Alpha Arrangement: A BBW BWWM Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Arcane Affairs Agency) Read online

  Alpha Arrangement

  An Arcane Affairs Agency Novella

  By Camille Laurent

  Are you a fan of sexy shifters, beautiful, curvy black women, and sexy, bad-ass men?

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  Alpha Arrangement features two bear shifters: a beautiful, curvy black woman, and a sexy, Greek-god-esque white man. Some parts of their relationship may be too hot to handle; as such, this book should be read by audiences aged 18 and older. Enjoy!

  Trigger Warning: Sexual Violence, Physical Violence

  Part One

  Chapter 1: Aubrey

  Chapter 2: Mason

  Chapter 3: Aubrey

  Chapter 4: Mason

  Chapter 5: Gregory

  Part Two

  Chapter 6: Aubrey

  Chapter 7: Mason

  Chapter 8: Aubrey

  Part Three

  Chapter 9: Mason

  Chapter 10: Aubrey

  Chapter 11: Gregory

  Part Four

  Chapter 12: Mason

  Chapter 13: Aubrey

  Chapter 14: Aubrey

  Chapter 15: Mason

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  Part One

  Chapter 1: Aubrey Moore

  “Come on, Moore, you can do better than that,” Mike said through gritted teeth. “Punch the bag like you mean it. Pretend it’s your worst enemy.”

  I groaned and repositioned myself. My knuckles were sore under my gloves – I wouldn’t be surprised if they were soaked in blood by the end of this training session.

  “Have anyone in mind?” Mike stood right behind me, his rancid coffee-scented breath filling my nostrils.

  “Yes,” I said, as flashes of Gregory ran through my mind, leaving a sour taste in my mouth.

  “Good,” Mike said. “You’re an Alpha. I’m sure you have plenty of enemies.” He smacked my shoulder and I tried my hardest not to wince. “Now stop fucking around and show me what you’ve got.”

  “I want you, Aubrey,” Gregory said, a lecherous smile creeping on his face. He grabbed my arm and squeezed.

  “Gregory…” I tried to free myself from his grip, but I feared that any sudden movements would agitate him further.

  “Don’t play hard to get,” he said. “I know you want me, too.” My stomach churned. “I’ve seen the way you look at me.”

  “I just want to be friends. Please let go of me,” I pleaded, trying to hold back tears.

  “You little tease.” He laughed. “I love it when you fight back.”

  Thud. My knuckles made a sickening crack upon impact. A jolt of pain rushed up my arm.

  My mother’s voice echoed in my head. He won’t hurt you, Aubrey. You’re safe.

  Thud. The bag ricocheted and nearly knocked me out.

  “Moore.” Mike’s distant voice rang through my ears as he grabbed the bag before it hit me.

  “Please, let me go.” My heart was racing and my chest tightened.

  “Don't resist it,” he said. “What are you going to do, call your daddy? He may be the Alpha, but he can't do shit to me.”

  I punched the bag again and again. My arm seared with pain.

  “Aubrey!” Mike grabbed my hands. “Damn, girl, stop! Fuck. You're hurting yourself.”

  I was short of breath, and my extremities tingled from the adrenaline coursing through my veins.

  “What's up with you today, Moore?” Mike said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Need a break?”

  “No,” I placed my hands on the back of my head while catching my breath.

  “Liar.” Mike cocked his head and rolled his eyes. “You need a break. We’ll catch up tomorrow.”

  “Ugh.” I said, peeling off my gloves. I looked down at my blood soaked hands and sighed. Fuck Gregory…

  Thankfully, I hadn't seen Gregory since I'd graduated from high school almost 8 years ago. I was his chemistry tutor during my junior year of high school – a job I'd come to regret. We’d never spoken before I became his tutor, which was weird considering that were the same age and the same year in school.

  I’d always found him a bit strange. He didn’t have any friends for most of his education, as he was teased for being the illegitimate son of a human mother and a shifter father. I kind of felt bad for him, to be honest. So, when my chemistry teacher approached me to ask me to help Gregory, I didn’t refuse.

  He was relatively friendly when I first started tutoring him. He’d asked about my family, my friends, life as the Alpha’s daughter...he convinced me that he was a nice guy. He couldn't be too bad, right? So, I decided to let my guard down around him. That’s when it all went downhill.

  I treated him like a friend, instead of a student. I confided in him about my friend issues, family issues...anything, really. He seemed like he was the greatest listener in the world.

  As time went on, he slowly became more and more clingy and demanding. First, he'd call me late in the night to ask for homework help. I’d answer, because that's what friends do. I don't know how it happened, but he slowly started to become more flirtatious and forceful during these calls. He'd talk about how lonely he was, how he craved a woman’s touch...

  It escalated to the point where he’d call me multiple times a night. If I didn't pick up, he'd text me endlessly and would send me pictures of his dick.

  One day, during a tutoring session, he decided that I would be his girlfriend. When I tried to politely turn him down, he grabbed a pocketknife from his bag and threatened to slit his throat.

  After that, he became physically violent toward me…the rest is a blur.

