A Fool's Heart

By S.R. Roddy

Sylvia – All but an outcast to her people, at twenty–five she struggles with the reality of her defects. Proclaimed useless by pack and council, the only person who seems to care if she lives and dies is her father, the Alpha of a small Texas pack of werewolves. The aggression of the cartels near the border forces her father to seek training from the powerful Volkoffs, a pack of military trained werewolves that live in the Montana Mountains.

Micah — Devastated after the psychotic break of his long time mate, he withdraws from society. For three years his work becomes his whole world, an escape from his own shortcomings. Until the day a pixie with eyes the color of amethyst fire stepped into it. Inexplicably drawn to her, he volunteers to help train the tiny female whose own pack treats her as an outcast.

Together – With each electrifying touch they find it difficult to resist one another. As they are drawn to each other, they struggle to overcome their hidden insecurities. Will they let the past and the doubts they carry determine their future? Or, will a fool’s heart win the day?

Volkoff Pack:

#0 A Fool's Heart - Out Now
#1 Tonight's Desire - Out Now
#2 Love's Forbidden Embrace - Out Now
#3 Love Combined - 2015

• Language: English
• Publisher: S.R. Roddy
• Release date: Mar 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311374950

S.R. Roddy

Married with five children, three cats and one very large dog she lives happily in a small town north of Austin, Tx. She is an ordinary housewife who spends most of her day homeschooling her four teenage children. From a young age she discovered a deep love for books that has encouraged her vivid imagination and touched her romantic spirit. With the help and support of her family she spends her spare time writing with the desire to share her creativity with other avid readers like herself.

Book preview

A Fool’s Heart

Volkoff Pack

Prequel

S.R. Roddy

Copyright © 2014 S.R. Roddy

Smashwords Edition

All Rights Reserved

www.srroddy.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without written permission of the author except in the case of quotations used for critical articles or reviews. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

Prologue

Micah watched from the shadows as his twin sons strutted into the compound. Today they celebrated their first hunt, an event that marked them as an adult in shifter society. Such a day held great pride for both parent and child. Sadly, he could not permit himself to be involved. Instead, he must lurk in the darkness. Destined to watch others participate and guide his offspring through this momentous occasion.

Wolves believed strongly in ceremony, especially those involving the youth of their society. The coming of age celebration was a grand event. Micah grimaced at the unfairness. His right to be there was stolen from him by fate. His mate suffered through another late term miscarriage only yesterday, a set of twins not unlike those swaggering through the square.

Micah’s melancholy dissipated at their boastful attitude. A grin spread across his rugged face as he watched their antics. Tonight, even Hunter held his head high and sported a smile of triumph. As each was followed by a guard carrying the night’s achievement. A moose for Hunter and a five–point buck for his brother.

The twins were so different from each other. His eldest, Cyril, tended to be bold and dominant, a true alpha as he should be. Hunter was quieter, a thinker if you will. He preferred to observe others, rather than communicate with them.

It was Cyril that interacted with others. He smoothed ruffled feathers like a pro. He was the one who handled their mother when she was in one of her moods, which happened often through the years.

Micah was grateful for the twins. His boys, the pride and joy of his life. A gift from the goddess. The one thing he did right.

Micah thought of his wife and sorrow overwhelmed him once more. Over the years as Eva’s paranoia piqued, Micah realized his presence only exasperate the situation. So, he tended to stay away during her episodes. Though, in recent years, those moments seemed to have tapered off.

Micah had hoped that the decrease in outbursts was a good omen. He truly thought she was doing better. At least the boys had never complained or stated otherwise. Now he knew better.

This last miscarriage caused something to snap inside of her. She’d become enraged at the announcement that the ceremony would continue, despite their recent loss. Many valuable medical supplies were lost as she threw chairs, beacons and whatever else she could get her hands on. They sedated her, and even then she fought to break free of the drugs. It saddened him to see her that way. Such a vibrant woman brought low by the instability of her mind.

Eva was angry that Micah allowed the celebrations to continue though their babies had just died. He didn’t know how to respond to that, or what she wanted from him. He was not an emotional shifter. Oh, he had feelings like anyone else. He loved his family, felt pride fear and sadness. Micah wasn’t a robot as his wife accused, he just didn’t wear his emotions for all to see. Nor did he see a point in punishing the living.

The infants were dead, and he would mourn their loss. Canceling the twin’s ceremony would not bring back their lost siblings. They hurt just the same as any adult and all involved felt that this event would help ease their sorrows. It was unhealthy for young wolves to wallow in such gloom. They needed something positive to take their mind off the latest tragedy.

Micah had hoped to mollify his mate by promising to abstain from participation. Which left his brother Dmitri, the pack alpha and his second in command, Grigor in charge of the twins’ first shift and hunt. The exclusion saddened him, but this was for the best.

