Daddy Wolves of the Wild Box Set Read online

  Daddy Wolves of the Wild

  (A Daddy Shifter Box Set)

  Serena Meadows

  Copyright ©2019 by Serena Meadows - All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental. This book is intended for adult readers only. Any sexual activity portrayed in these pages occurs between consenting adults over the age of 18 who are not related by blood.

  Contents

  Mountain Wolf’s Nanny

  Mountain Wolf’s Curse

  Mountain Wolf Playboy

  Mountain Wolf’s Courage

  Also By Serena Meadows

  About the Author

  Mountain Wolf’s Nanny

  (Daddy Wolves of the Wild)

  Book I

  Chapter One

  ***Nick***

  Nick stepped up to the bedroom door, raised his arm, and clenched his fingers into a fist until the veins in his hand began to pop out. Then he took a deep breath and let the anger go. Relaxing his muscles, he knocked softly on the door and waited.

  “Go away,” a muffled voice called through the door.

  “I just want to talk to you,” he said, keeping his voice even, his anger under control.

  “Well, I don’t want to talk to you: not now, not ever!” his daughter shouted at him.

  Stepping back from the door, he leaned up against the wall and counted to ten as his anger flared, then returned to its normal throbbing level. It seemed like anger had become his constant companion since his wife’s death nearly seven years ago. Losing Bridget had broken his heart and wounded his spirit.

  But Emma had helped heal that wound; at only five, the loss of her mother had left her just as vulnerable, and more than willing to turn to him for comfort. That is, until Bridget’s parents had stepped in and crumbled their little world. The social worker literally ripping her from his arms while she cried in anguish, her little face streaked with tears as she was driven away.

  It has taken him several days to discover that Emeline and Roger Bundquest had set up an elaborate scheme to discredit him, make him appear an unreliable parent, destroy his business, and bankrupt him. By the time the dust had settled, he was completely broke, Emma was gone, and he had little hope of ever seeing her again.

  That was when the anger had started, when the rage inside him began driving everything he did. He built his business up again, working through the rage to pay private detectives and bribes until he’d managed to prove what Bridget’s parents had done to him.

  Now that Emma was back with him where she belonged, he thought that the anger would pass, that his daughter would be the balm for his tortured soul. But it didn’t take him long to discover that her grandparents had poisoned her against him, frightened her to the point that she refused to spend any more time than necessary with him.

  He knew that only time would show her that he wasn’t a monster, but he was afraid that time was running out. Emma would be turning thirteen later that summer, and with that birthday would come her first shift, and he wasn’t sure if she was ready. He was afraid that her grandparents hadn’t prepared her, that they’d done as they always had and pretended that she wasn’t a shifter.

  He stared at the door for a few more seconds, not sure if he should turn and walk away or keep trying. Pushing himself off the wall, he approached the door and knocked softly again. “Emma, I just want to spend some time with you, get to know you better,” he said, then waited.

  When there was no reply, he walked away, his heart aching as it had for the last two weeks. He’d known, had, in fact, been warned by everyone, that it wouldn’t be easy on either of them at first, but he was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to get any easier. Emma was clearly as stubborn as her mother, and he was afraid that he was in for a long wait.

  It was time for a new plan, time to do something besides watch his angry daughter eat her meals in silence then retreat to her room. He wasn’t sure what to do, but something had to give. They couldn’t go on this way for much longer.

  ***Maggie***

  Maggie got out of the cab and looked up at the building in front of her, feeling a bit overwhelmed for a second. Then she took a deep breath; no matter what happened today, at least she’d know what her future would hold. It made her feel a little guilty that a very tiny part of her would love to walk out of that building a free woman in a few hours, but she knew that losing the restaurant would kill her father, and he’d already been through so much.

  Taking a deep breath, she pushed through the revolving doors and walked over to the desk in the lobby. “Can you please tell me where I can find Bundquest International?” she asked, her heart pounding in her chest.

  The man sitting behind the desk looked her up and down, then wrinkled his nose and said, “Their offices are on the top floor, but you’d better have an appointment.”

  “Thank you,” she said, turning from the desk and heading for the elevator, the man’s disdain stinging just a bit.

  When she’d received the summons to come here, she’d done the best she could to put together an outfit that looked acceptable, but years of working in the restaurant had left very little in her closet besides casual attire. Looking at her reflection in the mirrors that lined the walls of the elevator, she straightened her skirt and smoothed her hair.

  When the doors opened to reveal thick carpets, soft lighting, and furniture that cost more than she could imagine, her nerves cranked up, and she almost pushed the button to close the doors. But the woman behind the desk had already seen her, so she stepped out and up to the desk.

  “I’m here to see Emeline Bundquest,” she said, her voice shaking. “I have a ten-thirty appointment.”

