Stanley, Gale - Spitfire [Southwest Shifter 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read Online Free

accepted help from the pack, and in return they minded their own business. Like the others of her kind, Ayala was careful to shift and run in the surrounding woodlands, and if their neighbors suspected all was not as it seemed, they didn’t let on. The locals had actually become very protective of the new residents and discouraged tourists and outsiders—a win-win situation for all.
    Alex’s home had been a store in its previous life, with storage on the second floor and living quarters on the third. T he first floor had been made into a community room with a small kitchen and bathroom.
    The front door was locked, but the door to his office on the second floor was accessible by a hinged fire escape he’d mounted on the side of the building. Ayala climbed up the steel gratings, knocked once, and entered the Alpha’s domain. She smiled at Alex sitting behind a massive, mahogany desk phenomenally cluttered with paperwork, laptop, and phone. He stood up immediately and beckoned her over.
    “Have a seat.” He gestured to a chair in front of his desk. “So, what do you think?” he asked, waving a hand at the files and bookshelves lining the walls as he sat down. “It’s a lot bigger than my old office, but it seems the more space I have, the more clutter I make. It’s taking me way too long to get organized.”
    Awestruck, Ayala glanced around politely. “It’s very nice.” The Alpha was truly amazing. Through the years he’d made sound investments, enabling him to buy up most of this old town as well as fund an addition to Philadelphia Hospital back east. One of their pack, Dr. Roy Granger, headed the facility.
    “Yes. Well, I’m sure you didn’t come here to look at my office. What’s on your mind, Ayala?”
    Beating around the bush would be pointless. Ayala sat up straighter in her chair, her spine rigid. She looked the Alpha right in the eye. “I want to go away for a while.” Well, she definitely had his attention now.
    Alex leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers under his chin. “Away? Why?”
    “I want to see someplace besides New Hope, maybe visit my birthplace.”
    “You want to see the Pine Barrens, visit New Jersey?” The furrow deepened between his eyes, and she rushed to sway him to her side.
    “Yes! I have no pictures. I can’t even remember my mother’s face. I need to see our home again.”
    “There’s nothing left there, Ayala. The fire destroyed everything.”
    “I just want to see it.”
    “It’s out of the question. It’s too dangerous.”
    A rush of disappoint filled her. She hadn’t wanted an argument. “The great fire was sixteen years ago. No one remembers it—or the rumors of wolves who could turn into people. I won’t shift, I promise.” She couldn’t keep the whiney tone from her voice. “I would never put the pack in danger. I just want my own life.”
    His mouth thinned with displeasure, and his voice turned harsh. “You don’t have a good life here? Don’t I provide everything you need?”
    She straightened in her seat, refusing to be intimidated. “I want to make my own choices.”
    The Alpha’s face softened a bit. “I know you haven’t been happy with my efforts to increase our population. You have an independent streak…” He seemed to consider his next words carefully. “But leaving is not the solution. I have some news that may change your mind. I haven’t told the pack yet, but I think you need to hear this.”
    Ayala doubted he could change her mind, but she was willing to listen, especially if he wanted to share important pack business.
    “Scheduled breeding with multiple partners hasn’t worked for us. I intend to do away with the practice. Two of our men formed a union with a human woman, and now they have a beautiful baby girl. I wasn’t pleased at first, but maybe our spirit God has shown us another way.”
    Ayala’s jaw dropped. She hadn’t expected this. Human mates were not unheard of. There were several mixed couples