Page 19 of Claiming His Virgin Mate

Hmmph. Well, she didn’t care, anyway. Must be costing him a fortune, though. Oh well, she was pretty sure he deserved it.

Jerk.

“Dammit,” she slammed her hand on the desk.

Maggie hated feeling like this. She was,ugh, she couldn’t even name what she was.

Angry. Interested. Frustrated. Annoyed. Curious. Horny.

How about all of the above? Yeah. That pretty much summed her up.

God, she was sick. Clearly, she needed help. So, the guy had come onto her, and then he lost interest. Big deal. It happens. She should just move on. After all, she was the one who’d refused him.

The decision rankled, but she was finally ready to accept the fact she’d missed her chance. So, what. Hitting thirty-years old that Friday with her virginity intact was not a big deal. Like not at all. For real.

FML.She wanted to scream,

Instead, the roofers arrived and parked their large work trucks in the driveway in back of the hotel, and Maggie put on her professional face. TheSunset, scratch that, theOasis Beachside Resortwas closed to the public until Memorial Day weekend, but she still had not liked the idea of them blocking the street.

Happy that they remembered the phone call she’d had with the owner and foreman, Maggie went outside to welcome her old classmate. Tim Ball was her age, an only child, and a nice figure of a man.

They’d gone to Maccon City High at the same time but hung out in different circles. She knew now, of course, that it was because of his Wolf status.

Her father had done her a disservice not raising her with knowledge of the Pack, but she tried not to hold it against him. His old Alpha, Zev Maccon, was a bad man from the way everyone tells it, and he did not approve of non-Shifters in his Pack.

His son Rafe was a much better leader. So much so, that it was rumored he was to be chosen as High Alpha, a sort of mega ruler for Wolves.

Still, she tried to think of her father fondly. It wouldn’t do any good for her to behave any other way. She was happy to see Tim. And even happier that a local company had won the bid.

She realized now that Alex kept his word when he’d said he planned to help the local economy. From his reputation for good work alone, no one deserved the job more thanOn the Ball Roofing. Tim inherited the company from his father and officially took over for him some years back.

“Hi Tim,” she smiled.

“Hello Maggie,” he grinned back, “We’ll have you fixed up in no time at all.”

“I believe it. Listen, I set a cooler on the stairs with waters and soft drinks for you and your crew,” she said, noting the single female member of his crew unloading equipment with the others, “There are sandwiches as well.”

“Thanks, Mags, you didn’t have to do that,” he said and tugged on her ponytail teasingly.

The rumbling growl that sounded from behind her caught both their attention, and she snapped her head to see Alex standing not ten feet away. He was trembling, and his eyes glowed sapphire with his Tiger. Was it wrong she found his blatant display sexy beyond measure?

Yes. Definitely wrong.And yet she reacted with a sudden moistening between her legs. Tim’s eyes widened, and the Wolf backed up a step. From one predator to another, the message was clear, even to her human eyes. Everything about Alex’s stance sent one message, and that wasback the fuck up.

Fine, so it was sexist and downright rude, but it was still hot as fuck. She should tell him to quit it. Really. She would too. In a second or so. And then she would tell him he had no right to act that way. Certainly not. The big pussy cat had no claim on her. Not at all.

Tell that to my pink bits, she thought with an inner sigh.

“Uh, should I do something here,” Tim interrupted her train of thought, and she turned back to him with a professional smile in place.

“Not at all, Tim, I will handle this. Thanks again,” she patted his arm, ignoring Mr. Grumbles and walked over to him.

Then, Maggie surprised herself when she grabbed him firmly by the ear lobe and pulled him towards the office door. The idiots foolish enough to snicker at Alex were treated to a loud roar which paralyzed them for a minute or five.

Something she knew from her recent Ghoulgle searches about Tiger Shifters and their wild cousins. One of the benefits of being honorary Pack was of course access to the occult web whose premier search engine was invented by a Ghoul named Nostradamus and his super fly girlfriend Emily. That was exactly the way they were described on Ghoulgle, by the way, not something Maggie had coined.

But she agreed, Emily was sweet and beautiful. Anyway, back to Tigers. The powerful predators were capable of emitting a low-pitched sound that could travel far distances and penetrate walls. She wondered what that would do to her if he made it while kissing her or doing other things.

Quit it, she scolded herself and tugged harder on his ear. Alex whined a bit and looked back at her with his Tiger shining in his eyes.

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