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Friday, November 30, 2018

Unexpected Gifts: Pleasure Times Four by Candace Blevins


Two vampires, a grizzly bear, and a werewolf...


A heartwarming Christmas ménage romance.



Unexpected Gifts: Pleasure Times Four
The Chattanooga Supernaturals Book 9
Candace Blevins

Polly was nearly killed in a vampire battle near the end of the American Civil War. Her body needed time to heal, but she awakens into a startling future no one in the eighteen hundreds could’ve possibly dreamed of. To further complicate things, Polly wakes a week before Thanksgiving, so she’ll have to navigate the craziness of modern day Christmas on top of everything else.

Jayce is an ancient vampire who’s taking it easy while he lives under this identity. He was a famous physicist in the roaring twenties, but he’s currently a bartender, where everyone knows him as Ace. Abbott assigns the super-genius to teach Polly about this world she’s awakened to — with cars, airplanes, indoor plumbing, and smartphones with a camera in every human’s hand.

Cole is a bear shifter, and is Jayce’s partner. Lover. Whatever. Cole is a physics professor and doesn’t have time for silly labels — nor is he thrilled with the prospect of having a seven hundred year old former Queen of England living in their home. If she thinks he’s bowing to her, she’ll be sorely disappointed.

Sergei was abducted from foster care by an evil vampire as a child, and turned into a werewolf. Abbott rescued him when he took over Maryland, and he’s living with Jayce and Cole, employed as their house manager, but he wants to be so much more to them.

Two vampires, a grizzly bear, and a werewolf. It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but these four living under one roof is serious business. Follow them through an extraordinary Christmas season as they each find ways to offer Unexpected Gifts.



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Tuesday, November 27, 2018

The Ghost of Her Ex by Aletta Thorne



The Ghost of Her Ex
Aletta Thorne

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Romance, Ghost Stories

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Date of Publication: October 23, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-77339-829-7
ASIN: B07JLRLR45

Number of pages: 193
Word Count: 56,000

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Tagline:  What happens when the ghost of your ex just can’t leave you alone?

Book Description:

Just because she’s sixty-three, cynical, and a church musician, Emily Rauch is hardly done with life—or love. 

Now that she’s traded in her old barn of a place for a tiny house in the hills, Emily’s ready for a new start. 

Throw in one enormous pipe organ, two ghosts, a pot dealer named Santa Claus, the reappearance of Emily’s bad-boy college squeeze, and a blizzard...what could possibly go wrong?

Excerpt:  

