THOMAS: Le Beau Brothers - New Orleans Billionaire Wolf Shifters with plus sized BBW for mates (Le Beau Series Book 4) (2 page)

“Hello?” Julia Le Beau yawned into the phone.

Her alarm never had the chance to go off, because her mother, Lucinda, beat it by a good thirty minutes. She was convinced the woman could hear her biological clock ticking, which was ridiculous since she had another six hundred years for children. No matter what Julia said, it didn’t seem to penetrate her mother’s ears, so, here she was, having the same conversation again.

“Julia, are you still in bed? Did you forget I’m bringing another family to your house this morning?”

“I thought I told you not to bring them. I’m finished with your parades, Mother.”

“For Goddess sake, get showered immediately. We’ll be at your door in one hour.”

“I’m not going to answer the door, so don’t bother.”

Her mother ignored her as usual and exactly one hour later was at her door.

Julia hung her head in frustration. She lost count years ago how many men her mother brought for the ‘sniff’ test. Each time it was the same: no mate. Like the Little Engine That Could©, Lucinda refused to give up.

The last time Julia locked the door and ignored her mother’s knocking, it resulted in a very ugly scene. Lucinda in the throws of an angry tirade was not a pretty sight. Her face turned a mottled shade of red, and she broke the door down, dragging the shocked men in behind her.

Since that day, she'd grudgingly opened the door. If not for her house’s sake, then for the sake of the men, she could at least spare them the humiliation of the tantrum sure to happen.

Two hours later, Julia’s stomach churned. She loathed the questions that came after each ‘visit’. Couldn’t her mother forget to ask, just once?

“Well?” her mother asked impatiently from the doorway.

“Nothing,” Julia mumbled, not bothering to look up from the romance novel she was reading. “I had no attraction. No, scent. No, telepathy.” She didn’t even bother to say she was sorry this time because she wasn’t.

Lucinda snarled in frustration as she came fully into the room.

“I met all the men you just paraded through my house and had none of the mating signs. I don’t know what more you expect from me.” She sighed wearily.

“I expect you to accept one.”

Julia’s chin fell to her chest as a heavy sigh escaped. “You know as well as I do, it doesn’t work that way.”

“I’m sure if you made the extra effort to at least date them, something would shake loose. How hard can it be? Just look at Cade and that human, Anna, they met in a bar in the French Quarter of all places. Not to mention, Simon and his mate Rose, yet another human to dilute the royal gene pool. Rose showed up at Cade’s house after she lost her job in Denver, and now the family is stuck with her. And I heard a rumor that Stefan has found his mate, and you guessed it, a human. He bought her at the auction Simon had a couple months ago. I can’t believe Isaac can still hold his head up in public with his sons mating lowlife humans. My daughters will mate pureblood shifters and maintain the integrity of the bloodline.”

Julia wanted to scream. A mating didn’t just ‘shake loose’, and there was nothing wrong with humans. Heck, most mates were human. There was no reasoning with her mother anymore. That ability had left the building along with Elvis years ago. She wasn’t sure if the animal part of her mother was taking over and acting erratic or if the human side was slipping into insanity.

Her mother leaned forward forcing Julia to sit back. “For years, you have rejected the males I bring to you. It’s time you made a—”

“Mother, I know you want your children mated, but no matter how badly you want it, you can’t force it.”

“Just watch me,” Lucinda spat. “We are in line to gain the throne. The lineage must be continued and ready at all times.”

It was true the family needed to continue, but mates and children came into a shifter’s life when the Goddess deemed it was the right time. The last thing you wanted to do was push the Goddess or try to circumvent her plan. Thinking that way was suicide.

Lucinda turned on her heel toward the door and then paused. “There will be a group of available males here Friday. This pack is out of Arizona. Pray one of them is acceptable to you.”

Once Lucinda was in her boat and headed out of her private bay, Julia finally breathed easy again. Krystal would be home in a few hours and available to talk. They needed a plan; somehow they needed to find a way to approach Father about Mother’s behavior. The problem was her father, Charles, was completely blind to her mother’s oddities.

