The Taste of Devotion

By Trina Lane

One man searching for a place to call home stumbles into the arms of another wishing for a mate to complete his.

Cooper Tessen, enforcer for the Phantom River Pack and Sheriff of Stonepass, has watched each of his two best friends enjoy their mated bliss. He's thrilled they've found happiness, however, he feels a distance growing between him and his blood brothers because he has no experience of the connection between a shifter and his mate. Cooper fills the hours of his lonely days by spending as much time as possible working at the station to protect his town, and, secretly, off on dangerous missions for the government. Burning the candle at both ends gives him little time to focus on his longing to have a mate of his own.

Darren Caisil is on the run. Accused of a murder he didn't commit, it's either become a lone wolf or be killed by the very pack he'd spent his life trying to serve. He hits rock bottom when he finds himself lost, alone, hungry, and freezing in nowhere Montana during the dead of winter. His last semi—conscious thought as he succumbs to the inevitable is that an angel is lifting him towards heaven. When he wakes up in unfamiliar surroundings, he finds it wasn't an angel after all, but a man. And not any man, but another wolf shifter...one who claims to be Darren's mate.

As they explore their mating bond, Cooper tries to get Darren to open up about his past but the man refuses to share his secrets. Frustrated, Cooper decides to do a little digging on his own. Unfortunately, it seems Cooper's investigation may have stirred up a hornet's nest when it draws the attention of some of Darren's former pack members who are bent on revenge...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pride Publishing
• Release date: Jul 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781781840566

Trina Lane

If you look up the word conundrum in the dictionary, there should be Trina’s photo next to the description. Her multifaceted personality has left her friends scratching their heads in wonder. A scientist with a passion for history, music and photography she loves to travel and experience new places but is terminally shy around people she doesn’t know. Trina has been devouring romance novels since her tender teenage years. In 2007 she finally took the initiative to write down one of stories that had been rattling around her head for years. Her choices in reading and writing material are as diverse as her iTunes library, which contains music from Mozart to Metallica. Her one concession is all stories must have a happily ever after ending. Did we mention she’s incurably romantic?

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A Total-E-Bound Publication

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The Taste of Devotion

ISBN # 978-1-78184-056-6

©Copyright Trina Lane 2012

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright July 2012

Edited by Stacey Birkel

Total-E-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, Total-E-Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised 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 2012 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, United Kingdom.

Warning:

This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a heat rating of Total-e-burning and a sexometer of 2.

This story contains 179 pages, additionally there is also a free excerpt at the end of the book containing 13 pages.

Phantom River

THE TASTE OF DEVOTION

Trina Lane

One man in search of a place to call home stumbles into the arms of another wishing for a mate to complete his…

Cooper Tessen, enforcer for the Phantom River Pack and Sheriff of Stonepass, has watched each of his two best friends enjoy their mated bliss. He’s thrilled they’ve found happiness, however, he feels a distance growing between him and his blood brothers because he has no experience of the connection between a shifter and his mate. Cooper fills the hours of his lonely days by spending as much time as possible working at the station to protect his town, and, secretly, off on dangerous missions for the government. Burning the candle at both ends gives him little time to focus on his longing to have a mate of his own.

Darren Caisil is on the run. Accused of a murder he didn’t commit, it’s either become a lone wolf or be killed by the very pack he’d spent his life trying to serve. He hits rock bottom when he finds himself lost, alone, hungry, and freezing in nowhere Montana during the dead of winter. His last semi-conscious thought as he succumbs to the inevitable is that an angel is lifting him towards heaven. When he wakes up in unfamiliar surroundings, he finds it wasn’t an angel after all, but a man. And not any man, but another wolf shifter…one who claims to be Darren’s mate.

As they explore their mating bond, Cooper tries to get Darren to open up about his past but the man refuses to share his secrets. Frustrated, Cooper decides to do a little digging on his own. Unfortunately, it seems Cooper’s investigation may have stirred up a hornet’s nest when it draws the attention of some of Darren’s former pack members who are bent on revenge…

Dedication

For all my fans that have waited patiently for a new manlove story.

Trademarks Acknowledgement

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

Popsicle: Conopco, Inc

Fairmont: Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc.

Electrolux: Aktibeolaget Electrolux Corporation

Band-Aid: Johnson & Johnson Corporation

Chapter One

December 2041

Cooper pulled up to the single-storey house with a sigh. The swirling red and blue lights on top of his vehicle cut a foreboding swath through the night sky, their presence the complete antithesis of the cheerful light displays dotted up and down the residential street. He keyed his location into the system that Jody monitored back at the station. Each department vehicle was outfitted with Global Tracker, but Cooper still liked to log in when he stopped for a call. You never knew when things could turn to crap and backup might be needed.

