Shifters of Grrr 2 (62 page)

"I sent a message to the higher ups that I was buying into the casino on your behalf."

"Wh-what?"

"You now have a 15 percent stake in Diamond's Oasis."

Carly tried to pull away from him again, and this time he let her.
 
She turned around to face him completely.

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I don't want you to be my concubine," Jason.
 
"I want you to marry me, and I figured maybe this was better than a diamond ring.
 
And if you say no, you're still set for life.
 
You can walk away from me altogether if you want.
 
I'll understand."

"You said you never wanted to get married."

"I was an idiot."

"But why me?"

"Because we're the same, you and I," Jason said. "We come from the same people.
 
And you're smart and savvy, and your gorgeous, and you never let me pull one over on you as an Alpha. A man like me
needs
a woman like you."

He fell silent.

"Goddammit, I'm in love with you," he then admitted.

Carly felt the sudden urge to kiss him, which she did.
 
But she pulled back quickly before he could take too much advantage.

She bit her lip and gazed at him thoughtfully.

"Also, I met your mother," he said.

 
"After I left?"

"Yep."

Carly felt a flush of shame.

"My assistant will be taking her to rehab in the morning," he said.

Carly was stunned.

"How did you convince her?"

"I threatened her."

Carly shook her head.
 

"I guess that's what it would take.
 
Why did you step in like that?"

"If we become engaged, then you're my responsibility now.
 
That means your problems are my problems.
 
And so, I'm taking care of one of our problems."

Carly didn't know what to say.
 
So she said nothing.

Jason sought to fill the silence.

"You haven't answered my question – about marrying me," he said. "Um – if you say 'no', I will still make sure that your mother is taken care of. No strings attached."

Carly's instinct was that this all was sounding too-good-to-be true, and that she still needed to play her cards right.

"Can I think about it?" she asked.

The Alpha looked stunned for a second. He had expected either an excited YES or an adamant NO, but not that she might need to 'think about it.'
 
Was this woman really so impervious to him that she would always continue to make decisions based on logic rather than get swept away under his influence?

"Ah, sure – yes, you can think about it," Jason reluctantly said.

Carly smiled to herself.
 
She had every intention of saying yes.
 
In fact, every part of her
screamed
the word YES.
 

But she was dealing with an Alpha. And a gambler.
 

It didn't matter if he was married, other she-wolves would always be huffing and puffing at the door, trying to blow their house down, ready to try to steal him away.
 

She needed to let Jason win once in awhile, but she also needed to keep him guessing.
 
She needed to use intermittent reinforcement to keep him coming back for more.
 
That was, after all, how even simple slot machines kept gamblers hooked.

Jason gazed at Carly in the moonlight, her eyes slightly sparkling in the dark. He pulled her in close, his lips caressing hers, then sliding down her neck, across her clavicle. He ran his hands through her hair and breathed in her jasmine perfume.
 

Carly reached her arms around him, running her fingers down his back, her grip suddenly digging in as he rolled her over and pressed the full weight of his body down upon her. He was taking his time, and she was happy to let him.
 
While she let him think that he didn't have her fully under control with a guarantee that she would accept his marriage proposal, she let him have full control of her physically, right in this moment.

Carly decided right then and there that she could be elusive when she wanted, and she could let herself be seduced when she wanted.
 
She was still a card dealer, after all.
 
As always, she still considered her life decisions in terms of chance, odds and probability.

Chances
were, the Alpha was being completely genuine here, with his marriage proposal and his gift to her of an ownership stake in the casino that once employed her. But the
odds
were, this marriage would have some definite ups and downs, and she would need to always be a smart she-wolf to be a match for her Alpha.

Finally, and luckily, the
probabilities
were that the chemistry they had – the fire that started the night Jason beat Carly at poker – wasn't going to fade anytime soon. And that was one factor she definitely planned to rely on.
 

Starting with tonight.

THE END

About the Author

***The sequel to
The Alpha's Bet
now is available.
 
Look for
The Alpha Rolls the Dice
also by Annora Soule at the following link:
 

http://www.amazon.com/Alpha-Billionaire-Werewolf-Paranormal-Romance-ebook/dp/B00RNLAGEE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1420397952&sr=1-1&keywords=alpha+rolls+the+dice

I hope you enjoyed
The Alpha's Bet
. For updates on my next book, sign up for my author's newsletter at
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– also I enjoy hearing from readers, so feel free to email me directly at
[email protected]
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Also by Annora Soule (with links):

Shark Shifter: The Legend of Tenifa Kekoa

Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Shark-Shifter-Legend-Tenifa-Kekoa-ebook/dp/B00N66XNTA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1420396276&sr=8-3&keywords=annora+soule
 

Big Gator (Gulf Coast Gator Shifters #1)

Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Big-Gator-shifter-paranormal-Shifters-ebook/dp/B00IMR30K0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420396078&sr=8-2&keywords=annora+soule

Gator Bait (Gulf Coast Gator Shifters #2)

Link:
 

http://www.amazon.com/Gator-Bait-Paranormal-Shifter-Shifters-ebook/dp/B00KHAEM02/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420398469&sr=8-1&keywords=gator+bait+annora

Black Triangle

Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Triangle-Annora-Soule-ebook/dp/B00IWCSJGA/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1420396160&sr=8-7&keywords=annora+soule
 

Shifter Mountain

Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Shifter-Mountain-BBW-Paranormal-Romance-ebook/dp/B00L2XVI28/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420397903&sr=8-1&keywords=shifter+mountain+annora+soule
 

Zorth - Crystal Dawn

Witch Way Series
 

Book 1

2015 Copyright by Crystal Dawn

Any resemblance to persons living or dead is simply a coincidence. This story is completely a product of the author's imagination.

