Overview: Lacey thought she could escape her past. She thought wrong.
When the alpha of the Bluestone Claws turns up in her office demanding she pay her debt to him, human PI Lacey Brown’s world is turned upside down. She has only a week to find Sam’s niece and nephew and return what they stole before she finds herself at the receiving end of the Blood Hunt.
Fearing for her life, Lacey heads across the country only to arrive in a small town hiding more trouble than it realizes. For deep in the woods lies secrets that could destroy Lacey’s world.
Mason may be a sexy, brooding werewolf on a mission, but so is Lacey, and when that mission shifts to making her see she is his mate, everything changes.
Because the only way to save herself is to sacrifice him.
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| Search for the Alpha by L S Slayford Book |
Search for the Alpha by L S Slayford Book Read Online Chapter One
Lacey leaned back in her chair, the worn leather and the aged wood sending a creak throughout the room. Five minutes after her guest had entered the room and she still couldn’t believe the fact he was there. “What are you doing here, Sam?”
A grin spread across the face of the familiar face sitting opposite her. She’d never liked that smile, not even after all these years. It brought back memories. Memories she fought she ordered her brain to forget. “Can’t an old friend just drop in and say hi?”
“I didn’t realise we were old friends,” Lacey replied, arching a single brow as she pushed back shoulder length brown hair. Across her desk, piled high with papers, files, and an old takeout bag, she narrowed her eyes. “Spill it.”
Sam’s smile dropped. “I’ve got a job for you.”
Lacey’s blood dropped several degrees at his words. She wasn’t sixteen anymore, she was a grown woman, for heavens’ sake, but something about the quickness of his tone from warm to cold set her on edge. It always had.
How long had it been since she’d last seen him? Not since that night, nine years ago. That familiar whiff of tobacco and pine wafted in her nostrils. After all these years of struggling to forget everything and one scent easily brought it all back.
Damn him.
Sam sat still, staring at her. Not much had changed about him. He still wore his hair slightly long, slightly greasy, but now a hint of white threaded through the dirt-coloured locks. Dark brown eyes hooked her gaze, as if reminding her who was top dog in the room, despite the name painted on the door.
But he was thinner than what she remembered, but considering she’d only been a teenager last time it wasn’t all that surprising. Adults always seemed bigger in a child’s eyes. He wore baggy jeans, a red and black plaid shirt over a scruffy t-shirt that had to be white sometime over a decade ago. Six foot three when standing, he still possessed that broad-shouldered, muscular frame that stopped anyone from crossing him. He may have looked somewhere in his forties, but she needed to add on another twenty-five years at least to get his real age.
Sam crossed an ankle over his knee, revealing cracked leather boots that seemed to have been re-heeled sometime in the last few days. The man had money to burn, properties and businesses stretching along the Pacific Coast, but wouldn’t pay for new boots. Typical Sam. A tight fist bastard even now.
But at least he’s got money, Lacey reminded herself.
Something didn’t have right then, not unless she counted the fifty bucks which had to last her until she next got paid. Which wouldn’t be until she landed a new client.
And considering she had nothing in her books, she couldn’t afford not to listen to him.
Inhaling deeply, she rose her chin. “What kind of job?”
“I need you to find someone for me.”
Automatically, Lacey’s dark brows narrowed, and she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the weathered desk. The cuffs of her white shirt slid down her arms, revealing bare skin. She hates wearing jewellery, and the last watch she possessed got smashed on a job photographing an abusive husband using his wife and child as a punching bag. Her work had ensured he’d been put away for fifteen years, so the sacrifice had been worth it. “Who?”
Sam sucked in a breath and tilted his head, his eyes darkening. “Mace and Kari Gibson, although they may be going under their mother’s maiden name. Bell.”
“Siblings?”
“My niece and nephew.”
Lacey sat up straight, a line forming over her brow. “I never knew you had either.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know, Mundie.”
Mundie. Nine years later and she still hated the way they called her that. A mundane. Not like them. “Are they like you?”
Sam nodded, running a hand through his dirty coloured hair. “They’re pack, yeah.”
Great. More werewolves. Just what I need. She thought she’d left that world behind. Guess not. “I’ll need details.”
He leaned back in his chair, the wood creaking under his weight. She hoped it wouldn’t break. There wasn’t enough money to replace it. “Mace would be twenty-seven, twenty-eight. Kari’s almost seventeen. Dark hair, brown eyes.”
“You got photos?”
Sam shook his head.
Lacey wasn’t surprised. Most shifters hated their photos taken. Considering their lifespans seemed to stretch at least four decades longer than most humans, no one wanted to be the one to out the supernatural community. Sam’s pack in particular banned most forms of outside influence. That meant no phones, no TVs. Radios were fine, as were vehicles, but most electrical items were of no use in the middle of the forest. The idea was to encourage a traditional way of life.
The idea was abhorrent to Lacey. She loved her smartphone. It was the only luxury she possessed, and it was second-hand. “Why do you want to find them?”
Sam spread out his hands and fixed a smile over his face. “Can’t an uncle reach out to his family?”
Lacey remained silent. Sam didn’t do anything nice unless it got him what he wanted. She’d learnt that the hard way.
A cold chuckle echoed around the room for a split second before the humour vanished. “Fine. Mace stole something from me, and I want it back.”
“What did he steal?”
“That’s none of your business.”
Inhaling deeply, she released it on a loud sigh. “Any leads?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I did. They’ve gone to ground.”
Lacey already knew the answer before she asked the question. “Do you know their social security numbers?”
He gave her a are-you-stupid-or-what look. Most of the pack didn’t even have birth certificates.
Leaning back in her chair, a bargain for ten dollars at the local thrift store, she heaved a sigh and spread her hands. “I don’t think I’m going to be the right person for the job, Sam.”
“Why’s that?”
“Shouldn’t this be a job for one of the pack? Or another shifter at least?”
Slowly, Sam shook his head. “No, I need you.”
“I’m human. I can’t track like you lot can.”
“No, but you’ve got other avenues we don’t.”
“I still think this job is best for one of your own guys.”
Ice crept in along the lines of his face and his lips thinned. “The pack have other jobs to do. Besides, you owe me.”
In her veins, her blood slowed and grew cold. A lump formed in the back of her throat as those dark eyes narrowed further. Instantly, she was transported back to that night.
He was right.
She owed him.
It took her a few moments to get the words out. “Sam, it’s been years. Surely -”
“The pack never forgets, Lacey. You may be human, but you know that better than anyone.”
Dread slithered up her spine at his words. She sat there, a deer caught in his blinding headlights. And, just like the deer he hunted, she knew exactly what her fate would be if she refused.
Besides, she needed the money.
Reluctantly, she nodded.
Rising to his feet, Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. Throwing it onto the desk, some of the ice melted from his face. “Good girl. Half down, the remainder on completion.”
Lace rose her head. “You’re not going to hurt them, are you?”
Some alphas ruled their packs with iron fists. Others with pain and torture. Lacey had heard whispers of severe beatings over the slightest issues. She may not be pack but being a human with knowledge of shifters gave her an advantage at times. At others, it was little more than a curse.
Sam plastered a smile over his face and pulled a second object out of his pocket. A small phone, a model that seemed to have come out at the same time as much of the furniture in her office. Meaning her age. He tossed it into her lap. “Of course not, little one. Just find my niece and nephew.”
Wrapping her fingers around the black plastic, Lacey couldn’t help but shiver at his tone. “I’m on it.”
“Good. You have until the next full moon to do it.”
Lacey’s mouth dropped to her chest. “But that’s only a week away.”
“Then you’d better hurry up, Mundie.”
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