Pushing open the driver’s side door of his vehicle, he grimaced when the cold air hit him. He unfolded his legs from beneath the dash and pushed his way out of the vehicle, only to land in a fresh pile of snow the plough had yet to clear from the road. It was a good thing he always wore his uniform pants tucked into the waterproof combat boots that had been a part of him since his days in the military. Otherwise he’d be cussing up a storm at the unwelcome addition of snow to his skin.

The Andersons’ neighbour had called in saying that the couple were screaming at each other again, and that he’d heard a loud crash. It was hardly the first time such a report had been made. Everyone in town knew that the couple had a rather volatile relationship. The human pair was known in Stonepass for their arguments. However, every time Cooper or one of his deputies came out to the house, neither one would press charges. Also, their fighting always took place in the privacy of their home so no public disturbance charges could be brought against either of them. Cooper suspected that in some warped way the two needed the conflict to keep their marriage in balance. While several inanimate objects had paid the price, neither Mister nor Missus Anderson had ever physically harmed each other. So each time a call was made, the Glacier County Sheriff’s department would go and investigate, give out warnings, and ultimately turn back around—shaking their heads in frustration. Cooper wished they had picked a warmer night for their latest row.

He took a step towards the front porch. His boots crunched through the snow, and he cursed as a particularly deep spot caused him to sink almost up to his knee. Being six foot six, that was a rare occurrence for him, but Stonepass had been under near-blizzard conditions for the past three days, and it appeared as though the Andersons hadn’t shovelled their walkway when the storm had finally moved on to its next victim that morning. Chances were they hadn’t bothered to remove the remains of the previous storm, either.

For whatever reason, Mother Nature had decided to be a real bitch this year. It was only a week before Christmas and according to the databanks, Stonepass had already received almost eighty inches of the white stuff. They said if the trend continued, his town was on target to receive nearly three hundred by the end of the season. That was more than four times their normal amount. Cooper really hoped that they were wrong—whoever they were. He liked snow and all, but come on. He looked up to the sky. For the first time in days, the clouds had receded and stars winked down from the inky black blanket.

He’d reached the base of the steps of the hundred-year-old home when the door was wrenched open and light from inside spilled out onto the wooden porch. Mrs Anderson came stomping out, her arms flailing as she turned around and yelled. She didn’t have a coat on, and Cooper was about to yell at her to get back in the house when her high-pitched voice screamed out.

You good-for-nothing bastard! I’ve had it! I’m done!

Mr Anderson came to the doorway and leaned against the frame. Yeah? Ten bucks says you’ll be back by morning.

Not this time. I’m sick of living like this!

Like what? You have a roof over your head, plenty of food—

And a husband who doesn’t love me. A man who I bet would rather spend his time between the legs of his favourite barmaid than his wife.

Mr Anderson straightened from where he was perched and took several steps towards his wife. Now you wait a goddamned minute. I may be a lot of things, but unfaithful to you has never been one of them, he growled.

Cooper shook his head and sighed. Steven, Rhonda—take it inside. You know I don’t want to bring the two of you in for disturbing the peace. Besides, it’s too damn cold out here.

Rhonda spun around, her eyes wide as if she’d just realised they had an audience. Cooper! How long have you… She looked back at Steven. Now see what you’ve done?

"What I’ve done? I’m not the one who stormed out of the house and started airing our dirty laundry at the top of her lungs for all the neighbours to hear. Not to mention threw the chair against the wall and broke the window, which is undoubtedly why our sheriff was called in the first place."

Well, if you’d gotten up off your ass and helped around the house, I wouldn’t get so frustrated in the first place. For God’s sake, is it so damn hard to put your dirty work clothes in the hampers, of which I’ve placed three around the house, versus dropping them on the floor inside the front door? Or how about actually throwing away the packaging of your latest tool after you get done opening it instead of dropping the wrappings on whatever flat surface you come across first?

Me? he exclaimed. Don’t act as if you’re Missus Neat Freak. What about you and your penchant for leaving your half-finished drinks lying all over the house, or how about the fact that the dust bunnies on our bedroom tables have started climbing on top of each other to make little dust towers!

Cooper had heard enough. Much longer out here and they would all get hypothermic and catch pneumonia. Well, the humans would. Of course, even though he didn’t have the same vulnerabilities, that didn’t mean he enjoyed freezing his balls off. He took out his restraints. Maybe a couple of hours in lockup would cool their jets? He started up and had just placed his boot on the top step when everything happened all at once.

