Slade's Feisty Mate (Saber Chronicles Book Two) by R.E. Butler Page B

microwave, but she
didn’t really need a full kitchen. She ate most of her meals in the
staff dining room on the first floor or brought something up to her
room to eat.
    Glancing at the clock and seeing it was just
after eight, she dialed her alpha’s cell and debated what to eat
for dinner.
    “Johner,” his gruff voice said as he
answered.
    “Hello, Alpha, its Gretchen Havers. Farley
said you wanted me to call.”
    “Yes. I’ve invited a pack to visit on the
full moon. I need an entire floor of the hotel blocked for their
visit.”
    Relief filled her at his request. “I’ll get
to work right away, Alpha.”
    There was a brief pause before he said, “The
alpha is unmated.”
    She blinked in surprise. “Oh?”
    “They’re from St. Louis. It’s a beautiful
city.”
    “I’ve never been.”
    “The alpha isn’t the only one in the pack who
is unmated. You might find a mate for yourself among their
ranks.”
    She wanted to tell him that she wasn’t
looking for a mate right now, but that wouldn’t be true. She did
want to find a mate, but she didn’t want to just pick someone she
was attracted to, she wanted to find her truemate – the one male on
the planet who was perfect for her and her wolf. Sure she could
pick a wolf and mate him and pop out some pups, but she wanted more
than that. She wanted a connection to her mate that went soul-deep.
Maybe her alpha was psychic, and her truemate would be among the
unmated males of the visiting pack.
    “I’ll make sure everything is taken care of,
Alpha.”
    He grunted and ended the call, and she tossed
her phone onto the coffee table and walked to the mini fridge.
Inside she found the uneaten portion of her lunch in a Styrofoam
container, and she removed it and a bottle of water and set them on
the counter. Dumping the pasta dish on a plate, she put it in the
microwave and opened her water, taking a long drink. Once her meal
was reheated, she settled on the comfy white-and-green-striped
couch and opened her laptop to look at the available rooms in the
hotel.
    While she worked, changing reservations to
different floors and making a list of requirements for the visiting
pack, she wondered what her best friend was up to at the fights,
and whether or not Aubrey would get to meet any of the fighters.
She’d been told that all of the fighters lived in RVs near the
arena where the fighting took place, so she didn’t expect any of
them to come to the hotel to stay. But maybe she’d see some of them
around Belle Terra. She bet that the fighters were all big muscly
guys who were good with their hands. In the morning, she’d grill
Aubrey about her night, and maybe she’d be able to go to the fights
the following weekend.
    As excitement bloomed within her, she picked
up her cell and dialed her grandma. Like herself, Gretchen’s
grandma liked to stay up late reading romance novels. The first
romance novel she’d ever read had been given to her by her grandma.
Gretchen’s mom didn’t approve of romance novels, so her grandma had
snuck the book to her one afternoon. Gretchen had been hooked from
the first page. She loved the idea of a handsome guy sweeping a
beautiful woman off her feet. She knew it was far from real-life,
but she thought there were probably guys out there who liked to be
romantic.
    “I just shipped you a box of books,” her
grandma said when she answered the phone.
    Unlike Gretchen who read on her digital
reader, her grandma still read paperbacks and scoured used
bookstores and estate sales to find them. When she read them, she
would send a boxful to Gretchen. She had two bookshelves in her
bedroom, overflowing with books. As she read them, she gave them to
Serena, who enjoyed them, too, but not as much as Gretchen and her
grandma.
    “Thanks. I’ll keep an eye out for the box.
How’s your hip?”
    Her grandma had been caught in a trap when
she was in her forties, and her hip hadn’t set right, causing her
pain as she aged when arthritis set