  The woman looked at her like the man downstairs had, then a sad smile appeared on her face. “She’s been waiting for you,” she said.

  Maggie was sure that she wasn’t late, that she was actually a little early, but didn’t dare look at her watch. “Thank you,” she said instead and gave the woman a smile that wasn’t returned.

  The woman sighed instead and got up from the desk. “This way,” she said, turning and marching down the hallway.

  Maggie had to run just a little to catch up, then had to stop abruptly when the woman stopped in front of a closed door. She knocked twice, then opened it. “Ms. Wainwright is here to see you,” she said, poking her head inside the door.

  The woman stepped back and gestured for Maggie to go in, then stomped off back down the hall, leaving her standing there alone. “Come in, Maggie,” she heard Emeline Bundquest say.

  Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the office, which was even more ornate than the lobby, the room quietly dripping money. “There you are, Maggie. I’ve been looking forward to seeing you this morning. I’ve missed you at the restaurant the last few times I’ve been there.”

  Maggie shifted from foot to foot, not sure if she should sit down or remain standing. “I’m sorry about that. I’ve been very busy,” she said, her voice shaking.

  “Yes, I can imagine. It couldn’t have been easy getting your degree and working at the restaurant full time,” Emeline said, then gestured to a chair. “Please sit d
own; I’ll have Helen bring us some tea.”

  Maggie sat down, feeling very out of place. “Oh, that’s not necessary,” she said.

  “Nonsense. It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, I’d like to catch up a little,” Emeline said, making Maggie suddenly nervous.

  She’d known Emeline for as long as she could remember, from her periodic visits to the restaurant to check on the business. Her father had always treated those occasions as if Emeline were royalty, something she hadn’t understood until she’d gotten old enough to understand what running a restaurant really meant and how critical the lease on the building was.

  “Well, I guess if you insist, that would be nice,” Maggie said, trying to tell herself that this meeting was no big deal.

  Once Helen brought the tea, Emeline poured them both a cup, then took a long sip of hers. Maggie picked up her cup, her hands shaking so bad the cup rattled in the saucer, then took a little sip, her stomach tied in knots. She set it back on the desk, then clasped her hands in her lap and waited, wishing the meeting was over.

  Emeline set her cup down and studied Maggie for a few long minutes, then said, “I’ll get right to the point since I can see that you’re nervous. I’ve had a very nice offer on the restaurant property, and I’m thinking about taking it.”

  Maggie’s heart sank. “But we’ve been paying our rent on time, and we have a lifetime lease. You can’t do that. You can’t make us close the restaurant,” she said, panic in her voice.

  Emeline studied her for a minute, opened the top drawer of her desk and pulled out a stack of papers, then handed them to Maggie. “I’m afraid I can,” she said.

  ***Nick***

  Nick sighed and set his fork down, then looked across the table at Emma, who hadn’t said a word to him through the entire meal. “I was thinking we might go out and have some fun this weekend,” he said.

  Emma looked at him for the first time that night. “Together?”

  He fought down the anger that threatened to surface. “Yes, together. We could go to the zoo or the swimming pool.”

  Emma made a face. “I’m not eight,” she said, then looked down at her half-eaten dinner, a scowl on her face.

  “Well, then what do you want to do?” he asked, feeling a glimmer of hope.

  Emma looked up from her dinner and pinned him with her blue eyes. “I’d like to go home, I’d like to see my friends, I’d like to never have to see this awful rundown place again,” she said, jumping up from the table and fleeing the kitchen.

  Nick got up and followed her, getting there just as she slammed her bedroom door. “Honey, I know this is hard, but you have to believe me, this is where you’re supposed to be.”

  He couldn’t hear her muffled reply from inside but could hear her sobbing, and his heart broke. “Emma, open the door so we can talk,” he said. “Just give me a chance.”

  There was a moment of silence, then he heard her pad softly across the room. “Why should I? Grandma told me all about you; she told me how you treated Mom. I know it was your fault that she died; Grandma says you might have even killed her yourself. I’m not going to let that happen to me,” Emma screamed through the door, her voice full of anger and fear.

  Stunned, he stepped back from the door, all his hopes that they would ever be close again draining away. His heart ached for the little girl who used to throw her arms around him, who loved to ride on his shoulders to bed, who told him that she loved him, then kissed his nose. But that little girl was gone, replaced by the sullen, angry, scared one on the other side of the door, and it was clear something had to change.

  Out of options, he went to his room and found the business card he’d brought home from the office, picked up the phone, and made a call that would change both of their lives. When the line was picked up, he said, “I’ll take the job. When do you want me there?”

  Chapter Two

  ***Maggie***

  Maggie shuffled through the papers, adding the total for a second and then a third time, her heart doing flip flops in her chest. Finally, she looked up at Emeline and said, “This can’t be right. This is over forty thousand dollars. We’ll never be able to pay this much back.”

