The Clawed Squad: Royal (The Bear Shifters of Clawed Ranch Book 2) Read online

  Stetson backed away with a growl and stormed back into camp. He slammed the door of his cabin so hard that the whole thing shook.

  “Well, that was a letdown,” Julius said, shaking his head. “Oh well,” he said, taking a bite of his pie. “At least I still have this delicious homemade pie.”

  “Did you come to help?” Royal asked with a raised eyebrow. “Because we have lots to do.”

  “No,” Julius said with a shrug. “Alexander and I had a bet and we just wanted to come see how far along you guys are. I said that you guys wouldn’t have shit done. Alexander said that you wouldn’t have fuck all done.” Julius nodded as he looked around at the empty barn. “Looks like we were both right.”

  “It’s coming,” Royal said with a grin. “Just give us a few weeks.”

  Julius laughed as he climbed back onto his horse. “Mates, guys. I want to see mates.” He motioned with his eyes to Stetson’s cabin that was still shaking on its foundation. “If that ugly brute can find a mate, then you moderately good looking men can too.”

  Royal’s stomach fluttered. He hated all of this mate talk.

  “Speaking of ugly brutes,” Julius said, turning to his brother, Alexander. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Bye,” Karl said, waving with a fake smile. “Don’t come back.”

  Julius sniffed the air. “It smells like failure around here. Or maybe that’s just Royal’s chances of finding a princess to bed.”

  Royal’s body tensed. Even he knows?

  Alexander huffed out a deep laugh as he climbed onto his enormous black stallion. The horse looked even stronger than him.

  “Thanks for the welcoming present,” Slate said, giving Julius the stink eye. “I hope it was good.”

  Julius smiled, flashing his blue teeth. “It was delicious. Now go take some showers and find some mates already.” The two brothers turned their horses and took off, galloping across the field in two large clouds of dust.

  “He’s got a point,” Tyler said when they were finally out of earshot.

  Slate lifted his shirt to his nose and sniffed. “Yup, he definitely does. I need a shower bad.”

  “About finding mates,” Tyler corrected. “We can set up the ranch all we want but it’s going to be gone in a few months if we don’t settle down.”

  Thorn bit his lip and nodded. “We should try to find mates.”

  Stetson opened the door of his cabin and walked back over now that Alexander was gone. He looked calmer. Taking on a mate tended to have that effect on angry bear shifters like him.

  “What are you guys thinking?” Thorn asked. “Honest opinions.”

  Slate huffed out a breath as he shook his head. “Honestly, I think we’re fucked. Where are we going to find another cyborg to date this guy?” he asked, pointing at Tyler. Tyler chuckled as he glanced down at his metallic prosthetic leg.

  “We’re lucky that this guy found someone,” Slate continued, pointing at Stetson’s huge frame. “Otherwise, we would have had to find a Sasquatch in these forests who could handle his monster cock.”

  “Leave your mother out of this,” Stetson answered with a grin.

  Slate just ignored him, pointing at Royal. “This guy wants to marry a Disney cartoon. Maybe we can take him to Disney World to marry the chick who dresses up as Cinderella.”

  The boys all laughed as Slate continued. “And this guy,” he said, pointing at his identical twin, Karl. “He’s got a better shot with his incredible looks but as soon as he opens his mouth the women flee in horror.”

  “What about you?” Karl asked, chuckling. “Do you think you can find a woman who can stand you?”

  “Me?” Slate asked, touching his chest with his palm. “I think that goes without saying. I can find a mate by dinner time.”

  Royal shook his head as he laughed. “Where are you going to find this blind and deaf woman who doesn’t mind living in a small cabin with a bunch of bear shifters?”

  Slate rubbed his chin. “I haven’t thought about that part yet.”

  “But seriously,” Thorn said, looking each of them in the eye, one by one. “I don’t want to force anything onto anyone. I don’t want anyone doing anything that they don’t feel comfortable with. Alright?”

