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  “I think I would have remembered doing something like that,” he mused even as he calculated all the new possibilities that her problem presented him with.

  “You probably had one of your lackeys do it for you,” she snapped. “I want you to fix it and I want you to fix it now!”

  “This all happened today?” he asked, already knowing that it had to do with their mating. Did someone want to drive her out of town in the hopes that he would follow? He inwardly snorted at that. She was just the bitch he got stuck with. If she wanted to go then she could go and he wouldn't give a flying fuck. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He cared about having sex again, but at this point he'd actually consider it a trade off if he never had to deal with her again.

  “You know it did! I also don't appreciate you sending human males to attack me. If you want to get rid of me then I suggest you grow a pair of balls and do it yourself,” she sneered, stepping closer to the table and once again looking as though she were fighting back the urge to rip him apart.

  “You were attacked?” he asked, looking her over once again. Well, that would explain her disheveled appearance, he supposed.

  Her eyes narrowed on him once again. “Stop pretending that you didn't do this, Drew. Just fix it and stay the hell out of my life!” she snapped, but he wasn't listening.

  He was too busy wondering why someone would use humans to go after an Alpha's mate. It really didn't make sense, but then again neither did being mated to the bane of his existence.

  “Are you staying in town?” he asked as he returned his attention to more important matters. How the hell was he going to manage running the club when he was short staffed?

  “Did you even hear a word that I just said?” Kara demanded with a cute little growl.

  “No, not really,” he murmured, wondering if he should take a risk and contact one of the temporary staff agencies, but he didn't like the idea of too many humans working in his club. There was too much at stake to risk a human seeing something that they were never meant to see and they definitely would tonight. Maybe if he kept them away from the staffroom, backroom, and the VIP areas he kept just for shifters, vampires and demons he could use them, but that meant stretching his staff too thin and leaving the human staff to deal with the club itself and that wouldn't work. They wouldn't know the clientele or how to handle a pushy shifter.

  Fuck.

  What the hell was he supposed to do now?

  “I'm going to explain this again, slowly this time so that you can keep up,” Kara bit out tightly. “You had me fired, my bank accounts emptied, I've been evicted from my apartment and everything in it has either been stolen or trashed. Thanks to you, I don't have a penny to my name and I'm wearing everything that I own right now.”

  He looked up and frowned at the pissed off woman standing in front of him. “You have nothing?”

  “Yes!” she practically hissed.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes!”

  Oh, this was too perfect, he thought, not bothering to bite back the wicked grin that he knew would undoubtedly piss her off.

  “What are you smiling about?” she demanded, looking close to lunging for his throat again.

  The woman definitely had anger issues, he thought with an inward sigh.

  This was perfect, almost too perfect. Granted, they'd have to work on her mood swings, but at least it looked as though one of his problems was about to be solved and not a moment too soon. He really hadn't been sure that he'd be able to survive another night without sex, but thanks to his mate's predicament, he wouldn’t have to.

  Having her available twenty-four/seven would help him handle some of this added stress that he was dealing with. He didn't know who he had to thank for this dilemma of hers, but he was seriously thinking about sending them a thank you note and a box of steaks since this had worked out perfectly for him. She could go live in one of his penthouses where he'd only have to deal with her when he wanted sex and then the rest of the time he could live a Kara-free existence. This was too perfect.

  “Go see Ryan on your way out. He'll give you the keys, code and address of one of the penthouses,” he said, pursing up his lips in thought as he looked her over. As happy as he was to finally have her, he'd always imagined her a little bit...oh, what was the word?

  Cleaner?

  The grunge look really didn't work for him. It surprised even him to realize that he had standards, but apparently he did. He liked dirty sex as much as the next guy, but with the emphasis on sex. She was going to need to clean up and he was going to have to make a few calls to have some clothes sent to her since he didn't trust her to pick out something that would please him.

  Once she’d learned his taste, and she damn well would, he'd open up a few lines of credit for her at a lingerie store or two so that she could start surprising him. He wouldn't bother providing her with real clothes since she wouldn't have any reason to leave the penthouse, he decided, feeling pleased yet again with the way things were turning out. There was just something about having Kara at his mercy that put a smile on his face.

  She crossed her arms stubbornly over that large chest that he was hours away from getting to know a little better and glared down at him. “I'm not moving into one of your penthouses and becoming your sex slave so forget about it.”

  “Of course you will,” he said smugly, because really, what else was she going to do?

  They both knew that she didn't have any other options. She was a shifter without a Pack, connections, money or even an identity. She needed him and she was damn well going to reward him for his kindness.

  “No, I'm not! Just fix everything that you did so that I can get my life back!” she snapped.

  He shrugged as he leaned back against the cushioned booth. “Can't fix what I didn't break, sweetheart. Your only options are living out in the street or going to one of my penthouses and meeting every single one of my needs.”

  For a moment she only glared at him. He knew that she was a smart woman and was probably thinking over all of her options. Since there weren't any other options that he knew about, he had no doubt that she'd quickly come to the obvious conclusion and realize that he was bestowing a great honor upon her.

