The Alpha’s Chase: A Howls Romance Read online

  The Alpha’s Chase

  A Howls Romance

  Milly Taiden

  Marianne Morea

  Coventry Press

  Contents

  The Alpha’s Chase

  Untitled

  Untitled

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  About the Author - Marianne Morea

  Other Series by Marianne Morea

  About the Author

  Also by Milly Taiden

  Also by Milly Taiden

  Also by Milly Taiden

  Also by Milly Taiden

  Also by Milly Taiden

  The Alpha’s Chase

  A Howls Romance

  NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

  MILLY TAIDEN

  AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR

  MARIANNE MOREA

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  Cecily Montgomery can’t believe the terms of her father’s will. Marry within a year and produce an heir, or lose everything. The pressure is on to find a hot young stud who’ll help her out with a couple of orgasms that will lead to an offspring. Easy peasy, right?

  Where’s the vodka when she needs it? Chase Villareal isn’t looking for marriage, but when the sexiest woman he’s ever laid eyes on needs rescuing, he finds himself saying ‘I do’. She’s a handful and totally out of his league, but none of that matters because now she’s his.

  When danger comes calling and his wife’s life is at risk, Chase is ready to show anyone he’ll protect what’s his. But will Cecy give up her for fortune for a lifetime with him or will terror strike before they get to their happily ever after?

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Published By

  Coventry Press

  New York, NY

  http://millytaiden.com

  http://mariannemorea.com

  The Wolf’s Dream Mate

  Copyright © 2019 by Milly Taiden & Marianne Morea

  Cover by Marianne Morea

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Property of Milly Taiden & Marianne Morea

  January 2019

  Created with Vellum

  —For our readers

  Keep reading. Keep falling in love. Keep romance alive.

  1

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  “Congratulations, Cecily. Your father left you a very rich woman.” Malcolm Baxter shuffled the papers on his desk.

  Her father’s lawyer flashed a soft, close-lipped smile, and she nodded in reply. This was as hard for him as it was for her. The old man had been more than her father’s attorney. Malcom was her father’s friend.

  Cecily Montgomery plastered a mask of calm on her face and bit back the urge to cry. Malcolm met her gaze with a small nod and turned his eyes to the documents at hand. “There are a few particulars we need to address first. Minor bequeaths and such before we get to the family.” He looked up and shoved his glasses further onto his nose. “Nothing you don’t already know.”

  She exhaled, squeezing her laced fingers until her knuckles whitened. “Business as usual, I suppose.” Back rigid, Cecily sat in the leather chair directly in front of the lawyer’s desk, ignoring the rest of her family sitting behind her in the posh office. Her stepmother and stepbrother especially.

  They were the reason her father’s last will and testament was being read in Boston instead of in New York. Of that she had no doubt. They couldn’t wait to rush back to the Cape, their eager fists clutching at whatever her father left them, and anything else they could grab.

  Malcolm cleared his throat and Cecily’s gaze moved to her father’s valet and a few others besides family asked to come today. They were people she knew and loved all her life. They weren’t young anymore, and the fact her stepmother forced them into the long train ride north from New York irritated her even more. Each looked as uncomfortable as if they waited for the executor to finish reading the legalese.

  She shifted her eyes back to Malcolm, watching how he twisted his law school ring on his finger. She’d seen him do that plenty of times over the years, especially whenever her father gave him an unpleasant task. Something was up. Her brows knotted for a moment and when Malcom’s eyes met hers, she knew she was right. She didn’t need the telltale metallic tang on the back of her tongue or the tingle in her shifter senses to guess her father had put an unexpected twist into his last will and testament.

  “Everyone, out.” She stood and turned to face the room. Her gaze concentrated on her stepmother especially. “I need to speak with Malcolm and it doesn’t require an audience.”

  No one moved, and she focused her stare on her father’s attorney, not caring about the beads of sweat on his forehead. “Malcolm?” She inhaled again, steeling her shoulders at the ratcheted taste of his unease.

  The man nodded. “Everyone, please. Cecily and I will be just a moment.”

  “Her father’s body isn’t even cold and she’s already calling the shots.” Her stepmother sniffed. “George was a fool leaving everything he worked for to you.”

  “Susan, that’s quite enough,” Malcolm chided. “Cecily’s instincts are as sharp as her father’s and she is right. As heir and alpha apparent, there are things I need to settle with her first. Have a seat in the waiting room.”

  A deep snort followed the lawyer’s sentence. “Sharp? The old man was as dull as dishwater.”

