The Alpha Claims A Mate Read Online Free PDF Page A

Cletus Arbuckle. Cletus, put back all the coins that you stole before I kick your ass.”
     
    Glowering, Cletus trudged over to the wishing well, emptied out his pockets, and threw all the coins back in.
     
    “Poor bastard,” Sheriff Armstrong said to her in a low voice. “His father died in a hunting accident, and his mama took it real hard.  She used to work as a cleaning lady;  now she’s just a certified drunk.  Doesn’t do a lick of work.   I may have to call in county services soon to take his younger brothers and sisters away.”
     
    Ginger winced. “Ouch.  I hope that doesn’t happen.”
     
    “Me too, but I don’t have a lot of options. “
     
    Cletus trudged over to Ginger and Loch, his head hanging down.
     
    “God damn it, Cletus, you got to cut this shit out. Pardon my French,” the sheriff said apologetically to Ginger, and she couldn’t help but smile, there was something so country-chivalrous about the way he said it.
     
    The sheriff turned back to Cletus.  “You’re lucky you’re still a juvenile.  When you turn 18, you’re looking at doing some real time. Then who’ll take care of your family?”
     
    Cletus shrugged angrily.
     
    “I told you before, if you need money, I can give you money.” Sheriff Armstrong’s voice softened.
     
    “My daddy didn’t raise me to take no charity,” Cletus muttered, his eyes glittered with tears. Then he muttered something else in a barely audible voice, something that sounded suspiciously like “Fuck you.”
     
    “What did you just say?” The sheriff’s shoulders raised up and his eyes blazed with anger.
     
    Ginger cringed. He was about to cuff Cletus to the ground, and humiliate him further, or haul him in to jail, or…
     
    “Hey!” she said brightly. “You didn’t tell Cletus about the plan you were telling me about just a minute ago. Sir,” she added hastily.
     
    “Plan?” Sheriff Armstrong stared at her as if she’d lost her mind.
     
    “You know! The plan you came up with! It was such a great plan!  You said, if you caught Cletus stealing one more time, you were going to sentence him to work for the community center for six bucks an hour.”
     
    She’d pulled that from her memory; Imogen had been filling Marigold in on the town’s latest news, and she’d told her that they were building a new community center. Her handy man had quit because they’d hired him to help put in a garden.
     
    She turned towards Cletus, talking fast and praying that the sheriff didn’t blow up right there. “Yep, he said that you’ll have to hold down a full time job for the next…ah,  two weeks, as punishment. 9 to five.”
     
    “I ain’t afraid of work. Not like anybody would hire an Arbuckle in this town for any job, anyway.” Cletus glanced at the sheriff, half fearful, half hopeful.
     
    “Is that really what you said?” he asked him.
     
    “Uhhh…of course. You aren’t saying my lovely assistant’s a liar, are you?” The sheriff was struggling to wipe the look of surprise off his face.
     
    “No, sir, I ain’t saying that.  If that’s what my sentence is, I guess I’ll have to do it. When do I start?” he couldn’t hide the eagerness in his voice.
     
    “Tomorrow morning, nine a.m. sharp.”
     
    “Oh, and lunch is provided free,” Ginger said, glancing at Cletus’s bony frame.
     
    He looked at her suspiciously. “You’re not trying to give me no charity, are you?”
     
    “No sir. Not at all,” she said, noting his look of surprise when she called him “sir.” “Everybody who’s working on the community garden gets lunch free. It’s standard.”
     
    “All right then.” He nodded, then turned and jogged off down the road. Ginger waited until he was out of earshot before she turned to the sheriff.
     
    “Okay. Let me have it,” she winced. Please, don’t eviscerate my Alpha, she thought desperately. I’m pretty sure my pack would ban me from not just the city but the state of New