Half-Breed

By J. Thiele

Originally published as part of the Unleashed Paranormal Romance Anthology, Half-Breed is now available to read as a stand-alone novella.

This is a one for those who feel as though they never fitted in. Sometimes when you are different it turns out to be something special.

Young love can often be the purest of them all. However, once you give your heart to another you can't always have it back in one piece.

This is for those who love Paranormal Wolf Shifter Romances.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melissa Bell & Jordin Thiele Inc.
• Release date: Nov 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386829829

J. Thiele

J. Thiele lives in Brisbane, Australia. She writes in a variety of genres, ranging from paranormal romance, old fashioned who did it – Detective novels and most recently has broadened her scope with the addition of writing horror. She finds writing therapeutic and centring which tends to balance out her energetic personality, and the occasional bout of insomnia. Although she has realised that writing horror at night can raise your blood pressure when you see a movement out of the corner of the eye. It’s all too easy to scare oneself half to death.

Book preview

Prologue

She felt his solid chest under the palms of her hands, as she tried to resist his touch, but his hot and heavy breath on her neck was too much for her to deny. She lifted her knees and opened herself to his intrusion. Just as he was about to slide inside her, she heard the unforgiving voice of her father. Carrie! Carrie, wake up! You’ll be late for work again. The pounding she thought to be two hearts beating together as one, was in reality, her father’s relentless fist pounding against her bedroom door.

Okay Daddy! she shouted her response at him, as she threw back the covers and stomped over to her dresser. Her disheveled hair and wet pussy reminded her that she’d been dreaming again, about him. His touch. His lips. His love. All a painful memory of her loss.

She wrapped her robe around her heavy shoulders and made her way to the kitchen. Her father sat at the table reading the local newspaper, barely even sparing a glance at her as she sat across from him with her cereal. You need to start being more responsible about setting your alarm, he grumbled.

Yes Daddy, she replied as she opened her mouth for the first spoonful of her breakfast.

I’m serious Carrie. You can’t rely on me forever. One day I’ll be gone. Then what’ll you do? Huh? He paused while waiting for his daughter’s response. When none was provided, he finished by voicing his own answer. I guess you’ll just call in sick every day?

Alright daddy, you’ve made your point. I’ll try harder, Carrie said as she pushed her bowl away and left the table in a huff. She wasn’t in the mood for another lecture from him. Just for once, why couldn’t he see how miserably unhappy she was? Why couldn’t he see she was still hurting? It had, after all, only been five years since Joel went missing. Why was it okay for him to still grieve the loss of her mother, yet she wasn’t permitted to grieve for Joel? She never understood why her father hadn’t approved of him. Was it just because he was half Indian? Or that he was abandoned at birth and raised in foster care? Or that he didn’t play football like the other boys in school? None of that had mattered to Carrie. Joel was unusually fitter and stronger than any of them without even trying. Her love for him was undeniable and just as strong as her parent’s love for each other had been. Why couldn’t he just accept that? After all, they’d dated all through high-school without a hitch. Joel had been her most significant support when she’d left for college, even though it meant she only came home for the holidays. He’d driven up-state almost every weekend to see her. They were in love.

Though Carrie would never say it out loud, she would never forgive her father for the part he played, and because of that, she secretly blamed him for Joel’s disappearance. She’d come home for the holidays and Joel had been anxious to see her, however, when her father met him at the door that day, Joel’s life took a dramatic turn. She could still hear those hurtful words her father spat at him, and she could again see the pain in Joel’s unusually mismatched eyes, one blue, one brown.

You’ll never be good enough for her! he snarled. You’re a nothing! A nobody! And you’re going nowhere! The sooner you stop kidding yourself and accept that you’re out of your league, the better off you’ll both be, he told him, blocking the doorway trying to show his superiority to the younger male, hoping that Carrie hadn’t heard him…only, she had.

Daddy! she shouted as she came up behind him, but it was too late, the words were already out there. Joel turned and stormed off the porch and out of the yard without looking back. Even when Joel heard Carrie calling his name from behind her father’s barricade. - where he was stopping his daughter from going after him. - Joel refused to look back.

I’ll never forgive you daddy! she sobbed as she ran to her room. Never! she screamed, slamming the door behind her.

It’s for the best Carrie! he yelled out to her. In time, you’ll meet someone, and you’ll forget all about him. You might even thank me one day.

Joel went missing that night. He was last seen crossing the railway tracks on the edge of town carrying a bottle of bourbon in his hand. No one tried to stop him, even though they knew there’d been several wolf attacks on people who dared to enter the woodlands on the other side.

Rumour had it that there was a small reservation hidden somewhere in the woods, but they never seemed to suffer any wolf attacks. In fact, they seemed to live peacefully among them. If Joel had made it to the reservation that night, then maybe he’d have been all right. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. His bloody clothing was found discarded, tattered and torn. They called the search for him off, as they believed there was no way anyone could survive such a brutal attack.

Joel was presumed dead; another victim of a vicious wolf attack. Over the years, many hunters had fallen victim, and none had ever survived.

Depression had made it impossible for Carrie to continue her studies. She’d returned home for good and taken a job working at a local beauty salon. Despite her father’s disapproval, she was happy to be back in town. He’d had such high hopes for her. He wanted her to make something, of herself. After her mother passed away, when Carrie was only five, he made a pact with himself that he would do everything in his power to make her mother proud of the daughter he was forced to raise alone, and now she was a college dropout working on dirty toenails and eyebrows.

Regardless of all the time that had passed, Carrie felt she needed to be close to Joel, refusing to give up hope of finding him alive. She could still feel his presence, and on occasion, she swore she had also seen him standing outside her bedroom window, but when she went to take a closer look, he’d disappear. Nowadays, she tried her best to refrain from looking up if she caught a glimpse of him, noting that the longer she ignored his image in her peripheral vision, the longer he stayed with her.

Chapter 1

Chelsea only glanced up briefly when Carrie came bustling through the front door of the salon apologizing for being late for the third time this week. Sandy noticed the look of disapproval on Chelsea’s face just as she returned her attention to her client. Feeling the need to defend her long-time friend, she nervously asked, Is that old car of yours still giving you trouble?

Huh? Carried frowned when Sandy’s comment left her hanging. She didn’t drive