Julia turned the page of her book and settled deeper into her favorite easy chair; there was nothing she could do until Krystal got home. Tonight she would suggest again they bring Logan and Quintin into the conversation. It was about time the boys knew what was going on behind the family’s back. Thinking it through, she shook her head. She wouldn’t bother the twins, Rémi, and René, just yet. They were too young to be drawn into this.

Once Lucinda got a notion in her head, she had a tendency to twist it until it fit her needs and desires. After that, she could never be swayed.

And her mother’s drive to force both Krystal and Julia to find mates had reached critical mass.

“What are we going to do?” Julia whispered to herself.

Two weeks later

Morning was Julia’s favorite time of day. The bar wasn’t open yet, and she had it all to herself as she wiped down tables and checked the bar stock.

The only problem was; it sometimes gave her too much time to think. Today was one of those times. She had her mother on her mind.

It wasn’t that her mother didn’t love her—she did. At least, she was pretty sure she did. But the woman had some pretty extreme ideas of late. She apparently believed shifters should only mate other born shifters, and humans were a scourge and diluted the bloodline.

In her disturbed mind, she believed if she dragged her daughters around to enough eligible shifter males, she could somehow force a pureblood mating.

Julia and Krystal were tired of being paraded before one shifter family after another. Tired of letting hundreds of males sniff them in the hopes of finding a mate. It was straight up embarrassing.

As much as she loved the bayou, she was seriously considering tagging along with Krystal to Lucas’s ranch in Texas. She heaved a sigh and took a good, long look at the bar. All right, she would do it. If her mother tried to drag her out ‘visiting’ one more time, she’d pack up and head for Texas.

*****

It had been a busy shift at her bar The Backwater, and she was ready to relax in a bubble bath with a good romance novel.

Julia came through the front door of her home to a horrifying sight. Her beloved novels lay shredded and callously thrown in a pile. It must be her entire collection to create a mountain of pages and covers five feet high in her living room. Next to the carnage lay a note on a side table. The room smelled of anger, frustration, and her mother.

She was going to have to store her books in a safer place from now on. Huffing out an angry breath, she picked up the note.

You need to get your head out of the clouds and look for a mate. You won’t find him in one of these human books. I’ve had it with your lack of interest in settling down. Pick out a mate, or I will pick one for you.

“Pick one for me? She has completely lost touch with reality.”

Every shifter knew you couldn’t just pick any old mate; you had to find the one who held the other half of your soul. It was time for a private talk with her father. He needed to know how crazy she was acting.

Sighing, at almost two hundred, she was well past the age by which she hoped to be mated. Every year her mother had marched available men into her quaint little house like she was presenting the latest fashions, or worse, dragged her to them. Not a single one had been her other half. How exactly was she to blame for that?

Then she read the last sentence of the note.

You will attend the dance at your Uncle Isaac’s on Saturday. Perhaps this time you will find your mate.

Your Mother

She audibly groaned. She hated being sniffed by every single male who came within five feet of her. It made her feel dirty. The First thing she did after these setups was take a long, hot shower.

Julia thought back to the beginning of her ‘shame’, as her mother described it. She had gone to yet another event where she was set out like a prize to be won. When none of the men were a match, her parents informed her they were buying the Gator’s Tooth Bar and Grill, and she would be the full-time bartender. Their hopes were she would stumble upon her mate amongst the patrons and visitors. The first thing Julia had done was rename the bar The Backwater to spite her mother.

Has it really been twenty years?

“Oh well, I have six days before Isaac’s party; time enough to stock up on new books. And I’m not going to waste another second thinking about the party. Take that, Mother.”

At least her uncle’s party actually sounded fun. Her cousins would be there, and she could hang out with them while avoiding her mother.

The Day of the Gathering

Stretching, Julia considered what to do with her free day. The gathering didn’t begin until seven that evening, and since everyone was invited, The Backwater was closed for the day.

Grabbing her robe, she slipped on her bunny slippers and made a beeline to the coffee maker. Goddess, she loved her new programmable machine. No more waiting for the coffee to brew for this girl.

Steaming cup in hand, she grabbed one of her new romance novels. A friend had recommended it, saying the storyline and names sounded like her cousin, Cade, and his mate, Anna. She’d never read V.A. Dold before, but she hoped it would be as good as her friend said it was.

