Release Date: 14 April 2015
Synopsis
Niall is alpha of the Mystic Wolves. His life revolved around protecting his pack and son Nolan. He planned to do this alone until finding an injured woman who stirred more than just his lust.
When Alaina Strop woke in the tattooed arms of a strange wolf shifter, all she could think of was getting closer. Having no memory was a small thing compared to the feelings she had for the growling man. Before she could give her mind and body to him, she needed to find out who she was, and be sure she didn’t belong to another. Though deep in her soul, she knew she was Nialls.
Danger came to Mystic as Alaina’s memory returned and her father came to claim her for another wolf. But Niall, the big bad alpha, had found his perfect wolf, and wasn’t about to let her go, no matter the cost.
The need to sink into her heat inflamed him. The dirty things he imagined doing to her, a virgin up until recently should be illegal.
“You are going to drive me insane. You know that, don’t you?” Niall’s mouth covered hers, taking instead of asking.
“Don’t look at me like that or I’ll have you and me both stripped in less than sixty seconds.” Niall growled.
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Chapter One
“Dad, can I
stay all weekend with grandma and grandpa?” Nolan asked.
Niall smiled down at his seven year old son, seeing his wife’s
eyes looking up at him. It took monumental effort not to scoop up his son and
hug him tight, never wanting to let go. When they’d lost Emma, Nolan had been a
baby. Even almost seven years later, Niall still missed her like it was
yesterday. “Don’t you want to spend the weekend with your old man?”
Nolan rolled his eyes. “Me and grandpa are going to campout and
fish and grandma is coming along to make sure we don’t get into trouble.
Besides, you have to work while Uncle Zay spends the weekend with Cora.”
“Grab your bag. I’m assuming you packed enough for the entire
weekend?”
Nolan nodded, showing Niall that his backpack was indeed
bulging. “I’m ready when you are, Dad.”
Grabbing his son up and over his shoulder, they headed to his
bike parked out in front of their log home. Being the alpha of the Mystic
Wolves, he had prime position at the end of the cul-de-sac, each home having
anywhere from one to three acres, or more. He had over ten, but the pack had
hundreds of acres outside of Sturgis. The Glades, his in-laws, lived within
three miles and had several acres. Emerson, the old alpha, had stepped down
when Niall mated his daughter, Emma. He handed Nolan his helmet, making sure it
was on properly before putting on his own skull cap.
With his son’s little arms wrapped snuggly around him, Niall
made the short trip to the Glades residence. By the time he was ready to leave
his son with Emerson and Payton, a plan was formed in his mind. He swung his
leg over the seat, his leathers squeaked as he straddled his Harley. Nolan and
the Glades waved from the porch, he smiled at the excitement shining in his
son’s brown eyes as he revved the bike before taking off at a sedate pace.
Stopping at the end of the road, he looked up at the woods
leading to the ski lodge, a mysterious scent teased his nostrils, making his
wolf rise up and take notice. The lodge was always flooded with want to be ski
bunnies in winter, inevitably they found their way down the mountain into
Sturgis and their bar, Chaps. He and his brother Zayn, along with the rest of
the wolves, then had to deal with their shit. It was good for business, so they
put up with it, but it was a pain in the ass. Niall shook off the urge to head
north, and pointed the bike down toward Sturgis and Chaps.
He’d find himself a mate, and Nolan a mother, that was his great
plan. He thought back to the conversation he’d had with Emerson. Since he and
Zayn’s parents were so far away, he looked to Emerson and Payton as surrogate
parents. Emerson had told Niall, according to Payton’s dreams, that change was
coming and that they understood his need for a new mate, but they didn’t
understand. He missed his wife and didn’t expect to find another truemate.
Hell, if a wolf was lucky they’d find one truemate, but many settled. He was a
man, a wolf who needed a mate, and a mother for Nolan. Niall knew he was more
than blessed when he found Emma and that he wouldn’t find that again, but he
would settle for companionship, sex and a mother for his son. Niall kept his
thoughts to himself, the old alpha still believed in love.