He too ached for the recent loss of another set of twins. This time girls. He would’ve liked to have a set of girls to spoil, but the fates didn’t deem it so. He wondered at times if they punished him for daring to be selfish.

Micah’s mate was a beautiful woman, spoiled beyond her station. Dmitri had tried to talk him out of the match, but he was stubborn. She was not equal in rank. Just a lowly guard’s daughter from a small pack they visited outside of Madrid. It was love at first sight, or so Micah had thought. They mated without either packs consent and suffered for it afterward.

Years of miscarriages and let downs proceeded, until the birth of their twin boys. They were healthy, and for a while their mother seemed happy, content even. But, as time progressed her depression seeped in once more. Micah tried to give her other children. It was all she’d asked for. As an only child, being a mother of a large family had been her only dream. He’d truly wished to fulfill her request, but it was not to be.

Each year when her heat overcame her, Micah would perform his duty. After a time that’s all it became to him. A chore that left him cold inside. He knew each time her cycle ended that she would once again carry a child. One that would not survive. It saddened him to watch her suffer, but there was naught he could do.

The howls in the distance brought Micah out of his mournful thoughts. Resentment filled him as he watched his sons laugh and brag to the others about their first kill. They were his children, his legacy. Yet, fate cheated him out of this celebration.

His shoulders slumped. It was wrong to blame the twins, or even the others for the events that interfered with his participation. It was no one’s fault, just a sad accident.

The wind shifted, bringing with it a new aroma. The smell of fresh blood permeated the air; copper tinged with a sweetness only a true predator could appreciate. Micah stilled as another more subtle fragrance floated through the air. He searched the shadows. Why had he not discerned her presence before now?

A sense of urgency hit him. She was there, hidden in the dark, and Micah needed to find her. The waves of resentment and rage were more prominent now. He feared what she might do in her current mental state.

Micah scanned the area with his eyes and his senses. She was close, but why? That was an answer he didn’t have, but there was no doubt it meant trouble.

For years now, she’d held nothing but disdain for wolf politics or tradition. So motherly pride at their accomplishments couldn’t be cited as the reason for her nearness. Was she jealous that her place was usurped?

Eva enjoyed the attention of others. She wasn’t completely happy unless all eyes were centered on her. That could account for the anger radiating from her aura.

A chorus of howls drifted on the night air. A call to all warning of their return. Micah’s eyes flitted around the courtyard, franticly searching for his mates hiding spot, but he found nothing. Another round of laughter echoed through the square. He saw the movement too late to warn them. Her partially shifted form shocked him. How was this possible?

Though not impossible, female shifters were rare. His mate had never registered more than a rudimentary amount of the typical wolf senses. How could she change? Things like this just didn’t happen. There was no logical reason for it…

Micah watched horrified as she pounced on the unsuspecting crowd of wolves. Too stunned to even move from his own position in the shadows, he could only stand witness as the scene unfolded.

♥~♥~♥~♥

Eva pounced on the unsuspecting crowd of wolves. The shadows no longer able to hide her true nature. Her target, Cyril, a boy with eyes the color of sapphires who stood frozen in the middle of it all. The look of stunned disbelief on his face made her want to cackle with glee as she swung her claw at his cheek slicing it open from temple to mouth. Not a killing blow, but it would scar, a permanent reminder for his crimes of pride and greed. The momentum of her leap brought them to the ground, the hard fall knocked the breath from the boy.

Shouts and growls of outrage, mixed with surprised confusion surrounded them both. Her muzzle elongated as fang and teeth tore at flesh.

How the fuck is she shifting?

Grigor, she would recognize that voice anywhere. He’d never liked her, despite her many efforts to ingratiate herself in his eyes. His anger and frustration were evident in each word.

I don't know.

She didn’t recognize the new voice, but neither did she care. She enjoyed their confusion, reveled in it.

Just get her the fuck off him!

Ahh, the all-powerful Dmitri. The cause of much of her unhappiness. He should’ve been her mate and she the alpha female. His rejection had forced her to choose another, the younger brother to be exact. Micah had never known he was the inferior version of the male she wanted. His inability to father living offspring was proof of his inadequacies.

Now they would pay. She would destroy the one thing they all seemed to care for. A miniature version of her tormentor, the constant reminder of all she had to endure. A powerful claw slammed into the barely developed chest beneath her. Her only intent, to reach the beating heart in its depths. The boy’s eyes haunted her with accusation and disapproval.

Mother? He coughed, blood sprayed across her face igniting the frenzy once more. But why… He asked in bewilderment.

Confusion filled her as someone grabbed her throat. Mother? No, he was not hers. He was the spawn of the male who plagued her waking hours.

Release him.

The command of the Alpha…

No, she must resist the pull to obey. The tangy flavor of blood hit her senses, setting her insides afire and ignited the