Rivals: Episode One

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Synopsis

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Thanks For Reading!

  Episode Two - Chapter One

  Episode Two - Chapter Two

  Rivals

  Episode One

  M.G. Walker

  Copyright © 2015 by M.G. Walker

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  More by M.G.

  Season One - Rivals

  Episode One

  Episode Two

  Episode Three

  Season Two - Rivals

  T.B.W.

  Season One - Deep

  T.B.W.

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  Rivals

  Kimberly Nolan, a BBW with a spunky attitude and a heart of gold, lives in a world where everyone knows vampires and shifters exist. Kimberly just landed a job as an assistant to Xavier Thorn, a billionaire vampire with a dangerous edge, and begins to think she has it made. Well... at least in the job department. Her love life, on the other hand, hasn't been exactly where she wants it. It doesn't help that she's much more reserved when it comes to relationships than other women her age.

  What she doesn't know is that her new boss has more plans for Kimberly than just being his assistant. And to top things off, Kimberly finds herself in a fateful encounter with Gaige Grayson, a powerful werebear who immediately imprints on Kimberly.

  From having a great job to suddenly being lodged between two extremely powerful, rich, and dangerous men. Kimberly's life just got a whole lot more complicated.

  In this episode, Kimberly gets rescued by Xavier Thorn and discovers something about Gaige that rocks her world. Will she get down to the truth or will she be blinded by passion?

  **This steamy hot BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance contains explicit sexual scenes along with a cliff-hanger**

  CHAPTER ONE

  KIMBERLY

  How the fuck did I get myself into this position? I looked around, trying to calm my racing heart. My pulse pounded inside of me like a hundred raging drums, making my veins throb with adrenaline. I looked over at Xavier, his pale, chiseled form looking perfect in the moonlight. Almost serene.

  But the whole scene was far, far from serene. The only thing that was serene about it was the loaded quiet that hung in the air, only penetrated by a shifter coughing behind us. I could almost taste the danger.

  How in the hell are we getting out of this.... Jesus.

  Every muscle inside of me was ready to explode with movement the moment something happened. I was never a good runner, somehow having avoided P.E. class my whole life, but I knew I would have to run hard and fast tonight. Danger was the name of the game. I could feel it in the air.

  Here I was, standing inside of a grimy dive-bar in Downtown Miami facing a beautifully dangerous vampire while a powerful werebear stood by my side. Both sides wanted to rip the other’s throats out.

  This was not how I thought my Friday night was going to go.

  2 Days Before.

  “Are you sure you want to do this? I’m sure I can find you a temp job somewhere. You'd be a really sexy paper pusher,” Rachel Warren said as I posed in front of the mirror that hung on the back of my bedroom door.

  “Yeah, but will a paper pusher give me a $120,000 salary and medical benefits for essentially just being a personal assistant.”

  “Well no... but you won’t be working for a vamp.”

  She whispered the last word, as though we were both being watched.

  “I know it’s not an ideal situation, but the last time someone died from a vamp attack was last year and it was only because she was fucking crazy and

  tried to drain the dude for his blood.”

  “Well, that’s the only story that we heard about. How do you know there aren’t others? You know those vampires are experts at covering shit up. Hell, their whole existence was covered up for centuries until they decided it would be a dandy time to come out and let us all know about them.” Rachel scoffed. “Then, just like that, everyone’s world was flipped on its head. No one knew what the hell was real and what wasn’t anymore.”

  Rachel, like most everyone else on the planet, was still having a difficult time coming to terms with The Reveal. It happened five years ago and things were still far from normal, if they could ever be called normal again.

  Oddly enough though, I found myself making peace with the idea that our world was suddenly nothing like what we thought it was. I grew up reading fantasy books and losing myself in a world where I imagined supernaturals existed, so when I found out they did, a part of me was actually excited. Sure, I was pretty terrified like pretty much everyone else, but the fear was replaced by an intense curiosity soon after.

  It was weird. One minute, everyone is going through their business like usual, and then the next, a video hits the internet that changes absolutely everything. The vampires— always ones for theatrics—decided that the best way to come out to the world would be to produce a video revealing who they are. In this day and age, the video went viral and spread faster than a hotel heiress’ sex tape. Of course, people immediately assumed it was a hoax or some promotional stunt for an upcoming movie.

  In the video, the seven vampire kings presented themselves, all standing in a stoic line. And as if to prove their immortality, all seven of them stood at the very top of Mount Everest, wearing exquisitely tailored suits that didn’t budge, even with the buffeting winds. The backdrop was absolutely stunning and almost distracted from the message these vampire kings were sending.