Emerson still teared up when he spoke of Emma, he said that
Payton still cried at night, though she tried to hide her sorrow from her
husband. Niall wasn’t the only one who still suffered.
When he’d looked into the wise eyes of the older man in the
kitchen, with pictures of his dead mate hung all around, Niall had made a
decision. He was a thirty-seven year old man with a lot of years ahead of him.
He hadn’t been a monk for the last six years, not by a long shot. However, he
hadn’t looked for anyone to fill his bed permanently. Truth be told, he’d not
had any woman in his and Emma’s bed. He wasn’t sure he could let another woman
sleep in the same place he’d made love to his wife. Niall looked at the bleak
years ahead if he didn’t make some changes. Nobody could replace Emma. Not in
his heart, but a bed was just a place to lay your head and now it would be a
place he fucked. Niall was smart enough not to tell a woman that though.
Emerson had known what Niall was thinking and tried to talk him
out of it. Even though he valued the older man’s opinion, in this instance he
didn’t think Emerson had a clue. His wife was alive and healthy, while Niall’s
was not.
Niall opened up the throttle on the bike. The hour drive was
giving him time to ponder how to go about getting a mate and mother. He didn’t
want a tiny petite thing like his Emma, nor did he want someone like her. A
blonde with big boobs and no brain would work for him, but not Nolan. Maybe
he’d meet her at the bar tonight, or at least find someone to take the edge off
his needs.
* * * *
“What do you mean he’s found a mate for me? Like I need him to
find me a husband, Mom. This is not the…the Victorian age, where the father
marries off his girls.” Alaina Strop paced in front of the fireplace mantel.
Her mother, Adalynn, sat with her legs crossed, looking very much the lady of
the manor, but anxiety shown in her chocolate brown eyes.
“Baby, you know how your dad worries about you. Well, after that
boy held you at gun point, along with your students, he decided you needed a
mate. The council agreed and if it gets you home, then I’m sorry, sweetie, but
I agree. You could’ve been killed.”
Alaina narrowed her eyes, horrified to hear her own mother
agreeing with the archaic dealings of her dad. “Mother, I’m a twenty-five year
old woman for crying out loud. I came home because I took a leave of absence
after that incident.” Alaina had to take a breath.
Nightmares still plagued her of that day. She’d always wished
she could shift, but being part fey and part shifter, she had a little of both
her parents. Had she not been in a room filled with thirty, sixteen and
seventeen year old, students she could have used her abilities to disarm him,
maybe. Instead, she was stuck with a maniac waving a gun around for hours,
until he grabbed her by the throat and stuck the gun to her temple. He’d
already killed several students in the library before he’d locked himself in
her computer lab, bent on exacting revenge on whoever had posted an anonymous
letter about him.
Adalynn pointed her finger. “See, you can’t even talk about it
without turning white. Your dad has found a nice wolf who doesn’t care that you
can’t shift.”
Her mother’s words brought her back from the past. “Oh, he
doesn’t mind, does he? How nice.” Alaina turned her back on her mom, knowing
she’d pissed her off and not caring. Most who were mated with a wolf could be
turned, but with her they didn’t know what the outcome would be. The familiar
mental intrusion she usually welcomed from her mother trying to make her
understand only pissed her off more. “Mother, can you hear what you’re saying?
There is not a wolf here in the Cascades that I want to marry, let alone mate
with. You do know what mating entails right? What if his truemate comes around?
Am I supposed to just stand aside, and be oh so understanding then?”
Adalynn stood. Alaina was always amazed at how much they looked
alike. Her mother kept her dark brown hair shoulder length, and was a couple
inches shorter at five feet five inches, while Alaina topped out at five foot
seven. They both had dark brown eyes, and her mother was still slim and curvy.
“That is hardly going to happen Lainey, but if it did we’ll
cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“Oh, my gawd. You sound like a Stepford Wife. What has happened
to you since I’ve been gone? There will be no we, no bridge to cross, and no
damn mating to a wolf I don’t know or love.”
The slamming of a door had them both turning to face the large
man in the entry.
