Brawler: Werewolves of Greenville City, #6

By Keira Blackwood

I'm a soldier without a war, fighting to feel anything but numb.

The MC is gone. I should have left with them, but I couldn't.

Because she stayed.

For as long as I can remember, I've been in love with my friend Shaundra. 

But I can never have her.

She chose my brother, not me. And shifters mate for life. 

I'll never know the feel of her in my arms or the taste of her on my lips.

She'll never accept me as the protector and provider for her and her kids. 

It doesn't matter that it's hopeless—I'll never choose another.

I'll never leave her.

Shaundra is my mate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paramour Press
• Release date: Nov 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201314880

Book preview

Chapter 1

Shaundra

Fear of being called to the principal’s office was supposed to go away after graduation. I’d spent more than my share of time in this room, sitting across the same desk from the same man, awaiting punishment. As it turned out, being here felt even worse as a parent than it had when I was a child.

Principal Boseman was almost exactly how I remembered him—a melon of a man, with orange skin, narrow eyes, and a bushy, twitchy mustache. The only hair on his head to be seen, aside from the mustache and a set of matching brows, were two poofs just above his ears that trailed down into the forest of pussywillows sticking straight out from his lobes. His hair used to be a shade of muddy brown, but over the years all of it had turned ghost white.

Do either of you know why you’re here? Boseman looked from me to my friend Paige, and back to me. He further narrowed his already squinty eyes, giving the appearance that he may have dozed off.

Given the situation and the fact that Paige’s daughter Evie and my daughter Lacey were best friends, it was safe to assume the two of them had gotten into some kind of trouble together.

Evie didn’t say. Paige shifted her weight in her too-hard, too-small chair. The fact that the seat was intended for a child was amplified by her towering Amazonian build.

Lacey had cried when I’d asked her what she’d done wrong. It was her new default response to anything mildly uncomfortable. Being a tween girl was hard. Being a tween shifter girl was harder. Throw an emerging animal nature into the puberty mix and she’s a timebomb poised to explode.

Principal Boseman clasped his hands together on his desktop and turned his attention to me. Nothing to say, Ms. Harris?

I shrugged. Why don’t you go ahead and tell us?

His back stiffened, apparently taking offense. That was his problem, not mine. I needed this over with before I was any later for work. It wasn’t that I didn’t care that my daughter was in trouble. The problem was the games.

As a single parent and the only provider for my girls, my life had to be streamlined to get as much done as fast as possible. I had to get to work so there would be food on the table. And since bartending at Cheerscore was a relatively new job for me, I still had to do everything right to prove my worth. Every minute I spent in this office was another that I would miss of my shift.

Lacey and Evelyn are suspended, Boseman said.

What? I squeezed my knees through the holes in my jeans, instead of wringing the guy’s neck.

There has to be some kind of misunderstanding, Paige said. Her black curls bounced over her face as she shook her head. I know the girls can be a little...spirited, but—

Spirited? Boseman’s brows shot up, revealing that he did in fact still have eyes hidden in the center of his face. I think the word you’re searching for is delinquent.

Let’s not throw labels around, I said.

Yeah, Paige said. They’re good girls. It’s a difficult age, and—

There was an incident, Boseman said and calmly pulled a folder from his top drawer.

He opened the folder and spread the contents for us to see. There were four photographs, all of a thin arm red and inflamed, with what looked like teeth marks marring the flesh.

I cringed.

Paige bit her knuckles to stifle a gasp. Whoever the kid in these photos is...there’s another side to this story. Whatever he or she did had to have initiated the altercation.

This is Mrs. Narry’s arm. Boseman said. The girls’ teacher.

Yeah, that was bad.

Call-out-of-work-even-though-I-couldn’t-afford-to bad.

We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again, I said.

That’s right, or the girls will be expelled, Boseman said. "The only reason they aren’t now is that Mrs. Narry was against it. They will be separated, though."

I stared at the pictures. There was only the one set of teeth marks on the teacher’s arm. Which of the girls bit her?

I could feel Paige’s eyes on me. We both knew it was Evie who had been in the most trouble. After losing her birth mother and being tossed from house to house, no one could blame Evie for acting out, even a year later. Or at least no one should. Jett hadn’t known his daughter existed until she’d been dropped off on his doorstep. Paige was the best friend of Evie’s birth mother, and was an amazing parent to Evie. Jett and Paige were the mostly loving and attentive parents any child could ask for.

I hoped Paige didn’t think I was implying that this biting incident was Evie’s fault, but we needed the details. I had to ask.

Mrs. Narry caught Evelyn pulling a toy out of her backpack. When she went to take the stuffed animal away, Evelyn jumped at Mrs. Narry, tackling her into the cubbies.

I kept all my cringing on the inside as I listened to the story, and forced my face to stay blank.

Mr. Boseman tapped on one of the photographs with an orange finger. That’s when Lacey bit her.

My daughter was the biter. Well, fuck.

I expect you both to take the next week to reinforce civilized behavior in your daughters, Boseman said and rose from his seat. And teach them that actions have consequences.

Paige and I stood, too, and Boseman ushered us out of his office.

We didn’t speak on the way out of the building. We didn’t say a word to each other until we reached the parking lot.

The air was crisp and frosty, a pleasant reprieve after being stuck inside the stuffy building. The sky was already dark, which this time of year looked the same at seven as it did at midnight.

It was Paige who spoke first. She touched my arm and gave me a sad smile. I thought for sure it was Evie.

They worked as a team, I said. They’re pack, and that’s what packs do.

Paige nodded and stared back at the building.

I asked who it was so we knew exactly what happened, I said. Not because I was blaming Evie.