  That message? That they were here and they were here to stay. One vampire spoke the most. He stood in the center, with jet black hair and stunning blue eyes that fit perfectly with his squared jaw line. He was the perfect specimen among perfect specimens. None of the vampire kings seemed to have any flaws, but the main one seemed even more perfect than the rest, if that was even possible (which, I mean, what wasn’t possible at this point?).

  The video, imprinted on everyone’s memory, started with the main king speaking up first.

  “Humans,” he started, like it was some tacky alien invasion video. “Everything from here on out will change. Your lives will never be the same. What you are witnessing is the beginning of a new era. One in which vampires will share open spaces with you. We have been lurking in the shadows for far too long. It is time we come out and make ourselves known.”

  Another one jumped in now. He wore a navy blue suit with lighter brown hair. His eyes were a stunning emerald green. “We shall work with your leaders to properly format laws for this momentous occasion. I shall stress, we are not blood-thirsty monsters out to murder you all. Although there are some of us who align with malice, most of us want as peaceful of an existence as we can manage. This means that most of you won’t ever see us in person. We are still creatures of the night and will continue to operate as such, only coming out during the day if it is a necessity.”

  The leader stepped forward again. “We understand that fear will be an immediate reaction to this news and are equipped to handle the fallout. Obviously, o
ur feeding habits will be under great scrutiny. Which is why I will assure everyone that our leading scientists have created a synthetic mixture that should satiate our cravings. Our community may have some internal rifts, but all seven kings have gathered here tonight to prove that we are going to go through great lengths to make our integration as seamless as possible.”

  And then, the king smirked. It was quick, like a flash in the pan, but it was definitely there. Then, the video cuts to black. And that was it. The moment everything changed.

  The king was definitely right. When the video was proven to be true, fear spread like a plague. No one would come out of their houses, schools were shut down, businesses were closed. Suddenly, whole class systems shifted and collapsed. People who used to rule from the top were displaced by vampires, who now had no qualms about taking public leadership positions. Before The Reveal, vampires would steer clear of positions of power since they would just draw more attention to themselves. After The Reveal? Well no vampire seemed to hold back. With decades upon decades of experience, knowledge, perfect looks, and unwavering commitment, vampires immediately climbed the ladder. Laws didn’t adapt quickly enough to protect humans, and frankly, everyone was scared of saying no to a vampire. No one knew what the rules were or how to handle someone who had superhuman strength and a thirst for blood.

  “And then, to top it all off, the shifters decided to come crawling out of the woodwork too! What’s next?” Rachel asked.

  “Bigfoots,” I quipped.

  She chuckled. “I wouldn’t be surprised. Maybe they'd be nicer.”

  “Shifters aren’t that bad,” I said, unbuttoning one more button on the white and pink plaid blouse. My breasts, a little more voluptuous than most, seemed to think that one more button meant they were allowed to practically erupt from the top. I redid the button.

  “Maybe a few of them, but most are just scummy. I bumped into one at Moonies the other night, did I tell you the story already?”

  “I think so, was that the guy with the weird neck tattoo of Cher.”

  “No, that guy was just in a rock band.” She sat up on my bed and grabbed my plush seal. “The shifter was a different guy. I had a feeling he was a shifter just from the way his eyes seemed to change to amber whenever the light would hit them just right. Moonies is a pretty dark bar though so I wasn’t being constantly reminded that this dude could suddenly change into some sort of wild animal.”

  The blouse wasn’t looking right. I unbuttoned the whole thing and slipped it off. I reached for the floral blue and pink tie-back dress hanging off the edge of my bed.

  “Yeah good choice, I love that dress,” Rachel said. “Anyways, so the guy buys me a drink. Mind you, I’m already pretty drunk by this point. I shoot it back and he asks me if I wanted to get out of there. I knew where he was headed and the guy was pretty built, so I said yes.” She shook her head. “Little did I know, his crazy-ass baby mama would be waiting for him outside. In panther form. With her teeth—literally the size of fucking butcher knives—just growling at us.”

  “Holy shit,” I said, turning my full attention to Rachel.

  “Yeah, holy shit. I ran back inside and called the cops before the bitch did anything. But still. Imagine walking out, expecting you're going to have the best sex of your life, and almost get attacked by an animal that belongs in the fucking mountains or something... Where do leopards live?”

  “Mountains sound about right.”

  “Well yeah, somewhere that isn’t outside of a bar in the middle of Miami.”

  “Damn,” I said, walking over to Rachel and giving her my back. She reached up and tied the straps of the dress for me. “Did the cops do anything?”

  “They were both gone by the time the cops got there.”

  She gave me a slap on the butt which prompted me to go look in the mirror. This dress was much better. It wasn’t always easy finding clothes that fit my curvy figure, but the plus size at Forever 21 seemed to get me just right most days.

  “Well, hopefully you won’t have to call the cops on your new boss.”

