Broken Bridges

By Cheyenne Meadows

Will a second chance at love come too late?

Alpha wolf shifter Detective Dax Steel is hip deep in homicide cases, all bear shifters who seemingly died of natural causes in their prime. To make matters worse, the murders throw him back in contact with his ex-lover, Adin.

Adin shares the same genetics as the victims and a healthy appetite for the sexy and addictive Dax. A two week blazing hot affair between them fell apart almost as quickly as it started, leaving Adin longing but hesitant to risk his heart once more.

Can Dax track down the killer before Adin lands in his crosshairs? Will they come together as a team and find love is lasting after all?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pride Publishing
• Release date: Feb 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781784303464

Cheyenne Meadows

Cheyenne Meadows, while growing up in the Midwest, began reading romance novels in high school, immediately falling in love with the genre, to the point where she decided to write professionally for a career. However, that dream splattered against a brick wall, resulting in a quick death in her first writing class in college when the professor told her bluntly that she wasn’t any good at it. She shifted gears quickly and left her writing dreams behind, eventually settling on becoming a nurse. A few years back, she stumbled across a fan-fiction writing site on a favorite author’s webpage. She began to read stories others wrote, not only making some wonderful close friends from the experience, but also, really learning to write for the very first time. Here she was able to share short stories, practice her writing skills, and truly develop into a writer. More than that, the experience allowed her to revitalize her dream as she rediscovered joy in writing. Now, she spends her days off with her characters, seeing how much trouble everyone can get into. When she’s not working or writing, she enjoys playing in the garden, hanging out with her diva kitty, and using her backyard as a living canvas for her whimsical landscaping, and, of course, reading romance novels.

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A Totally Bound Publication

Broken Bridges

ISBN # 978-1-78430-346-4

©Copyright Cheyenne Meadows 2014

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright December 2014

Edited by Sue Meadows

Totally Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorized or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2014 by Totally Bound Publishing, Newland House, The Point, Weaver Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QN

Totally Bound Publishing is a subsidiary of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

Warning:

This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a heat rating of Totally Burning and a Sexometer of 2.

BROKEN BRIDGES

Cheyenne Meadows

Will a second chance at love come too late?

Alpha wolf shifter Detective Dax Steel is hip deep in homicide cases, all bear shifters who seemingly died of natural causes in their prime. To make matters worse, the murders throw him back in contact with his ex-lover, Adin.

Adin shares the same genetics as the victims and a healthy appetite for the sexy and addictive Dax. A two week blazing hot affair between them fell apart almost as quickly as it started, leaving Adin longing but hesitant to risk his heart once more.

Can Dax track down the killer before Adin lands in his crosshairs? Will they come together as a team and find love is lasting after all?

Dedication

For Edward. Thanks for all the insight, the ideas, the encouragement. Without you to bounce around options, this book wouldn’t have come to be.

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Corvette: Chevrolet Division of General Motors Company

Styrofoam: The Dow Chemical Company

Cheshire Cat: Lewis Carroll

Chapter One

No signs of trauma or violence, sir. Just like the other two. The rookie cop pointed out the obvious.

Dax squatted down beside the inert body of the latest homicide victim in the city, his sense of smell telling him more than the new police academy graduate would ever know. This wasn’t just the third victim in as many days, but also the third bear shape-shifter. A wave of relief washed over him when he didn’t recognize the face or the individual scent of the newly expired—the silver lining, in his opinion.

He surveyed the surroundings, finding nothing out of sorts. The body had been found behind a bar, in the narrow alley, around midday when the barkeep had reported for work. For all intents and purposes, the deceased appeared as if he’d simply fallen over dead—something that shifters didn’t do.

With a healthy extended lifespan, most shifters could expect to reach one thousand years or more, barring stupidity or challenges to stronger, more alpha members of their species. Dax should know—being a wolf shifter, and an alpha at that.

With a deep sigh, he stood and looked over the body once more, using his advanced senses to detect anything out of the ordinary. A tiny scent caught his attention but proved too fleeting and elusive to give him more than a gut reaction—certainly not much to go on. However, the other two victims had carried the same flowery smell.

