Cocktail Wolf: Bite-Sized Shifters, #6

By Rose Bak

Marie's new boss is a bear.  Literally.

 

Marie Caldwell has watched all of her best friends find their fated mates, and despite their best efforts to reject their soulmates, they're now all living their own version of "happily ever after".  But not Marie.  She's stuck in the same job she's had for twenty years, slinging cocktails for the shifters of Greysden and worried that life has passed her by.

 

When her boss dies, the wolf shifter thinks it may be a sign to leave town and find something new.  She agrees to stay just long enough to help the new owner learn how to run the bar before she goes off in search of adventure.

 

Ben Murphy hadn't seen his estranged father since he was a kid, and he certainly never expected to inherit Murphy's Bar.  He's burned out from his years working in finance, and a move to Greysden to run a small-town bar sounds like just the break he needs.

 

But his new job isn't as easy as he expected.  Running a bar is way harder than it looks, and his sassy assistant manager, Marie, hates his guts.  That's a definite problem, because the strong-willed independent wolf is also his fated mate. 

 

She's not the woman he would have chosen, but who is he to question fate?  Unfortunately, Marie's got one paw out the door, and she doesn't care what fate says, there's no way she's staying.

 

"Cocktail Wolf" is book five in the "Bite-Sized Shifters", a series of paranormal romantic comedies you can read in just a few hours. Each book in the series is a steamy standalone featuring a mature couple, meddling friends, and a guaranteed HEA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rose Bak
• Release date: Feb 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201106454

Rose Bak

Rose Bak has been obsessed with books since she got her first library card at age five. She is a passionate reader with an e-reader bursting with thousands of beloved books.  Rose's contemporary romance books focus on strong female characters over age 35 and the alpha males who love them. Expect a lot of steam, a little bit of snark, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

Book preview

About This Book

Marie’s new boss is a bear. Literally.

Marie Caldwell has watched all of her best friends find their fated mates, and despite their best efforts to reject their soulmates, they’re now all living their own version of happily ever after. But not Marie. She’s stuck in the same job she’s had for twenty years, slinging cocktails for the shifters of Greysden and worried that life has passed her by.

When her boss dies, the wolf shifter thinks it may be a sign to leave town and find something new. She agrees to stay just long enough to help the new owner learn how to run the bar before she goes off in search of adventure.

Ben Murphy hadn’t seen his estranged father since he was a kid, and he certainly never expected to inherit Murphy’s Bar. He’s burned out from his years working in finance, and a move to Greysden to run a small-town bar sounds like just the break he needs.

But his new job isn’t as easy as he expected. Running a bar is way harder than it looks, and his sassy assistant manager, Marie, hates his guts. That’s a definite problem, because the strong-willed independent wolf is also his fated mate.

She’s not the woman he would have chosen, but who is he to question fate? Unfortunately, Marie’s got one paw out the door, and she doesn’t care what fate says, there’s no way she’s staying.

Cocktail Wolf is book five in the Bite-Sized Shifters, a series of paranormal romantic comedies you can read in just a few hours. Each book in the series is a steamy standalone featuring a mature couple, meddling friends, and a guaranteed HEA.

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This book includes a special preview of Wolf Doctor, book one of the Bite-Sized Shifters series.

Dedication

For all the deferred dreams, and the people who hold onto them no matter what.

Prologue—Marie

I got a job!

Marie Caldwell burst into the kitchen, vibrating with excitement.  Her mother looked up from her book and gave her a smile.

Good job, Sweetie.  Where are you going to be working?

Murphy’s Bar.

Her mother frowned.  Aren’t you a little young to be working at a bar, Marie? You’re only eighteen.

Marie had just started her last semester of high school. 

I can work up until ten o’clock, as long as I don’t touch alcohol.  Mr. Murphy says that under the law, minors are allowed to serve food and non-alcoholic drinks.

When her mother still looked skeptical she added, He told me if he sees me smoking, drinking, or wearing anything slutty he will fire me on the spot.

Mom looked relieved.  Well, I’m glad to hear that.  You know how crazy shifters can get when they’re drinking.

