Grayslake: More than Mated: A Little Bit Squirrelly (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read online

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  A Little Bit Squirrelly

  Grayslake: More Than Mated Kindle World

  Nova Carlyle

  Cover design by Najla Qambers of Najla Qambers Design

  Interior Formatting by The Write Assistants

  No longer did she see the edge of the

  earth as the end,

  it was merely the place to begin

  flying.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Before you go

  About the Author

  One

  Bryce McCabe sat on his motorcycle, staring up at the dusk shrouded Winters mansion. The dying February sun threw a purple light over the weathered gray bricks. The air smelled like snow, and although the mature forest surrounding the estate offered shelter from the elements, the wind was cold and bitter. The frozen air was unusual for Grayslake, Georgia, even in February, but he welcomed its stinging bite, hoping the pain would pull his sanity back.

  Never had he and his wolf been so at odds with each other.

  Wolf wanted what was inside the building. Bryce did too. He always had. Since he was seventeen and everything he wanted was a bright, beautiful sixteen and eons out of his reach. The distance between them didn’t bother wolf, the animal only knew it wanted. But Bryce understood all too well what wolf didn’t. Rogue wolves weren’t just loners, they were outcasts for a reason. The other wolves didn’t want him, and he’d be stupid to think anyone else would.

  And yet here he was. Sitting outside the mansion that represented every single thing he wasn’t.

  But when your mate calls and tells you someone is trying to kill her, you save her. Doesn’t matter if she has no clue who you are or that she’s even your mate for that matter.

  You save her.

  And then do whatever it takes to keep her from finding out the truth.

  Gravel crunched as a large white SUV flashed between the trees lining the drive. It was an Agency issued vehicle, which meant his babysitter had arrived. With past tension between the Grayslake bears and wolves fading, the Agency was still something of a fledgling enterprise. Chock full of young alpha wolves and bears eager to prove their Itan or Enforcer potential, and Bryce still struggled to find his place even there.

  Despite the approaching night, he traded his helmet for shades, wondering which ass-hat he was going to have to try and not kill this time.

  But a lean female form climbed out of the front seat, twisting her dark hair back into a ponytail.

  “Rae. I’m a bit surprised to see you here. I thought you were still on hire in Palm Beach.”

  She nestled the holster of her pistol a little closer to her rib cage before shrugging on a black jacket. “I requested a transfer. Palm Beach sucks. Too many people, too much sand, and too much health food.” Rae slammed the door shut and offered him a genuine smile.

  He only shook his head. Unlike the other operatives, Bryce’s rogue wolf didn’t unsettle Rae. She was a cat shifter and the deadliest panther he’d ever met. Her kind at least understood, if not respected, his solitary nature. The truth was that his way was probably more natural to her than the other wolves who needed their own kind like waves need the moon.

  And assertive alphas that they were, most of the male members of the agency gave Rae shit just because she had a vagina. But Bryce could care less because, vagina or not, she was tough as shit and good at her job.

  His mate would be well protected with both of them on this case.

  “Director Miguel is none too happy with me.” She rolled her eyes, giving each arm a good stretch across her body. “I’m pretty sure he thought sticking me on this case with you was going to be a punishment. Jokes on him. I’d rather be working than stuck watching all the stupid in-love couples this weekend. Valentine’s Day is bullshit.”

  Bryce grunted. He paid little attention to anything outside of work, as far as he was concerned, the holiday was just another ‘normal’ thing that had nothing to do with his life on the fringes.

  She squared up to the grey brick mansion. “You’ve lived in Grayslake your whole life, right? Do you know the Winters? Anything I should be aware of before we go in?”

  “The folder Miguel gave you probably knows more than I do.” It was a flat out lie. Bryce knew everything about the Winters. Wolf hadn’t cared when their entire pack up and left Grayslake, leaving him alone and homeless at eight. Wolf hadn’t cared when the only way to make money and survive was to become the bait dog for asshole teen shifters with nothing better to do than chew on someone smaller than them.

  No, the only damn thing in the entire world that wolf had ever cared about was his mate. And they couldn’t fucking have her.

  Rae sidestepped, her brows tipping together in concern. “You good, McCabe?”

  He gave a terse nod. Yanking in the misery pushing at his own skin, he jerked his chin towards the house.

  “Okay,” she drawled slowly, her concern not fading as she started moving towards the large pads of flagstones that built their way up to the massive door. “So, rich gazillionaire widower Charles Winters and his single heir, a daughter named after a fruit—”

  “Clementine.”

  “Yeah, like I said. Wealth is a mixture of old family money and, more recently, real-estate boons. Own land across the country, no estate more notable than the esteemed Winters Estate that we see here in all its some odd six thousand acre glory. We’ve been hired to protect the poster child of elegance that is the aforementioned daughter. Most notable for her work as a model, she is described as grace and beauty personified, and it’s pretty obvious she and I aren’t going to have a damn thing in common.”