Not two chapters into the book and the last person she wanted to see walked through her door. Her mother. Lucinda took one look at the book and turned an interesting color of purplish red.

“Do you always barge into a person’s home without knocking?” Julia asked coolly.

“Where did you get that?”

“The coffee? From the pot in the kitchen.”

“You know very well I’m not talking about the coffee.”

“Well, if you’re referring to my NEW book, touch it and die. And if you think I’m kidding, try it.”

Lucinda was dumbstruck; Julia had never spoken to her like that before.

“Since I have a day of relaxation planned, why don’t you tell me why you’re here so I can get back to it?”

“I bought you a dress for the gathering. I was shopping for one for myself and saw this. It’s your favorite color, and I’m sure it will be stunning on you.” Lucinda held it out to Julia a little hesitantly.

Interesting. She’d never seen her mother unsure of herself.

I’m going to have to tell her off more often.

“I wasn’t planning on wearing a dress, but I’ll try it on later and see what I think of it.”

“Wonderful. We’ll pick you up at six thirty.”

“No. You won’t. I’m going by myself.”

“But you have to ride with the family.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s the way you travel to these gatherings. You arrive as a family pack.”

“Then I guess I’m starting a new tradition because I’m going by myself.”

Lucinda narrowed her eyes. She was so mad, Julia checked to see if steam was rising out of her ears. “You wait until I tell your father.”

“Go ahead. I’m still going by myself.”

Lucinda growled, spun on her heel, and slammed the door on her way out.

“Well,” Julia chuckled to herself, “that was pleasant.”

Thomas scowled at the crowd below. He had little patience for parties on his best day. And this wasn’t even a good day.

The main yard was filling with family packs, as one after the other joined the celebration. Glancing to the right, he checked on the band doing a sound check. Near the rear of the designated party area, the caterer was busy filling the buffet table with every meat, salad, and dessert imaginable.

Scanning the milling crowd below, Thomas observed a woman moving through the throng of people. His position on the raised deck attached to the rear of his grandparent’s house gave him the advantage of elevation. He scowled as his attention kept returning to her. Sure, she was pretty, and curvy, and sexy as hell, but he had a job to do. Besides, he avoided getting involved with women. Hookups – yes. Serious interest – no. Still, he felt the woman's presence and found himself staring at her again.

*****

The yard was filling with shifters and humans visiting as they stood or sat at the beautifully decorated tables covered in linen. Males and their mates, most of whom she knew, circulated with cocktails in hand. This gathering had all the earmarks of the event of the season.

The only way to avoid her mother was to locate her first, so she scanned the area. That’s when her gaze zeroed in on him. Julia stared in disbelief; it was like he had stepped off the pages of the novel she was reading. Her heart pounded so loudly; undoubtedly, anyone standing within ten feet could hear it. Attempting to swallow was more than difficult with a throat as dry as the Arizona desert. Even her lips were dry, which was crazy since she wore lip gloss. How was that possible in the humidity of the bayou? No man had ever had this effect on her before.

Her smile widened as she realized who he was. Thomas, Anna’s son, the one Stefan mentioned at The Backwater. He had said Thomas was in charge of security for the royal family. This man must be him.

Her mother caught sight of her watching someone intently. She turned to see who’d managed to catch her daughter’s interest and scowled. “He’s human and far below your station as a lady in the royal family. Stay away from him.”

Julia stepped away from Lucinda, unwilling to respond, and at the same time afraid of what her mother might do. Moving through the crowd nonchalantly, she made her way toward the new chief of security. It would be not only embarrassing but downright disastrous if her mother got wind of how deeply her interest went.

As she drew closer, his lean, hard body became more than evident. Goddess bless heightened wolf sight. The crisply ironed dress shirt and pleated slacks didn’t have a chance in hell of disguising his well-developed, tanned chest and narrow waist. Clenching her hands, she controlled the urge to sprint to him and rip his shirt open, dying to know if his abs were as amazing as his chest appeared to be.

Upon closer inspection, his skin wasn’t overly suntanned like some young humans tended toward, but more of a lovely tawny gold. Julia licked her lower lip as she spied the light dusting of dark hair hiding under his shirt. Biting her lip, she clenched her hands even tighter. Stupid hands. Stupid, stupid, hands.

