Wolf Unbound: Aspen Valley Wolf Pack Read Free Page B

because, quite frankly, I don’t care. Couldn’t you have found someone else to mate and marry while your dick was doing the talking for you for the past several years? Why insist on this now?”
    “My client owns that strip joint, Ms. North,” the lawyer interjected.
    Her annoyance flared. She took a deep breath, the released an exaggerated sigh. “I don’t give a shit. He owns that strip joint and he fucks there. I’m not a dummy.”
    Simon's lawyer cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
    Simon straightened his posture, dragged his hand up through his red and auburn hair, and bit at his lip. “You and I both know that this agreement is unique and uncommon. I have to marry a human to purchase property from the County. You know how that goes already.”
    Of course she did. Simon's dad had married a shifter two years after her mom died in a car crash. She was well aware of the restrictions placed on their community. She had nothing against them and truly believed they were just as entitled as humans to equal rights in this Country. Other than the fact that they shifted into wolves on impulse, she didn’t believe they were inferior to humans. In fact, her family was one of the first families to welcome shifters into their businesses and homes when their existence had first been discovered. Her dad’s tavern had been one of a few places in this town where both shifters and humans could congregate without hassle. It’s how he’d met their stepmother, Melisandra, who had worked at the tavern for years.
    “I get it. It’s plain as day now. You want to marry a human so you can buy the old estate that your grandfather lost before he died. The one he lived in when he was Alpha. The one that was seized by the County. Don’t you?” Autumn asked, and then paused for Simon's confirmation, but he kept a straight face. “I may be a human, but I know a thing or two about this Pack. That estate has been vacant for years. And every time someone comes around to buy it, something happens mysteriously to stop them from closing on it.”
    As she processed the circumstances, the missing pieces started coming together. The former Cross City Wolf Pack Alpha had been found dead, and now the Pack was in trouble. With Simon as the current Bet, he had fair claim to compete for the position. Rumors were also going around that Simon had been involved in the extortion of money from other business owners by using his gang of followers to deliver threats if they didn’t comply. Coincidently, he’d probably scrounged up just enough money to buy the estate.
    “You have money to buy it back, don’t you?” she demanded.
    Simon clapped his hands. “Bingo. And I’ll buy it once we are mated and married. Anymore questions?”
    Autumn huffed.
    “So…” Simon pushed the contract back across the table to her. “Shall we carry on with this?”
    “No, we shall not carry on with anything.”
    “Your father signed the contract,” the lawyer reminded her.
    “According to the laws, a shifter must be married to a human for six weeks before the marriage is considered valid.”
    “Exactly,” Simon said. “It’s done all the time. We take a human bride as we see fit to get what we need, stay in the marriage for the duration, and then split up. Assets are then divvied up according to the agreement set in place.”
    “But yet the documents here have been adjusted from the original terms of six weeks to one year. The difference in six weeks and one year is outrageous, just in case you haven’t noticed. The contract is re-amendable last time I checked.”
    “Revision isn’t an option at this point,” the lawyer said.
    “Things have changed since the agreement was worked up. The year-long term was placed there by my lawyer for a reason,” Simon interjected. “I’ll be acquiring more than just the old estate back. I have plans for County and possibly statewide acquisitions. These things take time. Possibly years. But with