Rhonda spun back towards him and tried to push past him to get down the stairs. Her foot slid out from underneath her, and she collided with him. Cooper caught her, but even his boots were no match against the layers of snow and ice that covered the wooden porch. Her momentum forced them over the open side of the steps. Steven rushed forward and grabbed his wife’s arm. Unfortunately, momentum was even a bigger bitch than Mother Nature, and Rhonda also pulled Steven across the porch, causing him to hit his head on the corner post.

They all ended up crashing into the bushes on the way down before both Andersons landed on top of Cooper, shoving him into the snow piled up in the front yard. The three of them ended up in a pile of limbs, and Cooper’s sensitive hearing picked up the telltale crack of a broken bone right before Rhonda’s cry of pain resonated directly into his ear.

Both Rhonda and Steven started yelling about their various injuries and who was at fault in the accident. Since their lungs were still healthy and the couple were lying on top of Cooper, the volume level had increased to unbearable proportions.

Shut up! he yelled. He gently rolled Rhonda off him on the opposite side from which her husband now laid. He keyed up his comm-unit. Dispatch, this is nine-Adam-seven.

Go ahead, Cooper, Jody’s voice came through in his earpiece.

Send EMT and backup to my location. Alert them that we have two victims. One with a broken leg and the second a head injury. Neither critical.

Will do. You one of those victims?

Cooper looked over at the now silent couple. Rhonda was fussing over Steven’s head, and he was doing his best to stabilise her leg. He’d never understand them. Negative, but I’ll need another officer to take our statements since I am a witness to the accident.

Ten-four. Meeghan is about to go off shift. You want me to send her or Carl?

Cooper smiled as he thought about what his best friend—and the pack beta—Shaun’s expression would look like if Cooper called up his newest deputy and ordered her to the scene when she was supposed to be on her way home. The pair had been mated for almost two and half years, but were still very much in the honeymoon phase of their relationship. He knew Meeghan wouldn’t say a word, but frankly Cooper was tired and he didn’t feel like listening to Shaun’s bitching. Send Carl. He rolled his shoulder, wincing.

Must have torqued something in the fall.

As a particularly harsh blast of wind whipped through the air, he sucked in a breath and groaned. Taking a deep breath was decidedly harder than it had been before he’d crash-landed with both Andersons on top of him. Good thing his wolf genetics allowed him to heal quickly, or Cooper would be in for a painful few days.

He took off his coat and wrapped it around Rhonda. Without a full knowledge of the extent of her injuries, he didn’t want to move her. He went into the house and brought out one of Steven’s coats and tossed it towards the man, who, despite the cut to his head, quickly bundled himself in the outerwear then went back to holding his wife. Cooper sat on the second step of the porch and waited, keeping watch on the Andersons out of the corner of his eye. He was about to call Jody and find out the ETA of the ambulance when sirens rang in the air, and Cooper saw the rescue crew pull onto the street a few houses down. On the other side of him, right next to the house, Carl’s cruiser skidded around the corner of the intersecting street on the snow-covered road.

Cooper shook his head and rolled his eyes. He knew that the deputy could control his cruiser, but enjoyed making a dramatic entrance. Cooper stood and went to go meet his deputy and the EMTs. He’d have to go to the hospital with the temporarily reconciled duo. With the injuries they’d both sustained, a night in jail was now out of the question, but Cooper didn’t plan on letting them get away scot-free. It was time this behaviour came to an end, before it became even more of a nuisance to the department or somebody really got hurt in a fit of flaring tempers. He was going to issue citations to both Andersons and strongly encourage them to seek counselling. The funny thing was that as individuals they were really nice people—but as a couple, oil and water had a better chance of mixing fluidly. Cooper directed the medics over to the couple, who were huddled on the lawn, well inside the concaved hole in the snow. He kept an eye on the proceedings as Rhonda and Steven were quickly loaded into the ambulance, out of the cold.

Carl got out of his vehicle, adjusting his hat against the blast of wind that came down the street. Hey, Cooper, so what’d they do this time? He skidded to a halt a few feet away. Where the hell is your coat?

He gestured to the ambulance. I gave it to Rhonda.

Carl shook his head and turned away, jogging over to his vehicle. He opened the trunk then lifted out a spare jacket, which Cooper gladly accepted. He sealed the two halves of the insulated weatherproof covering, tucked his hands into the pockets and shrugged deep into the cushioned collar.

Now that our esteemed Sheriff isn’t in danger of becoming a Popsicle, why don’t you tell me what happened tonight?

Same old, same old. Cooper explained the sequence of events to his deputy. Will you get Mr Redman’s statement? He’s the one who called in the original complaint.

Sure. What are you going to do?

