Timeline: This takes place around the same time as Alpha Night.
Wildcat Blues
By Nalini Singh
Part 1
“I swear I’m going to stop contracting my services to DarkRiver,” Zara muttered with a scowl as, arms folded, she stared at the large glass wall that separated the break room from the main workspace at DarkRiver HQ. “I’m an excellent architectural designer. Tons of demand for my services. Why should I put myself through this?”
Mercy, sprawled with catlike languidness in a curved armchair designed for feline tastes, followed Zara’s gaze to the scene beyond the glass. Clay, big and gruff, was tapping the nose of a little girl with pigtails who was bouncing up and down next to him, while an adult woman with a sprinkling of freckles across her nose and a lion’s mane of hair looked on, her expression ablaze with love.
“Yeah,” Mercy said as she bit into an apple, her long red hair pulled back into a high ponytail and eyes of leopard-gold sparkling. “Terrible people, my packmates. Just going around being happy to see each other.”
“That’s exactly it!” Zara pointed a finger at Mercy. “My first contract here, you’re single, Clay’s single, Lucas is single, every freaking person I’m close to except for Tammy and Nate, are single. Now? Not so much.” She tapped her foot. “It’s enough to give a woman a complex.”
“Zara, I just saw that contractor hit on you not five minutes ago.” Mercy raised an eyebrow. “I also saw someone else following the view of your ass as you walked away not long before that. You could be coupled up in five minutes flat if it was just about being one of a pair.”
Zara couldn’t exactly argue—fact was, Mercy was right. Zara didn't think she was a gift to men—yeah no, she was definitely no perfect princess, had a temper for one—but she cleaned up nice.
Her skin was a warm shade of mocha brown, her eyes the gray of rain clouds, and her hair currently a cute bounce of tight curls. More than that, she was smart, good at what she did, and fiercely loyal to family and friends.
“I’m a catch,” she said, more to herself than to Mercy. “I deserve that.” She nodded at how Clay had cupped Talin’s cheek as he leaned in for a kiss.
The tenderness in it…it made her heart ache.
“Yes, you do.” An expectedly solemn comment from Mercy. Rising from her sprawl, the taller woman walked over to lean against the counter next to Zara. “Don’t ever forget that, Z.”
Zara exhaled. “The problem is that I’m around all these amazing guys”—she waved vaguely to indicate the DarkRiver pack, which included among its number some whoa-sexy men—“and while I love so many of them as friends, I don’t feel even a hint of a spark.” The same for her pack back home. “I tried a dating app six months ago, figured I’d widen my circle.”
“How’d it go?”
Zara made a mournful face and gave two thumbs down. “I’m fine being alone, but I always wanted the family deal, you know?” It went against her sexy single woman image to admit that, but facts were facts. “My cousin loves being a loner, would hate being tied down, but I’m built different.”
Mercy, a lethal leopard sentinel who’d fallen in love with the enemy and had his babies, gave her a shoulder bump of understanding. “Aren’t you going to the Nest with Tally and Clay?”
Zara nodded. “Yes, thought it’d be fun to visit a farm.” She frowned. “I mean, it sounded good at the time.” Tally’s adoptive parents had a place out in the middle of Nowhere, Iowa. Or was it Idaho? Somewhere farmy that began with an I.
“I’ve never been on a farm. I figured I’d enjoy the fresh air and maybe pet a goat or something. Usually, my cat would eat the goat, but you know, it wouldn’t be polite to eat the farm animals.”
Mercy snorted out a laugh. “You know Tally has two brothers, right?”
“Yeah, Tanner and Sam.” Since so many of Zara’s contracts were with DarkRiver, she spent months at a time with the pack. As a result, she’d become tight friends with many of the leopards and their mates—including Tally. “And she has two sisters.”
“Well, her brothers are both single.” Mercy waggled her eyebrows. “Maybe your destiny lies with a farm boy like in that movie you love.”
Zara burst into laughter. She literally had to wipe tears off at the end. Pointing at her red stiletto heels, which she’d paired with a tailored gray dress that followed her petite curves and matched her eyes, she said, “You think the woman who blew an entire month’s salary on these shoes is going to fall for a farmer? Nu-huh, honey, these heels are meant for walking on city streets.”
“You’re a wildcat changeling.” A dry comment from the redhead next to her. “You live in a forest.”
“In a very nice aerie with all the mod-cons and no cow pats in sight.” Zara shuddered at the thought. “I can also go to the city anytime—which, unlike many of our city-hating brethren, I like to do. No man is worth giving up my daily latte at my favorite café.”
Mercy grinned. “I once said I’d die a virgin before tangling with a wolf.”
“You’re just boasting now.” Mercy’s wolf mate adored her, and their pupcubs were about the cutest babies on the planet. Zara’s ovaries danced each time she cuddled one of the wriggly, happy monsters. She loved them so much that she didn’t care that they inevitably ruined her makeup with sloppy baby kisses.
“I’m just saying,” Mercy drawled. “Those might be famous last words.”
“Yeah, no. I’m going to go sniff some idyllic farm air, eat Pa Larkspur’s famous food, wear a few cute dresses and play farm girl for a few days, then I’m coming right back home to civilization.”
*
“Damn it!” Zara stared down at her brand new boot—no heel, flat and sensible, but glossy black with shiny metal details. And currently smack dab in the middle
