Check Mate: Wolf Sisters Series, Book 1

By Margy Millet

Pilar Rhonda Alvarez lives what she considers to be a neat and calm existence. Shes the youngest of three half sisters and a DEA officer with the Miami Police Department, and she and her sisters run a secret PI agency, helping battered and abused women. Whats more, shes a werewolf.

Events take a sudden twist, when Alton Succo crashes into her life. Hailing from Sedona, Arizona, hes in town investigating a drug trafficking ring. But Pis wolf instantly identifies him as her mate. Meanwhile, a case with the agency brings her face-to-face with an old crush. Between old love and new attraction, shes unprepared to face her feelings for the stranger wolfor his for her. Only time will tell whether shell be able to keep her head on straight long enough to track down a missing man and find a love that will last.

In this novel, a werewolf working in law enforcement finds herself torn between a crush from her younger days and a strange wolf her heart declares is her mate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781532018510

Margy Millet

Margy Millet was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and she moved with her family to Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1973. She holds an associate’s degree from Quinsigamond College, and she and her husband, David, have three children and five grandchildren. Her passions include writing, Latin music, dancing, reading, and sports. She currently lives in Massachusetts.

Book preview

Prologue

Roger stood quietly as the burial ceremony of his beloved mate continued. He was numb; his mind was blank as if someone had erased everything from it. He couldn’t think or move but just stared at the casket as, one by one, his pack members paid their last respects. His soul mate was dead, but he wasn’t ready to admit it yet. She died from complications during the delivery of their first child, and to make matters worse, their child had died too. Roger’s chin rested on his chest, his face hard and serious, barely holding back all the anger and anguish he was feeling at that moment.

When the ceremony was over, all the members moved solemnly along the path to the main house, but Roger stayed behind. He stood by the cemetery plot for a long time, wishing that this wasn’t real and that his beautiful mate would wake up and come back to him.

He could hear the voices of his pack coming from inside the house. They were celebrating life as was the custom of their kind, but he wasn’t ready to accept it yet. He didn’t want to talk to anyone, so he turned his back on the plot and took his clothes off for the second time that night. He shifted into his wolf, who had not stopped weeping for her, and took off at full speed, away from the compound and into the solitude of the forest.

Lucas stood at a corner of the main house in the dark and watched as Roger, the pack’s alpha, ran into the woods. His heart was heavy for his loss; it was hard to bear the death of a mate, but Lucas believed that Roger was a survivor and he could overcome his great sorrow. Although he was worried about him, at this moment he knew it was best to stay away and let him grieve in his own way. He heard a noise behind him as Ethan, his best friend and brother, walked out and stood next to him with a beer in each hand. Ethan handed Lucas one of the beers and they both took a big gulp.

What do you think? Can he hold it together? Ethan asked.

Time will tell, Lucas answered. We’ll have to wait and see.

Seconds later they heard, far off in the woods, the mournful howl of their alpha wolf.

One week later, Lucas stood at the door of the Roger’s office with urgent matters to resolve. With the alpha licking his wounds and barely showing any interest in pack matters, everyone was looking to Lucas for answers. Lucas knocked on the door and waited for a response, but didn’t hear one. He knocked again a bit louder. After a few seconds, he heard a weak voice say, Come in.

Lucas walked in and sat across from Roger in one of the chairs. He saw the sadness on his alpha’s face, and noticed the wrinkles under his eyes, which was very unusual for a wolf.

His voice distant and drowned, Roger managed a barely audible, Hi, as he looked up to meet Lucas’s gaze. He immediately lowered his eyes and stared at a blank piece of paper on his desk.

Hi, Lucas replied. Have you decided who to send to the packs summit in Miami? he asked.

Roger looked up as if like he might vaguely know what Lucas was asking of him.

Roger? Lucas called, bringing him back to the moment.

I’ll go, he answered firmly.

What? Are you sure? Lucas snapped with a frown on his face.

Are you questioning my decisions, Roger yelled furiously, standing up from his chair.

No sir, Lucas replied lowering his eyes.

Fine, go away, he commanded with a dismissive wave of his hand as he sat back down.