  Cecily’s gaze moved to her stepbrother and she stiffened at the snide comment. Her eyes narrowed. “I’d be careful if I were you, Jackson. I have no problem contesting whatever crumbs my dad left both you and your mother. Marcus Leeds is still on the payroll, and if memory serves, his investigative talents were put to good use in the last year of my father’s life. Don’t make me ask him about the dirt he found. Trust me, you’d rather I not know.”

  Susan practically pulled her son out the door, shoving him ahead of her with a clipped exhale. Joseph, her father’s valet, filed out next, along with the other staff. They had been with Cecily and her dad since before her mother died, and they despised her stepmother almost as much as she did.

  When the room was empty, she crossed her arms and turned toward the gray-haired man behind the large desk
. “Okay, Malcolm, spit it out. My feline senses are tingling, and the scent of your agitation is burning the inside of my nose. What did my father do to make my life hell this time? What test of loyalty did he dream up now?”

  “Cecily, please. You’re both angry and grieving, and with you that’s a lethal combination. Don’t shoot the messenger, okay?”

  She exhaled hard. “Fine.” She sat down again, and despite the frown on her face, his words took some of the heated wind out of her sails. “Ever since Dad found out Jackson wasn’t his son, he’s been making me pay for the disappointment.”

  Malcolm nodded. “I know, sweetheart.”

  She tossed a hand in the air. “But instead of divorcing Susan, what did he do? He kept her around. He favored Jack over me though she lied about him being a Montgomery.” She snorted. “As if. A blind man could see he’s the spitting image of Rod Welsh. Leave it to that conniving bitch to sleep with my father’s partner and try to pawn off the pregnancy on Dad. There isn’t a drop of puma blood in Jackson’s veins. Anyone with half a nose could scent that. Did she honestly think no one would suspect his fully-human status the minute puberty hit?”

  Malcolm cleared his throat again. “Your father may have been many things, Cecy, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew you were his flesh and blood, and while I admit he was hard on you, it was for a reason. He was a big proponent of keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”

  Cecily slammed her hands on either arm of the office chair. “So, I’m the enemy?”

  He quickly shook his head. “No, of course not. It may have seemed like he favored Jackson, but in truth, no. He realized Susan’s deception, but he was the alpha and needed to set an example. You were the one he groomed to take over. It’s why he was a perfectionist with you. How else could he to train you for the responsibilities that waited once he passed? He knew once he wasn’t around anymore, people would try and manipulate you. He gave you the strength to handle any situation. You are his daughter and as such, the heir to his fortune and his businesses, but more importantly, you are now the Alpha of the Mohican Pack. You are also now the target of every smarmy trick his enemies can devise. That includes your stepmother and Jackson. In order to preserve your line, he’s added a codicil to his will.”

  Cecy exhaled again. “Of course, he did.”

  “Cecily—”

  “Don’t.” Lifting one hand, she shook her head. “I hate when you hedge, Malcolm. Please don’t patronize me. Just give it to me straight.”

  He pressed his lips tight, eyeing her over the thin wire rim of his glasses. “You have to mate and produce an heir, or you lose everything.”

  “That’s the condition of Dad’s will?” She chuckled, interrupting him. “Of course, I plan to marry and have kids.”

  “You didn’t let me finish, Cecily. You have to do so within a year.”

  Cecily’s lips parted, and she blinked. “I have to what?”

  Malcolm pulled his glasses from his nose. “You heard me, honey. According to the stipulations of your father’s will, you must marry and conceive a child within one year of his death. A female alpha is uncommon. In fact, there are clan members who are dead set against you claiming the title. They know you’d never win against a blood challenge, but they are willing to take a chance on you, if you mate and produce an heir. Your father didn’t want this. The council forced his hand.”

  Cecily shot from her chair. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  He stared at her but didn’t reply.

  “No.” She walked around the back of her chair, shaking her head. “He wouldn’t. They wouldn’t.” Her eyes turned and she searched the lawyer’s face. “Malcolm, please tell me this is some kind of sick, beyond the grave prank.”

  He spread his hands apologetically. “I’m sorry, Cecily. You can always refuse to comply with the terms of your father’s will, but you forfeit your inheritance, thus leaving his estate open to contest, and the position of alpha up for grabs. Jackson would be only too happy to take the mantle off your shoulders.”

