Read Online The Mate Challenge (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Sassy Mates Book 4) by Milly Taiden - Free Book Online
Authors: Milly Taiden
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deaths, we’ll have our own war on our hands.”
The two men nodded quietly. She didn’t miss the flash of anger in Anton’s gaze, nor the frown on Claude’s. Good. Maybe now they’d start to realize she wasn’t a child any longer. She was their leader and if they wanted to stay in her family, they’d need to start paying attention to her orders.
A shifter war was fine with her. Her clan getting pulled into it? That was the last thing they needed. She’d find that child. Even if she had to do it on her own.
* * *
Emma sipped on her coffee while staring off into space. She needed to do something. Maria’s mother had called her again, desperate to know if Emma had discovered anything about her daughter’s whereabouts. It had sickened her to hear the poor woman crying over her missing child. Emma didn’t have the heart to tell her that her daughter might be dead due to vampires.
“That bad, huh?” Ellie’s voice asked from the entrance to her room.
She hadn’t even heard Ellie enter her classroom. Glancing around the empty room, she focused her gaze on her friend. Ellie’s hair was already growing from the short spiky cut she’d recently gotten. If only Emma’s hair grew that quickly. She worried over cutting her long locks because it took forever for it to grow. The memory of her mother filled her brain. She used to tell her ‘you get what you get and you don’t get upset.’ That was her answer to all of Emma and her brother’s complaints when they’d been kids.
The sound of the chair scraping close to her desk pulled her out of her memories. She watched Ellie sit with a deep frown. “Come on, Em, tell me what’s wrong?”
Ellie leaned forward, staring deep into Emma’s eyes.
“Nothing.”
“Emma...”
Damn. That’s right. Ellie could tell when she was lying. “Fine. Sorry. I’m still trying to figure out how to find out if Maria got into Embraced.”
Ellie placed a warm hand over Emma’s fisted one on the table and patted her softly. “The best thing to do is let Mason find out what he can for you.”
She shook her head. “I can’t just sit here doing nothing. It’s going to drive me insane. Not to mention I keep hearing poor Maria’s mother’s voice in my head asking me to help her find her daughter.”
“Geez!” Ellie leaned back and brushed a blonde lock of hair behind her ear. “Well what do you have in mind?”
She needed to get into Embraced. But how? “Well...”
“Oh, no. I know that look,” Ellie exclaimed, rubbing a hand on her temple. “You’re going to get us arrested again.”
“Why are we getting arrested?” Nicole asked, joining them with a box labeled from their favorite pastry shop.
“What’s that?” Ellie asked, reaching out for the box.
“Cream puffs, mini éclairs, short breads, cookies, cannoli, etc. I had a hard time picking just one.”
“They all sound so good,” Ellie groaned. She tore at the tape holding the lid on the box closed. “But why are we indulging in this awesomeness?”
Nic grinned. “It’s Thursday. We grade papers and eat pastry on Thursdays.”
Emma laughed at Ellie’s dumbfounded expression. “Ellie, you forgot it’s Thursday?”
Ellie sighed, the previous lighthearted mood slipped from her features to show lines of concern. “I’ll be honest. I have a hard time keeping anything straight other than what is going on with our pack.”
“Is something new going on?” Emma asked, instantly interested.
Ellie shrugged. “I think so, but I’m not sure. It’s getting close to fall and kids tend to run wild, going off to parties and spending time away from their families. Some of them forget to tell their parents they’re doing stuff with their friends.”
An internal alarm went off inside Emma. She’d been aware that shifter teens, much like their human counterparts, loved to socialize and spend time outdoors.
“What does that have to do with the problems with Rahound?”
Ellie winced. “With the
The two men nodded quietly. She didn’t miss the flash of anger in Anton’s gaze, nor the frown on Claude’s. Good. Maybe now they’d start to realize she wasn’t a child any longer. She was their leader and if they wanted to stay in her family, they’d need to start paying attention to her orders.
A shifter war was fine with her. Her clan getting pulled into it? That was the last thing they needed. She’d find that child. Even if she had to do it on her own.
* * *
Emma sipped on her coffee while staring off into space. She needed to do something. Maria’s mother had called her again, desperate to know if Emma had discovered anything about her daughter’s whereabouts. It had sickened her to hear the poor woman crying over her missing child. Emma didn’t have the heart to tell her that her daughter might be dead due to vampires.
“That bad, huh?” Ellie’s voice asked from the entrance to her room.
She hadn’t even heard Ellie enter her classroom. Glancing around the empty room, she focused her gaze on her friend. Ellie’s hair was already growing from the short spiky cut she’d recently gotten. If only Emma’s hair grew that quickly. She worried over cutting her long locks because it took forever for it to grow. The memory of her mother filled her brain. She used to tell her ‘you get what you get and you don’t get upset.’ That was her answer to all of Emma and her brother’s complaints when they’d been kids.
The sound of the chair scraping close to her desk pulled her out of her memories. She watched Ellie sit with a deep frown. “Come on, Em, tell me what’s wrong?”
Ellie leaned forward, staring deep into Emma’s eyes.
“Nothing.”
“Emma...”
Damn. That’s right. Ellie could tell when she was lying. “Fine. Sorry. I’m still trying to figure out how to find out if Maria got into Embraced.”
Ellie placed a warm hand over Emma’s fisted one on the table and patted her softly. “The best thing to do is let Mason find out what he can for you.”
She shook her head. “I can’t just sit here doing nothing. It’s going to drive me insane. Not to mention I keep hearing poor Maria’s mother’s voice in my head asking me to help her find her daughter.”
“Geez!” Ellie leaned back and brushed a blonde lock of hair behind her ear. “Well what do you have in mind?”
She needed to get into Embraced. But how? “Well...”
“Oh, no. I know that look,” Ellie exclaimed, rubbing a hand on her temple. “You’re going to get us arrested again.”
“Why are we getting arrested?” Nicole asked, joining them with a box labeled from their favorite pastry shop.
“What’s that?” Ellie asked, reaching out for the box.
“Cream puffs, mini éclairs, short breads, cookies, cannoli, etc. I had a hard time picking just one.”
“They all sound so good,” Ellie groaned. She tore at the tape holding the lid on the box closed. “But why are we indulging in this awesomeness?”
Nic grinned. “It’s Thursday. We grade papers and eat pastry on Thursdays.”
Emma laughed at Ellie’s dumbfounded expression. “Ellie, you forgot it’s Thursday?”
Ellie sighed, the previous lighthearted mood slipped from her features to show lines of concern. “I’ll be honest. I have a hard time keeping anything straight other than what is going on with our pack.”
“Is something new going on?” Emma asked, instantly interested.
Ellie shrugged. “I think so, but I’m not sure. It’s getting close to fall and kids tend to run wild, going off to parties and spending time away from their families. Some of them forget to tell their parents they’re doing stuff with their friends.”
An internal alarm went off inside Emma. She’d been aware that shifter teens, much like their human counterparts, loved to socialize and spend time outdoors.
“What does that have to do with the problems with Rahound?”
Ellie winced. “With the
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