Wolf Among Sheep: Roadside Angels Motorcycle Club, #1

By Kathryn Thomas

Tamara Gibbs is looking for the next big story

With three weeks to break a story that'll save her newspaper agency or start considering the possibilities of another job entirely, Tamara needs to find a story to report on, and fast. When her investigations take her to the small town of Rojo Arroyo, Arizona, Tamara finds herself quickly caught up in the outlaw world of the Roadside Angels 

It's hard to keep secrets in a small town, but Alexander Cole has made do

A werewolf and the enforcer for the Roadside Angels MC, Alexander Cole is a man with plenty of secrets. When an attractive reporter arrives and starts asking questions, he'll need to do everything in the world to convince her not to. 

She might have bitten off more than she could chew

At the center of Tamara's story is the hunk of an enforcer for the Roadside Angels: Alexander Cole--a man whose attractiveness and brooding nature she finds herself unable to tear away from, and a man who may or may not be entirely human. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: eBook Publishing World
• Release date: May 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781513096032

Book preview

Prologue

Life calls the tune, we dance. ― John Galsworthy

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Tammie! Happy birthday to you!

The cheers that rose up around her made Tamara Gibbs smile widely. This was one of those exceptional days for her, and she could not remember ever having been as happy as she was right this second. To have achieved the goal she set out to achieve four years ago—and to do so with as much acclaim as she had won for herself—was beyond her wildest dreams. And to celebrate that triumph on her birthday was a double dose of sweetness.

Thanks, you guys! She let herself be hugged and kissed, enjoying the love and affection of her friends and the two people who meant the most to her in the whole world. They stood by the breakfast bar, waiting for her to come and blow out her candles. At twenty-four, she had had the choice of a grown-up dinner out with her friends or an old-fashioned birthday party at home with her grandparents, and she had chosen the latter. She could go out with her friends at any time, but her grandparents were returning to their lakeside home in Wisconsin, and she knew they would prefer not to go out for a late night shebang before their early flight the next day.

She made her way through the small knot of people to where her grandparents stood and hugged them each in turn, whispering her love and gratitude to them.

Everyone, you all have made this the best birthday party I’ve ever had. Except maybe when I was sixteen, and Pop hired the hottest band in town to play. She grinned at her grandfather, who chuckled softly. But none of this could have happened without both my grandparents. And I have something for each of them.

She stepped away from them to retrieve a gift bag she had hidden under the sink. Stepping up to her grandmother, she said, Gran, this is for you. She removed a small box from the bag and handed it to her grandmother, who opened it, and then put her hand over her heart. The older woman looked at her granddaughter with tears in her eyes. I know how much you love peonies, so I had my friend make this pendant for you. I love you, Gran! Thanks for never giving up on me! She hugged her grandmother hard while her friends all whistled and clapped.

Then, she handed her grandfather the other box in the bag. He looked at her and said gruffly, This had better not make me cry, young lady. I don’t have the strength to put you over my knee any more.

Everyone laughed as he unwrapped his gift, and when he looked up again, the tears were streaming down his cheeks. How...? He couldn’t finish the question but looked at the gold pocket watch nestled in soft tissue paper in the box. It had been in his family for four generations and had disappeared when he and her grandmother had moved to the apartment they now lived in. He hadn’t known where to begin looking after the movers said they didn’t have it. He hugged Tammie to his chest with trembling arms.

I listen when you talk, Pop, even though you didn’t always think I did. I knew you were upset that this heirloom had apparently been lost. However, I’m an investigative reporter...well, I will be as soon as someone hires me! she said with a laugh. I went back to the movers, checked in with the man who did the job, asked around the old neighborhood, and found that someone had found it. A teenager had pawned it and was quite willing to take me back to where he had sold it. I was worried it wouldn’t still be there, but it was, and I negotiated a fair price with the pawnbroker to get it back.

