Mated To Magic (Stark Creek Shifters Book 1) by Barb Shuler (free ereaders .TXT) 📕

Dalton walked in and gave me a look. “Are you okay?”

“Any of your guys good with computers?”

“Yeah, Liam is our tech genius, but most of the guys are good. Why?”

“I think I might need to add more protection to my computer and this office.” Dalton growled and moved to make some calls. Letting out a sigh, I closed my eyes and leaned back against the chair. Today was so not going to end well.

9

Dalton

The morning started out good. I felt much better now that Mia and I had sorted things out and she knows exactly how I feel. It helps to explain why I acted like a neurotic, hormonal teenager…mostly. She knows I love her, and I do, but I still need to explain this mating pull I have toward her. That she is the one-in-a-million person that was made just for me. Though, I’m sure my little witch knows that already.

When we arrived this morning, I checked the building from roof to storage rooms. Nothing was out of place, and yeah, I knew that because I’m a stalker. I knew this place like the back of my hand. Each area had its own set up and place for this and that, whatever was needed at the time.

I didn’t touch anything…much. I left a little surprise for Jayden. She was forever growling at anyone that went behind the bar and moved things on her end. She literally had everything from the liquor to the glasses she used in a particular order. Labels on the bottles all faced the same way…or they did until I moved a few of them, turning the bottles backwards. It was a harmless prank, one that would probably get a glass tossed at my head, but it was done in fun. I’d leave her a good tip later.

I walked from the main bar back toward Mia’s office. I gave her a look when I came in. I could feel her unease as she looked between her order forms, the monitor, and the print out she had. The woman was nothing if not methodical. She had everything lined up, in triplicate. Seriously. She ran a business like a well-oiled machine. Something was obviously not matching up. When she asked me about my computer guy with that look of betrayal on her face, my wolf went on high alert.

I left her office, going out into the parking lot to make my call. Hopefully Liam could come over this morning before Jayden got here. I don’t know what her aversion to the shifter was, but I’d do what I could to not make her freak out or fret. If she got upset, Mia would get upset.

“Yeah, boss?”

“I need you at Mia’s club, pronto. Bring your laptop and whatever you need to do your computer hacker nerd stuff.”

“What’s going on?”

I heard him moving around and sighed, darting my eyes back over at the door.

“Mia has a possible issue… I need you to see if her hunch is right or not. I need you in and out before her employees get here.”

“Be there in eight minutes.”

The line went dead. I shook myself and sent Tyson a text.

Dalton: Meet me in the bar parking lot in an hour.

I hit send and rubbed the back of my neck. I had no way of knowing what Liam would find in Mia’s system. Nor was I sure what Mia was going to tell us about last night, but something had my wolf pacing. I wanted to check the entire security system by the time this place closed tonight. I wanted to make damn sure no one was messing with that too.

My phone buzzed in my hand. I nodded at his reply.

Tyson: I’ll be there.

I took in a deep breath and paced the lot until Liam pulled up. I met him at the back door and led him inside to Mia’s office.

“Come on, baby, we can meet the others in the bar area. Let Liam do his thing. If someone is in your system, he’ll find them.”

“And stop them,” he supplied.

“I need the computer to show what happened last night.”

I nodded and waved to Liam. “Alright, he can use the other office, then.” I walked him the five steps to the other door and used my key to open it. “I set up a spare monitoring system in here.” I shrugged when he gave me a ‘you’re dead’ look. “She knows it’s here, so shut it. Plug in and find whoever is fucking with my girl.”

Once he was settled in, and knew that he was not to come out of the office until I came to get him, I left him to do his work and went back into Mia’s office. I was propped up against the wall when Jayden came in. I watched as her pupils dilated. Mia moved to her and whispered into her ear. I didn’t listen. If she wanted to clue me in, she would. I greeted Angus and Nick as they came in.

I silently gave them both the once-over. Angus, I liked. He’d been one of the first men hired on here and he had his shit in a straight row. He worked well with the girls, even if Jayden tried to scalp him more than once, and he seemed to be a stand-up guy. Josh and Nick, the other two, were iffy to me. But, I know Mia likes to do things in her own way and I’d give her the space to do that. Plus, I like my balls attached to the rest of my body.

“Thanks for coming in early, everyone. I wanted to discuss what happened last night.”

“You mean the fact that your security fucked up?” Jayden said, a growl in her voice.

I gave her a hard look when I noticed her eyes were starting to bleed into the gold of her cat’s. A silent command passed between us and she lowered her head.

“I don’t know how he got