Glancing at the parked cars, Thomas watched as yet another family emerged from an SUV. Cade immediately greeted the alpha and welcomed them. No threat there. Stefan joined Cade as Sam, a longtime friend of the family and foreman on the construction site for both Thomas and John’s homes, arrived. His brow furrowed. Odd, something felt off about Sam.

“I need an update from each of you.”

One by one, the men checked in with an “all clear.”

Thomas had personally organized the handpicked security squad, each member equipped with an earpiece for coordinating the safety of the royal family. Someone was engineering accidents, and this huge gathering, out in the open, was a logistical nightmare. First, Stefan’s mate, El, had her truck tampered with, so it would break down and expose her to an attack. Then his personal house was sabotaged while being built. An entire brick wall was rigged to fall on any person who stood below it. When it triggered, the impact of the cement blocks almost killed Stefan.

He tried to talk Isaac into canceling the gathering, or at the very least moving the location, but Isaac insisted it be here in their seat of power.

For about the millionth time, he rubbed his burning stomach; his grandfather was giving him a damn ulcer. Sighing, he resigned himself to do the best he could with the situation he was stuck with.

Privately, Thomas grinned to himself. Isaac didn’t know it, but he brought in a few of Simon’s military buddies with sniper training and had them laying low in strategic positions around the party. Until recently, Simon had been unaware a few of his fellow servicemen were also shifters. For Thomas that new information came in rather handy.

A chuckle rumbled in his chest when Isaac gave him a small salute. His grandfather appreciated his ability to size up anyone; human or supernatural, made no difference. Little got past him and his gift, which was exactly why he’d been chosen to lead the security team.

Thomas returned to watching the party. It was dangerous to expose the king and queen to a multitude of possible attackers, no matter the location. And with a known threat existing against the royal family, the danger multiplied exponentially. The last thing he needed was a distraction, especially a female distraction, regardless of how beautiful and interesting she was.

Thomas had a well–earned reputation for sensing a threat. Whenever someone with criminal intentions was within a two–block radius of him, a frisson of awareness would make the back of his neck tingle and itch. It made it extremely uncomfortable to live in a city of any size. Even a nasty fight between spouses could set his gift off, but he was getting better at blocking the lower level threats. This useful but sometimes annoying gift was just one of many reasons why he had moved from Denver, Colorado to the bayou.

Thomas pulsed the crowd again. Over the years he had honed his gift or was it a curse, he wasn’t sure which, into a precision tool. With a little concentration, he could pinpoint the location of a person emitting a threat with unbelievable accuracy.

Rubbing his palm along the back of his neck, he attempted to ease the itch. There was a low–level threat within the crowd, but with the constant flow of bodies, and the almost imperceptible vibration, he couldn’t target the source. The distraction of the fascinating woman wasn’t helping either.

When he had described his strange ability to his grandfather, Isaac suggested perhaps he was sending out the equivalent of sonar waves once he sensed the threat thus allowing him to pinpoint it. An interesting concept, and one he’d explore further. But right now, hundreds of possible assassins milled around the estate.

Out of frustration, he tested the crowd again to see if the cause of his unease would present itself.

His personal distraction instantly raised her head and locked eyes with him.

Huh. That’s interesting.

No one else noticed the low pulse of energy he emitted, except her. He knew she felt it by her expression.

She held him spellbound with her gaze for a long minute. Startled the breath rushed from his chest. She hadn’t touched him, heck, she was a good fifty yards away, for God’s sake, but he felt her palm on his cheek. With his lungs now completely devoid of air and chest constricted, he struggled to get another breath, the lack of oxygen making him lightheaded. His knees wobbled, and his lungs burned, reminding him to breathe. Worse yet, all the blood had rushed from his brain to lower regions. That was not helping him remain standing, not in the least.

He didn’t dare look away in case the sensation of her hand stopped. Or continued. He was uncertain which he wanted. This reaction was completely unexpected and absolutely against his character. With his heart racing, he remained frozen beneath her invisible touch. The Strange thing was, he had no idea what he was waiting for.

