next thing I knew I was one of their newest business analysts. It was really a dream come true. I couldn't ask for much more than that. The corporation had a sterling reputation, so I knew that if nothing else it would look amazing on my resume. Getting ahead was definitely my goal, and this job was the way to get there.

When I arrived the secretary greeted me and led me to my desk. It was in one of those open-concept rooms that had a lot of cubicle-like desks. It wasn't the most inspiring office I had been in, but it was a start. The lack of privacy and the constant general buzz and overlapping conversations would take some getting used to, but I was more than willing to pay my dues to get to where I wanted to be. When I sat down at my desk, I was surprised to see the piles of papers already there. Did they expect me to just jump in and get started? I glanced at my desk for any other instructions, but the only other thing there besides the piles was my computer desktop. I flipped on my computer and hoped that there was something else there.

A login screen popped up.

Shit. What was I supposed to use as my login?

I looked up from my computer and nervously searched for someone I could ask for help.

There was a woman sitting at the desk beside me and she smiled when I looked over. Hopefully everyone in the office was as friendly as she was.

She had long, dark, wavy brown hair and a beautiful smile.

“Need some help?” she asked.

“Is it that obvious?” I nervously responded.

She chuckled as she walked over to my desk.

“I'm Zoey, by the way.”

“Oh yes...sorry, I'm Avery. It's nice to meet you.”

After showing me the ropes, I dug right into the files that I had received and hoped that the rest of the day would go smoothly.

There was almost an hour left to the workday and I was exhausted. I leaned back in my chair and stretched out my shoulder muscles. Every part of my body hurt. My shoulders were sore from leaning over and I knew I would have to invest in a better chair at some point. These basic office ones were just brutal. For every file that I had put into the outbox three more arrived, and that didn't include what came through emails. It just seemed endless, and I wondered how they managed to have so many clients. It was probably why they were so successful. But wow, it was a lot of work.

“Tough first day?” Zoey inquired, popping her head over my desk.

“Yeah, seriously. Corporate work is certainly different from what I'm used to. I just graduated, maybe I shouldn't have shot for the stars quite yet.” I rolled my eyes.

She laughed, “Well, it's a great place to work, and although it can be intense it pays well and the people are cool.”

“That's good to know.”

“The days aren't always stressful, you just have to get used to things and get a feel for how things work around here.”

“I hope not,” I said, feeling overwhelmed. “But thank you.”

Zoey’s phone buzzed and she quickly glanced down at it. “Hey, some of us are heading out for a few drinks for happy hour once we are done here. Why don't you come with us? You can meet everyone.”

“Wow, thank you. That would be wonderful. That's so nice of you.”

She smiled and nodded. “No problem, I know what it's like being the new kid. I think you will fit in great, don’t worry.”

We headed out at exactly 4:57; who said happy hour had to start right at five? Zoey seemed to want to get out of work just as desperately as I did. It turned out that there was a bar right in the building that many of the employees went to after work. There were about five of us ladies at the table and Zoey introduced me to the rest of the girls. They all seemed friendly enough and welcomed me to the company. It didn't take me long to forget their names, but as long as I stuck with Zoey I figured I would be okay. “It's Avery's first day and it wasn't a good one.”

A petite blonde-haired girl nodded, “Yeah, my first day was a disaster, I almost quit. It was so stressful, but really you do adapt. The money helps, there are lots of jobs out there that pay their business analysts crap and you just end up hating your job. But the CEO here really takes care of his people. We work hard but with the benefits and the pay, you can't go wrong.”

Zoey jumped in, “Yeah, if this is your career, there is no better place to work than here.”

I smiled, “Good to know. Thanks.”

We ordered a round of appetizers and a few drinks. I was so happy that Zoey had invited me to join them, I felt the stress of the day melting away. It was nice to just sit and chat with some new people and de-stress after a hard day at work. I hoped the next day wouldn't be so jam-packed, but I should definitely start looking on the bright side of things: payday was really going to be a good one. I was grateful for the work and I was looking forward to getting to know more people at the company. It was, after all, my home away from home.

Zoey’s phone started buzzing and she checked the message. “Oh my God, I just got the most amazing text, ladies.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“There is a super-secret party happening right now downtown.”

“Oh my God, you are so lucky, I never get those invites. Are you allowed to bring guests?”

“Just one,” she muttered, barely looking at them.

All the girls looked at her with puppy dog eyes and I laughed. I sipped my drink and couldn't have been more surprised when Zoey looked at me and said, “Do you want to go with me?”

“Seriously? Are you sure? I don't know if I should. I don't think I'm secret club material.”

“Of course you are,” she looked at the other girls, “Sorry ladies, next time. I think I need to show Avery a good time.”

“Maybe you should bring one of the other girls, they really seem to want to go.”

“Come on Avery, I think it would be fun for you. I'm with these girls all the time. It's you that needs to get out there and meet some new people.”

I shrugged, “Okay, maybe you're right. I will go then, thank you for the invite.”

“That's my girl.”

“Where are we going anyways?”

She grinned, “It's a place called Hibernation.”

My eyebrows raised and I wondered if I really knew what I was getting into.