Fighting for her Mate: Shape Shifter Paranormal Romance (Sassy Mates Book 5) by Milly Taiden Read Free Book Online Page A

sat forward and looked at his father. “Dad, if I may?” His father nodded. “I talked extensively with Jaxon about this yesterday. I haven’t had time to talk with you all yet.”
    “Who’s Jaxon?” Karla asked.
    “Jaxon Gold. He’s the alpha for the Golden Falls pack in Vegas. He and his pack were at Nicole’s parents’ house to help us when Harris attacked. He loaned us some guys to fight the rogues coming here. Great guy. Anyway, he said Grady Harris had just taken the alpha spot. His father’s death certificate listed the cause of death as unknown.”
    Ellie remembered that fight quite well. Poor Nicole had to fight for her life.
    Jake snorted. “I bet it should say cause of death: son.”
    Aric nodded. “That’s how Jaxon felt, too. Harris’s pack has a lot of money, not him personally, though. Jaxon thinks Harris offed his dad because they found out he’d been dipping into the community fund for his own purchases. How? I don’t know. It’s all hearsay. But Jaxon did say after Harris took control, the petitions to join the Golden Falls pack tripled in a matter of days.”
    “Everybody suddenly wanted out,” Nate thought out loud.
    “Yeah, Jaxon said the reason on most apps was irreconcilable difference or of that nature. I guarantee something was going on, and Harris was the start of it. Jaxon said stay as far away as possible from them. Several of his cronies are still around.”
    The sound of two car doors closing snagged their attention. Nicole was closest to the window overlooking the front of the house. Moving the curtain a touch, she frowned. “I don’t recognize the two guys. They look pretty big. And from the expression on their faces, they’re not happy campers.”
    Shit, what now? Ellie’s stomach churned. She had a bad feeling about this.
    The men were out of their seats and at the front door in the matter of seconds. Tristan opened the door before the strangers climbed the porch stairs.
    “I’m Alpha Tristan Wolfe. What can I do for you, boys?” His sons and Caleb gathered behind him, arms crossed over their chests.
    The two men didn’t flinch at the aggressive stance. One of the men placed a foot on the bottom step and stopped. “We’re from the Las Vegas pack here to talk to you about the death of our most recent alpha.”
    Jake’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, fuck.”
 

 
     
    EIGHT
     
    Nicole watched Barbara set a tray of drinks and crackers on the coffee table in front of the two visitors on the sofa. “There we go. Please, help yourselves.”
    “Thank you, ma’am. The flight here was delayed a couple hours and we came straight here, hoping to finish in time to catch the last plane out this evening.”
    “Oh,” Barbara breathed a sigh of relief. “Then this meeting should be easy since we aren’t doing anything radical.”
    “It should be easy, ma’am. All we need is for Nicole to leave with us.” The room erupted into chaos. Chairs flipped back as bodies sprang from them. Yells got louder as each family member told the visitors where they could go. A loud crack of a bone leading into a shift drew everyone’s eyes to Jake.
    Nicole took Jake’s face in her hands and brought him down to her level. “Jake, honey. Look at me.” His normal eye color had given way to the wolf’s. “Listen to me. Calm down. We’re civilized and we will talk like civilized people. No need for a fight. Let’s see what they have to say.” She took his hand and guided him to their chair. The room quieted and the other couples followed suit.
    Under any other circumstance, Nicole might have been concerned, but seeing how the entire family had jumped to their feet in her defense helped her keep her shit together. She looked at the two visitors. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your names and positions within the pack.”
    The men looked a bit pale compared to a minute ago. But what did they expect? The taller of the two turned to her. “I’m Paul Montgomery, pack enforcer, and