“…You are a woman of … appetites, Em. You like to eat and drink and…”
“…and fuck.” Emily shocked herself by saying that. Dropping an f-bomb when you were just randomly turning the air blue was one thing. But this was no fuckity-fuck-fuck. This meant actually doing the deed…
But she hadn’t shocked Al. “Indeed. And fuck.” He nodded, his lips tight. “I left you in the lurch.”
Emily sighed. “Yup. Yup. Guess you did. But we talked that stuff to death two decades ago. Shit, Al! It’s just … just … I don’t know what it is. Alexa, play Widor organ music.”
“I don’t know any songs by Widor,” said Alexa.
“Alexa, argh!” Emily made neck-choking gestures toward the black cylinder on her counter.
“Bee-boop,” said Alexa. Her illuminated blue ring danced and turned itself off.
“I know our lovely and talented daughter meant well with that thing,” said Al. “But The Echo sucks at classical music unless you get lucky. Works better just to ask for radio stations.”
“You’re too good at that. Do you haunt many Echo owners?”
“Just Gordon.” Al laughed ruefully. “That young fella of his bought an Alexa for him. Alexa, play WQXR.”
“Playing WQXR.” Alexa provided them with the middle of Respighi’s “Ancient Airs and Dances.”
“Not bad,” said Emily. “No static. It barely comes in up here on the FM. And they’re a public station now, so no more pre-need funeral ads, I guess. God, funerals!”
“Yeah. That. I gather you had a spectacularly bad day…”
“Do you get special ghost email about that or something? Ghost Facebook?”
Al’s laugh, again, was rueful. “Hard to explain. It doesn’t work like that. I never really thought of you as a femme fatale, Em.”
“I wasn’t the one who fatale-ed him! I honestly didn’t intend to have anything else to do with him! Or not much else, anyway. Look, I was being a sex-positive, independent woman caring for her own needs. He went home to his girlfriend, tried for a little more of the old slap and tickle … and crumped.”
“And now you’re playing his funeral. And he came to the organ loft today to bother you.”
Emily began to laugh, too—a bit too hard. There was nothing else left to do. “Oh, fuckity fuck!”
“What?”
Then there were tears in her eyes again. She laughed until she ran out of air. “I never even unblocked him on my phone. I never even friended him on … Facebook! It was supposed to be a nothing. A one-off. A…”
“I sort of remember Brad. He was at the reception when you played in Brooklyn, right? Was he a good organist?”
Emily wiped her eyes. “He was terrific. But loud and flashy—at least when we were kids. A show-off. I don’t think I’ve actually listened to him play since before I met you. He loved boat races as much as he loved music. Not to mention chasing women. I used to regard that as a challenge when I was in school: break the womanizing horn-dog’s heart and win the Battle of the Sexes. Ah, Al, we’re so nuts when we’re young.”
Al took Emily’s hands. “‘Nuts’ is harsh. I think we’re young when we’re young. You know?”
“I do know.”
“Em, I’ll tell you this… Brad’s going to be … around. Womanizer or no, he probably liked you a lot more than you thought. I get that. Plus, he doesn’t know he’s dead, right?”
“He seems a bit unclear about that. He’s got to know I’m practicing for his funeral. You never seemed unsure about being…”
“Being dead. I had lots of warning. I was sick for a long time.”
Emily nodded. “That sucked. You sure didn’t deserve it.”
Al pecked her cheek with his usual hurried and dry kiss. “No one deserves it. Your friend clearly has unfinished business,” he said. And then he disappeared.




About the Author:

Aletta Thorne believes in ghosts.  When she’s not making up ghost stories for grownups, she is a choral singer, a poet, and a DJ.  But she’s happiest in front of a glowing screen, giving voice to whatever it was that got her two cats all riled up at three AM.  Her house is quite seriously haunted—even scared the ghost investigator who came to check it out!   After all, she lives just across the Hudson River from Sleepy Hollow. Aletta Thorne is also the author of The Chef and the Ghost of Bartholomew Addison Jenkins.




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Girly-Girl by Thomas Briar



Girly-Girl
Thomas Briar

Genre: Interracial BDSM Erotica

Publisher: Cobblestone Press

Date of Publication: 1-18-18

ASIN: B07956K993

Number of pages: 161
Word Count: 47,000

Cover Artist: Rebecca K. Sterling

Tagline: What will Tanisha do when she learns she can’t live without Levi’s wonderful presence in her life?

Book Description:

Tanisha is a naughty virgin with way too many unfulfilled romantic fantasies.

Levi is an unconventional Dom with a penchant for BDSM and kinky sex.

On their first date, after both reveal shocking personal details, they enter a scorching hot D/s relationship based purely on fulfilling Tanisha’s most intimate romantic fantasies. 

But nothing perfect ever lasts without first overcoming adversity. As the naughty virgin and her attentive Dom fall desperately in love, a veiled secret on her side and his unspoken desire threaten to snatch away their happily ever after.

Cobblestone Press      Amazon      BN
Excerpt # 3

Levi regard her with an amused expression. “You may undress now. But take your time. I want to fully appreciate the process.”

Tanisha flashed a sensual smile before removing the choker and then reaching back and unzipping the dress. The burring of the zipper drowned out the heavy thumping of her heart.
She drew out the suspense by slowly peeling the dress from her shoulders and arms while making sure to keep ample breasts and taut nipples covered.
A subtle grin softened his features from where he leaned with his back against the wall. The noticeable bulge in his pants became more evident.
She turned her back to him and released the top to let it fall below her waist. Slipping thumbs inside the clinging waistline, she sent a naughty glance over a shoulder, wiggling her hips and pushing the dress down to let it puddle on the floor around her heels. Taking her time, she unclasped the garters and unhooked the garter belt to drop it on top. Stepping out of the heels, she placed a foot on the edge of the bed to peel off one stocking and then the other one. Standing up straight, chin held high, she slowly turned to show off the full glory of her body.
Completely exposed. Bare breasted and bare assed. No shame. She had absolutely no desire to draw out the suspense any longer. A thrill born from the power of exhibition tweaked her nipples and clit. An overwhelming heat made her searing hot all over, especially inside her pussy.
He stared, letting out a ragged breath, the tip of his tongue darting back and forth over his bottom lip. “Aren’t you a sight to behold? Smoking hot. Every man’s erotic fantasy come to life.”