Lucas stood up from the chair and left the office. He closed the door and paused for a moment. He had a feeling that Roger had made his decision to go to the summit on the spot and was using it as an excuse to get away from the pack. Lucas had been noticing that he wasn’t the only one who looked at Roger with pity; the other pack members were doing it too. Lucas knew that if he were in Roger’s position, he too would be pretty anxious to get away for a while.

Chapter One

Twenty-Seven Years Later

Pilar drove her car at a slow pace through the parking lot and parked in the first empty spot she found. She got out of the car and walked slowly, enjoying the pleasant cool temperature of this early fall day. Above her the sun was shining brightly with only a handful of clouds around it. She loved the feeling of the sun on her face and the way the warmth rushed through her entire body. She made her way to the entrance of the police building. She couldn’t believe it was only Wednesday—hump day as everyone in the office called it. These past three days had felt very long for her. She had been busy at the office, coding and cataloguing the many items the DEA team she was part off had confiscated on a raid two nights before. As she walked along, she thought about how much being half human and half wolf helped her with this job. Her wolf sense of smell and her agility, strength, and instincts had consistently kept her one step ahead of everyone else on every case she worked. Keeping this secret from her coworkers was not easy, and she felt a little lonely and isolated in their company—like she wasn’t really one of them. She walked into the police station and took the elevator to the sixth floor where the DEA department was located. She had been working with the DEA for two years now, mostly doing research and paperwork.

She knew that today was going to be another busy day because she had received an email informing her that the department had busted a big arms dealer the previous night. As she walked towards her office, she waved to several coworkers in the hall. Her office was the last one down the long hallway.

She stopped for a moment to talk to two of the girls. As she conversed with them about the drug bust, she sensed—no it was her wolf who sensed it—the unmistakable presence of another wolf. She faltered for words, then caught herself and finished the sentence. She made very precise slow movements and discreetly turned her head, looking for a person who could possibly be a wolf. She had never met any other wolves besides her sisters. Her wolf was on high alert. See, her wolf demanded in a voice deep inside her head. The moment she felt a direct link to the other wolf, she looked up. She saw a magnificent man coming out of the captain’s office.

He was huge, filling the hallway completely. He was even taller than her captain who was about 6'1, so that probably made this guy easily 6'4. She moved her eyes slowly up his body. His legs were long and muscled, his stomach lean and flat, and his shoulders were wide like a football player’s. When her eyes reached his face, they gazed at one another intensely for some time. He had the most beautiful shiny blue eyes she had ever seen. She couldn’t shake the impulse to go to him. She was totally unprepared for the fact that her wolf wanted to jump him.

Mine, her wolf murmured. A rush that she had never felt before moved up her body and settled in her lower stomach. This was all quite new to her; she had never heard her wolf talking to her before. She was aware that they existed together, but up until now communication was a one-way street—she was always in control. It was only when she shifted to her wolf for a run that her wolf was in control, but never when she was in human form. Oh shit, she murmured as she felt the juices flow between her legs. She and her wolf were so aroused it was impossible to stand still.

Mine, her wolf insisted. She took a deep breath and gently shook her head, forcing her wolf to let go of the connection. She turned her body back to face the girls. To her, the exchange had felt like it lasted a long time, but in reality, only seconds had passed. She smoothly rejoined the discussion that her coworkers were still having. Breathe, Pilar kept reminding herself while she continued to talk to her coworkers. She excused herself from the group and rushed away from them. She was eager to put some distance between herself and the stranger who was making her tremble. As she moved away, she heard her wolf desperately whining.

Alton stopped in the middle of a comment he was making to the captain when he got a whiff of her and her wolf. Mine, his wolf growled inside him. He watched her as she looked him over. When their eyes connected, he could barely breathe. But the sweetest moment was when he could smell her arousal. He nearly forgot what he was about to say, but he covered it up and continued talking to the captain.

His wolf was in desperate need of her wolf. Immediately, he recognized her from the pictures he had that she was his old alpha’s daughter, Pilar. Before he left to come to Miami, he had done some research on her and her sisters. This one had Roger’s eyes and hair color. Suddenly his wolf screamed, Mate! His wolf felt a deep connection with her wolf and was making it clear to Alton that this woman wolf was definitely his mate. It didn’t come as a shock to him to find that this woman was his mate. He could feel her wolf reaching for his, and he knew her wolf wanted out, but Pilar was holding her wolf back. That showed she had maturity and willpower, great qualities in a wolf shifter. He had known of her existence for six months and had felt a special connection with her. He wanted to go to her, pull her into his arms and take her away, but he knew this wasn’t the time or the place for that. "Soon my darling," he thought to himself and smiled.

