Sassy Shifter Brides: Complete Series - BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Mail-Order Romance (20 page)

“Mister Ridgely. I do have proof. I stood ten feet away as Tommy grabbed a little girl and pushed her against a wall in the hallway, laughing and saying that girls like her aren’t good enough to go to the same school with him. If this behavior continues, the school will have no choice but to expel him. We don’t allow bullying, and this was more than just children playing. You know this, we’ve talked about it before.” Teresa caught Missis Ridgely’s eye and her heart just about broke. She could see the tears in the woman’s eyes – shame and disappointment in herself shining back at Teresa. Though Teresa hadn’t said it out loud, it was clear that the heartbroken mother understood what she meant. The little girl was one of the only black students in a mostly white school. Considering the way Tommy’s father addressed Teresa, she had no issues in guessing where the otherwise sweet boy got his prejudices.

“Furthermore, the principal is aware of this and has asked me to call you here to talk about this. She felt that phone conversations simply weren’t doing it anymore. I need to stress this. Tommy is a good boy. But he needs an example at home to know how to treat people who are different from him.” Her heart was beating wildly. She hated having these conversations, and it enraged her that Missis Johnson had let it go on for so long. Teresa had temped for her at least twice a week for the past few months, and she’d caught Tommy picking on the little girl repeatedly each time. When she’d suggested to the senior teacher that something should be done about it, she’d only received a scoffing remark and a suggestion to keep her nose out of it. After the little girl got a bruise on her cheek from colliding with the wall, Teresa couldn’t keep quiet anymore.

The look that came over Mister Ridgely’s face was pure disgust. He looked at Teresa like she was the lowest form of scum, taking in her slightly curly dark hair and her tanned skin. A lesser woman would have let her shoulders crumple under that deathly stare, but Teresa raised her head higher and gazed back at him firmly. He wasn’t the first person who’d questioned her worth as a person because of her skin color in the small Mississippi town, and he wasn’t going to be the last – as much as she hated to admit it.

“I don’t have to listen to any more of this nonsense from
you
.” The way he said it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. “Ella, come on, we’re going,” the man said, standing up abruptly and grabbing his wife by the hand. He almost dragged her out of the classroom, the frail woman trailing behind him. Teresa caught her glance before she was pulled out the door, and the woman mouthed a ‘thank you’ before disappearing into the corridor.

I guess no one stands up to him,
Teresa thought sourly, her shoulders falling now that she was alone. She buried her face in her hands, exhaustion wafting over her. Oh, how she hated moments like these. She loved children, that’s why she became a teacher in the first place, but kids who lived in a hateful, prejudiced environment never got the chance to grow up into the wonderful human beings they could have been. It broke her heart. It was even harder seeing families suffer under the reign of a tyrant like Mister Ridgely. His wife seemed like a lovely woman who would never allow her child to pick on others because of their skin color or the way they looked, or anything else for that matter. Teresa had always wanted children, but seeing how even the best of mothers sometimes had to struggle to raise their kids right, she kept pushing her desire for a family further and further into the future.

You’re going to have your vacation soon, Teresa. Think about that. Don’t get upset, this just comes with the job,
she reminded herself.

Just when she felt more down and out than ever before, her phone buzzed softly on the table. She raised her brown eyes to look at the screen, and a happy flutter wafted through her. The screen showed a new message on SassyDate, and she knew
exactly
who it would be from! At least there was something good in the dreary, horrible day.

***

“It was that bad, huh?” Julie asked, making a sympathetic face as Teresa walked into her office, varying two cups of cocoa and balancing her phone on one of the rims. Teresa nodded mutely, focusing on getting the drinks to the table without spilling them all over herself. She set one in front of Julie and then sank into a seat across from the wide vice-principal’s table with her own. The first sip sent some much needed warmth and comfort coursing through her, giving her a moment to settle before telling Julie about everything.

