Cloe: Two for the Bite of One
Book Four of the Denver Pack
By Jana Leigh
Editor Kerri Good
Published by JLK
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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents either are the product of the author"s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
© Copyright 2011 Jana Leigh. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author From the Author: Thank you to all those who have sent encouraging email and messages. You can check out my web site: janaleigh.webs.com. Alternatively, contact me on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Jana-Leigh/252352951490534.
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[email protected] Prologue
Darien sat at the computer, and ran his hands over his eyes, trying to wipe out the stinging and redness that had to be there. Sitting at the computer for hours tended, to make your eyes cross, he thought and stood up; also give you a splitting headache. The program ran in the background as he walked to look out the windows that overlooked the city.
You could not ask for a better view. His office overlooked the city of Denver, Colorado"s skyline to the east, and the Majestic Rocky Mountains to the west. It was the best of both worlds he thought, and sighed. Since arriving in the United States, Darien had not had time to explore the beautiful city. No, watching computer screens in an office cooped up, filled his days. The only time he left, was to join in the search for the missing Chosen. The places that they searched were not the most desirable tourist attractions in the city, the dirty back alleys, and rundown buildings, left unpleasant impressions of his new home. At least he hoped it was his new home.
Darien was the youngest brother to the Alpha of the Denver Pack. Before coming to America, Darien had been in training. Training for a Werewolf meant one of three things. He was going to be an Alpha, or a Beta, or an Enforcer. Darien had no need to be an Alpha; his older brothers would take care of that. An Enforcer, though a necessary and highly sought after job, was a little too low on the totem pole for a wolf with his bloodline. No, being Beta of a Pack was where he was needed, and where he excelled.
His fighting skills in Europe were legendary. The only one who had a better record than him was Devon, and he was the Beta of the New Council.
Betas were the strongest wolves of the Pack, besides of course the Alphas. They were fast and smart, able to think on their feet. Also, they were able to lead. Betas demanded respect and gave it right back to those who were worthy. Darien loved his title, and his life. Well, most parts of his life, right now they were a little boring.
Sighing even louder, he turned and looked at the screen of the computer. He had hours before the program finished its scan. Meanwhile, he was going to get something to eat.
The cuisine in America was another one of his new favorite things. Of course, a nice juicy steak was always a good meal for a wolf, but it was nothing compared to the spicy Mexican dishes, he discovered a few weeks ago. One of the other things he discovered was that, at any given time you could order food, and they delivered to your doorstep.
This was a good thing, considering his sister-in-law didn"t cook, unless of course you wanted something frozen. She made a mean frozen burrito, but his stomach rumbled in protest at the thought.
He grabbed the stack of take-out menus, and flipped through them, before deciding on a popular place Devon introduced him to. He loved their steak fajitas. Darien called in his order quickly, and then sat back down at the computer. Willing it to find something, anything, that would help them find one of the other Chosen or a lead on Reggie.
Another thirty minutes went by, and he frowned looking at the screens from security, he could have sworn the delivery driver had been there a second ago. Since the kidnapping, his brother ordered the Denver Pack into seclusion. Enforcers escorted females whenever they left the Pack building. That was for normal Pack females, the Chosen and mates to the Chosen, stayed in their building period, his sister-in-law had freaked when her husband made that edict. Darien laughed out loud when he thought of the small pregnant Alpha female, throwing a chocolate shake in his brother"s face, and then crying because she wanted another one. Cami, his sister-in-law, was pregnant with twins, but that did not only explain her behavior. Cami and her best friend Jo were crazy, and they were currently teaching another of the Chosen, Casey to have the same attitude too.
His brother had no control over his mate; it was hilarious to see when he tried. Quin had two mates, not that it helped him. He was still the same control freak he had been as a child. Jaden, Quin"s other mate, had a better sense of humor than Quin did. Darien could not wait until his brother had to admit that he was pussy whipped. It had been a close one last month, when he sent an Enforcer to get his wife nail polish she demanded.
It had to be a certain shade, and after three trips, Quin finally went himself.
Darien had not had this much fun since he was a kid. He was glad that he moved to Denver to help his brother, now if they could just find the rest of the Chosen, they would be on the right track. He did not have time to sit and think about the Prophesy, it only would make his headache worse.
Remembering his meal again, he picked up the phone and called down to the front desk.
One of his Enforcers answered the phone laughing. “I was waiting for your call. Did you see her?”
“Huh, what are you talking about? I wanted to know where the hell my food was.” Darien growled.
“Yeah, that is what I was talking about. Cami has set up in the lobby, and is going through all the takeout orders to see who is getting the best stuff. She has yours opened, and ready to eat. If you hurry, maybe you can still have half.” His Enforcer laughed and hung up the phone.