“I just want to be your erotic fantasy,” she said, hoping she really was. She’d waited so long for someone like him to finally notice her.

About the Author:

Edgy and provocative in his writings, Thomas Briar strives to exalt the virtues of love and lust in every erotic story he creates. To date, he’s written a wide variety in the subgenres of New Adult, Contemporary, Historical, Interracial, and BDSM. He also takes great pride in the fact that he writes the type of erotic stories that twist and turn as the hero and heroine strive wholeheartedly to get exactly what they want from each other.

Which means most of his stories run on the hotter side of the erotica genre with his characters indulging in the type of sex that some would call adventurous. In fact, his descriptive writing style and graphic sex scenes will certainly evoke a reaction.

Hopefully, a positive one, but he’s making no promises. Not everyone likes to be made to feel as if they are present in the scene, surreptitiously watching the eroticism play out right before their very eyes. For, without a doubt, writing scorching hot sex scenes is Thomas’ absolute favorite thing about writing erotica.

Well, that, and making sure his characters end up living happily ever after.

Feel free to check out his website at  


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Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Goetia by Sam Poling


Goetia
The Oldenrai Archives
Book Two
Sam Poling

Genre: Fantasy / Dark Fantasy

Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing

Date of Publication: 10/31/18

ISBN: 9780463828861
ASIN: B07GKYH54D

Number of pages: 180
Word Count: ~74,500

Cover Artist: Cora Graphics

Tagline: Integrate your shadow

Book Description:

After imposing a controversial quarantine, Adelstadt Mayoress Mirabel Fairfax finds herself in the crosshairs with vengeful highwaymen. When they target her family and the vital shipments her village desperately needs, she turns to witchcraft to restore order herself. But something is wrong: her magic becomes unreliable, and monstrous images torment her mind's eye.

When gruesome murders terrorize Adelstadt, she suspects the highwaymen have turned to the occult, allying with a demonic entity. A Goetia. The hallucinations become all-too-real, and Mirabel must rely on her cunning, wrath, and what few friends she has left if she hopes to rescue her valley, her beloved, and her mind.

Felix Fairfax does the best he can as the husband of a controversial mayoress witch, but his life is once again turned into a fight for survival when he’s kidnapped by the highwaymen. They force him to help investigate his wife’s hidden lair, where they become trapped with creatures of unspeakable horror. Whatever Mirabel had locked away hunts indiscriminately—it hunts him—and if it gets out, plagues and highwaymen won’t be Adelstadt’s problems any longer.

