Desired by the Pack: Part Three: Peace River Guardians, #3

By Emma Storm

Unable to continue denying her nature and resisting the pull of the Peace River Guardians, January Cabot finds herself growing more and more distant from her life among humans. While she is discovering a home and conquering her shortcomings with her werewolves, the friend she left behind tumbles down a dangerous path that might lead him to his death.

This is the third installment in DESIRED BY THE PACK, a paranormal romance that follows the complex relationship between January and the Peace River Guardians werewolf pack. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Emma Storm
• Release date: Aug 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781498991711

Book preview

1

The Peace River encampment was a slice of idyllic quiet. Without an alarm or buzzing phone to wake her after the exhausting night she’d spent with the Guardians, January slept late into the day. Beck rolled her drowsy body over at some point and made love to her with slow kisses and thorough hands, such a change from the urgent way they’d come together previously. As she stretched awake, the pleasure faded into something dream-like.

Reality manifested in the logs that made up the ceiling of the cabin. Weak sunlight peeked through the occasional un-sealed seam, reminding her that a world still existed beyond the sex-scented sheets tangled around her.

A world she didn’t really want to go back to.

Beck spent the morning covering the terrain around the waterfall and river, carefully destroying any evidence of the activity at the Gate the night before. Ten werewolves in total had come through. Cleo reported two had died from their wounds while a third continued to fight for his life. The other seven Vikings had burns of varying, but treatable, degrees.

He’d discovered the Vikings were divided into two smaller packs. Loki’s Devils were led by a mountain of a man named Ingar. The alpha of the Warriors of Valhalla was clinging to life under Cleo’s watchful eyes.

Ingar walked with Beck mid-day, chest gleaming with sweat even though it was cold enough that Beck would have needed a coat if he’d been standing still.

This is a good place. Ingar spoke with slow, simple words, his English rudimentary. They stopped at the top of a ravine, where Ingar spent long minutes squinting at the tree tops below.

Beck clasped his hands behind his back and waited. Soot blackened Ingar’s expressionless face and streaked the braids knotted over his massive shoulders. With the sun lighting up his fiery hair, the Viking alpha resembled the devil he called himself.

After a time, Ingar nodded. We will build a raft here and send them to Valhalla on your Peace River.

The raft will break apart over the falls, where the Moon shines its brightest, Beck said.

Tonight, then, while the Moon is high. Ingar turned away and started back to the camp.

The guardians will assist you in any way you need. Beck fell into step beside the other alpha.

Ingar set his braids swinging with a shake of his head. I thank you, but this is a thing we do alone.

They walked in silence for a while but split apart when Ingar lifted a hand in greeting to one of his pack mates. Beck left them and hiked up the river to rendezvous with Cross and Maverick, who were watching the Gate for any abnormal activity. He would rather have returned to January’s soft, warm body, but her nearness tempered the desire to something manageable.

It was good to have her close.

The cabin was empty when January woke the second time, but she wasn’t alone for long. As she dried off from a quick shower, she heard someone moving around in the front room. The quick, light footsteps couldn’t belong to any of Beck’s pack. Jittery with the buzz of want beginning to hum in her veins, courtesy of the approaching Moonrise, she quickly dressed in a pair of loose pants and a long-sleeved tee she found in one of the drawers built into the base of the bed. Barefoot, she headed out to investigate.

She wasn’t expecting to find a woman with a rounded belly and a cloud of short, curly blonde hair standing at the tiny kitchen sink cleaning what looked like a rabbit.

January raised her eyebrows. Hello?

The blonde didn’t falter, nor did she look up from her task. Hey. I’m Mira. I saw one of the guys drop dinner at your door and figured I’d come over to get it ready for you. I hope that’s okay. I knocked but you weren’t awake yet. I just know how draining the Heat cycle can be and wasn’t sure whether you’d want or be able to take care of this on your own.

Thanks. The only skinning I’m used to involves cellophane. January leaned against the door frame and crossed her arms under her breasts. I’m January. I guess you already know that?

Mira flashed a quick smile. Word gets around among the packs. You’ll probably have a lot of visitors for a while. Everybody’s curious. Especially since it wasn’t Beck who hunted up your dinner.

Who was it?

Maverick. After finishing with the rabbit, Mira bagged the discards and washed her hands, along with the knife and cutting board she’d used. She didn’t look at January as she said, That got even more gossip going, what with both Beck and Anders...well, it’s hard to keep secrets and sounds quiet. Plus, this is kind of unusual. One woman can bind the whole pack but usually doesn’t, um...

Service them all? January was deliberately crude. She wasn’t sure what Mira was getting at but she didn’t like the gossipy, fishing tone the other woman used.

Well, that’s not the word I would have chosen. If that’s the way you’re going to think of it, maybe you should reconsider whether you want to be here. Mira turned around. She put her hands on her narrow hips, which were nearly eclipsed by her large belly. Her cheeks were bright pink and blotchy with emotion, and her mouth twisted unhappily before she said, "Being one woman and belonging to more than one man is hard. It gets harder with every man you bring into the bed and the alpha pack is six strong right now. It won’t just be difficult for you, either, because they have feelings too, no matter how they try to hide their humanness behind faith and duty. You have a career down in