  Royal took a breath of relief. “What about you boss?” Royal asked Thorn. “Do you want to take on a mate and get married?”

  Thorn sighed as he dropped his eyes to the dirt. “I had my shot,” he said, his voice thick with sadness. “And I’m not sure if I deserve another.”

  Stetson squeezed Thorn’s shoulder with his big hand.

  Thorn swallowed hard. “But I’ll suck it up and go next.”

  Royal looked at his alpha with admiration. Thorn clearly wasn’t ready to take on a mate after what happened in his past, but he was willing to throw himself on the grenade for his men regardless.

  Thorn always put his men before himself and that was one of the reasons why they all adored him so much.

  “I’ll go first, boss,” Slate said, grinning wildly. “I can’t wait to find a heavy woman and-”

  “Yes,” Karl said, rolling his eyes, “fill her full of your caveman babies. We know already.”

  “Or,” Thorn said, pausing with a hint of sadness in his charcoal gray eyes, “we can let go of the ranch and go our separate ways.”

  A sadness washed over Royal as he considered leaving the men who were his only family now. These guys had shared the most harrowing situations with him while they were in the military. They had shared laughs and meals and holidays and good times and bad. As much as Karl and Slate could drive him crazy with their constant joking, as much as Tyler made him roll his eyes with his high sense of morals, as much as it bugged him how Stetson could be as moody as a newly castrated bull, and as much as it frustrated him how Thorn could always have all of the answers and have his shit so together no matter what fucked up situation they were in; these shifters were Royal’s family. And he loved them. Even if he would never ever admit it to them.

  “Well,” Royal said with a shrug, “we did just get the barn set up.”

  “Yeah,” Slate said, rubbing the back of his neck and looking up at the trees. “I mean we could stay here for a week or two at least. Get some rest in.”

  Tyler smiled. “I don’t want to leave. I love you guys!”

  “Man, you’re such a chick!” Karl said, shaking his head.

  “What?” Tyler said, looking surprised. He opened his arms and waved everyone in with his hands. “Come on, guys. Group hug.”

  Everyone hurried away, groaning and shaking their heads no. “Don’t run away from your feelings!” Tyler called out.

  Shit. It was settled. Everyone would have to take on a mate.

  Including Royal.

  He was a prince and only a princesses would do for a mate. And since he couldn’t find one he was perfectly content with being alone. But he wasn’t okay with living without his boys. They were the only family that he had and he wasn’t about to give them up.

  “Where are you going Prince Farming?” Slate asked as Royal headed to the pickup truck.

  Royal climbed in and slammed the door, feeling a huge headache coming on. “I need a fucking drink.”

  two

  “Hi, my name is Jasmine,” Camilla said, shaking the hand of the guy at her door. Well, technically it wasn’t her door. She booked the townhouse online with a fake name and a stolen credit card.

  “I’m Alan,” the man responded with a smile on his face.

  “Go check out the car and I’ll go get the keys,” Camilla said. The man gave her a quick up and down glance as he turned towards the driveway. He almost tripped over the plastic tricycle that she had strategically placed on the path.

  Camilla grinned as she went into the house and grabbed a baby monitor off the table along with the car keys. This guy was going to be an easy mark. Worth at least three hundred.

  Not bad for ten minutes of work.

  Camilla handed him the car key wi
th a smile. She had a beautiful smile and was easy on the eyes. That always helped. Her marks were always quick to try and please her. And there was only one way that Camilla was pleased.

  With money.

  “Feel free to start the car,” she said as the guy walked around the two-year-old Mazda 6. It was worth at least sixteen thousand but she was selling it for eleven. “Sit inside, look around.”

  “It looks beautiful,” Alan said as he inspected the doors. “How come it’s so cheap?”

  Camilla shrugged. “We just want a quick sale. My husband just got a company car and he doesn’t have time for a million shoppers to come and see it and haggle with him.”

