Page 3 of A Kitten for Alpha Kenny

“She’s a cutie.” The server put a glass of water on the table. “You meeting someone? Or is it just the two of you?”

“Yeah, we’re not meeting anyone. My car got a flat a couple miles down. My donut’s dead. I had no bars to call for help. So, here we are. Is there any place walkable we could stay the night?” Was I babbling? Probably, but at this point I couldn’t really care.

He shook his head. “No. We had a room out back, but it’s currently being used. I get off in about four hours if you need a ride.”

“Maybe. Let’s see if I can find a tow first.” I thanked him, and he went on his way.

I took my phone out. It had one bar. Hardly what I’d call good reception, but it was enough for me to look up some local tow companies and call them one by one. I soon discovered that none of them were open. If only I had an automobile club membership. They had 24/7 people.

The door opened and in came a wolf. Not just any wolf—a freaking alpha. I could feel his power radiating off him, andnormally I didn’t mind, but here I was, a domestic cat shifter with a baby, in no way able to either defend myself or leave. I felt trapped.

I didn’t think I was on his territory, but my nose wasn’t the best—not with all this crying. If it was his, I’d apologize and hope for the best. It was all I could do and, given this place had humans in it, I had some buffer.

He walked past me, and I lowered my head, tilting it to the side, wanting him to know I wasn’t causing any trouble. And, to my surprise, instead of continuing past me, he backed up and squatted.

“Hey. That’s not how we do things here.”

“Sorry, alpha,” I murmured.

“Aspen. Just Aspen. Are you okay?”

I shook my head, and the tears started coming. “No. Everything’s…decidedly not okay. Her father died. I have no income. I have a job interview tomorrow I can’t get to because my car broke down along the road, I might be on someone else’s territory, and…” I blinked back the tears that were now freely flowing.

“I’m sorry about your mate.”

“He wasn’t my mate. He was human. My husband.” I needed him to know I wasn’t pack. The last thing I needed was to make this mess even more disastrous.

“I see. And where is your interview?”

“Wolfe Enterprises?” It came out like a question and once the words were spoken, pieces fell into place. Wolfe—Wolves. Crap. It was this alpha’s company, or at least his pack’s. Why had I not considered that before?

The alpha reached into his front pocket, and when he pulled it out, placed a card in front of me. “I am the alpha of the company’s pack. How about you let me help you tonight, so you can start working tomorrow?”

“Oh, alpha, I didn’t mean to mislead you. I don’t have a job. I just have an interview.”

“No. You. Have. A. Job.” He wasn’t leaving room for discussion, but also, he wasn’t being harsh. There was a kindness to him, an almost-fatherly like quality. “I don’t know if it’ll be the one that you applied for. I don’t know your skills or your credentials. But you have a job. And because you’re relocating for work, we can set you up with a place to stay in the room.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Really.” He righted himself. “I’m gonna call my beta, and he’ll come and help you out. His name is Swale, and he might look intimidating, but trust me—he’s got a heart of gold. And my guess is he’s gonna start spoiling this little one pretty darn quickly.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. I know so.” He leaned in closer. “The pack calls him Grandpa Swale, hardly intimidating, but we aren’t your typical wolf pack.”

He excused himself and went outside to make the call.

“See, Madeline…everything’s gonna be okay.”

And for the first time since Jason died, I believed it.

Chapter Three

Kenny

It was a few days before I had any more time to myself to mull over things. I probably should just look to the future, but I held strong to the premise that those who forgot the past were doomed to repeat it.

The original alpha of my childhood had made the job look easy. Of course, he’d been doing it for decades by the time I came along, and I only had a few years under my belt.

---