Beta's Mate (Siberian Volkov Pack Romance Series Book 8) Read Free

what she’s doing when choosing heartmates. She wouldn’t have chosen her for your mate otherwise.”
    Granger rubbed his jaw. His teeth hurt from clenching. Sometimes, Granger feared Brenda would never come around.
    The sound of hard heeled boots thumped down the stairs. Granger grimaced. He knew that sound, Brenda was unhappy about something. She turned into the office, marched to his chair, and glared down at him.
    “If you think you can give me the ski patrol job as a favor, you can forget it. I will not have you patronize me.” Granger should have known she’d make this difficult. He pulled his feet off the desk and turned to his mate.
    Her eyes swirled with molten silver, her hands rested on slim runner’s hips. She vibrated with righteous anger, and all he wanted was to grab her and kiss her. Forcing his face to look serious, when his lips threatened to smile, he shook his head.
    “You’re wrong. I didn’t give you the job as a favor, nor did I give it to you because you’re my mate. In fact, as your mate, I would prefer you choose a job where you aren’t putting yourself at risk for others. However,” Granger held up his hand to halt the tirade Brenda started. “You are more than qualified for the position, I saw the list of your skiing awards. You applied for the job and were screened accordingly. You could have asked me for the post, but you didn’t. So, the real question is, do you want the job or don’t you?”
    Brenda opened her mouth and then closed it. Her eyes lost some of the molten color, turning a softer gray. More than anything he wanted to kiss her, to reassure her that he could be trusted with her heart. He held completely still, waiting as he counted the beats of his heart.
    “I want the job.”
    Granger nodded, afraid to say something wrong. This woman made him walk on tiptoes, something unheard of for a Beta.
    “Brenda…” Jared said softly, while he walked to his desk and sat.
    She turned to him as if just now remembering he was in the room.
    “Congratulations on your new position.” Jared opened a drawer and removed a key on a ring. “There is a cottage near the top of the mountain. Esme suggested you would feel better with a place of your own. It’s closer to the resort, so you wouldn’t be able to run as a wolf up there. However, if you want it, I have the key here. This is not a charity gift. Part of your wages are for housing. That money will come to the pack to cover the costs. The rest of your wages are, of course, yours to do with as you please.”
    Granger stiffened in his chair. Jared was giving Brenda the key to his house?
    “What about when the weather changes? Would I have to vacate the cottage?” Brenda asked. Granger felt how much Brenda wanted to say yes to the offer. He relaxed into his chair.
    “No, I’m sure there’s a summer job at the resort you could fill. We still need security, or you could work at one of the summer recreational activities.”
    “How can you do that? Offer me a summer job. The pack doesn’t own the resort.”
    “Not on the surface, but we are a silent partner with Parker Martin. He owns the resort openly. He’s a human heartmated to a lycan and lives at the resort with his lycan wife, Lizette, and daughter, Margot. The pack always has first choice of jobs available. If a lycan doesn’t want to work at the resort, there are other jobs available with the dog sled company we partially own, as well as the Wolfe Maple Syrup Company.”
    “Wow, the pack has fingers in a lot of pies. How do you manage all that?” Brenda asked, plopping down in the second chair in front of the desk. Granger looked at his mate in surprise. She had never shown an interest in pack dynamics before. This looked promising.
    “We don’t manage all of it. The resort and dog sled company are managed by the human owners, we help with manpower. The maple syrup company is managed by Aramis, Granger’s father. As a pack member, you will be given a percentage