He looked deeply into her eyes, not wanting to let her go, but she shook him off and turned away. The captain continued talking; he could hear his voice but he sounded very far away.

Alton managed to continue his conversation with the captain for several minutes before his wolf demanded to see her again. He turned to look for her, only to see her back as she rushed away. His wolf immediately began to miss her wolf. He stared at her back as she disappeared around a corner at the end of several rows of cubicles.

Pilar made it to her office and shut the door. She leaned against the door and held tight to the knob for several minutes trying to slow down her heartbeat and stifle the insistent grumbling of her wolf. She sat at her desk thinking that would steady her, but she still couldn’t control the trembling in her entire body, especially her hands. Her wolf was as shaken by the experience as she was. Pilar could sense her wolf’s anguish all over her body and the wolf wanted out. Pilar took several deep breaths then grabbed her cell phone from her bag and dialed Ari’s number. The phone rang but her sister didn’t pick up. She tried her other sister. Cris didn’t pick up either.

She slammed her phone down on the desk, then concentrated on getting her body under control and persuading her wolf to calm down too. After several minutes of deep breathing, she felt more at ease as her wolf settled down. She felt composed enough now do a bit of work on her computer. She checked her inbox, then she grabbed the first item at the back table from last night’s bust and started to catalogue it in the system.

Alton was in a meeting and was barely keeping control. His wolf wanted out and badly, desperate to go after Pilar. His body was burning up and he was having trouble sitting still. Mate, mate, his wolf insistently repeated. Alton eventually contained his wolf and settled back in the chair. After several hours of meetings with the department heads and detectives, it was time for lunch.

The captain joined the other detectives as they proceeded out of the building. As they walked away from the police station, Alton’s wolf made a strong disapproving sound. He walked with the others to a restaurant that was about two blocks away and spent more than two hours eating and talking about the Miami Dade Police Department. Alton’s wolf whined and whimpered the entire time, but Alton managed to keep his wolf relatively calm.

As soon as they arrived back at the police station, Alton made an excuse to go to the bathroom. With his wolf’s help, he followed her scent all the way to her office, which he found empty. Looking inside, he noticed that the desk was neatly organized, and it appeared that she was gone for the rest of the day. His wolf was very angry with him and gave a growl of disappointment. He wandered around among the cubicles near her office and asked several people if they knew where she was, but nobody could help him.

His wolf was frustrated and furious with him. At the end of the hall, he found a men’s room and walked in. He closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths to calm his wolf. Instantly, her beautiful hourglass shape popped into his head. She was curvy in all the right places, with beautiful light brown skin and bright hazel eyes; her lush brown hair fell to her shoulders. She had a soft and pleasing face. He shook his head and cleared his mind of her image. He didn’t know how long he had been in the bathroom but, by now, they would be wondering where he was, so he headed back to the captain’s office.

Pilar was overwhelmed by the presence of another wolf—especially such an attractive one—but she had managed to concentrate on finishing her job so she could leave work early. She had left messages for her boss and her two coworkers before departing.

Pilar rushed out of the building and quickly reached her car and headed to her store. She drove past the front door and into the alley just beyond it and parked her car. Carol, the store manager, wasn’t surprised to see her because Pilar usually showed up unexpectedly. She stopped for a minute to chat with her then walked to the back.

Pilar tried to keep herself busy, but her wolf kept reminding her of the wolf at the office. In an attempt to distract herself, and her wolf, she thought about her sisters and smiled to herself. If it weren’t for them she would be alone. Her family life was a mess and she had never been in a long-term relationship. Most of the men she dated didn’t understand why she did the DEA job. The truth was she was a lonely twenty-seven-year-old Latina, and the only thing that made her life seem worthwhile, besides her work, was her connection to her sisters. She felt a little calmer now and her wolf was strangely quiet, so she got back to her research for the PI agency she and her sisters ran on the side. She was glad that it was Carol’s long day in the store because that gave her time to concentrate on her research. After a few hours, she put the last printout inside the folder, left it in the middle of the desk, and grabbed something else.

By 7:00 pm when Carol left, Pi was done