Mated to the Werewolf Next Door: Foster and Lydia: The Macconwood Pack Tales, #11

MATED TO THE WEREWOLF NEXT DOOR: FOSTER AND LYDIA

The Macconwood Pack Tales 11

C.D. GORRI

Mated to the Werewolf Next Door

A Howl’s Romance

Maccon City Shifters Book 1

by C.D. Gorri

To those of you who believe in second chances. And to Tammy, thank you for everything.

Copyright 2020, 2023 C.D. Gorri, NJ

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Contents

Description

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Epilogue

Beware… Here Be Dragons!

Have you met the Barvale Clan Bears?

Other Titles by C.D. Gorri

Excerpt from Purrfectly Mated

Excerpt from Bound by Air

About the Author

Mated to the Werewolf Next Door

Second chances are hard to come by, but when this Wolf gets one he’s determined to hold on with both hands!

She's on the run from her ex-husband to protect her half-Shifter daughter. He's trying to clear his name after being falsely convicted of a crime. Fate has brought them to the same seaside town, but the rest is up to them.

Will he ignore his Wolf's claim that she is his mate? Can she somehow learn to love again?

Description

Lydia Suzanne has only ever made one good decision in her life and that was to keep her daughter Skylar far away from her ex-husband. Running from Mac has been a full time job for the two females. Now that her Wolf Shifter daughter is ready for school, Lydia has no choice but to find a place for them to settle.

What better place than Maccon City, New Jersey? With the help of the Wolf Pack there, her daughter would grow up to be safe, strong, and protected. The fact that her ex was scared shitless of them was even better.

Foster Reynolds spent the last few years in a jail cell for a crime he didn’t commit. He’s been given permission by the Macconwood Pack Alpha to come to the South Jersey town.

Once situated in a small rental there, Foster sets out to search for the real criminals to clear his name. He knows the rogues behind the heist will stop at nothing to keep their activities secret, and he’s more than ready to take them on.

What he isn’t expecting is to meet his mate in the house next door! Will Foster be able to resist the temptation his fated mate presents? Does he even want to?

Will Lydia learn to trust again? What will happen when the rogue Wolves responsible for the crimes that sent Foster away turn up and threaten Lydia and her pup?

Prologue

Pain exploded down the right side of her face, and Lydia struggled to keep from passing out. That would only make him even more brutal.

She blinked back tears as her husband of four months tore through their shabby little Las Vegas apartment in a rage. Whatever bender he was on, Lydia knew better than to try to stop him. That was simply more than she was capable of.

I know you hid it, you bitch, Mac swore and cursed as he ripped apart the tiny closet that housed her few articles of clothing and an extra pair of tennis shoes.

Shock numbed the pain she knew she’d be feeling by that time tomorrow, but still, she couldn’t believe what was happening to her. How did she get in this mess?

You were too trusting. Too desperate for a family, her inner voice berated her.

After growing up mostly alone, she’d been a prime target for a man like him. A predator in search of weaker prey.

Sadness and fear bubbled up inside her but she shoved it down, afraid to redirect his rage back on her instead of on her clothes. They were only things.

It was easier to toss them away than it was for her to mend her broken bones. That was a lesson she had learned the hard way.

Again, she wondered why she didn’t see the truth behind his sly smile and sweet talk before. He’d been different then, or maybe the change had happened within her sometime during the past months.

I’ll find it, and then you will be sorry! he continued his rampage, but she hardly heard him now as her mind wandered through memories of better times.

Lydia had met Mac while she was waitressing at a tiny diner off the main strip in Vegas. She had moved there about two years before, after graduating high school from one of those tiny little Jersey Shore towns the reality show made famous.

Lydia never knew her parents. They’d died when she was young, and the grandmother who’d raised her had passed right before graduation. She’d had no money, no family, and no prospects.

Taking a shot seemed better than living the same old boring life, so she’d packed up her meager things and moved straight across the country to the first place she’d thought of, Sin City.

She’d expected to land a job at a big time casino or one of those fancy arena’s that were always hosting Hollywood hot shots, but she soon realized she had neither the experience nor the talent for such places.

Then there was the fact she was not willing to take off her clothes for money. Even the thought of doing something like that had left her cold what with her strict Catholic upbringing and all.

Not that there was anything wrong with being an exotic dancer. It’s just that even without her grandmother’s voice echoing in her head, Lydia was short and curvy and not nearly as confident in her looks as someone would have to be to get up on a stage.

When she’d met Mac, Lydia had been at an all-time low. No money, no friends, no prospects. Her own personal mantra of pity and pain. Back then it’d taken a lot of positive thinking and strength for her to just get out of bed every day.

Sigh. Was the fault within her somehow? Did she do something that warranted that kind of treatment from Mac? He’d seemed to like her innocence and naivete in the beginning, but after a while it became the source of every ridicule and bad name he’d called her.

Deep down, Lydia knew she was not the reason. There was something broken inside the man she had foolishly trusted, but whatever it was she didn’t think she, or any woman for that matter, should be used as a punching bag.

