Micah & Zoey (The Wolf's Mate Generations Book Two), page 1
Micah & Zoey
The Wolf’s Mate Generations Book Two
By R. E. Butler
Copyright, R. E. Butler 2022
Micah & Zoey (The Wolf’s Mate Generations Book Two)
By: R. E. Butler
License Notes
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.
Cover by CT Cover Creations
This ebook is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locations is coincidental.
Disclaimer: The material in this book is for mature audiences only and contains graphic sexual content and is intended for those older than the age of 18 only.
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Edited by Judy Rosen at Precise Editing Group
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Thanks Joyce, Shelley, & Ann for beta-reading
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Coming Soon in The Wolf’s Mate Generations
Contact the Author
Other Book by R. E.
Luke & Rena (The Wolf’s Mate Generations Book Three)
Micah & Zoey (The Wolf’s Mate Generations Book Two)
By R. E. Butler
Zoey Ravenski hasn’t wanted anything to do with wolves since her boyfriend cheated on her with several she-wolves and mocked her tears. To top off her bad luck, she lost her bakery job and needs to find work soon so she can pay her half of the rent. An ad to join the baking brigade at Lonestar Restaurant in the small town of Allen lands Zoey right in the middle of the very kind of people she doesn’t want anything to do with. Including a very handsome grill-master who’s determined to show her he’s nothing like her ex.
Micah Gerrick has loved cooking since his Uncle Jason taught him how to use a grill when he was thirteen. Ten years later, he’s the grill-master for the pack and runs the smokehouse for the town’s restaurant. He’s also freaking lonely and wants to find his truemate. When his friends take him out for his twenty-third birthday, he scents his mate in the bar and tries to talk to her, but she doesn’t want anything to do with him. A twist of fate puts them together in the same kitchen, and he has the chance to make things right and win her over.
Can Micah get through the protective walls around Zoey’s heart and show her that he’s nothing like her ex? Or will she hold on to her heartbreak and refuse to see him for the male he is?
Chapter One
Thursday morning, Zoey pulled the comforter up and smoothed her hand over the top. She was taking her time making the bed, not because she particularly cared whether it was made or not, but because she was thinking. She had some decisions to make about her future, including how she was going to make her half of the rent when she’d lost her job at Must Love Cupcakes, a local bakery that went belly-up. Two things had gone drastically wrong in a short period of time—first, her relationship with a wolf shifter had imploded when she’d discovered his infidelity and his family’s hatred of her humanity, and then she’d lost her dang job.
“Do you want eggs or just your regular coffee with too much sugar and milk?” Rena said from the doorway.
Zoey looked up at her roommate and best friend. “You’re cooking breakfast?”
Rena shrugged, her long, dark hair moving with the motion. “I’m in the mood today.”
“Just coffee, thanks.” She smiled at Rena, but she wasn’t really feeling it. She was miserable inside, and she had what the world liked to call “resting bitch face”. When she wasn’t happy, she looked pissed.
Rena could always see right through her fake smiles. “Why are you trying to look happy? Did you read the nasty break-up email that Tony sent you again? I told you to delete it.”
Zoey sat down on the bed and leaned over, lifting her shoes from the floor. “I deleted it I swear. I was just thinking about what I should do with my life. Do you ever wonder if you’re making the right choices?”
“Duh, of course. Everyone wonders about the paths they take when they’re going through a major change. Six months ago you thought you were going to marry that asshole, and two weeks ago you had a fab job. Everything about your life is different now, although I’d wager it’s better because that asshat isn’t in your life anymore.”
Pulling on her favorite pair of Doc Martens, Zoey stood and smiled genuinely at her best friend. “My life is better, I promise. I know that he wasn’t the right guy for me.”
“Fact. The right guy is out there somewhere, but you’re not going to find him sitting on my couch watching TV.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. “Your couch is very comfy.”
Rena laughed and her brown eyes danced. “You’re a nut.”
“I’ve been looking for a job. I just haven’t found anything. If all else fails, I’ll go to the coffee shop down the road. They’re hiring.”
“I can carry your portion of the rent until you find a job you actually want, so don’t go applying for some awful thing because you’re worried about money. I’m more concerned with you holing up and feeling sorry for yourself. We have to go out and do something fun. How about tomorrow night?”
Rena was not the sort of person to take no for an answer. Zoey had given up on that, ages ago. “All right. What did you have in mind?”
“Dancing, drinking, fun times—the works.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Rena gave her a long look. “Have you tried a dating app?”
“No. I’m not interested in dating anyone right now.”
