Bookstore princess

Chapter 5

James

I'm more than pleased that my plan worked without a hitch. Nadia is fast asleep when I jump off of the bed a few hours later on the pretense I'm going for water. Her little cat still hasn't gotten off of the table, and is eyeing me wearily. I pad into the living room where there's a fire escape on the second floor and change back to my human form and walk naked to the window and unlock it before opening it. Steve is there waiting with a black duffel bag.
"How did it go?" he asks in a hushed whisper.
"She's sleeping, she has the cutest snore" I grin. "She also talks a bit in her sleep" I add for good measure.
"I meant getting in" Steve rolls his eyes at me.
"It was too easy," I frown. "She took me in and fed me, and after texting with I assume you, she brought me to bed" I explained.
"Yes, she texted with me on your phone" he takes out the phone and shows me the evidence. "Have you decided how we are going to do pick up?" he asks me.
"You'll pick me up, and after I get back to my human form I'll come back around noon to thank her in person of course" I smirk. "She has to eat sometime, and they do have wonderful coffee downstairs."
"Alright, let's get this done before she wakes up" Steve climbs in and brings the duffel bag with him. The two of us go about the entire second floor setting up hidden cameras that work wirelessly and are self charging. They are quite expensive, but a good investment. I check the camera angles on my phone before we have to reset a few of them. I head upstairs and make sure to just do the hallway, and one in her bedroom, leaving the bathroom alone. My little mate is still sleeping soundly and barely moves in her sleep. She has clutched a pillow in my absence however, and I know I should come back quickly. I check the camera angle again, before I hurry back downstairs soundlessly. Steve gives me the thumbs up and heads to the window and I follow him, handing him the last of the equipment. We look around and make sure that nothing's been disturbed before he slips out the window and down the fire escape again, and I lock the window. I change my form back to Fang and head back upstairs to my Nadia. As soon as I jump on the bed I give her cheek a lick and curl into her again. She drops the pillow and pulls me in, and my wolf wants to wake her but I warn him against it. I lay back down and nuzzle into her before sleep claims me as well.