  The cynical edge in Rae’s voice rubbed Bryce’s nerves and he stuffed his hands into his pockets. “She’s our client. You don’t have to have like her, but you do have to protect her. Besides, she’s very kind and sweet,” he added. “You might give her a chance.”

  “Come on, McCabe. You and I have worked long enough for the one percent to realize that their media persona is a far cry from the truth behind closed doors.”

  He did know, but he also knew in his bones that Clementine was different. She wasn’t just a beautiful face. She was everything good in the world.

  Rae’s nose wrinkled. “She’s probably constipated and bitchy.”

  “And you said you’d have nothing in common with her.”

  “Wow, Bryce McCabe is making jokes.” She gave a deep laugh, easing up the steps. “For our sake I hope she surprises me, but I won’t hold my breath.”

  “You did forget one thing about the Winters from the folder.”

  “What’s that?”

  “They’re squirrel shifters.”

  Rae snorted in good humor. “I gotta tell you, the cat inside of me finds this really amusing. I really hope that somewhere on those six thousand acres is a really incredible treehouse or I’ll be super disappointed.”

  “Yeah? So if I came to your apartment I�
��d find a giant litter box?”

  “Wise ass.” She shot him a dry look before knocking on the door. “Who died and left you their personality?”

  It was answered almost immediately by a middle-aged man with more pomade in his hair than meat on his bones.

  “May I help you?” He posed in the doorway, the peach satin and feather robe he wore over his grey suit swirled around his feet. Then his nose twitched and he drew back as if personally offended by their scent. His eyes narrowed and he stuck the last bit of a caviar crusted cracker into his mouth.

  Bryce instinctively glanced past him to the brown marble-wrapped foyer, looking for Clementine, his animal fiercely pushing to get out. Wolf wanted. Bryce struggled to contain him. Sweat stung his skin.

  Rae shot a concerned look his way, but extended her hand to the man. “I’m Rae Everhart, this is Bryce McCabe. Miss Winters phoned our agency, and we’ve been sent to see to her.”

  “Oh.” A crash sounded in the back of the house, and he extended his pinky towards it. “You’re just in time.”

  Bryce tensed, elbowing into the house, uncaring that the smaller man sputtered and tried to toe him back out with a fine pointed leather shoe.

  “Hey, now, beefcake. You can’t just barge your way in here. This isn’t the local dive bar.”

  “She’s in danger.” He snarled back, trying to shake him off without hurting him.

  “Oh, don’t be dramatic. That’s my job.” He wrapped his arm around Bryce’s, snugly joining them at the elbows and freezing him in place. “The only thing in danger right now is her manicure and my Valentine’s date.”

  Bryce shot a ‘help me’ look at Rae, but she grinned. In a professional tone that belied her enjoyment at his discomfort, Rae asked, “Are you in Mr. Winters’ employment?”

  “What? Like his personal assistant or butler? Honey, exactly what about this outfit says that to you?” His sharp tone quickly melted into a wink, and he freed Bryce’s arm, only to push it up into the air. “Stay just like that.”

  “Ah, okay.” Bryce froze again, strangling the wolf’s attempts to push through his skin and tear this fancy house down until they found Clementine.

  The man knotted his sash and took ahold of Bryce’s hand. “Watch this!” He spun and the hem flared and swirled around him. A coral feather broke free and fluttered down onto Bryce’s shoe. “So old Hollywood, right? It’s viciously glamorous.”

  Bryce realized he was talking to him and he gave a hasty nod. “Yeah, it’s…special.”

  The other man giggled, turning to Rae. “This one doesn’t quite know what to do with me.”

  “It’s not you. It’s him.” Rae tucked her hands on her hips. “Bryce isn’t really a people person.”

  “I can’t fault him there. People do tend to suck. Especially for shifters like us who don’t quite mesh with the rest.” His nose wrinkled and he patted Bryce’s cheek. “Your wolf ain’t right, I can smell it. And I ain’t never been right so we’ll get along just fine.” He held out his hand. “Theodore Kennedy-Winters. I’m Mr. Winters’ mister.”

  Bryce took the offer, but as Theodore hadn’t held it out for a shake but as a lady of the manor greeting a suitor, he awkwardly half bent over it. And Theodore sighed.

  “And who says the straight ones are all charmless?”

  “As a woman who dates the straight ones, they mostly are.” Rae chimed in, earning a hearty laugh from Theodore.

  He took both their arms this time, leading them through the echoing marble foyer and towards the grand wooden staircase. “Well, as mister-ess of this house, I want to welcome you to our humble abode.”

  “Mr. Kennedy-Winters—”

  “Oh, no. Just Teddy. Please.”

  “Teddy,” Bryce repeated. “Do you know who’s trying to kill Clementine?”

  “Okay, I love that girl. I do. But no one is trying to kill her. Ever since her break up with her fiancé, she’s just gone down the rabbit hole, if you know what I mean.”

