Claiming the She-Wolf

By Louisa Bacio

When her older brother leaves the Black Hills to go to college, Tala Graystone stays behind, determined to restore their dilapidated home into a B&B for the pack. As more people return to the area, the need for temporary housing increases. Now, if only she can find someone to help with the heavy lifting.

Yas Collins fled Los Lobos as a child with his mother. As he struggles with his wolf and overpowering shifts, a desire for nature and the forest strikes hard. Black Hills, South Dakota, beckons him. With a background in construction, he easily finds work at Tala’s dilapidated B&B, but not everyone in town greets him with open arms.

As the remodel gets underway, Tala and Yas fight their growing attraction. Yas doesn’t trust his wolf urges around beautiful B&B owner. The she-wolf, however, has other plans.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Decadent Publishing
• Release date: Aug 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9781613338797

Louisa Bacio

A Southern California native, Louisa Bacio can’t imagine living far away from the ocean. The multi-published author of erotic romance enjoys writing within all realms – from short stories to full-length novels. Bacio shares her household with a supportive husband, two daughters growing “too fast,” and a multitude pet craziness: Two dogs, five fish tanks, an aviary, hamsters, rabbits and hermit crabs. In her other life, she teaches college classes in English, journalism and popular culture. Check out the latest happenings via her blog http://louisabacio.blogspot.com

Book preview

The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of a copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by fines and federal imprisonment.

Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Smashwords Edition

Claiming the She-Wolf

Copyright 2015 by Louisa Bacio

ISBN: 978-1-61333-879-7

Cover Art by Fiona Jayde

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

Published by Decadent Publishing Company, LLC

Look for us online at:

www.decadentpublishing.com

Black Hills Wolves Stories

Wolf’s Return

What a Wolf Wants

Black Hills Desperado

Wolf’s Song

Claiming His Mate

When Hell Freezes

Portrait of a Lone Wolf

Alpha in Disguise

A Wolf’s Promise

Reluctant Mate

Diamond Moon

Wolf on a Leash

Tempting the Wolf

Naming His Mate

A Wolf Awakens

The Wolf and the Butterfly

Infiltrating Her Pack

Omega’s Heart

Raven’s Claw

Claiming the She-Wolf

Coming Soon

Uncaged

Worth Fighting For

Promiscuous Wolf

Under a Mating Moon

Also by Louisa Bacio

A Date with Death

A Dance with Death

A Duel with Death

The Big One

The Thief and His Master

Dedication

To all those who like to howl at the full moon.

~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~

Welcome to the Wolf’s Lair B&B. By now, you’ve probably gotten to know our quaint but growing town of Los Lobos, and I can’t wait for you to meet Tala and Yas.

Yas returns to town a bit of an outsider, with a mission of discovering his birthplace and to tame his inner wolf. But it’ll take a feisty she-wolf to fully bring out the beast before he can get his shifting under control.

While you’re here, you may run into a few familiar faces, and maybe discover some new ones.

Many thanks go out to Rebecca Royce, who started the pack of the Black Hills Wolves authors, along with Heather Long, and to Kerry Adrienne for suggesting my initiation.

Get ready to run in the wild, and I hope you enjoy the journey.

I’m always happy to hear from readers. You can contact me at [e-mail]

Claiming the She-Wolf

Black Hills Wolves

By

Louisa Bacio

Chapter One

The house shook from the thunder, and Tala’s body shuddered. She didn’t want to go through another storm in this hellhole. Mostly because she doubted it could weather another one.

What makes you think you can run a business? Lightning flashed, illuminating the anger on her brother’s face. The generator ran out of fuel about an hour before, and with the storm, they wouldn’t be able to refill before daylight.

I sure the hell excel at cooking and cleaning, better than you do at keeping the generator running, Tala said, keeping her voice even and calm. He wouldn’t goad her into a blowout. You made sure I knew how to do that.

He pushed off the wall and stalked forward. It’s much different, little sister. He put his index and middle finger under her chin and tilted it upward to have her look into his eyes. I don’t think you have what it takes to run this place.

She shook off his hands and retreated behind the counter, using it as a barrier between her and him. His nostrils flared, a sure sign of his anger.

Who will look after you if I leave you here alone? Who’s going to take care of you?

She stifled a laugh. As if he could even manage to put food on the table. Come on. He probably worried more about who’d feed him if she didn’t go with him.

Holding her ground, she stared directly into his eyes. I’ll manage.

Her challenge hung between them, so tangible she could pluck it from the air and eat it. But fuck it. Who said she always had to be the one to concede? Not this time. Los Lobos had been her home her entire life, and no way in hell she wanted to leave, not when the rebuilding had started. Why didn’t Shilah see things the way she did?

They came from the same blood. It had to be worth something.

It’s not safe for you here, and it’s my duty to take care of you.

She shook her head. It didn’t matter how much things changed, some built-in prejudices remained. As the eldest and the male, her brother thought he should be head of the household, and she needed to obey. She’d learned a long time ago how to control him.

Listen, you’ve got a great opportunity ahead of you—college. It’s only for a little while. Go learn and then come back home. I’ll be fine. I have the support of the pack.

He barely withheld his snort of contempt. The pack? Right. As if you’ve been chosen as a mate. More like a maid servant than a maid-in-waiting.

Her emotions bristled at his unkind words. At twenty-four, she wasn’t treading old-maid waters yet, but the waterfall threatened right around the bend. She’d had a few suitors, but sometimes it was difficult to take a male that she’d known for most of their lives seriously. Especially when they went through the shifting transition. Boy could they be assholes.

Shilah tucked a wayward strand of her long black hair behind her ear. Why don’t you get some rest? I need to finish packing a few things, and we can talk in the morning.

Their father had taken off when they were young, and she didn’t remember him. After their mother died when Tala was seventeen, Shilah acted as her guardian. She’d miss him when he left, but the separation seemed best for both of them. Some distance would do them good.

I won’t change my mind, she insisted. She tossed her hair, knocking the strands loose again. A night of sleep isn’t going to bash some sense into me.

He slumped his shoulders with a sigh. You are one handful. I feel sorry for whatever wolf eventually wins your heart. As they say, opposites attract. Maybe you’ll find someone levelheaded with patience.

As if. I’m not looking for a mate anytime soon.

***

Yas shifted the weight of his hiking pack. For the past mile, it had been rubbing on his lower back, and the repetition chafed a raw mark on his skin. Up ahead lay the outskirts of the town. As much as his mother had talked about it over the years, Los Lobos had taken on mythic proportions. He’d been young when his mother fled. The chaos of the old regime made her fear for their safety. Since the old crazy pack leader Magnum Tao had died, and his son Drew had taken over, there was talk that it was a better environment.

For a male Wolf coming into his own season, each shift varied. Yas avoided thinking about the way his hormones