I wake up to Nadia giving the top of my head a kiss as she's getting out of bed and I give a playful bark. She giggles and pets me in my wolf form.
"Come on Fang, time to get ready for the day" she says in her musical voice and she heads to her closet and starts glaring at it. I jump off the bed and look at the closet with her, spying a blue paisley dress and I take a tip of the hem between my teeth and pull on it. "Oh, you like that one do you?" she giggles and it's music to my ears. "I'll have to wear shorts under it, it's a bit short" she sighs, pulling it out. "But it is pretty," she comments. I give her a bark and she nods. "You wait here, and I'll be right back. I just need a quick shower and put my makeup on" she advises. I try to follow her into the bathroom, only because the thought of seeing her in her naked form has me salivating, but she kicks me out. I huff and head back to the bed and jump back up. I noticed last night she has several bookshelves in the living room downstairs, but I'm also noticing more bookshelves upstairs as well. I'll have to make sure the pack house has a library that she can fill to her heart's content. Right now I wish I was downstairs making her breakfast so she has a hearty meal to start her day. I can't blow my cover though, it would freak her out. I take in the overflowing laundry basket and a little bit of mess around the room and want to growl. She needs a housekeeper, or work less hours in the shop. I'd settle for both. Would it be too early to give her a gift of a housekeeper? Yes, and she would likely decline my gift, I sigh inwardly.
It feels like forever before she comes out of the bathroom again, she already has makeup on her face that she clearly doesn't need. But that dress... I can see more of her thighs and I'm salivating. That t-shirt she was wearing last night and this morning hid her from me, but the dress is more flimsy. She walks over to the dresser and pulls out a pair of black shorts and pulls them on and I huff.
"I had better text James to come pick you up" she says and I'm worried about how Steve is going to handle the text message. The little shit may leave me here for the day to my own devices too. She grabs her phone off the charger and sends a text message. I'm pleased when I hear a response right away and I can't help but worry when I see her pouting. "Your uncle Steve is coming to get you. James was up all night looking for you, you naughty boy" she runs her fingers through my fur. "Oh!" she brightens up quickly. "James wants to see me at lunch" she giggles and I puff out my chest with pride. "How do I look?" she asks and does a twirl. I wag my tail and bark happily. I go to her and lick her cheek again and she giggles.
"I'll have to run to the grocery store to pick up some food for the rest of the week. I just haven't had time. I'm up early enough, and Jenny is getting the store prepped with Jacob. I'm closing tonight though, it's only fair" she sighs and I huff. I'm half tempted to come back tonight as Fang again to sleep with her again.
"Come on" she says as she leads me back downstairs again. She goes to the counter and grabs the last two bananas off the top and peels them both. She pulls off little pieces and offers one to me. I am a little hungry, so I eat the offered fruits. "I read in a book once that bananas are good for dogs," she explains. "I'd swear you were a wolf though" she adds with a sigh. "I've been reading too many werewolf romances. Probably time to switch it up to vampire or monster huh?" she asks me and I bark and do a small growl. "You're right, I like what I like. Although a palate cleanser might be a good idea" she sighs again, while feeding me the rest of the banana. She quickly washes her hands and then pulls out some chocolate hazelnut spread and a knife and peels the other banana. She spreads the chocolate across the banana and eats it quickly, getting a little of the spread on her face. She wipes it clean then washes her hands again before putting everything away, including the peelings into the garbage.
"Come on Fang, let's meet Steve downstairs" she says and I follow her out the door and down the steps again. We navigate around the boxes and she puts in the security code at the door. I memorize it for later, just in case.
We go outside and I immediately smell the rogues have been here. We walk towards the front of the store and the stench of spray paint fills my nostrils. Nadia looks at the front and sighs heavily. They painted over where it says Bookflowers and wrote "Bookwhores". Nadia takes out her phone and puts in a number that's on speed dial.
"Hi sheriff, it's happened again. Can you come out?" she asks. "We need to clean this up before we open" she adds. "Yeah, I'll meet you out front" she sighs. She hangs up and gets down on her knees and wraps her arms around me. I want to growl at the different scents, change to my human form and fix this for her. But I can't. Not yet at least. "Looks like I'm not getting groceries again today" she huffs into my fur. Well that won't do. "I really wanted some strawberries for breakfast," she groans.
She's still holding me when Steve arrives a few minutes later in the town car.
"Whoa, what happened here?" Steve asks as he gets out.
"Probably just some kids. They do it every week, sometimes twice a week. I'm waiting on the sheriff" Nadia stands up after giving me a kiss on top of my head. "I better text Jacob to come in early for his brawn" she says with a playful smirk and I growl. She looks at me surprised and scratches me behind the ears.
"Did you need help?" Steve offers.
"No, it's okay, we've been dealing with this since we opened" she admits. "The sheriff will take care of it. Now Fang has been fantastic all night, tell James I loved his company" she says quickly.
"Will do, is there anything we can do for you?" he asks again.
"No, I'm good," she says, and I feel like that's a lie. She's upset and she needs me. But not the wolf me. The human me, and I don't have any clothes to change into to make that happen.
"We can stay until the sheriff gets here," Steve offers, and I immediately agree with him, giving a small bark.
"No, thank you. I know you have meetings and stuff. Fang needs to eat, so I gave him a banana to tide him over until he gets to his kibble. If Jacob gets here quick enough I'll have to give up my run to the grocery store to put out the new stock" she gives him a half smile. "Who knows, maybe I'll still have time," she shrugs.
My mind is made up, I'm going to go get her groceries. I don't care that we have meetings. I bark and head to the car and jump in the back seat when Steve opens the door. Steve waits until he sees me lay down on top of my cell phone and nods before looking over to see the sheriff is driving up.
"I'll leave you to it. Groceries you said?" Steve asks.
"Don't repeat it" she glares at him.
"Got it" he chuckles and walks around, walking past the sheriff who's a tall black man wearing all black with a badge on his chest and a wide brimmed hat.
"Hey baby girl, your store got tagged again huh?" the sheriff asks her and I growl loudly. "Whoo, someone's feisty in that back seat" he says, taking off his sunglasses.
"See you soon, Nadia" Steve finally gets in and closes the door. He pulls out and I change back to my human form, grabbing the clothes that's on the floor to put them on. "How was your first night with your mate?" Steve asks me with a quirked eyebrow while I change.
"Good until this morning where those rogues tagged the front of her bookstore. I could smell them" I tell him.
"We will take care of them," Steve promises.
"Grocery store, we will get them to deliver" I order.
"You know people do that online, and it can be anonymous" Steve reminds me. "That way we don't miss a meeting," he adds.
"Fine, but I want fresh strawberries" I say as I take my phone off the seat and pull up the security footage. Jacob is there now, and he's pointing at the camera on the outside of the building, showing that there's likely footage. The sheriff nods and the three of them go into the bookstore and I follow them on camera for a moment before I realize they have this little problem handled.