The Caldwells lived in the mostly shifter town of Greysden.  Unlike a lot of the shifter communities in the world, Greysden welcomed all types of shifters.  There was no alpha or hierarchy, just shifters who wanted to live in a place where they were welcome to live as their true selves.  As a rule, shifters had super-fast metabolisms, so they had to work pretty hard to get drunk.  Most of them drank for taste of the alcohol or the sense of mild euphoria, but when they overindulged they tended to get a little more unruly than the full-humans did.

I told Mr. Murphy my plan was to work there for the rest of the school year and for a few months after graduation while I save money for my around-the-world trip.  He was fine with it.

Ever since she was a pup, Marie had dreamed of traveling around the world.  She would pack up a large backpack like she saw on those travel shows on PBS and move from country to country, having adventures, meeting cool new people that she hadn’t known since she was a pup, and learning about local cultures.  The only problem was that round-the-world travel was expensive.  She just needed to save up some money first.

That’s great honey, Mom said.  I just hope you go to college after you get back.  You’re too smart to be working in a bar for the rest of your life.

Marie

Twenty years later...

I still can’t believe Murph’s dead.  Marie flopped down at a table and put her head on her hand, dark hair covering her like a blanket.  That bear was like a father to me.

The owner of Murphy’s Bar, known as Murph to his friends, had been a combination boss/father/mentor to her since she was eighteen years old.  The bear was gruff and took no shit from anyone, but he also had a heart of gold.  His mate had died a few months ago, and no one had been surprised when Murph soon followed her to the afterlife. Shifters had a hard time living without their fated mates, and they often died of a broken heart within weeks of losing their mates.  It had been a couple of weeks already, but she still was reeling from the loss.

Marie looked around at the group of women who were gathered for their regular monthly happy hour.  She’d gone through school with most of them, but there were a couple of newcomers who’d joined the group as well.  Technically she was their waitress, but since they were also friends, she sometimes took her break with them to catch up on all the news.

He was a great man, her friend Susan confirmed.  One of the best.  To Murph! 

They all raised their glasses to toast the beloved bear.

I didn’t realize you two were so close. How long have you worked here Marie? asked Marissa.  I never asked.

The human was a friend of Susan. She worked at Susan’s catering company but also occasionally picked up some shifts here at the bar. Marissa had moved to Greysden after a bad break-up but fell in love with a local wolf named Tony.  They were mated now and expecting their first cub.  Marie sighed internally.  She’d always hoped to find a wolf who was her fated mate, but she spent most of her time at this bar.  It wasn’t like a mate was going to come wandering in the front door. 

I’ve worked here for twenty years, Maria answered her. Murph taught me everything I know about the business.

Wow.  What’s going to happen to the bar now?  Marissa asked.

Murph left it to his son, she responded.  At least that’s what the lawyer told me.

Murph had a son? Susan asked.  I never knew that.

Yeah, they were estranged since his son was a pup. Murph tried to reach out to him many times over the years but was always rebuffed.  It really tore him up that his son didn’t want a relationship with him, because they had been super close before the divorce. I guess leaving him the bar is Murph’s last olive branch to the guy. Not that he’s likely to appreciate it.

That’s so sad, Susan said.  Murph was such a great guy.  Do you know why they were estranged?

Marie nodded.  With Murph gone, he wouldn’t mind Marie sharing his story.

Murph was married to another bear. It was one of those situations where he figured that he didn’t have a fated mate, so he settled down with someone in the same situation.  They had a son, but when the kid was ten Murph ran into his fated mate. She was just walking down the street, their eyes met, and he was a goner.

She looked at Marissa to explain.  "That was Bonnie. She died just before you moved here.  You would have loved her; everyone did.  Anyway, Murphy was honest with his wife. He told her what happened and asked for a divorce.  The wife was furious. She made the divorce contentious and tried to keep the son away from Murph.  He went to court, and they only gave him monthly visitation. You know how when we were younger everyone always assumed the mother was the best parent, even if it wasn’t always true. Murph tried to make the best of it, but the mother poisoned the kid about him. Whenever Murph would go to