“I’m sorry to hear you say that, Alaina, but you don’t have a
choice. You’re on pack land and pack law says your alpha has the right to say
who marries whom. Since the last time I checked, I’m the alpha and your father,
I’ve decided you will mate and marry the wolf of my choosing,” Roger Strop
said.
Alaina held her breath at the deep baritone of her dad. He’d
always been over protective of her, which was one of the reasons she’d gone
away to college, and chosen a position half-way across the country after
graduation. Seeing him exert his status and his anger toward her, she held her
breath. He was never happy with anything she’d done as a child. He’d wanted a
son, and since she was a girl, that was one check against her. She couldn’t
shift, two checks. The list kept getting longer as she got older and didn’t fit
into his role of the perfect daughter.
“Father, I’m sorry, but that is crazy. I came home to see you
and Mom. Not get married off to some stranger. I have a job, a life back in
Baltimore with people who are expecting me to return.”
Her father’s piercing blue eyes drilled her with his alpha
stare. “I don’t give a flying fuck if the President of the United fucking
States is expecting you for dinner at the White House. My land, my pack, my
rules. You will be mated, married, and out of my family in forty-eight hours.”
She flinched at each of his words, when the last sentence
penetrated her brain. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her mother
pleading with her eyes. Alaina opened her mind to let her mother in on their
private path. Another mark against her in her father’s mind was her ability to
keep him out of her thoughts.
Don’t anger him, baby. Please just do what he says. You will
still be my daughter. He is upset at me, not you. Adalynn’s voice sounded tear filled.
I don’t understand what is going on. Why is he pissed at you and
taking it out on me?
Roger strode to Alaina, pinching her chin between his fingers.
“Don’t fucking mindspeak in my presence, you two. Adalynn, get your ass in the
kitchen and start lunch. I have plans to finish up, but I’ll be back in a
couple hours. You both be on your best behavior this afternoon because I’m
bringing your intended over.” He released her with a vicious shove.
Alaina was expecting the move and took a step back, using her
fey abilities to go with his brute strength.
“You’ll learn your place with Rickard. He’ll make damn sure to
train you proper.”
They watched Roger stomp from their home. Alaina could see her
mother shaking in fear, and didn’t want to add to it with more questions. She
knew her mother kept a journal that only another fey could read, and since she
was the only other fey, Adalynn felt safe writing her thoughts down. Alaina
made a motion with her hand indicating writing. Her mother gave her a brief nod
before heading into the kitchen to begin cooking.
By the time she finished reading her mother’s journal that had
been written just for her, she was shaking. Her father didn’t hate her just
because she wasn’t a boy, but because she wasn’t his. He’d thought she wasn’t
his, but didn’t have proof until the school shooting had made the national
news. The man Adalynn had loved from her old pack in Mystic had seen the news,
obviously put two and two together and came up with his daughter. Clearly, her
dad wasn’t happy to have had his doubts confirmed. She could only imagine the
type of man he wanted her to marry. “I’ll take that one-way ticket to hell,
please. Not.” She closed her mother’s journal, putting it back in the bedside
table where her mom kept it.
Mystic, South Dakota was where all of her maternal family lived,
and Alaina always wondered why they never went back to visit. Now she knew the
why. What she didn’t know was why her mom didn’t stay and marry her real dad?
Why did she move halfway across the country with Roger, unless she wasn’t sure
who was the father. Alaina could imagine the Maury show, with her mother
sitting next to Roger and the paternity test coming up negative. Only when Maury
did the reading and saying Roger,
you are not the father, her
dad, or the man she thought was her dad, would shift into his wolf and eat
Maury before turning his focus on Adalynn. The image was so real Alaina
shivered.
She hurried into her bedroom, seeing the bag she’d packed still
sitting on the bed, she made a snap decision. Without wasting time, she grabbed
it and her purse, opened her bedroom window and snuck out, like she’d done so
many times as a teenager. Only then it was to go hang out with her friends,
this time it was to escape her father.