  An old pain slithered around Bryce’s heart. He’d learned about Clementine’s engagement along with the rest of the world from a four-page spread of her and the blond banker in Gold Wealth magazine. Bryce could remember every moment leading up to that Friday night, skimming all the glossy magazine covers at the supermarket, picking up any that had her name on them. He bought a bag of saltwater taffy and a cherry cola because Clementine had once told Cosmopolitan that those were her favorite treats when she needed a break from her rigorous diet and Bryce liked to eat them and read about her. It made him feel close to her. And for a wolf who had no one, that little thing kept him going month after month, year after year.

  Which was why her engagement had thrown his animal into a spiral. For as much as Bryce could still feel the sticky cling of taffy in his teeth and the magazine’s satin page under his fingers, he couldn’t remember a damn thing about the two weeks following that night.

  His wolf took over, disappeared into the forest and raged. And when Bryce’s memories picked back up again from that time, he’d been a different man. Hollow. Broken.

  And then last month, from over the din and noise of a corner diner at noon, Bryce heard the news that Clementine had called the engagement off.

  Maybe that’s what this was. His wolf’s fucked up attempt at winning their mate.

  “Bless his heart,” Teddy continued. “Her fiancé hasn’t given up yet. He is bound and determined to win her back.”

  “And she’s,” his voice caught, “receptive to him?”

  Teddy snorted. “Not at all. Clementine won’t see him and she’s forbidden her father and me to so much as speak his name. She’s cut her hair. Pawned off that enormous engagement ring. Hasn’t worn heels in two weeks. If you ask me, Clem doesn’t need body guards. She needs a shrink.”

  Bryce glanced over Teddy’s head to Rae who met his questioning look with her own.

  She asked, “So you don’t think her life is in danger?”

  “No. My little girl is just going through a rough patch is all. But maybe now that you two are here, she’ll come out of her room and I can try to make some sense of the hack job she did on those gorgeous curls.”

  The higher the staircase climbed the wider it grew until it opened into a large airy atrium with floor to ceiling windows that over looked the vast Winters land. In daylight, the view would be incredible.

  “This is sort of like a tree house,” Rae said, her brow arched at Bryce.

  Teddy shook his head. “You wouldn’t think that if you saw the real tree house.”

  “You do have one!” She bounced and pumped her fist.

  “Honey. We’re squirrels.”

  Another crash sounded from the east wing and Bryce spun towards it, inadvertently dragging Teddy and Rae along with him. His wolf shot up, pushing at his skin to get out. Hair rippled over his body, his teeth sharpened to deadly points.

  Teddy threw back his head with laughter. “Lord, you’re strong. Did I mention how much I like that?”

  “McCabe.” Rae’s rebuke was sharp and concerned, her eyes ghosting over the hair still pulsing along his forearms.

  He shook his head and yanked at his animal. Only years of restraining its rage gave him the power to now contain the wolf’s agonized worry for his mate. “I’d like to see to our client now.”

  “Then come along.” Teddy pulled them towards one of the hallways, its entire south wall nothing but more windows. “When we know each other better, I’m going to ask you to carry me bridal style.”

  Bryce glanced at the man’s fluttering robe then straight ahead again. “You’re a married man.”

  “Oh, if you insist, you can carry Charlie too.”

  “Who’s carrying me and where am I being carried to?” A deep voice flowed out from a short breezeway. “If the answer’s not young Sean Connery to the wine cellar then I’m not even remotely interested.”

  They rounded the corner and Teddy ground them to a halt. An older man, balding and grey sat in a chair ne
xt to a closed door, his arms bent over his knees. He blinked at them.

  “Charlie, this is Rae and Bryce. Clem hired them.”

  “Ah.” Charlie stood. “The bodyguards. Know any good shrinks?”

  “I already made the shrink joke.” Teddy released them, stepping up to offer his husband his cheek.

  “You take all the good ones.” Charlie complained with a smile.

  “This is not a joke! I am not a joke!” A feminine voice—pure, melodic and thoroughly pissed off—came from the other side of the door. The hair at the back of Bryce’s neck lifted.

  “You’re a tragedy, darling. That hair!” Teddy wailed into the wood.

  “I could care less about the hair. I just want her to come out.” Charlie rapped his hand on the frame. “Clementine! Come out this instant!”

  “Didn’t work the first six hundred times, Dad, not going to work now.”

  “Your body guards are here. Now come out of there and take one of your father’s valiums.” Charlie tried the doorknob.

  Rae inserted herself at the doorjamb. “May I?”

  Charlie backed up and she leaned against the frame. “Miss Winters? My name’s Rae. My friend Bryce and I have been assigned to you. Can you open the door please?”

  “You smell….like a cat. Are you a big cat? Have you ever killed someone? Could you kill someone again?”

  “Um, yes to it all.” She raised her brows in question to the two fathers.

  “Shrink,” Teddy muttered, shaking his head.

  Another crash vibrated through the floor and shook Bryce to the core. Envisioning all the possible ways in which she could be hurt, he hammered on the door over Rae’s head. “What are you doing in there? Get out here!”

  Silence.

  “Did you hurt yourself? Are you hurt?” He looked at Rae. “I’m taking the door down.”