  There was no doubt that she'd put up some resistance before accepting her fate. This was Kara after all, but when she realized how easy her life could be thanks to him, she'd start behaving like a good little mate and spread her legs whenever he was in the mood. It would take time, but he knew that he'd have her trained in a month, two tops.

  “You're not going to fix this?” she demanded, looking pissed again, which was really starting to get annoying.

  Were they really back to this again? he wondered with a heavy sigh. She really needed to move on and let things go so that they could get to the sex. “No, I'm not. Do you need a ride to the penthouse?” he asked casually, deciding that a nooner was exactly what he needed to clear his head.

  “No, I'm pretty sure that I can make it to the alley without a ride,” she said, shooting him a look of pure disgust as she stormed off, leaving him slightly confused and seriously pissed off.

  She'd rather live in an alley than take him up on his very generous humanitarian offer? What the hell was wrong with her?

  “Um, Mr. McNeil?” Mary said tentatively as she approached him, taking the spot that Kara had just vacated and drawing all of his anger towards her.

  “What?” he snapped, feeling his eyes shift.

  She ducked her head in an act of submission as she noticeably swallowed. “I-I....um, that is....,” she took a deep breath before continuing, “another waitress just quit.”

  “WHAT?” he roared, coming to his feet.

  She let out a high-pitched squeal that grated against his ears as she ran off, no doubt to cower beneath the table in the break room. His eyes shifted to Kara as she flipped him off while she walked out of the club, taking his anger to a very dangerous level.

  Fine.

  She wante
d to play this game, then he would play along. Obviously she was going to need a little more convincing. He'd have to do something to keep her around while he made sure that she hit rock bottom and once she did, she'd come to appreciate his offer. She'd probably even thank him, he decided as he went after his unwanted mate.

  Chapter 5

  “I understand,” Kara said on a sigh as she frowned down at whatever that black stuff was and moved a few inches down the alley to the right, wondering what she was going to do now.

  Grunt.

  “No, I'm not mad at you,” she reassured Mick as she watched her large cousin shift nervously in front of her.

  There was another grunt, followed by a long heavy sigh that told her just how bad he felt about the whole thing.

  “There's nothing to forgive,” she said, forcing a small smile. Mick really was a very sweet man, but she couldn't accept his invitation to stay with him and his mate and they both knew it.

  He was part of a Pack and she wasn't. It didn't matter that fate had been cruel and she was now mated to the Alpha of his Pack. Drew hadn’t accepted her or presented her to the Pack so she was still technically a mutt, an Alpha without a Pack. The Pack had only tolerated her presence because Drew’s father had allowed her sanctuary as long as she followed the Alpha’s rules. As long as she didn’t make any move against them, or try to force her presence into the Pack, they tolerated her, but the moment that she tried to move in with a Pack member it would be seen as invitation to drive her out of Boston for good.

  Although Mick owned his own house, it was still considered Pack property. She could visit him, but she wasn’t allowed to stay. The moment she tried, Mick would have to deal with the rest of his Pack and she didn't want to bring her cousin any more problems than she already had. Besides whoever, cough, Drew, cough, was doing this would probably aim their little tantrum in Mick’s direction and she wasn't having that.

  She'd deal with this on her own. If she couldn't get her money back then she'd just have to earn it the old fashioned way. Of course, if she wanted to do that then she'd have to leave the east coast if she wanted a fresh start and hope her problems didn't follow her.

  They better not follow her.

  After she left, she never wanted to lay her eyes on Drew again or her other problem. Granted, she’d never wanted to see him again ever since the first time that she’d met him, but that wasn't the point. He better damn well just be happy that he’d managed to finally run her off. If she wasn't destitute and homeless, she'd probably stick around and make his life a living hell just for the hell of it, but that was no longer an option.

  Everything was gone and she knew from experience that it was going to take a lot of work, patience and time to create a new identity and she'd rather just get it over with. First, she had to figure out a way to get enough money to leave the state, buy a few fake ID's and keep her head above water while she looked for work. She was tempted to take Mick up on his offer of a loan, but she wasn't sure when she would be able to pay him back. She also didn't like owing anyone anything.

  Damn her pride, but she couldn't accept a handout. If it got really bad then she'd consider it, but for right now she was going to have to find a place to stay and think of a way to make some money while keeping what was left of her pride intact.

  “Lovely place you have here,” Drew drawled as he walked towards them. She glowered at him as he leaned back against the brick wall across from her.

  “Did you fix everything?” she demanded, hoping that he had. She really didn't want to start all over again.

  “Can't fix what I didn't break, sweetheart,” Drew said, looking around the alley. “Hell of a view you got here,” he said, nodding towards a hooker giving a middle-aged man a blowjob near the dumpsters.

  She shrugged it off. “Cheaper than cable.”

  “I see,” he said, turning his attention to her. “Interested in the penthouse yet?”