“It was, yes. He was just as receptive to the idea that his child had done something wrong as if I’d called him the world’s first and foremost terrorist. I felt so bad for his wife. I don’t really know what to do. Johnson won’t do anything about it, in fact, I think she might be encouraging it. And we got the principal to allow me to call them in, but you know that will be the end of it. Johnson has tenure
and
they’re friends. It’s hopeless.” Teresa had to resist the urge to gnaw on her lower lip. It seemed so obvious what needed to be done. The class needed a better teacher, one who was there for the kids every day, not just when she had the time, and the kids needed to be shown how to treat one another. All things a temp wouldn’t be allowed to do.

Julie nodded quietly, looking as resigned as Teresa. They both hated when the system bound their wrists, not allowing them to do anything for the kids who needed guidance.

“Well, we just have to keep trying. One of these days, those old hags will be too brittle to cause any trouble, and we can make some changes around here.” It sounded like wishful thinking to Teresa, but she nodded nonetheless. She’d become fast friends with Julie, the blue-eyed and smiley vice-principal of the Ridgeton Elementary School that she had been sent to temp at for this quarter. Soon, though, her time at the school would be up, and after a short vacation, she would have to start looking for another place, unless she was offered a permanent position. By the way she’d been ‘stirring up trouble’ as the principal put it, Teresa didn’t harbor much hope for any renewed contract. It was going to suck having to leave Ridgeton. Or, to be more specific, it was going to suck to have to leave Julie to fight the wolves on her own.

Teresa thumbed her phone wistfully, trying to will it to buzz again.

“What are you smiling about?” Julie asked teasingly, sipping on her cocoa. Teresa looked up, blushing, and let the phone fall on her lap.

“Oh, nothing.”

“Is it that guy again?”

“Maybe,” Teresa admitted, the blush becoming scarlet now. God, just the thought of him made her light up like a candle.

“So, are you going to take him up on the offer? It sounds like a lot of fun!”

“I don’t know. I mean, I don’t really know him, do I?” Teresa started, falling into her favorite topic of late – Slate, and whether or not she would go help him photograph the Idaho mountain ranges during her vacation. She’d seen his profile on SassyDate, a dating app for shifters and humans, and at the bottom of his description he’d written that he was looking for a woman whose idea of a good time would be flying high over the gorgeous mountains of Idaho, photographing them and enjoying the scenery while getting to know each other over a couple of weeks. He wasn’t looking for anything untoward, just companionship hopefully from someone passionate about wildlife and nature photography to help him get a better understanding of the area. It sounded exactly like something she would love to do, her second passion aside from teaching being photography. And he was hot as sin, so that certainly helped, even if he said everything would be completely proper. But wouldn’t it be complete madness to go off into the wild with a man she barely knew, even if they had been talking over the app for months now, and she felt like she’d told him almost everything there was to know about her?

“Not this again!” Julie started, throwing up her hands in exasperation and almost knocking the cup on the floor. “You two have been talking for ages on end over that app! Don’t try to hide it, I see you with your nose in the screen all the time. And you
must
like him, otherwise you wouldn’t get redder than a beet every time he comes up in conversation. You have the free time, you don’t have any commitments, and you live out of a suitcase anyway – why wouldn’t you go to Idaho and fly around for a few weeks with a gorgeous cowboy! Who knows, maybe they have a school there that needs someone to teach their kids not to be total assholes!” Julie finished with a flourish, giving Teresa a stern look. Teresa smiled in response, loving the way her friend got so fired up about certain things. Teresa always felt incredibly quiet and reserved next to Julia, keeping her fire well under the lid and avoiding causing any waves.

“But what if…“ Teresa started, only to be cut off.      

“No what-ifs! Do you like him?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think he likes you?” Teresa hesitated for a moment, but when Julie tossed her a look that she sometimes used on badly behaving children, Teresa couldn’t help but straighten up and nod.

“Yes. Maybe.”

“Do you have anything better to do with your two-week vacation than get cozy with a scorching hot weretiger while doing the thing you’re passionate about? I’m referencing photography here, but if you want to do the other thing too, then I think it would be good for you!” Julie said, grinning. Teresa giggled, letting her body relax. It was good being around Julie. Her upbeat personality was infectious, and after the day Teresa had had, she could use a bit of happiness.