I know. Paige unlocked her car. But if I hadn’t let Evie take Pokey to school, this wouldn’t have happened.

Pokey the unicorn was Evie’s security blanket. Prying the plushie away for her would have been torture for both Paige and Evie. Knowing how conscientious Paige was, I was certain she’d told Evie not to take Pokey out of her backpack.

It’s not your fault, I told Paige. It was mine. My kid was the biter, after all.

If I can’t blame myself, you don’t get to blame yourself, either, she said, as if reading my thoughts. But what are we going to do?

We’ll have to keep them apart for a while, I said. I hated the idea. Paige and her mate Jett watched the girls for me a few nights a week lately. Not only would keeping the girls separate be difficult for me, but Lacey’s reaction would make it twice as hard. In my head, I could already see the tears.

Actions need to have consequences, Paige said. This sucks.

Yes it does.

So are you going to go to work now? Should we delay discussions until after? she asked.

I knew there was no judgment either way. We were going to take on this issue together as a team, only her half of the team was her and her mate. Even with their help, I was alone.

No, I said. Let’s go back to your place. I have to call out for the night.

Paige frowned. She knew how important it was for me to not lose this job. You sure? she asked.

No. Yes.

I parked beside Paige’s car in front of her charming cabin in the woods. She waited outside for me, so I cracked my window.

I have to call work. I’ll be in after, I said.

She gave me a small wave and raised her chin. Okay, I’ll see you in there. Good luck to us both.

We’re going to need it.

Paige went up to the front porch. Jett opened the door to greet her with their baby swaddled in his arms and a writhing Evie and Lacey hanging onto his shoulders and neck. Everyone was smiling. Jett leaned in and gave Paige a peck on the lips. Evie and Lacey made sour faces in response, dropped down from Jett’s shoulders, and ran off into the house. Jett and Paige exchanged words before they went in and shut the door behind them.

I sat and stared at the porch. On the other side of that door, I imagined life was peachy. Paige held her baby, and took comfort in her mate sharing her worries and her concerns. Jett helped shoulder the burden, and even though nothing about the situation had changed, she felt better, because he was there.

All mates found their own version of happiness. When I was a kid, I’d watched my parents live virtually separate lives, seemingly having nothing in common. Then Dad would be home, and we’d sit on the living room floor for game night, and I’d catch my parents looking at each other. The love between them was palpable.

In high school, there was a couple who declared themselves mates. They were the lovey dovey types, who always seemed to feel the need to touch each other. A few years later before they moved away, nothing between them had changed. They knew they were meant to be forever.

Like every other unmated shifter, there was a part of me that felt empty. There was one person out there for each of us, one perfect partner whose life was meant to entwine with our own. With every year that passed, I grew less certain that I’d ever find that perfect person or feel that spark. And with every year that passed, that empty feeling grew larger.

I dialed Cheerscore and waited as the phone rang and rang. The bar was busy or someone would have picked up sooner. That made what I had to do even harder.

Eventually, someone picked up. Cheerscore, this is Randy. Can you hold please? His words came out in a rush, muffled by the sound of arcade machines and loud drunks in the background.

Hey, Randy. It’s Shaundra.

Oh thank the goddess.

A high-pitched voice said something that I couldn’t make out.

Just a moment, Randy said away from the phone.

There was a shuffling sound, a bang, and then quiet.

Tell me you’re five minutes out toting an Americano and a pound of chocolate with my name on it, he said.

I wish I was, I said, meaning it. I wished the whole day had gone down differently. I wished Jett and Paige could watch my girls while I went to work, like they’d been doing since my sister left town with the rest of the MC. Most of all, I wished Lacey hadn’t bitten her teacher.

Don’t say it. Randy’s voice echoed in that weird way it did when people talked on the phone in the bathroom.

Hopefully he was in the supply closet. Either way, I definitely wasn’t going to ask.

I can’t make it in tonight, I said. I’m sorry.

The school meeting was bad, huh?

Can’t imagine how it could have gone worse.

You owe me details later. You’re making it up to me by working my shift tomorrow, he said.

Done.

And, Shaundra—

Yes?

This is a two-pounds-of-chocolate favor.

Got it, I said. And thank you.

There was a faint knocking sound, and a shuffling. Randy yelled away from the phone, Ocupado!

Yep, he was hiding in the bathroom.

All right, darlin’, I have to go, he said. People have no manners.

Right. Thanks again, Randy.

Kisses. He hung up.

I climbed out of my car and shoved my keys and phone into my pockets. The air in the woods seemed ten degrees colder than it had at the school, biting at my bare arms. It was almost reasonable to blame the tightness in my chest on the cold, too. But I was a terrible liar.

I headed up to the porch.

This house had belonged to Jett’s parents before him. There was a dark history and bad memories here, but Jett changed all of that when Paige and Evie entered his life. He gave up his place in the MC, fixed up the old house, and turned his entire life around. He’d been a lawyer for years, but now he worked at some stuffy office with a bunch of other suits.

And the MC dissolved without him. I missed the way it used to be, and at the same time I envied how well Jett had put his life together.

The door was unlocked, and as soon as I opened it, squeals of excitement stopped me in my tracks. The sound pierced my brain and rattled around before a stampede of stomping raced past.

Jett stood in the living room with a frilly pink apron on—a far cry from the leather jacket I was accustomed to seeing him wear.

Nice dress, I told him.

This is tea-drinking attire, he said, still pulling off a macho tough guy vibe in his satin and lace.

The screaming continued even after the girls had disappeared from sight.

Is there a lot of screaming involved in tea drinking? I asked.

Of course, he said, and grabbed a tin from the counter. And cookies. Want one?

No, I’m good, thanks.

With a quick