Growl for Me: BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance (4 page)

“Oh! You're the
Alpha's daughter.”

“Uh-huh. It's both a
boon and a bane, if you know what I mean.”

Mina didn't know what she
meant, but she wasn't about to let Allison know that. Even though
Allison was friendly, she was still a shifter. Mina didn't tell
Allison after the attack by the red wolves. She didn't want to
display any weakness at all in front of a shifter. She had to be on
her toes and on her guard at all times.

Chatting about her new job
with Allison should be harmless though.

“This is my first day
at Snow River Construction,” Mina said as she signed the bill.

“You'll do fine. You
look great,” Allison smiled encouragingly.

“Thank you, Allison.
But I don't know what to expect at Snow River...”

“Oh, those wolves are
nice.” Allison grinned.

Mina froze. “Wolves?”

“Yeah. Didn't you
know? Snow River Construction belongs to the Snow River pack. The
Snow River pack is one of the largest and most powerful wolf packs in
Misty Valley.”

Mina opened her mouth then
clamped it shut. She definitely didn't know that. The company
profile just stated that Snow River Construction was committed to
building environmentally friendly, high quality homes and modern,
well-designed commercial buildings. There was some writeup on their
key personnel and a mugshot of each head of department was posted on
their website. Looking at all those smiling, handsome human faces,
she'd had no reason to think that these prim and proper gentlemen and
gentlewomen in smart jackets were all wild, deadly wolves. She had
checked out the websites of a few other businesses in Misty Valley,
and the ones which were owned by shifter packs or clans seemed proud
to broadcast that fact in bold, flashing letters.

She had done her research on
Snow River Construction, and there was no mention at all that the
company was owned by the Snow River wolf pack.

As a knot formed in her
stomach, Mina turned to ask Allison, “Are all the employees at
Snow River Construction...werewolves?”

Allison nodded. “As
far as I know, yes.”

“And...um...do you
happen to know...the CEO of Snow River...”

“The CEO?”
Allison frowned. “Oh, you mean the Alpha. That would be
Declan Grant. He's pretty nice.” Allison peered at her and
asked, “What do you want to know about Declan?”

Mina stifled a gasp and
shook her head quickly. “Nothing.”

When Allison gave her a
look, Mina hurriedly forced a smile to her face and said, “I
loved my stay at Hunter's Lodge. I'll definitely recommend this
place to my family and friends!”

“Really?”
Allison beamed.

“Yes,” Mina
answered sincerely.

“Your family will be
coming to visit from New Moon City?” Allison sat up and leaned
forward eagerly.

“Yes. My mom is
definitely making a trip down to Misty Valley once I get settled in
my job.”

“That's fantastic!”

“Yeah. I called her
last night, and she wanted to make the trip, like, yesterday.”
Mina rolled her eyes. “But I told her to give me a month or so
to get used to everything and find my way around, so I can give her a
proper guided tour of Misty Valley.”

Allison grinned. “Nice.
Well, good luck, Mina. And relax. The Snow River wolves are really
nice. And their Alpha...is just dreamy.” Allison winked.

Mina managed an awkward
smile as she bid her new friend goodbye and walked out of the hotel.

Declan.

The Alpha of the Snow River
pack.

It couldn't be a
coincidence. This world, this town, was too small.

She was going to see her
white wolf again. And she would see him every day. He was her boss,
the big boss of Snow River Construction.

Mina sucked in a lungful of
crisp morning air. Declan Grant, her boss, her benefactor and
savior.

Mina quickened her steps,
almost running down the street in excitement.

No doubt Declan would be in
human form this morning, but she would know him.

She recalled Allison's words
and huffed. Dreamy, eh?

As she marched down the
street, she was surprised to find herself clenching her fists and
gnashing her teeth. Why was she feeling...annoyed, at Allison?

So what if Allison thought
Declan Grant was dreamy?

Mina shook her head, trying
in vain to clear it. She was all wound up, feeling all proprietary
and possessive, jealous even. What was wrong with her?

He wasn't
her
wolf.
She hadn't even seen him in human form. Yet...she just knew that she
would recognize him.

Mina started to run. She
couldn't wait to see her white wolf again.

Mina skidded to a stop at
the side of the curb. She blinked. Then she blinked again.

It couldn't be.

She couldn't be seeing what
she was seeing. The last time she'd seen it, it was nothing more
than a crumpled heap of metal and broken glass. She had seen her car
die. She'd heard her little green car wheeze its last smoking breath
and watch those bright head lamps blink off. She thought she would
never see those beautiful head lamps light up again.

Yet, here she was, standing
in the middle of the street, staring into those shiny, winking head
lamps.

Mina rubbed her eyes
repeatedly. She wasn't hallucinating.

There was no doubt about it.
It was her little old beat-up Toyota, except that it wasn't so
beat-up anymore. Its body was smooth and shiny, with not a single
scratch or dent in sight. It wore its new coat of lime green paint
proudly, and the muddy tires had been washed and polished. Even the
windows had been fixed.

Mina stood gaping at the
car, until the horn tooted loudly. Mina squealed. She'd recognize
that toot anywhere. It was her car! And it was...beautiful!

She charged straight towards
her car, and put her hand on the warm hood. Mina blinked at the
three ladies in the car, who were grinning at her. The woman in the
driver's seat gave her a two-finger salute and hopped out of the car.
“Here you go, love.”

The other two women got out
and leaned against the purring car. Mina stared at them, speechless.
“Well?” one of them prompted.

“W-what...how...”
she spluttered, gesturing wildly at her car.

“We resurrected your
car. That's what we do.”

“We're the Magical
Mechanics...”

“...with just a little
bit of magic...”

“...and some
attitude...”

“...we can fix
anything!”