  Alan tried to hide his smile as his greed took over. He thought he was scamming her and he was loving it.

  Well, shame on him.

  Alan climbed into the driver’s seat and started the car. He popped the hood and walked around to check out the engine.

  “It’s in great condition,” he said, nodding as he looked under the hood.

  “I love the car,” Camilla said, crossing her arms to make sure that the baby monitor was in his view. “But my husband got a Mercedes from his company so he doesn’t want it anymore.”

  Alan nodded as he rubbed his chin. He was trying to seem hesitant but Camilla knew what he was thinking. He was jumping for joy inside. He was about to scam her by way underpaying for her car.

  “Can I take it for a test drive?” he asked.

  Camilla grimaced. “I can’t,” she said, holding up the baby monitor. “I’m here by myself and the little one is sleeping inside.”

  Alan glanced at the baby monitor and nodded.

  “If you come back at seven tonight my husband will be here and he can take you out,” Camilla said. Camilla’s fictional husband was always home by seven.

  “Okay,” Alan said, nodding. “I’m interested. And if it runs well then I’d like to buy it.”

  “Cool,” Camilla answered, “but I do have a few more people coming this afternoon. It is a good deal and we want a quick sale so it will go sometime this afternoon. If you’re generally interested then you can leave a deposit, something small like five hundred, and I’ll cancel everyone else this afternoon and save the car for you.”

  Alan yanked out his wallet like it was burning his ass and Camilla gently bit her lip to hide her grin.

  He pulled out a stack of bills and rifled through them as he counted. “I only have three eighty,” he said, holding it out to her.

  She shrugged and took the money. “That should be fine,” she said with a nod of her head. “It’s just to show that you’re serious.” She pulled out a paper and pen out of her pocket and wrote him a receipt of the deposit. He thanked her as he took it from her and put it in his wallet. That part always made her shake her head. Why do they always take that worthless receipt? It’s not like they can go to a customer service window and ask for a refund.

  “So come back at seven,” she said as she walked him to his car, “and you can square out all of the details with my husband.”

  My hot, caring, fictional husband.

  Alan thanked her and left with a huge grin on his face. He thought that he was getting away with a steal. But in reality, he just lost three hundred and eighty bucks.

  Camilla slipped the money into her back pocket and walked back into the house. She tossed the baby monitor that had no batteries in it onto the table and pulled out the cash. She opened a cupboard and pulled out a salad bowl that was full of twenties, fifties, and hundreds, and tossed her new stack of cash inside. There was over three grand already and it wasn’t even lunch time.

  Angela had taught her this scam years ago. Camilla used to do it almost monthly back in the day but it had been years now since the last time she had pulled it off.

  First Camilla rented a car in another state. Usually something two or three years old and in great condition. Then she rented out a townhouse in a nice, upscale family neighborhood for a day or two. She placed some ads in the paper and online selling the car for way under the market value and began taking appointments to see the car, meeting at the townhouse that she rented. The appointments were scheduled thirty minutes apart all day long. If she started at nine o’clock sharp, she could fit in twenty appointments in one day if everything went as planned, which it usually did.

  Then she drove the car to the townhouse, stopping at the long-term parking lot at the airport along the way to steal a license plate.

  She parked in the townhouse, changed the plate on the car, and waited for the people to show up and give her money. The baby monitor was key. It made her look like a stay at home mom and gave her an excuse as to why they couldn’t take the car out for a test drive because there was a napping baby inside the house. That way the marks were in an out in minutes.

  She collected deposits from everyone who thought that they were ripping her off because they were getting such a cheap deal. It was the greed factor, and people fell into the trap every time.

  Nobody could resist. It was such a nice car and so cheap. How could they not pay a deposit?

  On a decent day Camilla would make five grand and on a great day she would make close to ten.

  And by seven o’clock, when she told all of them to come back to pick up the car, she was long gone with the car and more importantly, with their money.