Dedicated to my fabulous readers.

Prologue

He'd had her for one night and she'd been branded into his very soul. He'd been called away early and he'd been loathed to wake her. He'd been so certain she would be there when he returned. Had he been arrogant or just stupid? He'd find out when he found her and asked why she'd left. He knew so little about her. He'd done what he could and found out that she was a white wolf. That made sense because he was drawn to all of those he'd met. It was more than just the blood. There were qualities that ran in that family that he admired and a few that drove him crazy.

He'd gone to a few of the families gatherings and she'd not been there. He'd approached Marissa and Ariel for help and they'd tried to do what they could without offering up the females in the family to the insatiable witch. He was sure they knew he was something more but he'd never shared that he had incubus blood with any of them. They'd run for the hills, he was certain of it.

Chapter 1

Searching

He was tired, so very weary. It was no surprise as his search progressed that he lacked energy or enthusiasm for anything. An incubus demon that didn't have sex wasn't worth much to anyone. He wasn't even worth much to himself. He was a witch as well and he could magically extend his energy for possibly as long as six months, but once that reached its end he would practically be a walking corpse. An unpleasant thought to say the least.

Most people didn't understand the way things worked with an incubus or succubus demon. An incubus was the male demon and a succubus the female version. It was very simple really, they turned sex into energy. It was what they lived on for the most part. Yes, most of them ate food although they didn't have to. He was a full blood incubus but he also had magical talents that had lead him to study witchcraft. Well, that and a certain witch that had drawn him in with her gorgeous body and exciting sexual knowledge. He'd not seen her in years and she was probably ashes blowing in the wind since many witches, most supernaturals even, burned their dead.

The phone rang and he answered it. "Zorth," he growled into the cell phone. The gods help the fool who called if it wasn't urgent.

"Doesn't sound like you're in the best mood," the voice returned with humor evident.

"I see, Damon, you still have that talent for stating the obvious."

"And you're still as diplomatic as ever."

"Now that we've reaffirmed our best qualities, why did you call?"

"The truth of the matter is we need a super witch," he explained.

"Don't you have Harry?" Zorth was puzzled since he felt Harry could do anything they might need unless they came across a witch working for Chief that had superior powers.

"She's gone."

"Gone where? Come on man, just lay it out for me. No more dancing around the subject," he growled his patience at an end.

"I'm sorry, Zorth. She was taken by another witch and we can't find her anywhere. The trail has gone cold. She was taken yesterday at a bar we were shutting down for dealing in the blood drug. It was a female witch who grabbed her and they were gone in a flash. We shut everything down, searched the bar, questioned every person present, and searched the surrounding area. She's just gone."

"And you're only telling me this now?"

"Marissa's here and she'll tell you what she's found."

He'd never thought Damon a coward until this moment. He was handing him off to his wife? Didn't he feel capable of handling his anger? Was he afraid he'd change him into a frog? He had half a mind to do just that. Marissa came on the line her voice hesitant.

"Zorth?" she said softly.

"Yes," he answered.

"I'm so sorry," she started.

"Sorry about Harry?" he asked. He felt a pain in his chest. Was the young witch dead?

"It's more than that. She was taken by an old witch named Serena. I believe you knew her well years ago," she observed.

"Yes, but how did you know?" he wondered. Marissa hadn't even been born or her mother for that matter back in the day when he'd met Serena.

"I performed a
show me
spell. It showed me what happened and how she took Harry. If it makes you feel any better, I don't believe she intends to hurt her. I believe she's bait to lure you."

"How did you find out her name?"

"She told Harry and she told her that she was a very old friend of yours."

Just his luck, a scorned lover turns up in the middle of a major investigation to exact revenge. "Where does she want to draw me to?" He'd go, Harry didn't deserve to be pulled into the middle of a long overdue confrontation between former lovers. He only wondered why she'd waited nearly a hundred years to have this confrontation.

"Claxton Inn, at least that's what I understood. Does that mean anything to you?"

"Yeah, I know where she is."

"Want to clue me in?"

"No, I'll take care of this myself."

He hung up without saying goodbye. He knew Marissa and she'd just keep pestering him for details until he got angry and told her or mad enough to hang up. Why go through all that when he could just skip to the end? He packed a bag with everything he might need and he hopped in his SUV. He didn't have a family and he didn't like to drive others around so it was just a plain seats five crossover. It was black which suited him since he only used it for business. He set his GPS and pulled out of his driveway. As soon as he hit the highway, he started making calls through his hands free system. He'd lived a long time and he loved his technology. It had come a long way even from the days when he and Serena had been together.