  Dumbfounded, Cecily sank into one of the other chairs. “And what if I can’t conceive? Did my father account for that? He and my mother spent thousands of dollars on fertility treatments, and I was the only viable baby all that worry and pain produced.” She lifted shocked eyes to Malcolm again. “What then? Am I to be punished because of something I can’t control?”

  The lawyer shook his head. “Your father provided for that, too. The terms of your father’s will state if fertility treatments are in play, including surrogacy, it’s all good. If you produce viable eggs and a surrogate is required to carry the child to term, then the terms of the will are satisfied, and no further action is required.”

  “No further action.” She snorted. “My father basically branded me a brood mare.”

  Malcolm put his glasses down. “I know it seems like that on the outside, but in truth George only wanted to ensure his line survived and that a Montgomery would remain the Mohican Alpha. For Montgomery Holding, especially.”

  Cecily looked at the man she knew all her life. “Any child I have will be a Montgomery and a Mohican. It’s not like we won’t know who the mother is, so why is my father putting a time frame on me?” She exhaled, running a hand through her long, dark hair.

  “He left you a letter explaining everything.” Malcolm held out a buff-colored envelope with the Mohican Pack crest embossed on the front.

  Cecily took the letter and stared at her name written in her father’s hand.

  “Maybe you should read that when you’re alone. Blood in the water will set the sharks to circling.” He gestured toward the closed office door.

  Tears pricked Cecily’s eyes and she nodded. “You argued with him about this, didn’t you?” She lifted the letter.

  The lawyer nodded. “Of course, I did, but he had his reasons.” His hand hovered over the intercom button on the side of his desk. “Let’s get the rest of this ugliness finished, and then I’ll take you to dinner. You look like you could use a drink.”

  2

  Cecily wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and then put the envelope in her purse. “That sounds great.” She nodded. “Maybe I can scope out a future husband at the bar.”

  He laughed with a soft smile. “Not without a prenup, young lady.”

  She nodded with a resigned huff. “I suppose not.”

  The lawyer’s eyes were soft. “If I can help it, I won’t let anything come between you and what’s rightfully yours. I’ve known you since the day you were born, Cecy. Hell, your father and I went out and got drunk together to celebrate. Unfortunately, in this, we both have to play by George’s rules.”

  She laughed. “My father getting drunk to celebrate something is not hard to imagine.”

  “George was a high roller, a player and at times a bit of a bastard, but he loved your mother and he loved you.” He nodded with a wistful smile. “After she died, your dad closed ranks, at least until he met and married Susan, but when she lied to him about Jackson it killed him a little inside.”

  “A little?” she murmured, but then her eyes met Malcolm’s disapproving look. “You’re right. He did what he had to do, and I knew I was loved. At least he gave me that. I was barely four years old when Susan tried to pull her bullshit, but I remember,” Cecily interjected softly. “It’s why I spent my whole life trying not to disappoint him.”

  Malcolm nodded. “I know, sweetie, and so did he. Your father didn’t want to risk being hurt again, or risk having you make the same foolhardy mistakes he made. It’s why he had me draw up a new will. It was as if he drew bloodlines in the sand.” The lawyer’s gaze held hers. “Susan used him, but even then, George wouldn’t throw a new mother and her baby out. He was honorable and stoic, like any good alpha. Despite his faults and bitter demands, your father was a good man. I think you know that.”

  “A good man,” she repeated with a sigh. “And yet he’s holding my reproductive parts hostage posthumously.” She wave
d a gentle hand in front of her, stopping his reply. “You know what? I think I’m going to reserve judgment on that until I can process everything. In the meantime, let the vultures in.”

  She got up and moved to stand by the window. “Like my father said, keep your enemies closer. I want to see who visibly bites back on the urge to fight over his carcass. If there’s one thing my father taught me, it was how to read body language, that and every nuance revealed in a person’s scent. Dad said it was the only true way to read a man’s worth. To weigh his actions against his words.”

  Malcolm nodded before pressing the intercom button. “Let the games begin.”

  The others filed back into the room and took their seats. Susan Montgomery’s eyes were flinty as she stared at her stepdaughter. “Well?” she said with a huff. “Can we get on with it? I have a life to plan.”

  Cecily moved to stand beside Malcolm’s desk and nodded toward the attorney. “By all means. Malcolm?”

  The man cleared his throat as he put his glasses back on his nose. “Joseph,” he began by addressing George’s old valet. “For all your years of service and loyalty, Mr. Montgomery has bequeathed you the summer house in Ogunquit, Maine, with an annual stipend of fifty thousand dollars in addition to your monthly salary, both to be paid faithfully until your death.”