More Than A Handful (Alpha and Omega series Book 12) Read online

  “Yeah, and we’ll both be sprouting fur on the next full moon.” Toby slapped his shoulder as he moved past. “No worries, buddy. If your aunt needs an extra pair of hands, call me after lunch. I haven’t got a problem with stripping off my shirt and giving those old biddies a thrill as I manhandle furniture.”

  “I should be done by then, but thanks.” Tanner let out a sigh and checked his keys were in his pocket, before following Toby out of the locker room. Toby waved, heading off to where a group of men and women in uniform were waiting for him by the front door. Tanner headed out the back to the parking lot, glad to get some peace and quiet.

  Unlocking his car door, Tanner chuckled at Toby’s comment about sprouting fur. Toby, like everyone else Tanner worked with, was human and had no idea Tanner could and did sprout fur at times when his wolf insisted on stretching his legs. And Tanner knew how important it was to keep that secret hidden. His shifter genetics were both a curse and a blessing with his work, but he’d had years of experience in playing things off as a hunch or gut feeling.

  Starting his car, Tanner eased out of the parking lot, and headed for home. It was almost four in the morning, and the streets were quiet, just the way Tanner liked them. The fifteen-minute drive home gave him plenty of time to process the horrors he’d faced that evening, but it wasn’t until he was safely in his shower, with his doors locked, that he let the tears fall.

  Why do people do that to themselves? The images of skeletal people, so strung out they didn’t realize how badly they stunk, filled his head and Tanner hurriedly reached for his body wash. As a wolf shifter, he wasn’t a fan of synthetic soap scents, but his aunt, believing he had an allergy to them, had sourced him a set of natural products with a slight vanilla smell. Tanner inhaled gratefully, if a little shakily, as he washed the sweat and stink from the people he’d manhandled that night off his skin.

  It was only later, after he’d dried himself off and sprawled across his bed, after remembering to set the alarm so he could be up in time to visit his aunt, that Tanner’s wolf attracted his attention. Sighing, Tanner flung back the covers, so he didn’t shed on them, and let his shift flow through him. The glow of the numerals on his electric clock reflected on his pure white fur.

  /~/~/~/~/

  “That Miss Patsy was looking at you like she could eat you up and come back for seconds,” Aunt Julie teased as Tanner moved her solid couch an inch to the left like she’d asked. “I’m sure she’d be open to a quick bite to eat or a cup of coffee before you have to go to work.”

  It was late afternoon and Tanner was beginning to wish he had called Toby to give him a hand. His aunt didn’t have a lot of stuff, but she was very particular about where she wanted it placed.

  “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you I’m gay, Aunty.” Tanner grunted as the couch slid into place. “Miss Patsy just does not have the bits I’m looking for.” He straightened up and pressed his hand into his lower back. “Was there anything else that needs moving, only I should probably be…”

  “You’re not leaving until you’ve had a cup of tea with me,” Aunt Julie said firmly, trotting into the kitchen to fill the kettle. “I’ve got some of that pound cake you like made fresh.”

  Tanner slumped on the couch he’d just moved, glancing quickly at his watch. An hour for a cuppa, home for another quick shower… Tanner resigned himself to picking up take out on the way to the precinct as he wouldn’t have time to cook and eat before his shift started.

  “You know, I was reading this article the other day,” Aunt Julie said brightly as she came in carrying a tray which she put down in front of Tanner before taking the seat beside him. “It was all about the sexuality spectrums. Have you heard of them?”

  “Aunt Julie,” Tanner warned.

  “No, no, it’s really interesting.” One of Aunt Julie’s annoying traits was her stubbornness. Tanner took the cup she held out to him, and quietly grit his teeth.

  “You know, the article said it’s scientifically proven that sexual orientation is often fluid. Did you know that?”

  “Uh huh.” Tanner figured the fastest way to get through this conversation was grunt and get his cup emptied in record time. It wasn’t that his aunt had a problem with him being gay, she just felt it hampered his ability to find a life partner. He picked up a piece of pound cake and stuffed it in his mouth. It wouldn’t be polite to talk with his mouth full.