Alaina pressed the unlock button, hoping none of the wolves with
their super hearing were anywhere near. She held her breath as she tossed her
bag in the passenger seat and climbed inside. The entire time she kept
expecting her dad, or one of his enforcers, to come charging out of the woods
and drag her in front of the council. When she was buckled up and the keys were
in the ignition she exhaled and looked around before turning the key. Her cell
phone was in her purse, but she wasn’t going to risk calling her mom until she
was hours away.
Driving at a sedate pace, she pulled out of the driveway,
keeping her eyes on the road in front of her and didn’t look back. Alaina
thought about returning the rental to the airport, but was sure her da…Roger,
would look there for her first. Once she hit the highway she’d make a plan as
to where she would go. She had two weeks leave from work with pay, but she
hadn’t planned anything beyond staying with her parents.
The sound of her phone ringing made her jerk the wheel, almost
causing her to collide with another vehicle on the highway. Alaina realized
she’d already begun driving east, and passed the turnoff to the airport. The
ringtone was the one she’d assigned for her mother. Which meant her mom was
checking in with her, or Roger was making her call, either way she wasn’t
answering.
After many hours on the road, and not stopping for anything, she
was in need of several things, gas being one, something to drink, and the ladies
room were the others. Not necessarily in that order. She pulled into a large
truck stop, figuring she could blend in with the other vehicles. Again,
avoiding eye contact was her main focus. She filled the tank, and then visited
the bathroom, before loading up with bottled water and snacks.
A sign saying free Wi-Fi caught her attention. There was no way
she was going to drive across the country with no destination in mind, and the
thought of Baltimore held no appeal. Mystic, South Dakota, where her mother’s
family still lived, was a place she’d always wanted to go. Pulling her iPad out
of her bag, she logged onto the free server and google searched the Glade
family in Mystic from her mother’s journal entry.
“Gah, damn wolves and their secretive hides.” Alaina tapped on
the route icon.
“Excuse me, are you okay?”
Alaina looked up, startled to see a slender man sitting so close
to her. She scented the air, but found him to be one hundred percent human. She
may be only part wolf and part fey, but she had heightened senses, and could
smell another wolf a mile away. If she was paying attention. “I…do I know you?”
she asked.
“You just exclaimed about wolves. I was wondering if you were
okay.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Alaina’s creep meter went off.
“Oh, I was just looking at all these…stuffed animals.” She hid
her screen and stood from the barstool.
Glad that she’d parked the rental close to the front of the
building, something she’d learned in one of the self-defense classes she’d
taken, Alaina waved at the stranger and held her breath as she walked briskly
to the door. She felt him watching her as she left, but he didn’t follow. At
the rate she was going, if she kept holding her breath she would be able to
qualify for deep sea diving. The thought had her giggling as she put the car in
gear and pointed it in the direction of Mystic. “At least now I have a
destination in mind, even if it’s going to cost me an arm and a leg with the
rental company.”
The song Something
Bad by Miranda Lambert and
Carrie Underwood came on the radio. It used to be one of her favorite songs,
only now the words seemed ominous. She was running away from something bad, not
toward it. She hoped.
She stopped one more time for gas and had driven almost nine
hundred miles. When she’d left her mother was just starting to prepare lunch.
The clock on the dash showed she’d been driving for almost fourteen hours,
stopping for gas and food and short breaks to stretch her legs. As she passed
through the town of Sturgis, she realized it was still filled with people long
after closing time for bars and she wondered why. Mystic was still an hour
away, but, being so close, she felt excitement and nerves bubble in her
stomach.
So intent on getting to her mom’s sister, Payton’s, house, she
missed the turnoff to their town, but saw the sign for Mystic Lodge and decided
to continue on up the mountain. She hadn’t called to tell them she was coming,
and since it was well after two in the morning, Alaina thought the lodge might
have rooms.
The dark night seemed to close in on her as she drove further up
and away from the town, with the only light coming from her headlights and the
dashboard. She looked down at the mile gauge to see how far she’d gone, trying
to measure how much farther she had to go.
