His Lucky Moon Mate (The Macconwood Pack Tales #14)

Chapter 1

“ D a? Da! No, no, no. Da! You have to be here,” Shannon muttered, as she pushed her way into her father’s office.

Shoving past the boxes and piles of paper scattered about haphazardly, blocking the doorway, she finally gained entry and what she saw was sadly no surprise. He was gone.

Shite.

This could not be happening to her. It was payday, and she’d already been notified by her bank that her account was overdrawn. Ergo, no, she had not been paid. Again. As if that weren’t bad enough, the several supernaturals employed at the Lucky Moon Casino had started calling and texting and literally banging down her door as of thirty minutes ago. That was right after the banks had opened and, like her, everyone had noticed their paychecks had not been deposited.

Rat bastard! He did it again!

Shannon simply could not believe her father! After all his promises and the groveling and begging he did after the last time he’d skipped out, leaving her holding the bag, the tiny deceitful little bugger had done it again. Ugh!

“Shannon! Are you in there?” Ollie came in after her, the poor nearsighted mole Shifter tripped over some boxes and it was all Shannon could do to stop him from knocking her to the floor with him.

“Ooof! Sorry, Shannon,” he muttered, hands outstretched and grabbing her boobs.

She rolled her eyes heavenward and grabbed his wrists.

“Ollie, what have I told you about rushing in places?” she said, exasperated with the man.

He was a walking, talking accident waiting to happen, but he also happened to be one of the best damn dealers she’d ever seen. Maybe it was the dark lighting inside the casino, the feel of the felt tables, or the smoothness of the cards. She couldn’t say for sure. But whatever the reason, no one could shuffle or deal cards like Ollie. It was why her Da had hired him.

“Sorry Shannon, you know some of the others are asking about their paycheck.”

“I know, Ollie. I got stiffed too,” she said sadly, rubbing her forehead.

“Am I interrupting something?” a deep, lightly accented voice said from the doorway.

Was her Da’s office suddenly Grand Central Station or something?

She heaved a sigh, looking down at Ollie’s hands still clutching at her bosoms, and Shannon pushed him off. The oaf took two steps back, snorted and chuckled an apology while she stood to face the stranger. Bloody hell. He sure was a looker.

Her eyes went wide as the tall, dark, and handsome stranger came waltzing into her father’s office. Ollie turned his head, his hands still grabbing onto Shannon’s breasts, and the Eejit still didn’t let go. The stranger’s chest rumbled, and Shannon gulped. Was he growling at her? She shoved Ollie away from her.

“For feck’s sake, let me go!”

“Sorry. Um, who are you?” Ollie asked the man.

“My name is Balvinder Sidak, and I work for Macconwood Law Associates?—”

“A lawyer? Oh, that’s just great,” Shannon muttered, stepping over boxes to get behind her father’s desk. “I suppose I should be glad your Alpha didn’t send the whole Pack to chase us out.”

“Speaking of chase, Shannon. The guys, well, they ain’t gonna take this sittin’ down no more.”

“Are you the owner of the casino?” the handsome lawyer asked, one perfectly arched eyebrow raised as he looked her over.

She didn’t need his scathing glare to know what she looked like. Shannon was well aware of her plus-sized figure. But she had no time to lament the fact her sizeable ass would never attract someone like him.

Feck, but he was gorgeous. Eyes the color of dark chocolate, the good stuff, stared at her from a face that could have been carved from granite. His skin was smooth and tawny, his facial hair just the right length, and it matched the carefully combed hair on his head. Her fingers itched to run through it. Yeah, she’d like to mess it up nice and good.

She even allowed herself a second to wonder what it would look like after a good tumble, but she shook those thoughts away. Dirty minds were terrible things to waste, unfortunately she had no time to indulge in hers. Damn her Da. She should never have trusted him again.

“Miss? Or is it Missus? Are you two dating?” he asked, taking her by surprise.

