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

some things that were most likely going to mean I needed a run and to kill things.

“Sy said he was here due to a transfer.”

“Yeah, he followed us. That was the plan from the beginning.”

“It’s a lie. He didn’t get a transfer.”

My head came up. “What?”

“No transfer, boss. He was fired for sketchy reasons. The files I found said he was let go due to misconduct and falsifying a report. I don’t know what his angle is, or what game he’s playing, but he’s not being up front and that makes me wonder what he’s really doing. Other than trying to steal Mia from you. We all got that already.”

A knock on the door was followed by Mia coming in. I took her hand and pulled her to my lap. The second my arms went around her, I started to calm. I buried my face in her neck and made a hand motion for Liam to carry on.

“What’s going on in here?” she asked, relaxing into me.

“Found out Sy lied to us. He wasn’t transferred here. He was fired. He’s here on his own; he’s no longer a cop.”

“What? Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. I have the paperwork to prove it. He was fired for misconduct, Mia. They don’t just fire cops, so whatever he did was bad. The fact that he’s already tried to get to you doesn’t make any of this better.”

Liam had a point. Mia was apparently the reason he was here. He was after my girl. My mate. My love. Mine.

The growl that vibrated through me had Mia squeezing my hands.

“We need to find out why he’s here, then. I can call him. He’ll talk to me; if I ask, maybe he’ll tell me. There has to be something. I mean, I know he’s got more feelings for me than I do for him, but he’s not ever just lied to me like that. I’ll talk to him.”

My arms tightened slightly, keeping her caged to my chest. The wolf was slipping forward. The thought of someone trying to take what was ours set him off.

“No calling him,” my voice was a raspy growl, “I don’t want you interacting with him. Please, leave it to Liam to track down what he’s doing. A call could encourage him to make a move again. Next time, he won’t walk away. He will be shoveled off the floor in tiny pieces.”

“Okay. Okay, calm down, ogre, I can’t breathe.” Her words rushed out and I loosened my grip on her, slightly.

“Did you just call me an ogre?”

“Um,” she let out a small laugh, “Yes, Jayden gave you that nickname. It fits right now.”

“It’s funnier than caveman,” Liam added, chuckling.

I was surrounded by comedians.

“So the kitty thinks I’m an ogre. I’ll have to visit the bar again.”

Liam let out a booming laugh and I grinned. Oh, the kitty was in for it.

“If you make her mad, you’re on your own. I’m not taking sides.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to pick sides. It won’t be that kind of war. But game on.” I grinned bigger. “She won’t see me coming.”

“She’s going to kill you.”

“No, but she might try to use me as target practice. Like she did poor Angus.”

“He finally learned, I guess you’re not going to.”

“Where’s the fun in that, baby?”

I felt my wolf relax inside of me. I’d been able to sufficiently sidetrack him. He enjoyed teasing Jayden as much as I did. She was his pack, his to protect and apparently drive nuts. I’d find one thing to use against her. Just one. It would be a fun challenge.

“I need to go finish working. Are you okay?” she asked as she turned in my lap. I pressed a kiss to her lips.

“Yep. Go finish the work. We’ll go check on the bar and outside. By the time you’re done, everything will be ready to shut down for the night and head home.”

I kissed her again and waited until she was back in her office before I met Liam’s gaze.

“You find out what he did. I don’t care what laws you have to break.”

“On it, boss.”

I left him to his work and headed up the hall toward the bar.

18

Mia

It’s been a couple of days now since Dalton and Liam told me that my former friend had been fired from the police force. Did I wonder if him covering for us was going to come out? Of course, but I knew if they came looking for us, Dalton could talk his way out of it, as could the guys. Add Sy’s shady dealings and it would go away.

I had to keep my phone on silent because Sy was incessantly blowing it up with calls and messages. I was tired of “I’m sorry,” and “I didn’t mean to upset you,” mixed with “Please forgive me.” I wanted to change my goddamn number. Rubbing my temples as my phone danced over my desk, I picked up and threw it against the wall as hard as I could. No phone meant no phone calls. I would replace it later. Jay and the girls had Dalton and Liam’s numbers in case they couldn’t get a hold of me, so I would just enjoy the peace and quiet for now.

My office door opened. Dalton stuck his head in and looked down at the bits of phone on the floor. “And here I thought I was the one with the temper.”

“The vibrating was annoying me.” I shrugged my shoulders and turned back to my computer. After seeing that I was okay, he disappeared again. He was good about not wanting to disturb me while I was working. It was how we had managed to get through all of this without killing each other.

While typing out my next supply order, I thought about the building. We had all this land, but only the one building. While Bar None was quite large, we still had a lot of space. After I finished typing the order and