Moon Glamour by Aimee Easterling (books to read to be successful TXT) 📕

So I told him. The whole sad story in three short sentences. “My stepdad is a drunk. I can take care of my little sister on my own, but I need someone over eighteen to be in charge on paper. All I’m asking is my father’s signature on a few forms....”

As I spoke, Rowan came out from behind his desk. He advanced on me, step by step, something sharp and interested in his eyes.

“I could, perhaps, make your life easier if you had something to offer.” His voice was low and lupine. “Something that would make the effort worth my while....”

The air stank of an aroma both pungent and wild. I couldn’t pull in enough breath to deny him. Could only frantically shake my head.

And Rowan shrugged. Clicked the cap back on the pen he held, as if nothing had happened between us. “In that case, your sister isn’t worth the hassle.”

The only reprieve I’d been able to dream up was disappearing like the shreds of my own childhood. And while I couldn’t accept what Rowan had offered, I wasn’t too proud to beg. “Just let me talk to my father. Tell me his name....”

Rowan breathed out through his nose, not quite a snort but more than an ordinary exhale. “You don’t get it, do you, pup? I’m the alpha. I say no and your father won’t speak with you. Now, how much extra money do you need?”

He twirled the pen around his fingers, the motion captivating my attention. This was a leash and I knew it. If I took his money, I’d also be accepting the barely concealed deal his wolf was offering.

So I swallowed back terror. Ground out: “None. I need none.”

It was a lie, of course. Without Mom’s steady paycheck, our family was floundering. But I could get a job. I could fend for myself and my sister....

And I could find my father. It wasn’t really all that hard. The day after slamming out of Rowan’s office, I paid for a copy of my birth certificate at the county courthouse. Memorized my father’s name from the appropriate line and used that information to track Ace to his lair.

There...my father had refused to so much as speak to me without his alpha’s permission. Pack wolves. They had no concept of self will. No interest in family outside the alpha-approved clan.

And, despite all that, my child-support checks kept coming. They doubled, in fact. Started being made out to me instead of to my mother.

I cashed them. Had to when my employment prospects as a sixteen-year-old high-school dropout became obvious. I cashed the checks and waited for the other shoe to drop.

But the shoe just hung there above me for a decade. Checks arrived every month like clockwork. Long past the point where I needed the cash.

Which is what gave me the idea, a bit over a year ago, to make a new deal with Rowan. At that point, Harper was starting school much closer to the center of the pack’s territory than I’d dared travel after my sixteen-year-old slap down. I needed to be able to visit Highlands without being hassled by Rowan’s pack mates more than I needed additional money.

So I’d traded in my chips for the card in my hand. The card Rowan now said wasn’t enough to make up for my museum lapse.

Thirteen months ago, Rowan had made me another offer. A more overt one. But he’d let me walk away when I refused.

Unfortunately, I had a bad feeling I wouldn’t be able to walk away this time. I swallowed down bile as I stared up at the alpha who had grown older and more powerful since I first met him. He took a single step forward and my wolf bowed down my head.

Sure enough, the scent emanating from Rowan now wasn’t the sour scent of annoyance he’d exuded earlier. Instead, his aroma had morphed into something sweeter that was even less appealing.

“You’ve grown into an appealing woman. So I’ll deal with your mistakes.” Rowan’s murmur should have been heartening, but it wasn’t. Instead, my blood chilled as he continued to let me off the hook. “I’ll stand up for you when other packs call for your blood. It’s an alpha’s prerogative.”

I felt sixteen years old again. My reply came out as a squeak. “And in exchange?”

“In exchange, you’ll take your proper place in my pack.” He leaned in closer. “Assuming, that is, you want access to the territory your sister calls home.”

Chapter 13

There was no answer on the tip of my tongue, so it’s a good thing the door behind me slammed open. I hadn’t heard the scratch of a key in the lock first. Still, I had to hope this was rescue....

I spun to see who had kicked my door down. A mistake, I realized, the instant Rowan’s hand clamped down on the back of my neck.

His gesture wasn’t reassuring. Instead, it screamed ownership. Threat. Fingers squeezed my spine as if my bones were sticks ready for cracking....

And the person who’d kicked open my door materialized into...not Tank. Instead, it was a woman who ignored me while speaking to Rowan over my head.

“Chief McCallister. I thought we had a deal. We protect your pack from the node. You provide every requested assistance. Which, primarily, means staying out of our way.”

The woman’s hand slid toward the bulge holstered under her arm, and I recognized her at last. Lupe. Tank’s temporary boss. The one who’d tried to hire me.

The one who, I was pretty sure, had a day job as a cop.

“I’ve left your affairs alone,” Rowan growled. “I recommend you return the favor.”

I wasn’t sure what he was talking about—other than me—until my ears popped. Then I heard it. The snarls of wolves in the stairwell were quiet enough not to wake the neighbors. But scritches of fast-moving toenails were more ominous for the muted nature of the resultant thuds.

No wonder Rowan’s fingers pinched down harder. It