“It’s been six months. You know he moved on and you should too.”
She didn’t want to say that she was simply scared to let herself fall for another guy again. Her good-guy-radar, which had seemed to point in the direction that Tony was the right one for her, had been dead wrong. Now she didn’t trust herself. She’d been greatly deceived, and she didn’t want to go through that again.
“Maybe I’ll be single forever. Get a few cats, the crazy-cat-lady starter pack complete with house slippers and a velour robe.”
“Hard no on that, babe. I’m allergic to cats.”
“Spoilsport.”
Rena chuckled. “Your broken heart will mend, but only by getting out there and finding someone new. Tony didn’t deserve you and you didn’t deserve to be treated like trash because you’re human. If I see him again, I’ll kick his ass, trust me.”
“I believe you.” Rena was fierce. More than Zoey for sure. In her head she was very fierce too and always knew the right thing to say, but in reality, she wasn’t much for confrontations, and she got tongue-tied when put on the spot.
Rena crossed the room and hugged Zoey. “Whatever you’re wondering about your life, just know that I’m here for you.” Rena straightened and tucked a lock of dark brown hair behind her ear. “You might be single but you’re not alone. Don’t forget that.”
“Aw you’re going to make me cry, stop it.” Zoey gave Rena a little shove and Rena laughed.
“I have to go to work, Z. You up to anything?”
“Job hunting and then I promised my mom I’d help her organize her craft room this afternoon.”
“Sounds like a blast. I’ll see you after work.” Rena blew a kiss to Zoey and walked out of the room.
Zoey reached for her cell on the nightstand and tucked it into her back pocket after glancing at the weather app and deciding she didn’t need a jacket. September in Kentucky could be really warm or chilly, depending on how nature was feeling at any given moment. The forecast for the day was warm and sunny, and she was going to take full advantage of it by putting all her windows down in the car and letting the wind make a mess of her hair.
Checking her reflection in the mirror over her dresser, she tugged her purse from the doorknob and left the apartment. Rena’s apartment was one of four in a small complex in the town of Bards Mill. Zoey and Rena had met in community college when Zoey was studying pastry making and had been asked to help cater a celebration dinner for the dean’s list honorees. Rena, one of the honorees, had snuck into the kitchen and stolen an entire tray of mini eclairs that Zoey had made, and the two hit it off over the cream-filled pastries. They’d been best friends ever since.
When Zoey’s ex had broken her heart, Rena offered to let Zoey crash at her apartment for as long as she needed, since Zoey had been living with Tony at an apartment complex that was near his pack’s territory. Moving out of the apartment had been humiliating. Tony hadn
Then they’d followed her car out of town after giving her a message from Tony’s alpha father, that she was no longer welcome in town, and if she ever stepped foot in their territory, she’d be considered an enemy and dealt with appropriately.
Nothing like a death threat to put your life in perspective.
She’d realized on that car ride to Rena’s that she’d been an outsider the entire time she’d been with Tony, and she’d chosen to ignore the warning signs. She’d never been invited to do anything with the pack and had often felt like an intruder, although Tony had sworn that his alpha-father didn’t care she was human. In the end, the truth had come out. It wasn’t that his father didn’t like her, he simply didn’t think humans and shifters should mix. Shifters, in his opinion, were superior to humans and shouldn’t mate with them.
“He told me not to get involved with you,” Tony had told her a little while before their relationship ended. “He said I could fuck you, but nothing more. I guess he didn’t count on me falling for you.”
She’d bought that hook line and sinker. She’d been impressed that he’d gone against his father’s wishes to be with her. The reality had been a bucketful of cold water to her face. Tony had been cheating on her with she-wolves from his pack nearly from the beginning of their relationship. When his father had reached the limit of his tolerance of their relationship, he made Tony choose: the pack or her. He hadn’t even hesitated to end things with her. She’d thought he was a good guy, but she’d been bitterly disappointed.
Shaking her head, she pushed the depressing thoughts aside and sat behind the wheel of her car. She picked up her phone and opened the search engine to check for new want ads. She’d love to work at a bakery again, but she’d also be willing to work in a restaurant too. The last two weeks had been hell. She hated not working, and Rena had begged her to stop baking at home because she was starting to put on weight from the cupcakes and pies.
A new job listing appeared in the search results for Lonestar Restaurant in Allen. She didn’t recognize the town name and pulled it up on a map program, finding it fifteen minutes away. The job included baking a variety of items as well as overseeing the bakery counter on the weekends. It sounded right up her alley.