Good job, officer. I’m finished here. Keep the area sealed off until the forensics team and coroner arrive.

Yes, sir. The young man nodded.

Dax strode back to his car, climbed in the driver’s seat, and pulled out his phone. After punching in a number, he waited for an answer.

Speak.

Very funny, Mitchell. Dax rolled his eyes. The lab supervisor and hyena shifter’s sense of humor proved to be lacking most days. We’ve got another one.

Bear?

Yes. Same MO. No blood or violence. Carries that nagging aroma like the others, too small for me to trace.

We’re working on that now. Isolating toxins in the blood samples of the other two. Theory is it’s a highly developed poison, something toxic to shifters—bears in particular.

Any chance of an antidote?

Soon? He snorted through the phone line. First we have to isolate the particular substance, discover what it is, then we can start looking at ways to reverse the effects. That takes time, buddy.

I know. Dax watched as the forensics van pulled up and three people climbed out, all heading toward their latest crime scene. One he recognized as carrying fox genetics—another shifter immersed in human society without the humans being any wiser. If they ever found out, he feared the panic and mob mentality outbursts that would follow. Thus, the highly secretive balancing act he and others played each day.

Good thing the only forensics lab in the city happened to be shifter run and controlled. They took every case, human or otherwise, but had the luxury of watching closely for any shape-shifters, finding a trend and picking out a pattern.

Just like with these latest deaths.

Got a name on this one?

Yeah. I’ll try to track down and notify family today. You know how bears are. Solitary at best.

Dax’s gut clenched at the scientist’s words. Call if you find anything.

Will do, Trigger.

That was the horse, dumbass. He clicked off before Mitchell could toss out more insults at his canine nature.

His mind wrestled with this latest case. Bears weren’t thick around here and normally weren’t too rowdy, preferring to keep to themselves most of the time except for social gatherings or when searching for someone to cozy up to during the night. The shifter community as a whole didn’t have problems with bears. Coyotes and lions were another story. Violence surrounded their deaths. Bears were a creature of a different color altogether. Until two days ago when the first body had been discovered, he’d only heard of one other bear shifter homicide, which happened to revolve around the young black bear pursuing a lion’s mate. The bear just wouldn’t take no for an answer—unfortunate, but understandable. No one messed with another man’s mate and expected to live long.

No. This case was different. Someone had a deep-seated and calculated coldness for bear shifters and was smart enough to come up with a way to kill them with little evidence left behind. Maybe not the spur of the moment rage, but embedded fury—if he went after non-related members of the same species. Which meant he not only knew about shifters in general, he could also single out bears.

Scary. Damn scary.

He needed to speak to someone in the bear society, to find out if there was something going on that hadn’t been reported to the governing council. Pick their brains for any tidbit of information. Anything that could help solve this case and save lives.

He only knew one bear. His former lover. Adin.

Blowing out a breath, he slipped the keys in the ignition and headed north.

Chapter Two

Adin eased through the timber, disbelieving what his nose told him.

Sure enough, Dax sat on his front porch, leaning back in the old wooden chair with his feet propped up on the railing as if he had nothing better to do than watch the grass blow in the breeze.

His heart stuttered.

Three years ago, they’d run into one another—in the meat section of the supermarket, no less. Hitting it off, they’d set the sheets on fire, riding the peak waves of a hot and heavy love affair. Until they had cooled down enough to start talking—worst and best decision ever. Arguments had followed until they’d both thrown up their arms and mutually walked away.

How many times had he thought of Dax since? Hundreds. He missed the robust sex, the runs through the forest, the playful teasing. At the same time, he’d enjoyed the peace and quiet that had settled in after Dax had left, his natural living state, minus the pressure from the alpha wolf about petty things that drove him nearly insane. Their relationship had been a flash in the pan and had dissipated as quickly as wine in a heated skillet.

Why is he back now?

Adin walked casually forward, as if finding an old lover on his front step was an everyday occurrence. What brings you by?

Lord, the man looks delicious. Short blond hair covered his head, hinting at the pale color of his wolf in shifted form.