His Unexpected Mate

By T.L. West

Living in a small wooden cabin at the edge of a forest and working to solve the mystery of recent murders, young Eli Bright learns the locals believe a man-beast is responsible.

As an outsider, he is watched very closely as he works with the young local sheriff, Stanley Blake. But Eli knows there has to be a proper explanation. Paranormal creatures don't exist, right?

• Language: English
• Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC
• Release date: Dec 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9781951880002

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A NineStar Press Publication

www.ninestarpress.com

His Unexpected Mate

ISBN: 978-1-951880-00-2

Copyright © 2019 by T.L. West

Cover Art by Natasha Snow Copyright © 2019

Published in December, 2019 by NineStar Press, New Mexico, USA.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact NineStar Press at [e-mail].

Warning: This book contains sexually explicit content, which may only be suitable for mature readers, murder, and graphic violence.

His Unexpected Mate

T.L. West

Table of Contents

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Author's Note

About the Author

To my readers for all their support!

Chapter One

Eli still couldn’t believe his luck as he unlocked the front door to the cabin he lived in now. How many weeks or months was he supposed to live there? He didn’t know. One of his higher-ups gave him the order. Eli worked for a private investigation firm called Bright PIs, and his boss, who was also his dad, had asked—No!—more like ordered his eldest son, Eli Bright, to take on a new case that required him to go live in a cabin near the forest in Beyville County.

I guess it can’t be that bad, said Eli, opening the door to his new residence. The cabin consisted of a main room, a bedroom, a small kitchen, and a bathroom at the back. There was also a fireplace, something Eli was glad for because he had read nights got very cold in the area. He walked inside and put his bag on a table. There wasn’t much in it, just a few items of clothing, a book he had been meaning to finish, his laptop, and his toothbrush. Being the professional he was, Eli tried to look at the brighter side of things. The case was good, and living alone in a cabin had its perks, right?

Yeah, right! Eli rolled his eyes as he brushed his hand through his thick mess of black hair. He walked into the bathroom and turned to the small mirror. A twenty-year-old young man with brown eyes stared back at him. Eli never cared about appearances, at least not his own. He was happy with being average. He liked normal things in his personal life. But his professional life was a different matter.

You will become just like me. I can see it, Eli’s father had declared on his son’s fifteenth birthday. A few years later Eli began working at Bright PIs, under his dad’s strict rule.

Being a private investigator hadn’t been his first choice. But it paid well. Also, Eli’s father was a well-known private investigator. He had helped a lot of people with his sleuthing skills, even internationally. So, Eli felt pressured to follow suit. He had thought about changing his profession a lot. However, he was yet to make a final decision. Right now, he was on a case that was supposedly quite easy to handle, or at least that’s what his coworkers had told him before he caught his flight. The firm was working with the county sheriff’s department on this one. Eli remembered the brief clearly. Two murders had occurred in the area, which was unexpected because the place wasn’t known for murders. The deaths seemed to be caused by animal attacks, but the sheriff’s department wasn’t sure because there were no wild animals, such as bears or wild cats, living in the woods or nearby. The forest behind Eli’s cabin only had squirrels, deer, and other similar animals inhabiting it from what Eli had been told. He hadn’t even seen a fox anywhere, so the fact two people were killed by some kind of wild beast clearly had people worried. Bright PIs took the case because Eli’s father and the county’s sheriff, Stanley Blake, were friends. Stanley had called Eli’s father to tell him about the situation, and after a flight (that lasted a few hours) and a short taxi drive later, Eli arrived at the cabin.

He looked at his wristwatch. Stanley would be coming up to the cabin in a few minutes to meet him. Eli patted his black hair down, but before he could walk out of the bathroom, there was a knock at the front door. Eli, are you there? Can I come in? asked a voice. It was a voice that surprisingly made Eli’s heart jump excitedly.

Eli walked out the bathroom to answer the door and then stopped. It took all his willpower to prevent his jaw from dropping. Standing in front of him was a handsome, black-haired, tall, well-built man. The fact he was in his sheriff’s uniform wasn’t helping matters. You must be Eli? The man smiled at Eli.

Eli tried not to stare into his green eyes. Yes, he said. You must be Stanley?

At your service. Stanley’s voice sounded amazing to Eli. I’m so glad you could come. You don’t mind I let myself in, do you? The front door was open.

Eli was expecting Stanley, his dad’s friend, to be older, much older than the young man standing in front of him. He was probably twenty-four or twenty-five years old.

I’m glad I came, too. Don’t worry about the front door. Eli smiled back and shook Stanley’s hand. Eli couldn’t explain it, but his whole body grew warm as Stanley took his hand in his. So…so, the murders, said Eli, letting go of Stanley’s hand. He didn’t make eye contact with Stanley as he tried to keep his knees from buckling. He was even a bit aroused. It wasn’t as if Eli hadn’t seen handsome men before, but something about Stanley felt different to him.

Stanley nodded. It’s something the people here are very disturbed about. One murder happened two weeks ago, and the most recent one happened a week ago. The locals are saying there’s probably going to be another one this weekend.

How can they be so sure? Eli asked. It was good he was talking about the case. It took his mind away from undressing Stanley with his eyes.

You will find the people here believe a lot in the paranormal. Stanley grinned at Eli. Apparently a werewolf is responsible for the murders.

A werewolf? asked Eli. He couldn’t help but smile. Leave it to people to come up with such assumptions.

Yeah! They think it’s a werewolf.

We both know a human is responsible for these murders, said Eli. If we both work together, we will surely get to the bottom of this.

Eli was definitely looking forward to working together with the sheriff.

If you are anything like your father, we will have this case done in just a day or two.

And there