After forwarding her resume to Karly Mayfield, the restaurant manager, Zoey put her phone in the cup holder and headed to her parents’ house to spend the day elbow-deep in craft supplies alongside her mom. She smiled, thinking that maybe the new job listing was an omen that things were going to turn around for the better.
She certainly freaking hoped so.
* * *
At her parents’ quaint Cape Cod, she found her mom in her craft room that looked like a craft store had exploded.
“Hi honey,” her mom said as she straightened from a clear plastic tub filled with yarn.
She tiptoed through the boxes and bags scattered around what had been a spare bedroom at one time and gave her mom a hug.
“Hi Mom. Where’s Dad?”
“He went into the office.”
Her father, Barry, had retired at age fifty-five from a CPA office, but got bored after a few months at home, and found a small agency in town where he worked part-time. It also had the benefit, her mother, Frankie, had said, of keeping him out of her hair.
“Where should I start?” Zoey asked, looking around.
“If you could put together the new set of shelves Dad bought for me that would be awesome. The shelves are going in between the windows.”
“You got it.” Zoey found the box containing a wooden five-shelf unit that purported to be easy to put together. She was mildly good with tools and had put together other things like this for her mom in the past.
She cleared a space on the floor and opened the box.
“I applied for another job before I came here.”
“Oh? That’s great. Where?”
“It’s for the head of a baking brigade in Allen.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been to Allen.”
“It’s not too far from mine and Rena’s place. Hopefully I’ll have an interview soon.”
“You know in my day, we sometimes waited weeks to hear about jobs. Your generation is so used to instant gratification that you can’t imagine waiting more than a day for anything.”
She grinned. Her mom was forever saying things about Zoey’s generation. She was sure her grandma had made similar comments about her mom’s generation too. “I know it takes time, Mom. I’m just anxious to get to work.”
“Dad said you could answer the phone at the agency if you wanted some work.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not built for a desk job.”
“Oh please. Don’t you remember how you used to play secretary when you were little? And your teddy bear was your boss, and you answered your play phone for him and took messages?”
Zoey’s cheeks pinked. “I don’t remember that at all.”
“You do too!” Her mom laughed. “It was so sweet. I might even have some videos of it.”
“Holy crap, mom, please don’t look for videos.”
“Spoilsport.”
Zoey groaned and turned her attention back to the shelf. “I’m sure I’ll find something. I just hate waiting around. I feel really useless without a job.”
“I understand that. Plus with that boy Tony being such a jerk, you probably are spending too much time wallowing in your feelings because you’re not busy.”
“True. But I’m not really wallowing. I don’t think so, anyway.”
“I’m glad. He treated you so badly. I’m happy you’re not with him anymore, I never liked how different you were.”
“It didn’t matter to me that he wasn’t human, but it sure mattered to him in the end. I think, really, that he was just using me. Maybe to piss off his dad or prove a point about humans. We’re not together anymore and I’m infinitely better off without him.”
“You are. The right fella is out there for you. And I’m going to go on a limb and say you’re not going to date wolves anytime soon.”
“Absolutely not. They’re now at the top of the list of guys I don’t date.”
Her mom looked at her curiously. “What else is on the list?”
“No shifters, no guys without cars, no guys without jobs, and no guys who say something is ‘fire’ when it’s good.”
“I don’t know about that last one, but the first three work for me.”
“Did you invite me over to keep me busy and take my mind off things?” Zoey counted out the screws and then looked at her mom.
“Yep. Well, I also need help. Dad can’t help me because then he complains about how much stuff I have.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Zoey really appreciated her mom. They didn’t always agree about everything, but she knew without a doubt that her mom had her back no matter what. Her thoughts flitted to Rena, who was estranged from her family but never wanted to talk about them. It would be sad to be apart from her family no matter the circumstances that caused the division.
“Well, I’d do anything for you sweetie, you know that. And I’d really like to get the room cleaned up before our cruise. You could still come if you want, there are tickets available.”
Two weeks on a cruise ship with fifty-somethings trying to recapture their youth? Hard pass. “I’m good, thanks. We’ll get this place ship-shape in no time, I’m sure.”
“You’re the best daughter on the planet.”
“I think you’re pretty awesome too.”
After the shelf was put together, Zoey sorted ribbons while her mom tested stamp pads to see if they still had ink. While working in the craft room hadn’t been at the top of Zoey’s list of things she wanted to do, she was thankful for it all the same. The time spent with her mom was sweet, and also cathartic. It had done her a world of good to put her worries away for the day and focus on other things.