  The thing is, I could have destroyed him. I was the strongest shifter in our grade – I didn’t even know if he had shifter abilities, to be honest. I didn’t know what to do. I mean, I was only 17, and I’d never dealt with anything like this. I couldn’t ask my parents for help, because they’d only escalate the situation. I couldn't avoid him, either: we both lived in the small, bear shifter haven known as Timber Creek. We were in different clans, thankfully, but he was still too close for comfort. I was shit out of luck and too scared to do anything about it.

  I eventually stopped tutoring him at the beginning of our senior year, which pissed him off. He’d send me threatening text messages and talk shit about me to whoever would listen (there was barely anyone who would, thankfully). Graduation couldn't come any sooner.

  Just when I thought life couldn't get any worse, my parents died in a car accident on a trip to Spokane, Washington a little after my 18th birthday. As the Alpha apparent, I became the leader of the entire Moore clan overnight.

  My new status as Alpha kept Gregory at bay. My clan knew that he was trouble and went to great lengths to protect me.

  On the plus side, Gregory’s abuse forced me to become tough, confident, and relentless. I had no other choice. However, nothing has been able to stop my nightly flashbacks about him attacking me, degrading me, and threatening me. My bear wants to find him and destroy him. It has taken all of my willpower to not shift and hunt him down whenever he pops into my mind. As an Alpha, tho
ugh, I need to set a positive example for my clan. I need to keep my head up high and not rip his fucking throat out.

  My hands were starting to become stiff with pain, and the blood was starting to dry. I walked to the gym bathroom to clean myself up. My self-inflicted wounds stung a bit under the water, but the pain helped get my mind off of Gregory. I wrapped my knuckles with a cloth bandage, silently reminding myself to buy some Neosporin later.

  Mike gave me a sympathetic nod as I passed the row of punching bags. I sighed and braced myself for the inevitable flashbacks of Gregory I was going to have that night. Ugh. Training days always sucked the life out of me. Maybe I should buy a bottle of wine with my Neosporin...what a great combination, right?

  I grabbed my keys from my duffel bag as I approached the glass double doors on my way to my car. I looked up and made eye contact with a pair of aquamarine eyes, which sent a pleasantly strange electric shock through my body.

  Mason Fortescue. The bad boy, wealthy as fuck, Greek-god-esque Alpha of the Fortescue clan. He towered above me at about six foot five. His black hair was pulled back into a small, messy man bun, and loose wisps of hair brushed his chiseled jawline.

  The Fortescue clan was the oldest and the most powerful clan in Timber Creek– maybe even in the whole Pacific Northwest. His immediate family is some of the last remaining California grizzly bear shifters in the entire country, as most of them were hunted to near-extinction during the 1920s during a massacre led by a coven of witches and warlocks. His great-grandparents managed to escape the bloodshed and sought asylum in Timber Creek. Their wealth and diplomatic skills helped this town become a safe haven for bear shifters everywhere.

  Mason was also an agent for the Arcane Affairs Agency, which tracks paranormal activity amongst paranormals and humans. While he spent most of his time away on assignment for the Agency, he sometimes retreated back to Timber Creek to fulfill his duties as Alpha. Despite all of this, he also somehow managed to be the Commander-in-Chief of the Timber Creek Defense Force, which served as our town’s version of the National Guard.

  Also, did I mention that he was the most handsome man I've ever seen?

  Holy-fucking-shit. I’d never noticed how truly gorgeous he was, as I'd only seen him from afar at city council meetings.

  “What's up?” he said with a cocky smile that made my insides turn to mush.

  Shit. He's talking to me. I wonder if he can see the blood stains on my shirt. I look terrible, why does he have to see me like this? I look like a fucking idiot –

  “Let me get the door for you,” he said, extending a beautifully sculpted bicep toward the metal door handle.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled as I stumbled through the doorway and practically ran to my car.

  Way to go, Aubrey. He definitely thinks you're an idiot now.

  The hot leather seats in my Porsche Cayenne stuck to my thick, mocha-colored thighs. I took a deep breath, placed my forehead on the steering wheel, and tried to die of embarrassment. My bear had other plans, though.

  Mason, she growled. Mine. It felt like she was dancing inside of me. Can bears even dance? Probably not.

  Go back to our mate, she demanded.

  Um, no, I thought. Mate? No way. What are you thinking?

  Mine, she growled.

  I rolled my eyes and gripped the steering wheel. Men were off-limits to me because of Gregory. Sure, I've had my share of horny, power-hungry suitors, but none of them were appealing to me. I just can't seem to open up enough to trust someone again. I won't let myself get hurt. I can't let my guard down. I'm the Alpha. I have to stay strong; I can't let a stupid emotion like love get in my way.

  My fists were starting to ache, and my bear was not about to settle down anytime soon.

  Stop it. Calm down. He's not your mate. I grabbed my iPhone from my duffel bag and called my best friend and loyal Beta, Emma. She always knew how to calm me down.

  The phone only rang once before she picked up. “Aubrey, where the hell are you? I've been trying to call for the past hour.”