  “I doubt I’ll even ever see him. You know Trini right? She works for another vamp doing the same thing and says it’s the easiest job she’s ever had. All she does is show up, read her list of things to do, and get it all done before it gets dark. Those guys are super secret about everything.”

  “How did you even find this gig anyway?”

  “Trini told me about it. Said the last assistant had to move back to Omaha or something.”

  “Whatever, just be safe ok?”

  “Of course, Rachel,” I answered, thinking there was nothing I should really be worried about.

  Oh, how little did I know.

  CHAPTER TWO

  KIMBERLY

  I pulled up to the mansion with my jaw practically sitting in my lap. I knew the vampire was loaded, he was the CEO of a massive social media network and had more money than most people would earn in their lifetimes. But this mansion—if I could even call it that—was beyond anything in my wildest dreams. It looked like some sort of modernistic playground stretching up into the sky with walls of glass that reflected out, so no one could look in. White and steels highlighted the building with a sea of luscious green grass surrounding the cobbled driveway up to the massive structure. A fountain sat in the center of the driveway, causing the white stone to wrap around the water spewing dolphin. It was an odd choice, but I guessed vampires could be just as crazy and eccentric as normal billionaires.

  I drove around the dolphin and pulled up next to a shiny black Ferrari parked next to a sleek black Tesla which was sandwiched between a jet black Bentley. This vamp clearly liked his toys.

  My sputtering Toyota looked like a joke next to the three cars that were collectively worth more than my whole life. I put my car in park and opened the door, still shocked at the immense size of the building that stood before me. The air was warm, covering me in a humid blanket and immediately making me feel sweaty and uncomfortable. But it didn’t even matter because I was about to step into this modern marvel.

  I had gotten a huge packet of materials the other day with pages upon pages of orientation material. All about confidentiality, working with vamps, things to look out for, what this particular vamp preferred, a bit about his business, and daily tasks that I would need to complete. The keys to his place were tucked away in a folder and only entrusted to me after an intense background check that pretty much combed through my whole life. I was half-expecting them to bring up the time I stole a bracelet from the mall when I was nine.

  Thankfully they didn’t bring up anything.

  Surprisingly, I didn’t have an interview... with the vampire.

  Ok, I just had to. But in all seriousness, I was expecting to go through a rigorous hiring process. I’m not sure if it was Trini’s recommendation that allowed me to bypass an interview or if it just wasn’t standard with the vamps.

  Maybe they figured out all they needed in my background check and that was that. It wasn’t like I was going to be interacting with the vamp anyways.

  My nerves flared as I put the key in the massive front door. I was about to be in the same room as a vampire.

  Holy shit.

  Ever since The Reveal, I had always wanted to talk to a vamp, see what they were like, where they lived. And now, I was in charge of taking care of one. It was almost like I wanted to study them, a sick fascination that carried over from my Animal Planet binge watching days. Surely, I wasn’t actually going to meet him today, or possibly ever, but it was still a rush just being under the same roof as a vampire.

  The door opened into a breathtaking, sun-bathed foyer that was perfectly furnished with dark black couches surrounding a table made of pure marble, all placed in front of a fireplace that sat in a wall that looked to be made out of huge trees, their trunks cut in half and facing out, forming a mosaic of nature. A huge, modern looking chandelier hung down on the scene from the vaulted ceiling.

  “Holy... sh
it.”

  I couldn’t hold it back. I looked around, afraid to make a move and accidentally break something. Hell, I didn’t even want to disturb the air in here, it was that perfect.

  A dark folder on the center of the marble table caught my attention. Someone had drawn on the cover with a heavy silver marker, my name KIMBERLY NOLAN front and center. I looked around the room once more and moved over to the table. I reached down and picked up the folder, not realizing that my hands were actually shaking.

  Inside the folder was just one sheet of paper with a bulleted list of tasks I needed to complete. I scanned it over quickly—pay a few bills, organize a meeting, take out the trash, and (probably the most mindless one) sort through hundreds of pitches for new technologies and categorize them—they were all the usual things any other assistant would take care of. At the bottom, in handwriting that could only be described as a classic scrawl, was his name.

  Xavier Thorn.

  The name rang a distant bell in my mind, but I couldn’t put it together.

  If I had put it together, realized where I had heard that name from, then maybe I would have made a run for it before shit hit the fan.

  CHAPTER THREE

  KIMBERLY

  I checked my watch and cursed under my breath. It was getting late and Miami traffic was not being my friend. I had crossed everything off the list and just needed to get it back to Xavier. The orientation manual had stressed how important it was for me to leave the task list back in Xavier’s mansion so that he would know what got done and what didn’t. It was my time-clock in a way and his way of keeping track of me.