Pre-Order Sale Only .99 Until October 31 

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Excerpt:
Mirabel’s boots clicked down a stone, spiral stairway, blowing past the half-melted candles lining the steps. The candles provided the only light, at times leaving her to fumble for footing on the disrepair of the steps. The descent into darkness went on longer than she’d ever recalled experiencing before. What a time for metaphysical nonsense. An echo of raspy, hollow screams chased her, reverberating within the stairwell, challenging her to keep up speed.
She stumbled off the final steps, at last on the ground floor, and clawed her wild, deep red hair from her face. Archaic, religious candle racks illuminated the chamber. Nothing had changed down here. At least, not yet.
She sped past rows of dilapidated tables and pews, reached a laboratory-style workbench, and threw her arms against a stack of journals, scattering the research. Upon snaring a specific handful of pages, she sprinted for the tower entrance.
A bony tusk punched through a nearby wall, knocking candles from their altar. They struck silver offering plates on the floor, crashing like cymbals. Mirabel leaped back, one hand clutching her research against her body, the other gripping the handle of her rapier.
Black, viscous slime poured from the hole around the horn, crept over the altar, and dripped onto the floor. Small, misshapen hands sprouted from the goop like blooming black-fingered flowers, grasping at the stone tiles. A reek like sweet, rotting fruit flooded the air.
She closed her gaping mouth, turned away, and continued running down the hall. Her burned-orange cape fluttered and whipped, a nuisance, rescinding its value.
The entire tower quaked, followed by more disembodied shrieking. A spiny, gray tentacle as thick as a branch smashed through the wall ahead in a deafening boom, lashing and twisting like an eel out of water. She drew her rapier and severed the tip with the sharpened, distal edge of her weapon. The piece of otherworldly flesh fell away, but several more tentacles punched through imperfections in the surrounding walls, blocking her path. Each unique arm contorted at varied rates, some more aggressive than others.
Still holding her sword, she extended her arm and channeled magic through it with a rush of heat. Upon releasing her focus, the heat fled her body and flames burst in front of her, engulfing the tentacles and transforming them into crackling ash.
Vertigo crashed over her in waves as penalty for her sudden, great expenditure of soul energy. With inhuman moans drifting on the air, she shook off her fatigue and proceeded to the iron double doors ahead, ramming her shoulder against them. They opened a crack, blasting her face with freezing air from outside.
She pushed against the door, and it ground open, scraping through a layer of fresh snow. She slipped her thin frame through, dropped her research and rapier, and shoved the door closed.
“Mayoress?”
She spun and straightened her posture. “Under no circumstances is anyone to approach the tower.”
Two guardsmen clad in vermillion red, double-breasted uniforms stood at the base of the tower steps, shoulders dusted with snow. They possessed several weapons: muskets with bayonets, sabers, and crossbow pistols. All useless.
“Aye,” said the leading guard. “We thought we heard some rumbling from our post. Another quake?”
She knelt, sheathing her rapier and collecting her papers. And then she saw the ooze. Not much, but strands of it slithered under the door. She backed away and marched down the steps.
“Evacuate.”
“Excuse me, Mayoress?”
She stopped between the guards and faced the shift lead. “Evacuate. It’s a simple concept. Do it now.”
“Evacuate what? Ironsnow?”
“Yes, the entire hamlet. Get everyone to Adelstadt at once.” She looked past him at dozens of wood-framed homes at the base of the tower’s hill, billowing smoke from their chimneys. “No one goes near the tower. Get everyone out now.”
The other guard spoke. “But why? Minor quakes happen all the time. My family lives here.”
The three marched down the hill. Mirabel said nothing.
“Mayoress?”
“Miasma. I’ve discovered the tower is the source of plague-infested miasma. Likely the cause of other outbreaks around Adelstadt. Deadly strains. None can reside here any longer. I’m sorry.”
“Tordin’s mercy,” said the guard. “I’ll have my family pack right away.”
“Nay. Full evacuation. Immediately. Have the citizens take only what they can carry on their way out.”
“It’s that urgent?”
“I am the Mayoress and a syndicate-certified disease specialist. You think I give this order lightly?”
“Of course not, Mayoress Fairfax,” said the lead guard. “We’ll get everyone out within the hour.”

“Faster if you are able. Much faster.”


About the Author:

Sam Poling has been writing fantasy and science fiction for the thrill of it his entire life, from short stories to screenplays. His love for each of the subgenres led to dedication to writing genre-skirting fiction with all the elements that make up the human condition. He holds a strong enthusiasm for medical studies and currently works as a medical assistant in a large clinic while taking classing for nursing. He also serves on a health and safety committee, including disaster preparedness and infection control. His interest in epidemiology and medical science tends to spill over into his writing endeavors.

Find Sam Online:




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Monday, November 19, 2018

Stalk By Victoria Danann



Stalk
Book One
Victoria Danann

Genre: paranormal romance

Publisher: 7th House, Imprint of Andromeda LLC

Date of Publication:  October 19, 2018

Number of pages: 388
Word Count: 82,000

Cover Artist: Victoria Danann

Tagline: Every breath you take.

Book Description: 

The first coming of chaos. Twelve thousand years ago, members of a more advanced race crossed into our dimension when the barriers temporarily collapsed.

Trapped in our world, the aliens, who were also shifters, built structures that eventually caused the great flood and the sinking of Atlantis.