  “I warned your uncle when he took the loans out, but he said he’d pay them back when the time came,” Emeline said.

  Maggie could only stare at the woman with her mouth hanging open. “But Sal never worked at the restaurant,” she said, still not able to understand what happened.

  “Your father signed off on those loans too,” she said, making Maggie leaf through the papers again, her heart sinking when she saw her father’s signature on each one.

  With shaking hands, she set the papers back on the desk. “I’m sorry, but there’s no way we can pay back these loans; we’ll just have to close the restaurant,” she said, getting to her feet, afraid the tears in her eyes would spill down her cheeks before she could get out of the room.

  “Sit back down, Maggie,” Emeline ordered. “I think I might have a way for you to pay back that money, and maybe even earn a little in the process.”

  Maggie could only stare at her, her mind spinning with images of what she might have to do to earn that kind of money. “Don’t worry: it’s not what you’re thinking,” Emeline said, laughter bubbling through her words.

  She sat back down in the chair. “What would I have to do?”

  “It’s really a very simple job. I just need you to work as a nanny for my granddaughter and report back to me,” Emeline said, shrugging her shoulders.

  Maggie knew she was missing something. “And you’ll pay me forty thousand dollars to do that?” she asked, skepticism clear in her voice.

  “Well, maybe it’s not as simple as I made it sound, and I do have to warn you, it might be a bit dangerous,” Emeline said, sitting back in her chair and taking another sip of her tea.

  When she set the cup down, she said, “My son-in-law has managed to get custody of my granddaughter, Emma, even though it’s clear that he’s not capable of caring for her, and I just want to make sure that she’s okay.”

  Maggie could see tears in the woman’s eyes. “My daughter was killed in a car accident when Emma was only five, and I think Nick was responsible. He’s a monster, and Emma shouldn’t be with him,” she said, then covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a sob.

  Her heart breaking, Maggie took the manila envelope Emeline handed to her and started to open it, but Emeline’s next words stopped her. “I’ve known you since you were a little girl. I know you’ll help me, and in return, I’ll help you. But we don’t have much time. Take the night and think about it. Right now, I think I need a few minutes to myself,” she said, ending the meeting.

  The revolving door spit Maggie out onto the sidewalk, the stack of loan papers and the manila envelope clutched in her hands. She stumbled over to a bench, sat down, tipped her face up to the sun, and closed her eyes. Her brain was spinning with everything that had just happened, her emotions a roller coaster that was flying out of control.

  She’d thought that her meeting today was going to be about renovating the restaurant, about bringing it out of the slump it had been in, but now it looked like there wouldn’t be a restaurant. Forty thousand dollars was an impossible amount of money, and the alterative, becoming Emeline’s spy, made her stomach hurt. The last thing she wanted to do was get involved in some big family drama, and she wasn’t even sure she liked children.

  But telling her father that the restaurant and everything he’d worked his entire life to build was gone thanks to his brother Sal made her stomach hurt even worse. Knowing that she was stuck, that no matter what decision she made, her life was never going to be the same, she got to her feet and hailed a cab.

  When she got home, she threw the envelope onto the table, headed for the kitchen, and opened the refrigerator. Living above the restaurant, she ate most of her meals downstairs, but the last place she wanted to be just then was the empty dining room. Deciding that she wasn’t hu
ngry, she headed back to the living room, trying not to look at the envelope as she walked by.

  She flipped on the television and began surfing through the channels, looking for something to watch, but the envelope on the table was too much of a distraction. Sighing because she knew she wouldn’t be happy until she’d seen what was inside, she got up and crossed the room, then stood looking down at the envelope.

  Telling herself that she was just going to look, she slid the papers inside out onto the table and let them sit there for a second. The first sheet had the name Nick Morgan on the top, and a full color picture of a very handsome, if rugged-looking, man, then a detailed history that filled the page. A strange thrill passed through her when she looked closer at the picture, and she shivered. Surprised by her reaction to a picture, she started to walk away but changed her mind, grabbed the stack of papers, and took them over to the couch.

  It couldn’t hurt to see what Emeline had put in the envelope; forty thousand dollars was a lot of money, and stomachache or not, she owed it to her father to at least consider the offer. As she leafed through the pages, her heart began to ache for the little girl who’d been torn from the only home she’d ever known and given to a monster, and the decision didn’t seem quite so difficult.

  Her anger at a system that would give an innocent child to a man who clearly couldn’t care for her properly propelled her through the pages and pages of the application and the phone call to Emeline, who was thrilled with her answer. When she hung up the phone, Emeline’s assurances that the job was hers echoing through her mind, she crawled into bed and closed her eyes, wondering if she’d made the right decision.