The fact that there had been no warning signs at all, troubled her greatly. How was she ever supposed to trust her own judgement again?

When she’d first met him, Mac had been cute and charming. Funny too. Not to mention, persistent in his courting.

So very persistent. Her heart squeezed at how flattered she had been. Lydia, you stupid fool.

Life had never been for Lydia. Quite the opposite at times, but she wasn’t a complainer by nature. She’d managed to stay clean throughout high school despite the current opioid epidemic that was affecting teens and adults all over the country.

Her hometown back in Monmouth County, New Jersey had also been subject to a very high suicide rate. The authorities blamed cyberbullying and other online incidents, but there had been whispers of cultish activities. Stuff she wasn’t privy too that was talked about amongst her cooler, more exclusive peers.

Her grandmother had never trusted computers, and after that she wouldn’t allow one in the house so she’d grown up out of reach of social media. Made her a bit of an outcast, which was why she’d left as soon as she could.

Getting all the way to Las Vegas meant money, and Lydia had had to stop for a few months in Arizona first to replenish her meager stores. There, she came up with a plan, or so she’d thought at the time.

She had been so naïve, she wanted to cry for the innocent she’d been. How many women her age had had the very same dream? To go to Vegas, to find work immediately in some big glamourous hotel or venue and to strike it rich.

Of course, she never considered that. Hadn’t planned on the million other people with the same idea as hers, only their resumes looked a shit ton better than hers.

So, she’d ended up waitressing at Tiny’s Cafe working endless hours for minimum wage. She’d hardly been able to cover her rent, let alone the online college classes she was trying to complete.

Lydia wasn’t afraid of hard work, but she was just so tired all the time. She hadn’t made many friends even after almost two years in town. Loneliness, sadness, and depression were her constant companions when Mac had entered her life.

He’d come in one night with a few of his friends full of confidence and swagger. He’d flirted with her and teased her until she’d smiled. He’d even left her a large tip, along with a piece of paper with his phone number scrawled across it.

She had been so ridiculously flattered, but still, her overwhelming shyness meant she would never presume to call. Truth was the big, attractive man had intimidated her. Mac was beyond her very limited experience.

With his scruffy beard and sharp eyes, he’d seemed too mature for the likes of her, but that didn’t seem to discourage him. Not in the least. He’d pursued her like no one ever had in her entire twenty years on this Earth.

Lydia was completely unaccustomed to that kind of campaign. He’d brought her gifts and took her out. He’d started coming to pick her up after her shift on most nights. He was sweet and funny. He’d even drive her home and walk her to her door with a simple kiss goodnight. She had been smitten.

Mac repeated that behavior every single day for a whole month. She’d thought she was in love. Thought he was too. When he’d proposed with a real diamond ring, Lydia had broken down and cried. She’d never been so happy.

He’d picked her up from work one night and took her to get married at one of the dozens of small chapels that were near to Tiny’s. Afterwards, they’d celebrated with his friends at a bar.

She’d thought it was strange, but who was she to judge? It wasn’t like she had any friends of her own, and this was the first time she’d been married.

She’d been so painfully shy, and willing to do whatever he’d wanted. Having someone in her life who’d wanted to be there was new. Lydia swallowed her shame at the thought of how desperate and pathetic she’d been. Hell, she’d have done anything for him.

Of course, that night had been rough on her. The anxiety of finally being intimate with him had made her even more bashful. Lydia had been both scared and anxious for their wedding night.

To this day, she knew almost nothing about men or sex. She’d been saving herself for so long, she could hardly believe it was going to happen, and with someone so much more experienced than she was.

In her gross naivete, she’d thought he would appreciate the fact that his new wife was also new to making love. Only, Mac didn’t seem to realize his young wife had been honest when she’d told him she was an actual virgin.

By the time he’d arrived at that conclusion, it seemed to make him more annoyed than pleased. He’d complained about her inability to rouse much less satisfy him. That first night in the arms of her loving husband had been both embarrassing and painful. The few times afterwards had not been much better.

Lydia did not like sex. She’d been better off without it. Mac was always impatient and rough with her. She didn’t know much about carnal pleasures, but she knew she should feel something other than hurt and demeaned afterwards. A few weeks into the marriage, Mac had already tired of her and to her endless shame, she’d been relieved.

When he’d announced that he had to leave for a few weeks for work, Lydia had been ashamed by how happy she’d felt. But even that relief was short-lived.

After about a week of him being gone, she’d started tossing up her breakfast. Her fatigue had increased tenfold. Dizziness and constant nausea plagued her. Her grandmother had told her often enough about the women in her family being plagued with illness. Most had died before reaching forty, her own mother included.

Was Lydia doomed to die before she had really lived? Mac hadn’t left her any money, and she was too sick to go into work. With no insurance, she couldn’t go to a doctor and so she was forced to stay home for two whole days with her strange stomach bug, refusing to give into the fears that she had cancer or something else.

She was too scared to talk to her neighbors and landlord about her situation. If it wasn’t