Darien stood and pulled his phone back out again. He called in another order as he walked out the door. His brother needed to get control of his wife. She was creating mayhem all over the building. He knew it was because her husbands refused to allow her to go out in public while she was pregnant. Although to be honest, they probably would not allow her to go out even if she was not pregnant. Cami was too unpredictable when she got with her friends, someone was gonna call the police.
He met his brother at the elevators. Each floor had its own elevator and apartment.
Because he was the Beta of the Denver Pack, and in charge of the Alphas security, his office and bedroom were in his brother"s apartment. He was single, and it was convenient. Plus, it was not as if he had time to go and find a woman to help him release some of his tension, no matter how much he wanted to. Growling at Quin, he thought he might have to make the time soon though. “Dude, you wife is a menace.” Quin laughed and then said, “What did she do now? I thought Jaden was supposed to be watching her.”
They were the first Tri-mated Alphas in a century. Although tri-mates were not common, Alphas rarely mated with two people. “I have no clue, but she stole my lunch, and is sitting in the lobby entertaining the Enforcers. I thought she understood why she is supposed to remain in her apartment.”
“Right, I would also guess that by now, Jo and Casey are right alongside her. I think they are planning something. Devon said that Casey is pissed because she wanted to go shopping for some new clothes, and he told her to order from the Internet.” Quin s
aid and rolled his eyes. “Hell, even I know that a pregnant woman is going to want to try shit on. Between Jo and Cami, I think the hormones are over flooding the air, now Casey? The men need to be on their toes, I smell a revolt.”
“Crap, I need a vacation.” Darien groaned.
“Good Luck with that brother, I hear your boss is an asshole. I bet he would refuse your request. In fact, I would bet that he was going to put you in charge of having some store bring maternity clothes here, to the conference room, for the women to try on. Maybe even a masseuse, and a hairdresser, which should settle them down for a few days.” Quin said smiling.
“What the fuck are you talking about? How would I even know where to get people like that?” Darien yelled.
“Yellow Pages, baby.” Quin sang and stepped off the elevator. “Hey, where is the love of my life? Darlin", I had the perfect idea…” Quin yelled and nearly skipped to his wife.
Pussy whipped, Darien thought and followed frowning.
“Wait before you get into your perfect idea, I have a question. Cami, I ordered another round of fajitas, and I would actually like to eat them, so if you could, let the delivery driver actually deliver my food.” Darien said grumpily, and then turned and left before he had to watch his Alphas engage in their lovey-dovey shit.
“But they tasted so good, and Casey and Jo ate some too.” Cami called out behind him.
“I will make it up to you, come for dinner tonight.” Like that was going happen, Darien thought, and flipped off the Enforcers who were sitting at the desk laughing at him. Gosh, there was no getting away from these crazy women. He hoped when he found his mate she would be nice and normal. She would be the kind of woman who was going to be waiting for him by the door when he got home from a hard day"s work. She will have dinner prepared, and a nice glass of wine on the table. Yeah, he was sure that was the kind of mate, the God"s would give him.
When he entered the office, his computer was beeping loudly at him. Darien frowned, went to the computer, and looked at the screen. It was confusing; the program got multiple hits in a small-town just north of Denver. He could not make heads or tails of the data though. Printing out the data, Darien called the Old Council Alpha to come and help him. Maybe he would recognize some of these names.
Chapter One
Cloe stepped out into the cold morning and zipped up her black leather jacket. Suited up in her Doc Martens and black jeans, she looked like a biker bitch instead of the doctor that she was. Cloe was tall for a woman, standing six feet tall and long black hair that she refused to keep braiding. Cloe looked a little like a biker runway model because she sported too many tattoos to be a real model. She had high cheekbones and full luscious lips that added to her beauty, but her eyes are what drew most people to her.
Her mother had believed them violet when she was a baby, Cloe said they were blue, but whatever the color, they were unusual.
Loving to feel freedom when riding her motorcycle, she bought her first one on her sixteenth birthday with her best friend, when she told her parents she was at the mall in Denver. Oh, she went to the mall, she bought black leathers, and a helmet with a custom painted wolf on the side, with violet eyes. Then she went to the dealer, bought her first bike, and drove it home. Cloe had refused to give up her ride, even when her mother tried to shoot a round into the engine block. That had been a day, she thought, and laughed at the memory of her small but fierce mother running for the house, looking for the lock box that held her father's gun. She remembered her mother and father wrestling on the front lawn for the gun as the neighbors watched and cheered, knowing her mother was a bit of a Drama Queen. Cloe just rolled her eyes and sat with a soda on the front steps until it was over.
Stanford Medical School accepted her when she was only sixteen and that had probably been the only saving grace from death, when she brought the motorcycle home. Cloe graduated two years ahead of most of her friends and was a child genius, not that she particularly cared. When she was younger, she tried to hide her intelligence by acting dumb. When she was ten, and grew bored with all the deceit and constant lectures from her mother and father that she was not living up to her potential. She gave up, and applied herself to her schoolwork. It took only three weeks for the school to realize she had been hiding her higher than average IQ, and wasted no time moving her from one grade to another.