Mina gaped at them. “Magic?
The Magical Mechanics? You...you're witches.”

“Yup. I'm Layla...”

“I'm Kaylee...”

“And I'm Peyton
Wilette.”

Mina was still gawking at
them. “You're sisters,” she said at last.

“Triplets,” they
corrected in unison and rolled their eyes together. Mina couldn't
help laughing. They were so alike in looks and mannerisms. It would
have been impossible to tell them apart if not for their different
colored hair. All three witches were tall and curvy with
intelligent, intense black eyes. Layla had short, black hair. Her
sister, Kaylee, was a brunette and Peyton had flame-colored, wavy
hair.

“How...did my car get
here? I mean...”

Peyton snorted. “By
tow truck, of course.”

Layla wagged a finger at
her sister and turned to Mina. “The Snow River wolves called
us. Told us to bring the car in and get it repaired pronto. We told
them it'd cost them double for the rush job.”

“Double?” Mina
gulped. “How much do I owe...?”

Kaylee waved a hand. “You
don't owe us anything. Your company paid us already. Enjoy your
car.”

The three witches grinned
and sauntered off. They were dressed in tight tees, hip hugging
jeans and boots. They looked good and they knew it. Mina heard the
witches laugh and flirt with the blokes as they sashayed back to
their garage down the street.

Mina ran her hand down the
side of her car in a daze. Her company had paid for her car to be
repaired and delivered to her. She smoothed her palm down the
gleaming paintwork, and saw a card tucked under the windscreen wiper.
She picked up the small white card and flipped it over.

“The Magical
Mechanics. If it's broke, call us. If it ain't broke, call us
anyway,” she read aloud.

Mina smiled and slipped the
card into her pocket. Maybe she'd call them tonight and buy them
drinks. They had done a fabulous job with her car, and she didn't
get a chance to tell them how much she appreciated it.

She shut off the engine and
pulled the key from the ignition. As soon as she stepped away from
her car, the front doors of the ground floor office burst wide open
behind her. Mina whirled round in shock.

The office doors of Snow
River Construction were thrown wide open, and scores of men and women
were crowded at the entrance, beaming at her. Her car had been
parked directly in front of her new office.

“Welcome!” they
cheered. “Welcome to the...”

“...pack!”
someone yelled.

A few hands clapped over a
young man's mouth. “Shut up, Carter!”

While Carter struggled and
spluttered, the rest of the staff hurriedly shouted over the
commotion, “Company! Welcome to the company, Mina!”

“Oh.”
Overwhelmed, Mina put a hand over her heart. She honestly didn't
know what to say. She hadn't expected this.

She looked up at the smiling
faces crowded around the door, and saw the concern and worry in their
eyes. In a flash, she knew who they were. If Declan was their
Alpha, then these nice, sweet, friendly people, her colleagues, were
the white wolves who had saved her last night. They had so bravely
fought those red wolves off and saved her life. And they had
contacted the Wilette witches and gotten them to salvage her car.

And now, they had thrown
the office doors wide open to give her a rousing welcome.

Mina stared into each and
every face, and tried to smile and show her immense gratitude. All
she managed to do was curve her trembling lips, and blink rapidly.
Then she burst into tears.

Immediately, she found
herself surrounded by strong, warm bodies, and arms wrapped around
her shoulders comfortingly. They ushered her into the cool,
air-conditioned office and closed the front doors.

“There, there,”
a motherly voice cooed. “The poor dear. She must have
suffered a dreadful fright. Shoo, shoo. Make space for her. Don't
crowd her. You're scaring her.”

“No, no, I...I'm
okay,” Mina said, swiping at her eyes. “I'm so sorry. I
don't know what's come over me. You've been wonderful, all of you.”
She looked around the circle of faces. “Thank you. You saved
my life last night. You saved me, you saved my car, and...I don't
know how to thank you, all of you...” she said earnestly.

A tall, middle-aged lady in
slacks and a long sleeve blouse smiled and patted her hand gently.
“You're part of Snow River now. We take care of our own.”

Mina gave her a lopsided
smile. “You're very kind. But I haven't even done a day's
work for Snow River Construction.”

“Well, then let's get
you started, shall we?” a powerful, male voice boomed from the
entrance.

Mina gasped at the tall,
broad-shouldered man as he came striding towards her. That man
was...gorgeous. He exuded confidence, sex appeal, animal magnetism,
and raw, masculine power. Mina licked her lips as he headed straight
towards her, staring into his handsome face. His sandy blond hair
was tousled, and she saw his brilliant blue eyes gleam with good
humor and satisfaction. He was wearing jeans and an open collar
white shirt which accentuated his perfect tan. Mina tilted her face
to stare into his deep, blue eyes. She recognized him. She'd
recognize him anywhere.

“Declan,” she
breathed.

He smiled, and she saw a
brief flash of heat in his eyes the instant his name left her lips.

Carter cleared his throat.
“Mina, this is Declan Grant, our Alpha...ouch!” Carter
spun round angrily as someone slapped him over the head. “What?
Okay, fine, he's our supervisor!”

“Not supervisor, you
moron!”

“Manager!”

“Top Manager.”

“Big Boss!”

“Yeah! Declan is our
big boss! The biggest! You get the idea, Mina.”

Mina heard laughter and
teasing all around her, but she hardly registered anything, other
than the fact that Declan Grant was standing just inches from her,
gazing straight into her eyes.

“Hi,” he said
very softly.

“Hi yourself.”

Declan smiled, and Mina
almost melted into a puddle right there at his feet. He had the most
gorgeous smile. His entire face lit up, and the corners of his eyes
crinkled, making him even more attractive, if that was even possible.
It should be criminal to be so attractive. Mina totally understood
what Allison meant when she said that Declan was dreamy. He was...a
walking wet dream.