  “It was quite eye-opening,” Aunt Julie went on. “I mean, it talked about people who are in the middle spectrum, that’s what they called it, and they can like still identify as gay because they prefer men, but sometimes they meet a female and find they really like her too.”

  “Bisexual,” Tanner managed to say around his mouthful of cake.

  “Yes, that’s it.” Aunt Julie picked up her own cup. “Is there any chance you might be like that, Tanner, dear? Perhaps tending more towards the middle and fluctuating a bit depending on the person? Only you know it’s perfectly all right if you are.”

  Tanner swallowed and ran his tongue around his teeth. “Did that article of yours mention that there were also people who were very firmly on one end of the spectrum or the other?”

  “Well, yes,” Aunt Julie nodded. “But from what I was reading there are more people who take a walk on the other side than we think. I mean, face it, most men don’t care who’s sucking their dick if it’s dark and they’re horny.”

  Tanner winced. Had he mentioned his aunt could also be quite colorful? “But no man or woman for that matter would have a relationship with a person of any gender if they couldn’t face being intimate with them when the lights are on, would they?”

  He received one of his aunt’s patented “I’m not stupid” looks. “I still think you’re limiting your options by just looking for a male partner,” she said. “I see women drooling over you every time you take me shopping and you never even notice.”

  “Yes, well,” Tanner put his cup back on the table, “that’s because I’m paying attention to you which is what anyone should be doing if they are out with someone special.”

  “Aww.” Tanner got a slap on his arm for his trouble, but he could tell his aunt was pleased. “Even so, I won’t be your neighbor anymore and I do worry about you being on your own, especially when you don’t have parents or any family to speak of. I just want you to find your special someone like my Alfie was to me.”

  And that’s what’s brought this up. Tanner should have known moving out of her family home would make his aunt a bit anxious. Smiling gently, he took his aunt’s hand. “Living next to you this past ten years has been a joy and a pleasure, and it’s not like I’m going to be too far away. And you don’t need to worry about me. I’ve got my health, I’ve got a good job that keeps me busy, and I’ve got good friends. And I have you to visit at least once a week, just like I promised. You’re not losing me, you’re gaining an entire complex of new friends.”

  “But I worry about you,” his aunt insisted. “I’ve cared about you since you introduced yourself and helped me with my groceries that very first day you moved in, and you deserve someone special in your life.”

  Oh yeah, a big stroppy alpha who won’t want anything to do with me because of how big I am? Or worse, one who’ll order me to give up my job and stay home to serve his needs. Not bloody likely. “That special person will come along when we least expect it.” Tanner patted his aunt’s hand. “Now, are you absolutely sure you have everything you need? I can run out and get some dinner for you if you like…”

  “No, it’s all right.” Aunt Julie looked up with a smile as there was a knock on her front door. “That will be Mabel. She said she would bring dinner over when we got squared away.”

  Unfolding himself from the couch, Tanner got up and went to open the door, smiling at his aunt’s friend who was lurking outside with a large casserole in her hand. “Are you planning a feast, Mrs. Appleby?” Tanner took the casserole from her as she bustled in and embraced her friend.


  “We’re having potluck. There’s a whole bunch of us coming over.” Mrs. Appleby winked at Tanner. “Are you sure you won’t stay and join us, Tanner, dear? There’s plenty of food and the ladies would all love some hot law enforcement eye candy to drool over while they’re eating.”

  “And, on that note,” Tanner felt his cheeks heating up, “I’ll leave you ladies to your evening. I have to work. Remember, Aunty, if you need anything at all…”

  “I have your number on speed dial.” Aunt Julie nodded, and Tanner noticed her eyes were brighter than usual. “You don’t be a stranger, okay? I expect my honorary nephew to visit for dinner at least once a week, just as if I was living next door still. And don’t forget, you did promise to take me to Cindy’s launch party weekend after next.”