  She always felt a little guilty when she pictured them all huddled around the townhouse trying to figure out what happened. She tried not to think about it too much. It was never a good idea to think of the marks after she pulled off a scam. It always came with too much guilt.

  The doorbell rang and Camilla sighed. She placed the bowl full of money back into the cupboard and walked to the door. A middle-aged man with a bad comb-over was peering in through the window.

  Camilla opened the door and smiled. “Hi,” she said, holding out her hand. “My name is Mary.”

  Camilla dropped off the rental car back in Montana where she had picked it up. She had stopped at the airport on the way back and put the license plate back on the unsuspecting car that she had taken it from in the first place.

  She pocketed her seven thousand, three hundred and twenty dollars that she earned from her hard day of work and walked over to the shopping mall down the street where her real car was parked.

  What do I do now?

  She opened the trunk and smiled when she opened a bag with a wedding dress stuffed inside.

  Perfect.

  three

  Colwood, Montana. Sounds like a good place to make some money.

  Camilla loved these small hometowns. They were full of hardworking, honest, down to earth, and just plain wholesome people. They were always trying to help, always looking for the best in people. They were so easy to take money from.

  She parked her car on the road and pulled out her backpack with the wedding dress stuffed inside.

  The town was beautiful and quaint. One main road with a barber shop, two inns, a fishing and hunting store, a little restaurant and of course a bar, called The Call of the Wild. There were spectacular snow-capped mountains jutting into the sky off in the distance giving it a really nice secluded and safe feel.

  There were families strolling around, looking like they didn’t have a care in the world. A man in a cowboy hat with a thick bushy gray mustache was sitting on a bench nearby, smoking a thin cigar. It smelled like raspberries and tobacco.

  A young couple each holding the hand of a little girl walked by, smiling at Camilla. “Hi lady,” the cute little girl with the bright blue eyes said. “You’re pretty.”

  “Thank you,” Camilla said, breaking out into a smile. “So are you.”

  The couple smiled at Camilla and laughed as they continued walking. Camilla turned away and took a deep breath, trying to push down the self-loathing thoughts that were creeping up. They would do the same in your situation, or worse.

  These cute small towns were a gold mine for a con artist like her but Camilla always found it hard.
The nice families with the perfect lives just served as a reminder of what she would never have. She could steal their money but she couldn’t steal their happiness and she couldn’t steal the love that they had for each other.

  And that was what she really wanted.

  She exhaled long and hard and then got moving with a tightness in her chest. She needed some place to change. That’s what was hard about these small towns. She couldn’t just walk into a gas station or restaurant and use their bathroom to change. Small town people always remembered what strangers looked like and they always felt the need to make conversation, asking a ton of personal questions that Camilla hated to answer. Luckily, she had a hundred pre-fabricated stories to tell. She could be Mandy, the recently graduated art student with the long-term boyfriend Matt who was about to propose any day now, or Joanne, the owner of a cupcake shop who was married to a sweet investment banker who loved to play tennis, or Laura, the traveling saleswoman who had the cutest little son waiting for her back home with her caring husband Phil, who was a stay at home dad.

  All of her personas had one thing in common: they were all married to a caring man who loved her.

  Big cities were perfect for anonymity. She could walk into a McDonald’s bathroom and come out in a wedding dress and nobody would even bother to turn their heads away from their Big Macs to look. Even if the police did come looking for her after, the witnesses would be long gone. And even if they were still around, they would never remember the details of her face. But big cities did have their drawbacks too. People were always on guard for scams and reluctant to help out a stranger. Not like here.

  Camilla slipped into the alley between the inn and the barber shop and went around to the back, near the dumpsters. The smell of rotting garbage hit her nose as she opened her bag and pulled out her wedding dress.

  This was not what I was dreaming of when I thought about putting a wedding dress on for the first time. She had pictured getting dressed surrounded by devoted friends who oohed and aahed as her loving husband waited outside for her to say her vows.