Some of the alien DNA survived in progeny that carried an untraceable shifter gene, dormant until awakened by mating with a full blooded werewolf.



Excerpt: 
Shortly after the incident, the event came to be known as May Day simply because it occurred on the first of May. The term would be forever after altered to represent the pandemonium that followed the dimension overlap that left so many stranded. It worked because it was a good choice because of disassociating the incident with high emotion.
Some from other places were left here. Some that belonged here had disappeared and, even though every city had a centralized location where loved ones could post photos and leave flowers or burning votives, everybody knew somebody who had lost someone. And the world had been turned on end in the blink of an eye.
The conventional wisdom about withholding news panic-inducing news from the public was bypassed. Cover up was impossible in this case and overnight, everyone knew that we experience reality alongside many others, invisible to us. Everyone also learned conclusively that other species exist in those realities.
One of the species that had been stranded in this dimension were canine shifters, werewolves as they were sometimes called in fantasy. Being disinclined to panic, the werewolves, each individually, used their cunning to quickly assess their circumstances and determine what was required to survive. Utilizing their innate talent for strategy, and seduction, they were able to identify missing humans who were a reasonably close match to anthropoid bodies, were without families and were, basically, antisocial. Being shrewd as well as cunning, they made matches with candidates with financial assets.
New lives could be built in a new world without money, but money could go a long way toward building walls of privacy and providing the one thing they needed most, after company, of course. That thing was territory. Freedom.
The government made it almost too easy by publishing an open database of the missing and requested that corrections be made if someone listed was present and accounted for. Each shifter made his choice then notified the government that they were not missing. They were sorry for the misunderstanding, but had been sailing in the Caribbean or fishing in the Gulf or on an archeological expedition in the Amazon.
By the time the dust of the catastrophe began to settle, seven shifters had found each other through a curious intersection of tech and primeval instinct. Each of the seven, while dealing with his own personal disorientation and sense of loss, quickly identified the Pacific Northwest as the most suitable habitat on the North American continent. Millions of acres of national parks and wildlife reserves was attractive. That, and the cooler temperatures, made the locale almost ideal as shifter temperatures run a full three degrees warmer than humans.
It took only a few weeks to come across each other. Shifters in wolf form can cover great distances. In so doing they came across the scent of others who were similar to themselves if not identical, but definitely distinctive from wild wolves. And each felt immeasurable relief to find others. For social animals, abject solitude would be a sentence to hell.
That was one of the reasons why Ken Sahabe was admitted to the pack without hesitation even though he was not a canine, but a spotted hyena. The pack decided Ken’s social and hunting needs were close enough and admitted him.

The hard wiring of pack behavior hadn’t changed for millennia. However, the language used to describe certain facts of pack life was altered for modern times so that it seemed more politic. For example, rather than saying the alpha decided, which was true, the thought would be expressed as ‘the pack decided’. In Ken’s case, though the actual wolves didn’t have a real vote, they accepted him like one of their own species.

About the Author:

Eight times #1 Amazon Paranormal Romance Bestseller

OVER ONE MILLION BOOKS SOLD

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, Victoria Danann, has won the prestigious Reviewers’ Choice Award for BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES the past four years in a row! Click follow to get notifications of new releases.

Knights of Black Swan – BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)

A Summoner’s Tale – BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE NOVEL (2013)

Moonlight – BEST VAMPIRE/SHIFTER NOVEL (2013)

Solomon’s Sieve – BEST VAMPIRE NOVEL (2014)

Falcon – BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE NOVEL (2016)

In addition to the brave and beautiful vampire hunting knights, Victoria writes other paranormal romances that often touch on scifi/fantasy along with contemporary bikers for those who love it when the bad boys are soooooo good.

Victoria co-hosts the popular ROMANCE BETWEEN THE PAGES podcast which can be found on itunes or at www.romancecast.com. She and co-host, Riley J. Ford, interview the biggest names in romance every week. Ever wonder about the personalities behind your favorite books? Some of them just might surprise you with their interests, wit, lifestyles, and sense of humor.