  It was the teary eyes that made Tanner cross the room, bending to kiss Aunty Julie’s cheek. “I won’t forget. You take care,” he said softly, “and no getting into any mischief. My job’s difficult enough without getting a call out to this apartment, understood? I don’t want to have to come and arrest you for smoking weed or running a brothel.”

  “Ooh, imagine that, Julie.” Mrs. Appleby bounced in her seat. “All those hot men in uniforms with handcuffs and batons.”

  “No.” Tanner straightened up and pointed his finger at the woman who had to be eighty if she was a day. “No arrests for either of you.” He made sure his smile was showing. “I’m leaving now, but I’m only a phone call away. Enjoy your evening ladies.”

  Closing the door on the women’s excited chatter, Tanner swallowed the lump in his throat. Aunt Julie wasn’t family by blood, and she definitely didn’t know about Tanner’s wolf, but she’d befriended him from the moment he’d moved into his little two-up, two-down ten years before, and had insisted on being known as his aunty ever since. With the recent death of her husband of thirty-five years, and no children of her own, Tanner filled a spot in her heart, the way she did for him. But while Tanner hadn’t aged a day in that time, he’d watched with sinking heart as the inevitable cruelty of age slowly took over the older woman.

  Might be time for me to move again now I know she’s settled and safe, he thought, his boots ringing a crisp tattoo on the concrete walkway, but even as he thought it, Tanner knew he wouldn’t leave town until he’d buried the woman who’d burrowed under his skin and stuck. Fortunately, his phone rang just as his mind started to fall into that dark space where loneliness beckoned. It was the station.

  “Corban here, what have you got?”

  Chapter Three

  Karl leaned his head on his arms, resting on his desk, inhaling and exhaling in long measured breaths. It had been a long two weeks, and the revelry Karl could hear going on in the conference room underneath his office space was long overdue. The presentation went off without a hitch, orders were flowing in faster than his sales staff could handle them; in one day, Karl’s net worth had almost doubled.

  And, so had his company’s, which is why his staff were making merry below. Everyone who worked for Karl had received their bonus package, from the coders and systems managers, to the mail clerk and cleaners. Karl had always believed that every person who worked for his company played an important part in the company’s success, regardless of their official position. That was why his company has one of the lowest staff turnover rates in the state.

  So, Karl should be happy, but he could scent the reason for his edginess lurking outside his door. He’d spotted him at the function twenty minutes before, which was why he was now having five minutes to himself in his office. “Enter,” he said, before he heard the knock, straightening up as his uncle walked in and closed the door behind him.

  “Karl,” his uncle beamed as if the dinner from two weeks before hadn’t happened. He took a seat across from Karl’s desk, his smile still firmly in place. “Congratulations. I have to admit, I don’t know a lot about this software stuff you’re doing here, but everyone is raving about it downstairs. It sounds like you have another huge success on your hands.”

  “I have a very good team around me.” Karl nodded slightly, acknowledging his uncle’s praise. “Everyone has worked very hard to make it to this point, and they’ve been well rewarded for it.”

  “And you?” Bevan hooked his ankle over his knee, leaning back. “What’s on the cards for you now this business deal is done? Will you be taking some vacation time?”

  Karl chuckled, settling back in his own chair. “There’s no rest for the wicked, Uncle, you should know that. For the next month, we’ll be ironing out any teething problems with this software and publishing updates, and then I’m scheduled to meet with my design team at the end of next week to go over ideas for our next development.”

  “Hmm. Always keeping busy and planning ahead.” Bevan steepled his hands in front of him. “I got your letter.”

  Karl waited in silence, knowing his uncle would have more to say. Like most of his kind, Bevan didn’t look his age, preferring to present himself as an affluent business man in his mid-forties when in human company. His hair was as dark as Karl’s although a lot longer, and his face was a wider, softer, and more tanned than Karl’s was. His shoulders were broad under his pale gray suit jacket, but the button in the middle was straining slightly under the softness in his belly.

  “You have put me in a rather awkward position,” Bevan continued. “Your late father always intended for you to lead the pack, and you and I would both agree that your leave of absence from home was never intended to be permanent.”