“No,” she admitted with a grin.

“Well, it’s settled then! In a week, you get to pack your bags and go meet this mysterious Slate of yours! And I want all the details, right away!”

CHAPTER TWO

Slate scuffed a hand through his reddish brown hair, leaning against the side of his small airplane and watching the traffic of the busy Boise Airport light up the afternoon sky. Well, busy for Idaho standards, anyway. The tall man smiled to himself quietly, peering at the commotion around him over the edge of his aviator sunglasses. Airports always made him feel at ease. Something about the abrupt, noisy madness of it all soothed him. A little chaos always seemed to fit him better than careful order. Still, there were rules to this mayhem, and he found something poetic in it.

Of course, he wasn’t going to deny that today he might just be feeling good for a whole other reason than the chance to stand in the middle of a Podunk airport, watching iron birds fall from the skies. One of those airplanes was carrying his precious cargo, and while he wouldn’t admit it to anyone other than himself, he was excited to get his hands on it.

No. Not hands on. Just companionship,
Slate reminded himself sternly, the corners of his mouth dipping out of the smile that had curved them. That was one way to ruin a party. He sighed, tucking his hands into his jean pockets and rolling his shoulders back. The restlessness that had become so familiar to him as of late wafted over him again, his quiet revelation taking the wind out of his sails a little.

Teresa was due to land any minute now, and quite frankly, Slate couldn’t wait to meet her in person.  Still, the thought of meeting her made his stomach turn a little as well. He’d been talking to her for a while now over SassyDate and from what he could tell, the woman could do no wrong. Everything she said matched what he was thinking, and her spirit and kindness made his tiger roar protectively at the mere thought of her. There was something special about Teresa Lopez that ticked all the right boxes with him, and he couldn’t have her. At least not yet. It was going to be pure torture being around her without touching her, but he was adamant about overcoming his animal and doing things right. His nose scrunched a little. He was not looking forward to behaving around the curvy, delicious and whip-smart woman. If he could have his way, he’d be all over her the second she stepped out of the airplane. But, alas, that was not how things could go.

It seemed that the sun shone dimmer, and the clouds rolled darker and gloomier with every second he spent thinking about his situation. In his early thirties, Sergei Morenkov, or Slate as he preferred to be known, had known that he couldn’t escape his heritage forever. There came a time in every Siberian weretiger Alpha’s life when he would have to make a choice – to find a mate or to live his life in relative solitude. It was called the Bonding. And all the signs were telling him that his was already starting. During a month of his life, a deep physical urge, an undeniable heat came over every weretiger male. It was as if a yawning darkness would erupt around him, dulling his world for a month or so until he found a weretigress to call his own.

The weretiger could think of little else during that time but the need to find a tigress that matched him physically, and unless he found his mate then, he would be left without an heir. It was simply how it went. If he did not bond with a mate, he could not have cubs in the future, with anyone. The Bonding signified both the weretiger becoming strong enough and ready to sire heirs, as well as stepping into the prime of his powers. The elders in Slate’s clan had often said that it was the one surefire way of keeping the weretiger race going, as the stubborn, willful tigers rarely got along in groups, and their desire for solitude didn’t make for great courting opportunities. It annoyed Slate to no end.

It had taken Slate a long time to come to the conclusion that he would rather be without an heir than succumb to the simple physical urge that he knew would take hold of him at one point, driving him to find a weretigress as his mate. For humans, the desire to have both a physical and an emotional connection with their other half was the most natural thing, but as far as weretigers went, it was the height of nonsense. And yet, that was exactly what Slate wanted – a partner, not a vessel to carry his young. If it meant that his line would stop with him, so be it. He had seen too many royal pairs who despised one another – including his parents – to want that kind of life for himself. The only reason they got together was to mate and produce young, living their lonesome, spiteful lives far away from one another in the meantime. It had taught Slate, the eldest of his family’s royal Alpha pair’s sons, to grow up fast and hard, and also to see that he didn’t want his life to take that path.