Blurb
Gretchen fell in love with Charly, a sweet, nerdy bear of a man but ran fast
and hard from his side when she realized he'd hate her for a genetic twist of
fate she couldn't change. Now she's back in town and drawn to his side. Can a
wolf sworn to destroy all coyotes claim a coywolf mate or will he be forced to
destroy the only girl he ever loved?
A FREE SNEAK PEEK!!
Chapter One
Everyone
knows a good story doesn’t begin with a dream sequence. Due to the simple rule
of storytelling, Charly knew he wasn’t dreaming when he spotted her sitting
cross-legged on the small dividing wall between the college campus and the
parking lot. It was her, it had to be.
Lifting
an arm to wave, he called out, “Hey, Gretchen!”
She
didn’t turn, didn’t even seem to hear him, her golden head bent to look at
something in her lap. Even from a distance, he recognized her profile and
couldn’t resist calling again, “Gretchen!”
His
heart accelerated, a direct and immediate reaction to finally putting his eyes
on the one woman who ever managed to make him want to be the kind of guy he
read about—some comic book hero hell bent on saving the world who could say the
right thing and sweep the perfect girl off her scantily clad feet.
Not
that Gretchen was nearly naked, but a guy could wish.
Closer,
he could see the cord which likely impeded her ability to hear him. She wore
some kind of earbuds and a hoodie covered in cartoon characters. Her jeans were
ratty and her hair as brilliant as he remembered. A trace of her scent—wild and
a little heady—made it to him and he sucked in the familiar bouquet with a
twist of bittersweet joy. He didn’t know why she’d just vanished one day, no
trace left behind for him to track and no word on where she’d gone, but she
had. He wasn’t letting her slip away so easily a second time.
Losing
her once in a lifetime was enough to let him know he didn’t want it to happen a
second time. Reaching out one hand, he planned to nudge her shoulder, get her
attention, and maybe ask her out.
But
a ball of fur in his periphery distracted him moments before wet and fangs
closed on his arm.
Who
would dare attack him in broad daylight?
The
wild musky scent of the attacker alerted him before his human brain caught up
with the program. Coywolf.
The
dangerous breed of shifter was a combination of coyote and wolf, but not
actually either anymore. Coywolves were bigger than wolves, more suited to
urban terrain and altogether meaner than shit.
Not
to mention Charly was in human form, it was daytime, and they were on a college
campus, and if he did a thing to defend himself, his professors might see.
Nothing ensured an A faster than a prof finding out their student could shift
into a four-legged death machine, but he preferred his grades be based on his
actual performance rather than sheer terror on the part of the humans.
Besides,
it would really piss off Dara if he shifted in public. She’d never proved
terribly understanding about them scaring the humans.
Fending
off the attack to the best of his ability, considering, he tried to also scan
the area to see if any other coywolves were around. Last thing he needed was
for one to attack Gretchen while he was distracted, meaning he’d shift to
protect her and worry about apologizing to his Alpha later if he had to.
But
he saw neither other wolves nor Gretchen. She’d vanished. Again.
“Dammit!”
Not
sure if he was more pissed because he’d been attacked or because he’d lost
sight of the girl of his dreams, Charly closed one hand over the snapping
muzzle mere inches from his face. “You picked the wrong wolf to tangle with,
Hybrid.”
The
other animal didn’t answer, more focused on trying to tear out his throat than
conversation.
Pinching
down hard on the pressure points at the joint of the jaw, Charly managed to pry
the creature off him in stages. Humans gathered, all gasping in horror and one
pulling out their cellphone—yeah, a Vine of their interaction wasn’t on his
list of things to do, either. He needed to end this and fast. One snap and he’d
managed to boink the coywolf’s head off the pavement, stunning the creature.
Once it was distracted, Charly shoved away then ran fast and hard toward the
parking lot. Tugging his hoodie up to hide his face a bit, he ducked between
cars, sneaking a look back towards the main hall of the school.
The
coywolf shook off his stupor then turned to lope, looking unconcerned, away
from the humans, most of which had cell phones out to snap pictures. Stupid
animal—attention from the humans weren’t in its best interest any more than it
was in Charly’s. As it vanished, Charly again scented the air, searching for a
trace of her, but all he could smell was the reek of the coywolf rubbed into
his clothes. He’d need a shower.
His
phone chirped and he pulled it out to unlock the screen with a swipe of his
finger.
Something going
on at the campus of the community college. Twitter blowing up. You near there?
Scowling
at the phone, he loped to his car, got in, and revved the engine before
bothering to reply. I was the ruckus, got
attacked by coywolf.
What? You okay? Dara’s text was
short and to the point, a sign his Alpha worried.
Fine or I
wouldn’t be texting,
he replied.
Get to the
warehouse. Emergency meeting.
KO, he typed back
and shifted the car into gear. Looked like he’d be skipping another class.
Not
unusual, really. As beta to the local Alpha, Charly missed about as many
classes as he managed to attend due to Pack duties. Most of his profs found him
to be a little lazy, thinking he slept through classes or spent his spare time
gaming or something.
Wouldn’t
they shit if he told them the truth? Doc,
I’m a werewolf and I had Pack business to attend to.
Yeah,
that’d fly like Iron Man minus the rockets. But those worries were for another
day. Today? His Pack needed him and Pack came first. Always.
It
had to. He didn’t have anything else.
Odd Mate Excerpt:
