She heard his footsteps pounding on the floor, and his office door opened.
Was a miracle about to happen? Was the Big Bad Wolf about to apologize?
"Heads up," Morgan said, looking grim. "They're back."
Chapter Five
"Hello, Mother," Morgan said as his family trooped into the entrance hallway. A light snow was falling, and it dusted their hair and sparkled. In the distance, the sun was plunging behind the mountain peaks, painting their tips gold and giving them the appearance of jagged glowing embers against a darkening sky.
Elmira and the rest of the family were piling out of their cars and heading for Morgan's guest house, which looked like a mini version of the main house. Their servants were laden down with suitcases, staggering down the snowy path behind his family. "Just make yourselves at home," Morgan called out with an annoyed look on his face.
"So apparently you don't answer the phone these days?" Nelda said sharply. Then, with a touch of impatience, she inclined her head to show respect. "Alpha." The undertone in her voice added "jerk", but she didn't say it out loud.
He returned his focus to her. "Not when it's you calling, after you've just insulted my mate."
"I was calling to let you know that Rosemont Resorts is apparently completely booked. And they refused to remove the guests from the penthouse suite for us. Our family hotel." She looked scandalized. "And every other hotel in Silver Peak and even that human town is booked solid."
"Yes, I could have told you that. If you'd called to tell me you were coming. And I'm not booting paying guests with a reservation out of their rooms to make way for you when you show up at the last minute like this."
Homer and Honoria walked in, with their servants trailing behind them lugging suitcases.
"Alpha," they said.
"Yeah, yeah. What's this I hear about your grades, by the way?" Morgan said to Homer. "Am I going to need to skin you and wear your pelt for a scarf?"
"I got a single A-minus, in calculus," he said, shooting his mother an annoyed look. "Every other class, I got an A-plus."
"Oh." Morgan nodded his understanding. "From the way Mother was carrying on, I thought you were not only on the verge of flunking but ready to enroll in Remedial Janitoring 101." He shook his head. "Forgive me – I forgot to account for the Nelda Factor."
"Very funny," his mother said in frigid tones. "He's leaving for college next year, and if he's going to be guaranteed entrance into Harvard, he needs to be on top of his game. And we are Rosemonts. We are A-plus all the way."
"Riiight." Morgan turned his attention to his younger sister. "And Honoria, when Mother says you've abandoned school and gone completely boy-crazy, I assume … "
Honoria let out a martyred sigh. "She thinks my study partner, who is the class valedictorian and the son of his pack's Beta, has designs on me. We're chaperoned during our study sessions, by the way. We only text each other about schoolwork. My GPA is 4.2. So yes, I imagine I'll be barefoot, pregnant, and a high school dropout any day now."
"Do you hear that?" Nelda's voice rose in dismay. "The Beta! Not the Alpha! And I know how boys are! He'll be the ruin of her!"
She shook her head mournfully. "Well, maybe it's not too late to save at least one of my children from complete disgrace. You two go upstairs and get unpacked so I can talk some sense into your brother."
Ah, yes. This should fun, Valerie thought.
"And I expect two hours of studying to be completed before you go to sleep!" she called out after them as they trooped up the stairs. "I'll be checking!"
"We know, Mother!" Homer called back in annoyance.
Nelda waited until they were gone to light into Morgan, who put his arm around Valerie protectively. Valerie started, then made herself relax and lean in to him. She felt a rush of warmth wash over her body, and she could have sworn that she heard him draw in his breath when he touched her. She'd never touched him before. She'd imagined it plenty of times over the years, although always with fewer clothes and without his mother in the room.
"I don't know what this is all about, but it's simply not acceptable," Nelda snapped at Morgan, rudely ruining Valerie's flight of fantasy. "I have already provided you with a list of eligible candidates for mating. And she doesn't qualify. It's not just the fact that she's human, although that makes it very likely that some of your children will be human, not shifter-"
"Well then," Morgan said, baring his teeth in a mirthless grin, "we'll just have to have a whole passel of kids, to ensure that we produce at least one Alpha."
"I've always wanted a big family," Valerie said, nodding hard. That part was true.
"She doesn't come from a wealthy family," Nelda continued.
"And there I was hoping for a huge dowry," Morgan said, looking bored. "How will I pay the bills now?"
"You, marrying your human secretary? People will talk."
"I'm sure they will. I've never cared," Morgan said. That was true, and for once, Valerie thought, it was a good thing.
"It isn't just yourself you need to think about. It's the whole pack."
"Valerie would be a fantastic Alpha's mate. She is compassionate, she is diplomatic, she gets along well with everybody."
He glanced down at her with what appeared to be real pride. Valerie struggled to keep the look of shock off her face. Morgan had just complimented her? If that had happened at any other time, she'd have assumed that either she was about to be fired or he'd just found out that she had some kind of terminal illness, with days to live.
"That's weakness," his mother protested. "We rule by strength."
As Nelda spoke, she was staring skeptically at Valerie – specifically her midsection. Self-conscious, Valerie tried to suck her stomach in and moved her purse in front of her soft, round belly.
"That's it," Nelda said triumphantly, with a gleam of malice in her ice-blue eyes. "She's pregnant, right? You got her in trouble. All right, we can fix this. You don't have to mate her. We'll just pay her." She looked Valerie right in the eye. "How much?"
"That's enough!" Morgan's eyes blazed with rage, and his face went furry. He stepped in front of Valerie with a smile. "Get out."
"What?" His mother's vicious smile faded.
He turned to yell at her servants, who were making their second trip in, carrying more suitcases.
"Take those suitcases and get out, now, or your heads will be trophies on my wall."
They turned and scurried toward the door.
"Stop where you are!" Nelda yelled. They all froze and looked back and forth between Morgan and his mother.
"Morgan," his mother said, her face pale. "You can't kick your own family out. It's Christmas!"
"A season I've never been fond of. You do not treat your Alpha or his mate this way. I expect you all to be cleared out of here in the next five minutes." Morgan's voice came out in a half-animal growl.
Valerie glanced up at the second-story balcony and saw that Homer was standing there watching them with an expression of dismay on his face.
"Morgan," she said. "For your brother and sister's sake, let them stay for Christmas." She shot Morgan's mother a look. "And I don't actually care what she thinks of me. She wouldn't be the first bully I've dealt with in my life."
Homer was hurrying down the staircase. "We're not staying?" he called out, looking stricken. "Morgan, you promised you were going to take me hunting this year! When else are we going to get to do it? You were the one who said I needed less time on the computer and more time outdoors."
Nelda looked at her younger son, and her stony expression softened. A little, anyway.
She glanced back at Valerie. "I went too far," she said, her voice stiff and formal. "I apologize for what I just said."
Morgan glanced at Valerie. "It's fine, I swear," she said. "Let them stay."
Morgan's mother nodded abruptly. "I'll speak to your chef about tonight's dinner menu."
Dinner with Morgan's family? Like hell. She'd rather go dumpster-diving.
"Oh, I so wish I could stay," Valerie said in tones of syrupy sweetness, "but I've got to get down to the shanty-town in Juniper to help decorate their Christmas Village. I promised the Ladies Benevolent Society."