Nadia

Once Sheriff Morgan is gone, I'm left alone with Jacob who looks pissed at the sight of the black spray paint on our store front. I don't blame him, I am too.
"Did you even eat yet?" he asks as my stomach rumbles loudly.
"No, I haven't had time yet" I blush at the sound. I didn't even realize how hungry I am.
"Tell you what, I haven't either. Why don't you make yourself useful and go get us some of those apple fritters from the bakery, and then start on the stock after we've both eaten. I'll use my brawn to clean off this mess" he teases.
"You wish it was brawn" I tease back. "I'll be back in a few" I double check my debit card is in my phone case.
"Hey, I'm the man of this house" he acts insulted.
"Poor us" I tease as I quickly go out the door and I hear him give an exasperated sigh. I look at the black spray paint one more time defeatedly. They do this so often, but Morgan still hasn't caught who's doing it. On our cameras they are always dressed in old clothes and masks when they tag our store. This time was no different. He took the evidence regardless and looked for a fingerprint, but there simply wasn't one. I'm curious why no other stores seem to be getting hit like we are, they are always picking on us. It pisses me off to be honest. It makes more work than necessary, and constantly puts us behind that day. It makes me feel a little defeated if I'm going to be honest with myself.
I go into the bakery where Allison is at the register, and the scent of her fresh baked goods you can smell from down the street. She's always in a chipper mood, and talks highly of her family while you make your order. She's a positive person you just can't get enough of. I know I came here for six, but I end up walking out with a dozen of her large apple fritters. Some for now, some for later. She gave me a good price too, but I have a feeling she saw our storefront this morning, and that's why. She tells me to come back soon, and I know I probably will.
When I get back to Bookflowers and potions, I see Jacob is inside carrying boxes to the center of the main floor for me.
"You got the goods?" he asks as soon as I walk in with the large box.
"I did, a dozen in fact" I grin and he comes over.
"I put all the boxes that need to be shelved in the center of the room. You just need to put them away, I'll take care of the outside again" he promises.
"I was thinking, maybe we should do a stake out" I say as I set the box down on one of the tables in the small cafe.
"A stake out?" He repeats as though he can't believe what he's hearing. "No Nadia, you are not putting yourself in danger to catch a bunch of kids being assholes. Morgan's got it, they will mess up eventually and be arrested" he says this as though he hasn't said it a thousand times. "You've been watching too many cop tv shows" he adds.
"Worth it" I giggle.
"Now behave yourself. It's Friday and one of our busiest days of the week. Eat your doughnuts and get to work" he adds with a bit of a huff that I know comes from love.
"Tomorrow is busier" I remind him and he sighs.
"We really need to hire some staff," he groans.