The Omega's Reluctant Alpha: Novellas and Short Stories

By Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese

When young omega and newly minted lawyer Andrew takes a job at a local Savannah law firm, he struggles to hide his uncontrolled shifting. Luckily for him, the firm's owner, William, offers to help, ensuring they both get a lot more than they bargained for.

Previously appeared in His Animal Instinct: More Tales of Wild Pleasure, March 2016.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Avian30
• Release date: Jul 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781537861609

Erin McRae

Racheline Maltese can fly a plane, sail a boat, and ride a horse, but has no idea how to drive a car; she's based in Brooklyn. Erin McRae has a graduate degree in international affairs for which she focused on the role of social media in the Arab Spring; she's based in Washington DC. Together, they write romance about fame and public life. Like everyone in the 21st century, they met on the Internet. Sign up for Erin and Racheline's newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/65dMz Learn more at their website: http://Avian30.com

Book preview

The Omega's Reluctant Alpha

Novellas and Short Stories

Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese

Published by Avian30, 2016.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

THE OMEGA'S RELUCTANT ALPHA

First edition. July 5, 2016.

Copyright © 2016 Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese.

ISBN: 978-1537861609

Written by Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

The Omega’s Reluctant Alpha

Also By Erin McRae

Also By Racheline Maltese

The Omega’s Reluctant Alpha

William Siple had a routine. Every morning he dressed with a clinical precision belied by the wilting humidity of Savannah: A crisp white shirt, a well-tailored suit in a light blue or grey suited to the climate, a tie that suggested just a hint of the eccentricity the city had always demanded. And then he went to the gym, and took it all off again. At fifty, he was determined to let nothing slide; and if he enjoyed the jealousy of men half his age at the condition of his body, he could hardly be blamed.

Perhaps it was absurd to put on a suit for a twenty minute drive and a walk past the gym’s front desk to the changing room, but it allowed Will to make an entrance—and an exit—that prevented anyone from being too familiar with him. That was welcome in a world full of distractions and intrusions. Especially for an unmated alpha who was supposed to be in thrall to his passions as opposed to a master of his desires.

Today—after an hour made up of weights, rowing, and treadmill—Will reassembled himself. He headed to his office for the odd mix of cases that came with lawyering in a twenty-first century city half-convinced it was a nineteenth-century small town.

He greeted Danielle, his receptionist, and Mitch whose name he should really get around to adding to the door. The firm wouldn’t run without him, and he deserved just as much of the credit and definitely more of the blame. People got angry—creatively angry—with lawyers in a town like Savannah, and Will would have enjoyed Mitch taking on a larger share of the death threats, supposedly supernatural curses, and suspicious packages than he currently did.

Danielle and Mitch attempted to trail him as he walked down the hall to his office, which wasn’t a good sign. Danielle had a stack of phone messages she swore were urgent like the good Northern transplant she was; Mitch was brandishing a list of approaching deadlines, as if Will would ever miss one by accident as opposed to as strategy or even revenge.

Yes. No. I know, he said to their many demands as they clattered after him, but his taciturn replies did not deter them. Finally, he waved them away and demanded an hour of solitude. He knew they were trying to help organize his day, but he needed to do his own preliminary structuring without their perpetual sense of misplaced panic. Savannah was a city without crises, not because nothing was ever serious, but because nothing crumbled quickly here.

He opened the door to his office, slammed it closed behind him, and tossed his gym bag in the corner. He looked around. Things were, to put it mildly, not quite right. He opened the door again.

Mitch, why is there a wolf in my office? he hollered down the hallway. Weirder things had happened due to angry ex-clients, but this was definitely new, which was pleasant in a way.

Will, distracted by a flicker at the corner of his vision, turned back towards his office to give the motion his full attention. In the corner where the wolf had been curled up was now a man of the half-Will’s-age sort that was often jealous at the gym. Well, another shifter then. Probably not due to an angry ex-client. Still odd.

Never mind! he hollered at