“The name is Shannon O’Doyle. I am single. And it’s my father you’re obviously wanting.”

“Good,” he growled softly.

Shannon snorted and shook her head. What riddles was this man talking in? She rolled her eyes at the sexy stuffed shirt and turned back to Ollie.

“You already talked to everyone?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

Shite. Even with her savings she couldn’t cover everyone’s payroll.

“Yeah, they’re having a meeting right now. They want your dad’s head, er, or yours,” Ollie said, breaking the tension with even more good news.

For feck’s sake! Couldn’t the universe give her a break just once? She started digging through drawers, opening and closing them before slamming her hands down on the desk.

“Dammit, Ollie, there is nothin’ here. Look, can you stall them?”

“For you Shannon Rose? Of course I can,” the Mole Shifter said with a smile.

“You’re just smiling cause you had your hands on my tits not five minutes ago,” she remarked and rolled her eyes.

“I did at that, and what glorious tits they are!” Ollie said, eyes round as he lifted his hands and pretended to squeeze.

Eejit.

The sound of a very loud growl interrupted their banter and Shannon lifted her cerulean gaze to the Werewolf lawyer who suddenly looked as if he wanted to chew on poor Ollie.

“Um, I better get going, Shannon,” Ollie mumbled nearly falling down as he squeaked and ran past the snarling Werewolf.

“What is your problem?” she asked the man.

“My problem? Do you always let your employees feel you up or was today special?” he grunted, angry and having no qualms about letting her know it.

Shannon could hardly contemplate the reasonings of a mad Werewolf, so she just ignored him. Even trusting her Da not to be a total fuckup, Shannon had put some safeguards in place. First, she had to initiate the spell using her fae magic that would set a sort of time freeze spell on the casino itself. Last time the employees did so much damage it cost a fortune to repair. With her magic, they would not be able to wreck the joint.

Second, she needed her paperwork, ID, and that sort of thing. So rarely did Shannon venture into the normal world, she never carried the stuff.

“Look, I know now that Da didn’t get the proper license to set up the casino here. I promise the paperwork is all legit as far as the Ethical Code for Supernatural Work Act as set forth by the Council. And I would love to help you with that, but if I don’t get my fluffy arse out of here in the next five minutes, there’s going to be an entire team of angry supes. That includes a particularly volatile set of Ogre brothers who vowed to rip any O’Doyle limb from limb the next time Da failed to pay them?—”

“Your father took off leaving you to deal with this mess?” the lawyer asked, incredulous and even angrier than before.

Shannon stuffed her ID, bank card, and other things she needed into her purse and turned back to the handsome man.

What was his name again? Oh, Balvinder. Interesting.

“Aye, it’s not the first time. Anyway, we best leave before the spell begins or we’ll be frozen too!”

“What spell?”

“The one I just set into motion when you saw me press that button. Come on!”

She grabbed his hand, ignoring the tingles shooting up her arm from the contact, and ran out the back door.

“Don’t you be going anywhere, O’Doyle!” the sounds of shouting started, and Shannon grimaced.

“Hurry! We must get out of the circle before the spell settles, otherwise we’ll be stuck, too!” she told the Werewolf, and cursed herself for being stupid as she tripped over something on the ground.

“Hold on to me,” he growled, picking her up and cradling her to his chest before her body could come in contact with the unforgiving ground.

He sprinted with her in his arms, following her directions. Shannon saw the casino employees spilling out the back door a couple of dozen feet away.

“Go, go, go,” she murmured, clinging to him tightly.

Feck, he smelled grand. Like the ocean breeze on a sunny day with hints of coconut and lime. She clung to him a little tighter, burying her nose in his neck as he ran them both to safety. The barrier between the woods surrounding the casino came into view and Balvinder stepped through it with the tiniest of shudders, indicating he felt the magic that was created to hide their location.

“Thank you. Oh gods, that could have been bad,” Shannon muttered, pressing against his chest so he could let her down.

Only— he didn’t.