I’m going to follow the ambulance to the hospital and see if I can pressure Dr Pickett to keep them overnight. He watched the ambulance pull off down the street. Maybe in separate rooms. They were cordial after the accident, but you never know how long that will last. I’ll submit my statement before logging off for the night.

Look—you’re wet, you’re tired, and I can tell you’re favouring your right side. Wolf genes or not, I know a few of those brain cells had to have been scrambled when three hundred pounds of flesh landed on top of you. Go home, Cooper. We’ll take care of everything.

He was really tempted to take Carl up on his offer, but Cooper was the sheriff and it was his responsibility to see the call through to the end. Then again, he was Sheriff and could delegate. He shook his head. No, he couldn’t do it. Tired, cold, wet or hurting—shouldn’t matter. He had a job to do for the community and had to see it through. Even the distasteful parts.

I appreciate the offer, but I was first responder, so I need to go.

Carl shrugged. Suit yourself. He patted Cooper on the shoulder and moved past him towards the Andersons’ front porch.

Cooper watched Carl go inside. He knew the man was making an evidence recording of the scene, then he’d get the neighbour’s statement. Carl was a good deputy, and Cooper was thankful that he had staff he could count on to be thorough and follow procedure.

When he opened the door to his vehicle, he sucked in a breath at the piercing stab of pain in his shoulder. He logged in that he was leaving the scene and going to the hospital. Cooper pulled away from the kerb, hitting the emergency lights but not activating the siren. Most of the town had bedded down for the night, and there was no sense in creating his own disturbance of the peace.

He made the turn onto Main Street and smiled at the Christmas decorations that were strung across the road. Garlands and lights travelled from one side of the street to the other, and the lamp posts were wrapped in red and white to mimic his favourite holiday treat. Only a few more days then he had a whole week ahead of him of celebrating the holidays with his friends. He hoped Kaden and Gavin, his alpha and best friend’s twin three-year-old sons, liked the presents he’d picked out. There was nothing better than watching the little boys’ faces light up in excitement.

* * * *

Cooper sat in the waiting room at the medical centre while Rhonda was being seen by the emergency room staff. Steven was ensconced in the cubicle next to where the staff had placed his wife. Cooper had been told that as soon as the pair had arrived and the doctors asked them what happened, they’d started to fight again, hence putting them in different exam areas.

Cooper never understood the complexities of human relationships. He knew it wasn’t good to speak in generalities, but he’d seen some pairings that made him shake his head in wonder as he tried to figure out what the hell the individuals were thinking. Maybe humans were too impatient? He understood the need to share your life with someone. Hell, he longed to find his mate every single day. However, more often than not it seemed as though humans put themselves in situations that were destined to fail when it came to picking life partners. The statistics on failed relationships in human society were more than fifty per cent. A staggering amount, especially when compared to mated beings whose failure rate was essentially zero.

It wasn’t as if shifter mates never fought. He’d been present for a few of Shaun and Meeghan’s matches. A couple of times he and Jaryn had even placed bets as to who would win. He guessed the difference was that, even when you fought with your mate, you knew deep down inside that the universe had destined you to spend your lives together. So you could rant and rave and know that when the yelling stopped, the love you shared would always be there. Your souls would forever be entwined. And even in the midst of a fight the two individuals knew there would never come a time when one person would look at the other and say the words that would end it all.

So why did humans rush into relationships? Why did people like the Andersons stay together when it was obvious to everyone that they’d be happier apart? It was clear to him that while Steven and Rhonda did care for each other, they were not in love. In fact, he couldn’t remember a time when the pair had ever shared the same expressions he frequently saw on Jaryn and Shaun’s faces when they gazed at their mates.

Hell, maybe he’d hit his head harder than he thought. Why was he slouched in the uncomfortable chairs of a medical centre trying to understand human existence? Nobody had been able to provide the answers for more than fifty thousand years—what were the chances that a small-town sheriff from Montana would be able to accomplish such a feat in ten minutes?

Cooper? You okay, man?

He blinked a few times and glanced at Dr Russ Pickett. Yeah, sorry. Guess I’m more tired than I thought.

Russ sat down next to Cooper. You need me to check you out, too? From what I hear you took the brunt of the fall.

Nah, I’ll be fine in a couple of hours. Shoulder and ribs already feel better. Mostly I just have a headache now.

Russ frowned and sat straighter. Any chance of a head injury? Concussions are silent killers. He took out a handheld scanner and lifted it up to Cooper’s face.

Cooper batted away the scanner and smiled. Put that thing away and relax, Doc. It’s not that kind of headache. Tension, stress, tiredness… I’ll be back to my old self after some sleep.

"You mean a shit-disturbing know-it-all? Hmm, maybe a head injury would