  “And yet I’ve been absent fifty-two years with no complaints so far.” Karl waved his hand, indicating his office space. “Your suggestion was the making of me. I was able to turn my anger over my parents’ senseless death into something positive that resulted in all this, and that’s appreciated.”

  “You have done well,” Bevan agreed. “One might almost say you’ve become citified.”

  Karl chuckled, refusing to rise to his uncle’s insult. “There are many wolf shifters who choose not to live in a pack, and who work side by side with their human colleagues none the wiser. The Blue Moon pack doesn’t need a second alpha when the alpha they have does such an excellent job.”

  It was Bevan’s turn to nod slightly. “It has been an interesting and rewarding time for me too. However,” the side of Bevan’s mouth turned up, showing a hint of fang. “Despite my best efforts to change the fact, you’re the only possible heir, and while my methods might have been crude…”

  “Bordering on insulting,” Karl said quickly, knowing exactly what his uncle was trying to say.

  “Crude,” Bevan repeated stubbornly, “but they were made with your best interests at heart. It is time you were mated. It’s well past time you moved back home.”

  Karl repressed his frustrated sigh. “Can you hear that?” He waved at the muted noise coming through the floor. A woman laughed, louder than most, as if emphasizing his point. “I’ve created my own pack. My people are here. I care for them. I watch out for them and under my guidance we all make a comfortable living for ourselves. I’m not going to leave something that’s been fifty years in the making, just because you’ve decided I have to. Those days are over, don’t you get it? You don’t decide for me. I resigned from the pack because that was the most respectful thing I could do for you as my family, and as the pack alpha. You should be proud of me, for what I’ve achieved.”

  Bevan’s eyes narrowed and his fingers tapped out a beat against each other. “If you leave the pack, then not only does your father’s legacy lose their heir presumptive, they also lose a considerable amount of income.”

  “Is this about money?” Karl couldn’t believe his ears. Admittedly, he’d always paid five percent of his income as a pack tithe every month as required by pack law, but he’d been sure the pack would be doing well enough not to notice his lack of payments.

  “The pack has grown under my leadership. Families are flourishing, and we have many females and pups we care for. That’s a very heav
y and expensive responsibility, as you would see for yourself, if you ever bothered to visit.”

  “Fine. I’ll cut you a check.” Karl reached into his drawer, pulling out his banking folder. Grabbing a pen from the mug on his desk, he clicked it, glaring at his uncle. “How much is this going to cost me? Bearing in mind,” he added as his uncle opened his mouth to answer. “I’m well within my rights under paranormal law to cut all ties with my home pack anytime I decide, and there is nothing the ruling pack alpha can do about it. In fact, it’s an offense to force me to stay. Name your price.”

  “A lump sum isn’t going to make up for the pack’s grief and turmoil when I have to bring in a new alpha to train to take over for me.”

  “A million dollars?” Karl flicked open his check book, his pen poised above it.

  “There’s more than money at stake here. What about your honor and loyalty to the pack as a wolf shifter – as your father’s son?”

  “Two million?” Karl waited.

  “It’s your heirs, your pups that should be taking over from me. You’re not even bonded.”

  “I have no intentions of bonding. I’m waiting for my fated mate. Five million? That should be more than enough to soothe the pack’s fears and concerns over my lack of pups and the need to bring in an outsider to lead when you decide to retire.”

  “Only ten percent of wolf shifters ever meet their fated mate,” Bevan snarled. “You’re waiting for something that might never happen.”

  “I’ve been lucky in life so far. I have no reason to think that won’t continue.” Karl quirked an eyebrow at his uncle. “Ten million. My final offer. Otherwise, I’ll lodge a complaint with the paranormal council citing your interfering in my personal life and your refusal to let me lead my own life outside of pack territory. I can’t and won’t be any more respectful than that.”

  Bevan was fuming, the air was thick with his anger. Karl knew what he was thinking – if Karl was forced back to the pack, then his income with the company would still continue. The company could run without him. But Karl liked his life the way it was. “I really should make an appearance downstairs,” he clicked the pen again twice for emphasis. “Did you want this check or not?”