  “What?” I said as I went to the home screen on my phone and looked at my call list. Shit. 10 missed calls. “I was at training, and my phone was set to ‘Do Not Disturb’. What's up?”

  “Clan emergency,” she said. “My grandmother and I need you to come over to my house as soon as possible.”

  My blood went cold. “What's going on?” Her grandmother, Tabitha, was a city council member, and one of my trusted clan advisors. She usually never talked to me unless it was business related. “Can you just tell me now?” I asked.

  “No,” she said. “This is way too sensitive for a phone call. Just get here as fast as you can.”

  I hung up and peeled out of the parking lot, letting all thoughts of Mason and Gregory leave my mind.

  ***

  Tabitha was crying in her rocking chair. She held a pink handkerchief to her mouth to muffle her sobs. Her normally porcelain face was blotchy, and her orange-silver hair was matted and dull.

  “What happened?” I walked toward Tabitha to hold her hand and looked at Emma, who was sitting on the couch near her.

  “Edgar,” she whispered.

  “Our Edgar? Edgar Johnson?” I asked. Emma gave a solemn nod in response.

  “He died. They murdered him.” Her sobs got louder. “They killed my best friend!” Tabitha said.

  “We don't know that yet, Grandma –”

  “He was only 70. Still young,” she said, pulling her hair as she rocked back and forth. “They killed him. I know it.”

  Edgar was a pretty well known councilman in my clan. He was a close friend of my family and took me under his wing after I became alpha. He was like a grandfather to me, and I started to feel dizzyingly overwhelmed with grief.

  Emma reached for my shoulder and pulled me away from Tabitha. “They found him slumped over in his garden early this morning. He’d been there for two hours undetected.”

  “What’s the cause of death?”

  “There’s none yet, but Sheriff Andrews suspects it was natural causes –”

  “Natural causes, my ass! Edgar was healthy,” Tabitha snapped.

  Emma rolled her eyes and ran her hands through her bright orange hair. “Either way, Sheriff Andrews would like to speak with you before he debriefs the council. They’re holding an emergency meeting in two hours.”

  “Shit, I don’t have much time.” I said as I excused myself from the house, pulled out my phone, and dialed Sheriff Andrews.

  “Aubrey,” he said, his voice slightly muffled by static. “I’m glad they found you. I’m assuming you’re aware of Edgar’s death, correct?”

  “Correct,” I said, feeling my throat start to tighten.

  “Meet me at the police station as soon as possible. I know Tabitha is probably devastated, but let her granddaughter take care of her.” I looked over at Emma, who was giving her grandmother a tight hug.

  “I’ll be there in five,” I said. I tried my hardest to swallow back the bile that was forcing its way up my throat. I needed to be strong for Tabitha and Emma. I needed to be strong for my clan. But to be honest, I don't know how I'm going to keep it all together.

  ***

  “Do you have any contacts within the Arcane Affairs Agency?” Sheriff Andrews asked as he ushered me to his office in the back of the station.

  “No, but the Fortescue clan does. Mason is an agent, remember?”

  “Right, how could I forget?” he said with the slightest hint of sarcasm as he opened the door to his office. He gestured to the large Oxford brown leather chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat, please.”

  The chair squeaked as I sat down. His office smelled like maple syrup, cigars, and fried food – such an odd combination. He raised a salt-and-pepper colored eyebrow and eyed my shirt.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, staring straight at my boobs.

  “Yes,” I snapped. I felt my face getting hot as I covered my arms over my ample chest. It always seemed to be the c
enter of attention, much to my dismay.

  “You have blood all over your shirt.” He cocked his head slightly.

  Oh, right. So, he wasn’t being a perv. My shoulders relaxed a bit. “Yeah, I had an intense training session this morning.”

  “Excellent,” he said as he started to thumb through a stack of files on his desk. “There have been some very recent developments in Edgar’s case.”

  “Case? As in…?”

  “We’re reclassifying it as a homicide. We were holding off on telling Tabitha, out of concern for her mental state.”

  The leather squeaked again as I moved closer to his desk. Tabitha was right about him being murdered. “I’m sorry, what?” I said as I cleared my throat.

  “Homicide, as in murder –”

  “No, I understand what homicide means, Sheriff. I’m wondering why you think it’s a homicide in the first place.”

  “Right,” he said as he rubbed his temples. “Dr. Reynolds originally thought he died of heart failure, which isn’t too uncommon for someone his age. However, we found traces of silver nitrate on his lips. Dr. Reynolds is awaiting toxicology results to determine the concentration of this substance in his body.”

  “That’s insane. No one here is crazy enough to even come close to silver, let alone poison someone with it. How did he even get exposed to it?”

  “We’re wondering the same thing, which is why I asked if you know anyone in the Agency. A group of wolf shifters in Spokane, Washington reported five deaths due to silver nitrate poisoning in the past month. They sent someone from the Agency to investigate it, and they haven't had any leads so far.”

  “We’re being targeted…”

  “Exactly. I understand why silver nitrate is their weapon of choice; it’s odorless and is relatively easy to pass off as salt.” He scratched his jaw.