Lone Wolf by Tessa Clarke Page B

from Freefall: Book One in the Cat Shifters of White Peaks
    Freefall: Cade and Alissa’s Story
    the Cat Shifters of White Peaks: Book One
     
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    Chapter One: Alissa
     
     
     
    “Yes, Mike, I promise I’ll make a decision on the job by Monday. I really appreciate the offer, and thanks so much for showing me around White Peaks yesterday. It’s a beautiful little town.”
    Alissa Grey swung her long dark hair over her shoulder and ended the call. Sunlight streamed in her rented condo windows and the slopes of White Peaks Ski Resort sparkled with fresh snow outside.
    She really didn’t know what to do about the job offer. It was a great position and White Peaks seemed like a nice place, but her friends were in Denver and she wasn’t really sure if there was any reason to move, aside from the skiing perhaps, which she planned to check out today.
    On the other hand, it wasn’t like there was a man holding her in Denver. Not after Hugh announced that he had to “find himself” and it turned out that he started his search with her skinny co-worker Janice, who was a full-fledged psychiatrist, not just a psychologist like Alissa. He probably just figured he could get free psychoanalysis. Of course, what Hugh didn’t know was that Janice dipped liberally into the medicine cabinet and prescribed herself all sorts of psychotropic drugs. That was why she was so thin. Half the time she was so high on Ativan that she forgot to eat.
    Whatever. Alissa didn’t care. They deserved each other. She’d had vibrators that were better lovers than Hugh. Maybe moving to White Peaks would be a fresh start. But she’d miss Zoey and Jolene, her best friends, so much.
    As if on cue, her phone rang and Zoey’s name flashed up on the screen.
    “Hey babe,” Alissa drawled.
    “You know it,” Zoey responded with a snort. After years of bemoaning their inability to find sexy and caring men with whom to share their lives, and blaming themselves for not being attractive enough, Zoey, Jolene, and Alissa had decided, based on Alissa’s professional counseling, to stop with the negative self-talk, call themselves babes, and blame the men for not seeing their inner, and outer, beauty. So far, to Alissa’s surprise, it actually seemed to be working, at least on their self-esteem. None of them had a man yet.
    “What’s going on?”
    “Just calling to see if you’re leaving us,” Zoey said.
    “I’ll never leave you, even if I do move. But I doubt it, Zo, I can’t see anything that would keep me here.”
    “Not even the hot skiers.”
    “I haven’t met any of those yet. I’ll keep you posted.”
    “Just remember to sashay.”
    “Oh I will, don’t worry.” Alissa covered the faint sob that accompanied Zoey’s reminder with a cheerful tone. When they’d started calling themselves the babes, they’d also agreed that big girls had every right to sashay as skinny girls—both in attitude and when they walked. But as much as she’d put it into practice, it hadn’t seemed to yield any results. She was still here alone, wishing she had someone to wake up next to her, laugh with her, touch her body in wicked, pleasure-filled ways, and join her on the slopes.
    “Do you think we’ll know Liss, when we meet the one? Like they know,” Zoey’s voice was wistful.
    Alissa pictured her gorgeous little blond, buxom friend who could shift into a stunning lynx with tufted ears and a tawny coat. “Well, you might. You’re a full shifter. But I just have shifter blood, so I doubt it. I certainly haven’t felt any sort of tingling or sense of certainty or anything with any man I’ve met so far.” What would it feel like to know your mate, she wondered. To just know for sure that you had met the one that would be forever. It must be a relief, she decided. Better than sitting in darkened bars with men, trying to make conversation, and figure out who they really were inside, while they stared at her tits.
    “Maybe it’s