Friday, November 9, 2018

Release Day Blitz LOBOS by Victoria Danann and Teresa Gabelman


LOBOS
Big Bend Wolves
Book One
Victoria Danann and Teresa Gabelman

Genre: paranormal romance

Publisher: dba 7th House, Imprint of Andromeda LLC     

Date of Publication: 11/09/18

Number of pages: 218
Word Count: 39k

Cover Artist: Victoria Danann

Tagline: Sometimes running away takes you straight to the thing you’re running from.

Book Description:

The Three Rivers Pack has been deeply embedded in Kerrville commerce and society for generations. They own businesses and hold government offices, including that of sheriff. But the influx of retirees and well-to-do building second homes in the Hill Country has squeezed the shifters for room to run.

The only answer is relocation to a less populated locale and that will require making a deal with the pack that holds that territory. The alliance struck by the two alphas is blood seal, a political mating between the Lobos alpha’s daughter and the Three Rivers alpha’s son. It’s the perfect solution that benefits both tribes. Except nobody asked Fleet Ryder and Dani Alvarez if they’re willing. And they aren’t.

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Excerpt:

The light was on in the kitchen, which meant Marva was up. When he stepped through the kitchen door not wearing a stitch of clothing, she looked him up and down with a half-smirk and the same lusty interest she’d shown as a teenager. John Ryder thought of himself as being a lucky man to have a mate who loved and craved his body like they were newlyweds, after thirty years together. He returned her smirk with a knowing smile, pulled her in close and kissed her long and deep. When he pulled back, she sighed. He loved that sigh.
“I know that look,” she said.
He kept her tight against his naked body, but pulled his head back to make eye contact. “What look is that?”
“The one that says you’ve made up your mind about something important.”
  He broke away and grabbed the clothes he’d left on the bench by the back door. As he began dressing, he said, “Yeah.”
The pensive tone told her everything she needed to know. “And you’re not happy about it.”
She waited patiently while he finished dressing. She’d been with him long enough to know the difference between John, her mate, and John, the alpha.
At the moment he was seeing the world through the filter of pack alpha. He’d speak when he was ready and wouldn’t be rushed.
“Can I have some of that coffee?” he said.
She turned, poured and handed him a mug. “You want breakfast here or are you gonna eat at the café?”
“Café.” He leaned back against the kitchen counter and took a sip before saying, “We have to go.”
“Go?” Marva stopped what she was doing and turned with a question firmly registered in the crease between her brows. “Go where?”
When his pale gray eyes met hers, she recognized the gravity of the moment.
“I mean we have to move,” he said quietly.
Marva sat down heavily at the kitchen table trying to keep her shock from adding to the burden her mate was clearly carrying with stoic pride. “You mean the whole pack.” It wasn’t a question, but a verbal clarification.
Nodding, feeling much older than his years, he simply said, “Yeah.”

It might have come as a surprise to Marva. It would be a surprise to everybody in the pack. And not the good kind. But truthfully, John had been mulling over the problem for years. As alpha, survival of the pack was his responsibility. With an eye on the encroaching population, he knew there was only one way it could end. Move. Or be exposed as shifters with the vast shit chasm that promised.
Since the latter was just not an option, they were going to have to prepare for a whole-pack migration. Several lucrative business enterprises and a lot real estate was about to go up on the market in Kerrville. But first, pack members had to be told. And he wasn’t expecting even the most adventurous of them to be happy about it. The final decision was his and making it meant that he owned the outcome as well.