“Oh, shit,” she said as she ran over something in the middle of
the road, the sound of crunching glass could be heard through the closed
windows. Her stomach clenched in dread and she figured she was halfway between
the lodge and her aunt and uncle’s house. A trek she wouldn’t be scared to make
if it wasn’t after two in the morning on a dark and winding road. She snorted.
“Cue the scary music, Lainey.”
Had she not been playing the music so loud, and singing along
like she was Adele, maybe she’d have seen the bottle lying in the road. Her
rental jerked hard to the right, thankfully she was on a flat part of the road
and was able to pull off to the side. The moon overhead gave her enough light
to see the lopsided way the car was sitting.
She unplugged her phone from the charger putting it in her back
pocket, grabbed her purse and bag and locked them in the trunk. Up or down?
Alaina was always cautioned by her mom not to use her fey abilities because it
upset her dad, or Roger. She threw caution out the proverbial window and let
her fey senses guide her.
The rainbow of colors was awe inspiring, clearly leading back
downward. “How does the story go?” She looked through the trees. “Over the
hills and through the woods.”
With a shrug she followed the trail, wishing she was sitting in
her comfy apartment in Baltimore watching Sons of Anarchy. Instead, she was
traipsing through unknown territories, to seek shelter from unknown family. Not
the smartest thing she’d ever done.
A wolf howled in the distance, followed by a chorus of several
others. She’d heard wolves howling before, having grown up in a pack, but these
howls had the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. Alaina thought
about sticking to the road, but the colors were more vibrant and seemed to go
in a straight line through the trees. As the howls sounded closer, she chose to
go with her gut and headed into the woods, the thought of climbing one of the
trees as a last resort flittered through her mind.
Her enhanced hearing picked up all the sounds surrounding her,
and it took her a moment to filter them out and focus on the danger. The wolves
were closing in from three sides. She was faster than a normal human, had
heightened senses, but up against the odds of several shifters, she knew these
were not mere wolves, she was no match. Even if she was to climb the tallest
tree, they could shift and climb up after her. However, she did have her fey
magic.
“Screw it,” she said and started running as fast as she could,
following the trail while dodging low hanging branches. Her feet flew over the
ground, barely making a sound, but each time she broke a twig it sounded like a
gunshot to her ears. She knew the wolves could hear the same thing, she just
prayed her Aunt Payton felt her presence. When she’d opened her fey abilities,
the welcoming flood of magic was a familial one she recognized. It was very
similar to her mother’s, only crisper, not as shadowed with sadness. Alaina
realized her mother wasn’t happy, and she wished she’d paid closer attention
when she was younger. She made a silent vow to do all she could to get her
mother away from Roger and his pack…if she made it out of her own predicament.
Alaina swerved around a fallen tree, losing sight of her color
guide. She stopped, trying to catch her bearings. A huge wolf jumped in front
of her, his teeth bared, spittle dripping from his jaws. Another wolf, not
quite as big, but just as menacing came at her from the left, followed by
another on her right. She knew the tactic they were using, caging her in on all
sides. She wondered if there was one behind her, but was too scared to take her
eyes off the largest one in front of her. The eerie yellow eyes staring at her
held menace and knowledge, a double whammy in her world. She wondered if she’d
wandered onto their land.
“Listen, I know you understand me. My dad is alpha of the
Cascade pack and would be really pissed if you hurt his baby girl.” A complete
and utter lie, but he didn’t need to know that, she used the extra fey powers
to surround her with an utter sense of calm, hoping they believed her.
The leader of the wolves chuffed and took a step forward.
She sent a call out to her fey family, hoping someone was up and
near.
You never turn your back on a predator and you never run from a
wolf. However, she did take a few steps back sensing there was no other wolves
behind her. For every step she took backward, they took one forward, closing
the gap between them.