When she was seven, she decided to be a doctor. When one of the Pack members fell ill, human doctors could not figure out what was going on, it gave her an idea. She felt like she needed to be the one to find a reason for the families. Wolves could heal themselves if injured, but when it came to illnesses, it was a different story. Cloe went with her father to see the widow and children of the wolf who died. Her father had to explain to her how a wolf"s anatomy was slightly different from human. Nothing could be done for the sick member, because no regular doctors understood his anatomy. No one had figured out exactly how different shifters were yet, she planned on finding out. They could heal wounds, but there was obviously certain sickness, that they could not heal for themselves. Pregnancies were not normal, they tended to be a few months shorter, and that was just the beginning of the differences. Cloe wanted to make sure that her family and Pack would have the best possible care when they needed it.
Cloe entered college when she was sixteen and a half, and graduated Medical School when she was only twenty-one. She would have graduated earlier, but she specialized in three different areas before she decided she had learned as much as she could in school.
Now, Cloe had a small practice in her hometown of Milliken, Colorado. She had gone to Stanford in California for Med School, but hated the big city. Cloe wanted to help the people who had accepted her when she was young, and she hated being so far from her family.
When she was a teenager, and changed for the first time, Cloe felt normal for the first time in her life. She knew there were all different kinds of shape shifters in the world, hell; they had at least five different kinds living in her town. But she was a pure black wolf, and she was proud of her heritage. Her father explained what had been going on with her body, and explained about her birth and childhood. They told her she was some kind of super important wolf and blah, blah, blah. Cloe did not care, the only thing she cared about was that she changed into a wolf; she began her training on the first full moon.
Cloe had a quiet peaceful life in the small-town, and the best part was that all the humans knew they were wolves. It was a secret to most of the world, but in their small little chunk of paradise, they were free to be who they were. Cloe wished it were like this for the rest of the world. She loved the town and all the people who lived there; it was just too bad that her mate was not here. Cloe hoped she would find her mate while she was in college, and be able to bring him home with her. The disappointment did not sit well with her. So, she poured all of her effort into her work and her Pack.
When she found out she was a wolf as a small child, her parents told her, and she would feel best when she was near a pack. Her wolf would feel the need to be a part of a Pack, and even though she was far away, her Pack was still in Colorado. Milliken held a small pack of wolves before they arrived. They had stumbled on the leaderless pack when Cloe was a baby, just after they had fled the European Council Pack.
Her parents explained the whole history behind their previous life. How her father became the Alpha of this pack, when he killed the previous Alpha for beating one of his wolves for helping them repair their car when it had broken down. They had only stopped for gas; Cloe and her mother were in the bathroom when they heard the fight begin. A large wolf tried to bully the owner of the gas station; it turned ugly very quickly. At first, her father stood back and watched to see what would happen. Bryan and Adele, her parents, had made a pact that until they found a place to start over; they would hide the fact that they were wolves and Alphas. Most Alphas tried to hide themselves when they entered another territory, because it tended to cause problems with inferior leaders, who
felt threatened.
Her father had waited and watched, while no one helped the owner. He had admired the owner of the gas station for not backing down, but the owner did not know what he was dealing with. When the larger man began to shift and no one still stepped up.
Bryan did. She knew the humans in the town were scared at first when they saw two wolves fighting on Main Street. However, when they realized that her father was protecting one of their popular citizens, they had waited until the fight was over to pass judgment. What impressed Bryan the most was that people had not freaked out; instead, they had an open mind and waited. They had a town meeting and agreed to keep the secret as long as Cloe's father stayed and became the new Alpha. It was not as simple as it sounded. The meeting had lasted for days, as they hammered out issues.
One of the main things they decided was that if a new shifter family came to Milliken and asked for permission to live there, human and shifter leaders had to approve their application. That is how the first human, shifter Pack first started. Cloe was proud of her father, and loved the small-town that they had set up. The only thing she wished for more was her mate.
Since she was young, her father drilled into her head that she needed to know how to defend herself, and her pack. She may be a doctor, but she would kill anyone who threatened her town. Humans and wolves alike were her pack. This was the only place she felt accepted and at peace.
Although she was a female, she was the only child of the Alpha. Because of that and the lack of any other willing and strong wolves in the Pack, her father trained her to be his Beta. She was strong and fierce, and no one in the town doubted she would kick their ass if they got out of line. Since her father had taken over the Pack, more and more families had moved in, and with them stronger shifters. She was proud of the Enforcers they had, and knew that any one of them could step up and take her place if they wanted to. None of them did, because of the respect they had for her.