Her grandfather hugged her again, and then, as her grandmother wiped the tears from his cheeks, Tammie went to blow out her candles. The rest of the evening was spent in laughter at the gifts and cards her friends had brought her.

When they were finally gone, she shooed her grandmother to bed, reminding her of her early start the next day, kicked her stilettos off, and set about cleaning up. Her housemate helped, and she was glad for it as she was dead on her feet already.

She and Emily had been roommates their freshman year of college and had become fast friends. They had found this apartment in their last year in college and had decided that, as they weren’t leaving the area, it would be a smart idea to keep it. As they worked, they talked.

That was a sweet thing you did for your grandparents, Tammie, Emily said, wiping down the dining table.

You know me, Em, Tammie answered, fetching the mop to clean the vinyl floors. I don’t do what’s expected of me.

The girls laughed at that, and Emily added, Yeah, that’s what got you that story and made your name a household word around campus when we were in college!

Well, that and a whole lot of luck, Tammie conceded. Imagine if Garth had found out how I was using him? He’d have had my head!

"Well, he did find out, didn’t he? Em stopped wiping down the kitchen counter to peer at her friend. How did that go?"

Tammie sighed. Not well, she answered, leaning on her mop. We had a nasty row, and he basically told me I was the last thing—yeah, that was his word—he would ever want to be seen with in town. For a brief moment, her brow was furrowed, as she thought of what might have been if she had kept her mouth shut and had not published that article. Garth would have been at her party, and she might even have finally become a full woman.

Shrugging her shoulders, she said, Hazards of the job, I guess. It’s my fault for letting myself get as close to him as I did. He always made it clear that all he really wanted from me was sex, and I thought if I let him work for it, he’d appreciate me more.

But even if he did, when he found out that you used him to get into the coach’s good graces, do you think he would have stuck around?

Tammie sighed again, heavily. Probably not. I really messed up on that one. He’s a nice guy—even if he’s not into anything more committed that wild sex as often as possible. Given my record to date, that would have been a marked improvement. She finished the mopping and went to get her night things while Emily had a shower.

She opened the sofa bed and prepared it for when she had her own shower. Emily called out to her when she was done, and Tammie hurriedly showered. Almost as soon as she fell into bed, she was asleep.

Next morning, Tammie had a second round job interview scheduled, and after saying a tearful goodbye to her grandparents at the airport, she hurried back to the small apartment to change and get to her appointment. The first interview had been a week earlier, and she discovered that she was applying for a job with a weekly newspaper with a bonus news feature.

Not what she wanted, ideally, but given the complete lack of other offers, also not one she could lightly ignore. Their specialty, news of the weird and woohoo kind, would normally itself have made her laugh. However, a job was a job, and she needed to pay off her debts, as well as meet her part of the expenses for the apartment she shared with Emily. So, she prepared herself—in the event she was offered the job—to grin and deal with stories about UFO sightings and other such nonsense. If she wanted to make a name for herself as an investigative journalist, she’d have to do a damned sight better than finding her grandfather’s heirloom fob watch or discovering grade inflation and tampering for the football team.

The building she found herself in front of, once she was off the bus, was a tall, thin affair stuck uninspiringly between two much larger, taller structures. Its facade was dark and uninviting, but she couldn’t afford to be choosy as to the location of her employment. It was close to the bus stop and on a well-lit and highly-populated street. That would have to do. Hurrying in through the front door, she informed the doorman of her destination, and he called up to announce her arrival.

Indoors, the building was brightly lit and unexpectedly spacious. The lines were clean, which made her feel better about the prospect of working there. On the top floor, she walked out of the elevator into a loft space, divided into a small open reception area, a few cubicles, and an enclosed office at the rear. Clutching her slender pocketbook tightly to her thigh, she approached the receptionist.

Good morning. I’m here for an interview with Mr. Featherstone, she said, and waited to be shown to his office. The young woman who led her back was as

Reviews for Wolf Among Sheep

[Linda · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The novel has some mystery a little action and is getting interesting