Alaina raised her hands in front of her. They began to glow,
magic from the lands infusing her with power she’d never had before. “If you
don’t back the fuck off, I will blast your asses.” The two smaller wolves
stopped the pursuit, their heads cocking to the side. The alpha snarled, the
hair on his back stood up, indicating he was ready to attack. “I mean it, you
prick. One move and you’ll be roasted dog meat. Imagine the stink, boys. Have
you smelled burning hair?” She made a gagging sound, but never let her arms
drop. They seemed to believe she could actually roast their asses, which Alaina
wasn’t so sure she could or couldn’t do. Continuing to back up she didn’t take
her eyes off of the three wolves in front of her, she didn’t realize where she
was walking. In that moment her main worry was keeping the animals at bay. The
thought made her giggle almost hysterically, but only for a split second.
Arms flailing she screamed
as she fell off the edge of a cliff. Her back hit what felt like a tree branch.
Instead of a free fall she began sliding, tumbling end over end as she
frantically tried to grab onto anything to stop her downward descent. A
sickening crunch followed by pain flared down her left arm, making her pull
back and then a jarring stop followed by another hit, this time on her head and
Alaina saw stars and then blackness swallowed her whole. She yelled out for
help just before total darkness encompassed everything.
My Opinion 5 STARS
**My thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review.**
I have to say that this book is even better than the first, and I really did enjoy reading the first book.
This book focuses on the alpha of the pack Niall, who lost his mate many years ago and does not believe that he can have anything as goos as he had with her.
xxxxx has escaped from her tyrannical step-father after going their to recuperate after a gunman attacked the school in which she taught. Unfortunately she gets into a spot of trouble and gets amnesia and can't remember who she is, yet she does know when she meets Niall that he is a shifter, but she does not let on.
The attraction between the two is instant and there is a heavy dose of lust to go with it and Niall always treats xxx with respect.
We get to see glimpses of the previous characters from book one and we also get a glimpse on the next book which appears to be for Jett and the mysterious woman with the purple streaks in her hair.
I will certainly be looking out for book three in the series.
Other Books in this Series
Synopsis
For veterinarian Cora Welch, being bitten by a young injured wolf wasn’t the best day of her life, nor the raging fever that followed. However, finding herself faced with a naked man proved even more than she had ever bargained for.
Zayn couldn’t believe what his inner wolf was telling him when he first saw the human doctor Cora, standing in nothing but a towel. The last thing he wanted was a mate, especially an accidental one. And at a time when danger seemed to be coming at the Mystic Pack from an unknown source, it just wasn’t in his plans.
All he had to do was get Cora through the fever, keep her safe from the other pack, and keep his fangs to himself. But nobody told him he’d have to fight a mating urge so strong within himself, that it was a losing battle. Now, he has to explain to Cora that he accidentally marked her for a second time, making her just like him.
Cora knew something was not right in her world the moment she wanted to climb her rescuer like a tree. Hearing Zayn tell her she was now a werewolf, like him and his pack, she realized she now had a home. If her new mate still wanted her after he heard about her family, Cora knew she’d be happy to be an accidental wolf.
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Author Bio I’m a wife and mother who is a retired stay at home mom of 2. I
say retired because my youngest is 14 and my oldest is 20. When my baby went to
school, reading saved my sanity, and then the same year he started school, I
was diagnosed with Cancer, again reading saved my sanity. When I recovered and
realized how quickly life could change, I made a bucket list. The number one
thing was to live. Check. On top of that list was to become a published author.
Check. Eight years later I have accomplished that goal and several others.
I live in the Midwest, but I”m a southern girl with only a
slight twang who says y’all quite frequently, and am known to say “Bless Your
Heart” A LOT. If you know what that means, you do not want to be the one I say
that to, lol. I cuss worse than if a trucker and a sailor were put together,
but I do it with class *WEG*.
I write what I love to read, erotic romance. My books are
definitely full of lots of story, but I leave nothing to the imagination in or
out of the bedroom. My hope is that after readers have read one of my stories,
they fall in love with the characters as much as I have.
The best part of my new journey is that I get to create new
worlds, and have all kinds of stories in my head just waiting to be written. I
truly love to hear from readers. You can find me on Twitter, Facebook or my
webside, but I’m on Facebook ALL the time, so find me. I’d love to hear from
you J