The pack was gathered in the barn on the Ryder property. Everybody had brought pot luck. They’d tried to enjoy the food and the company, but there was an undercurrent of anxiety because every adult pack member could read the mood of the alpha well enough to know something was up.
When the alpha finally stood and announced his intention to move them, the responding silence was suffocating. No one wanted to argue, but no one wanted to agree either.
At length, one of the elders cleared his throat and said, “Where are we going, John?”
“I can’t say for certain yet, Emmett. But I’ve been considering options for a long time. The biggest issue is that there’s no such thing as a desirable place that isn’t already occupied by a pack.” There were murmurs as people whispered to each other their fears about what that might mean. John held up his hand. “I know. We’ve had a good stay here. Most of us are connected to families who’ve been here since before Texas was a Republic. Most of us have never lived any place else.
“So I’m not saying it’s going to be easy.” It hadn’t escaped the pack’s notice that he hadn’t answered the question. “But I’m thinking Big Bend. Out around Alpine.”
The emotional current that ran through the pack was mixed. Some were fearful about the prospect of packing up and leaving everything for parts unknown. But mixed with that was an undercurrent of excitement. 
When things settled down, John went on. “Alpine is a small town, I grant you, but there are opportunities there just like there are opportunities everywhere. We’ll make it work just like we always have.” With a small smile he shook his head just a little. “It’s wild out there. You’ll be free in ways you’ve never been free here.”
“Doesn’t that territory belong to the Lobos Pack?” Beverly Mossgreen spoke up.
John’s head swiveled toward her and he stared for a couple of seconds. It wasn’t an official correction, but it was enough unwanted attention from the alpha to make her uncomfortable.
“Yes. Lobos. But I have a plan.” John noticed that both his betas, who happened to be cousins of his, stood opposite each other, off to the sides, leaning against the walls with muscled arms crossed in front of chests. The pose looked casual, leisurely, but would be read by the pack as absolute support for whatever the alpha had to say. “A peaceful transition.”
“What is it?” A female elder sounded anxious and he couldn’t blame her.
A move like the one he was proposing would be hard on any of them, but especially so on those who were older. His face softened for a second as he regarded her. “Don’t worry, Evelyn. Everything will turn out fine.”
He looked over the pack. “In the old days, we would have had to kill the alpha and any loyalists who resisted a takeover. But that was the old days. We’ve made a lot of changes. James owns the auto parts store. Raleigh is a real estate broker. My own mate bakes fucking cookies!”
“I do not bake fucking cookies!” Marva spoke up. “I run a bakery.”
The laughter that rippled through the room helped to ease some of the tension.
“Right.” John smiled her way. “Right,” he repeated. “I bet people in Alpine like cookies just as much as people in Kerrville.”
“I don’t just bake cookies,” she grumbled.
He gave her a look that said, ‘First, I’m teasing you. Second, right now I’m speaking as the alpha. Not as your mate. Take it up with me later. In bed.’
She got the message and ducked her chin slightly in deference. He continued.
“Point is I think it’s time for the old ways to move aside for better ideas. We’re going to try for a bloodless coup.” He glanced at his betas. “Rake, James, and I are going to head on out there and have a talk with the Lobos alpha and his top people. We’ll offer a ‘buy in’ for a piece of their territory around Alpine. I don’t know much about their finances, but I’m guessing that these days it’s hard for even shifters to turn down cash.
“That’s the first part of our offer. Folding money appeals to the two-legged half of our nature. The second part is a little trickier because cash is useless in wolf form. That’s why we need a deal sealed with blood.” He cleared his throat. “The Lobos alpha has a daughter. Mating age. We’re going to arrange an alliance.”
The alpha paused and looked over the gathering, faces almost as familiar as his own in the mirror. He spotted his son in his usual spot, in a far back corner with his friends. The gathering followed John’s line of sight and turned to look at Fleet at the back of the room.
Fleet had been softly chuckling at a joke, only half listening to his dad, when he realized that everyone in the pack had turned to look at him. His world turned serious in a heartbeat and he stood taller, pale gray eyes identical to his father’s, going straight to lock the alpha’s gaze. 
“Our son, Fleet.” John nodded toward Marva even though everyone there knew full well that she was Fleet’s mother. “And Lobos’ daughter.”
A range of emotion flashed across Fleet’s features. Confusion. Shock. Anger. And again, confusion, finally resolving in disbelief. He couldn’t possibly have heard right. Could he?
If he was human, he’d tell his father to fuck off. But Fleet Ryder wasn’t human. He was a wolf shifter with two choices; obey the alpha or leave the pack. Since the latter wasn’t really a choice, that left once course of action. He couldn’t disobey. He couldn’t challenge openly. He couldn’t object in any overt way.
So he did the next best thing. He threw his father a hateful look, turned and left. Four young shifter males filed out behind him, partly because they were compelled on a subliminal level. Fleet was oozing alpha traits and the next generation were already paying homage to that.



About the Authors:

Victoria Danann and Teresa Gabelman are both award winning New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon #1 bestselling authors.