Thomas puzzled out the situation. She wasn’t a threat, at least not to his family. The worst she could do would be to rat him out about his gift. He felt like she’d bewitched him. And honestly, it annoyed him that she intrigued his curiosity and piqued his interest. He had no desire to have any woman peaking anything. Frowning in thought, he’d never met anyone who could feel the pulse when he emitted it. But now was not the time to examine that odd, new development.

He watched the golden-haired beauty continue to wade through the crowd. Try as he might, he couldn’t take his eyes from her. Torn between wanting to drag her away from the crowd and running in the opposite direction. Absently he cupped his jaw. He still felt her touch there, branded to his skin, and he had no idea how she’d managed it.

Shaking his head to clear it, he got back to work. There was no room in his life for women. After watching his parents’ relationship, he realized that was not for him. Ever.

Using signals he’d taught his security team, he put them on alert. A hidden threat was the most dangerous. He couldn’t position his team to strike if he didn’t have a target. They were blind, sitting ducks, forced to wait for the assassin to make his or her move. Massaging the nape of his neck, he was once again relieved he assigned Cade, Simon, Lucas, and Marcus to remain within a five–foot radius of Isaac and Emma at all times. Let an assassin try to get past that wall of men.

The woman seemed to be making systematic passes through the crowd greeting each person as she went. With every step, she moved closer to where he stood–and increased the tightness of his slacks. He thrust his hand through the thick, damp curls lying against the moist skin of his neck. What was it about this woman that was causing such a strong reaction? He met beautiful women all the time without this level of awareness and distraction.

After growing up with his abusive father, he had no interest in relationships. Sure, he needed to scratch the itch like any red-blooded American male, but never more than once with the same woman. Second dates led to expectations.

One look into that woman’s dark, velvety brown eyes sent his pulse tripping. A man could get trapped in those eyes, like Alice down the rabbit hole, and never find his way out. With that thought, he wanted to run for cover.

As he was considering his escape route, his senses went on full alert. A small group of partiers had wandered where they didn’t belong, behind the house. Thomas sent two men to herd them back into the party perimeter. He needed everyone where he could see them at all times.

Relentlessly scanning the crowd, another tingle shot up his neck. Every nerve went on high alert. His frustration mounted–it was still too faint, yet he found himself more certain than ever that something was off, and there was a traitor lurking in the crowd right under their noses.

“Everyone on high alert,” Thomas said into their earpieces. “A threat is moving in the crowd but I haven’t pinpointed it yet.”

The threat remained hidden, within the party, as the wait staff began to serve dinner. Perhaps with the people sitting stationary, he would be able to locate the person responsible for his discomfort.

According to the schedule, Isaac was due to give a speech from the deck. At least he had been able to convince his grandfather to wear a bulletproof vest.

“What’s the situation?” Isaac asked as he joined Thomas to take the microphone.

“Someone has been moving through the crowd. I haven’t located him yet.”

“All right, watch my back and I will try to make this short.”

Thomas stepped back as Isaac called for everyone’s attention.

“Welcome to the first annual shifter gathering. The reason for this celebration is twofold. First, I am announcing I am formally retaking the throne.”

The crowd rose to their feet in a thunderous standing ovation.

“Thank you,” Isaac said, waited for his guests to be seated once again. “Secondly, the elders requested I reinstate the annual gathering. Many of you younger people won’t remember the old days when this was a regular occurrence. Due to the recent events of my sons finding their mates among human friends and family of existing shifters, I modified the guest list. I included all siblings and appropriate friends of our shifter community in hopes some of you will meet your mate tonight.”

Another cheer rang through the crowd.

“I’m very excited to announce two of our men have already met their other half tonight. Please stand with your newly-found mates so we can toast you.”

The entire party raised their glasses to the lucky couples.

“I sincerely hope more of you will meet your mate before the night is over. Please, enjoy your meal and the dance to follow. And thank you again for coming.”

Isaac winked at him and took his seat.

Thomas frowned.
What is Grandpa up to?

Thomas’s tension was running high. Dinner had been cleared several minutes ago, and still no incident.

As the band prepared to play, he saw El walk onto the stage and take the microphone from the lead singer.

Quickly he adjusted the security team to cover her exposed position. They were definitely having a talk about safety after this party.

“Stefan Le Beau.”

The crowd went silent waiting to see what was about to happen.