The Lone Wolf's Wish
By Lisa Kessler
4.5/5
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About this ebook
Shane Dodd has lost everything, his Pack, his home, and hope. His only wish this Christmas is to live long enough to exact revenge on the Nero assassin he believes killed his Pack. But when he steps between a bullet and Piper Holland everything changes. The woman dressed as one of Santa's elves is his mate, and she ignites a flame in his heart. But hope and love are dangerous wishes for a lone wolf.
Lisa Kessler
Stay up-to-date on new releases and giveaways by subscribing to Lisa's newsletter here: https://goo.gl/56lDla Lisa Kessler is a Best Selling author of dark paranormal fiction. She's a two-time San Diego Book Award winner for Best Published Fantasy-Sci-fi-Horror and Best Published Romance. Her books have also won the PRISM award, the Award of Excellence, the National Excellence in Romantic Fiction Award, the Award of Merit from the Holt Medallion, and an International Digital Award for Best Paranormal. Her short stories have been published in print anthologies and magazines, and her vampire story, Immortal Beloved, was a finalist for a Bram Stoker award. When she's not writing, Lisa is a professional vocalist, and has performed with San Diego Opera as well as other musical theater companies in San Diego. You can learn more at http://Lisa-Kessler.com
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Book preview
The Lone Wolf's Wish - Lisa Kessler
Chapter 1
Shane
I tugged my coat up, covering the back of my neck from the chill of the winter wind. I’d tracked the jaguar shifter across the country, from my home in Lexington, Kentucky, all the way to Sedona, Arizona. And tonight, I’d finally avenge my Pack.
Since an explosion destroyed the Nero Organization two years ago, the trained jaguar assassins that used to work and live on the compound had started encroaching on my Pack’s territory. For months, we fought them, but the casualties were high. The jaguars had military grade weapons and training to be silent killers. While we had heightened senses of smell and hearing, and our strength far out powered any human man, we couldn’t compete with sniper rifles.
Their final assault on my Pack was cold, calculated, and heartless. I was the last living member of my Pack. Survivor’s guilt suffocated me most days. I should’ve died fighting like my Alpha, but he’d forbidden it. I was the last hope to carry on my Pack’s bloodline. He sent me away as the final fire fight blew holes through the walls and shattered the windows.
Shit. Enough. I’d gnaw off my own damn leg for a single day that I didn’t have to relive hearing that final shot and the deafening silence following it. It was the fucking silence that taunted me late at night.
But it would be over soon. Revenge was the only thing I lived for now.
The full moon rose higher in the sky, calling to the animal side of my soul. I wouldn’t be able to hold off the shift for much longer. My quarry entered the community center. Elvis Presley’s Here Comes Santa Claus wafted out into the cold night air as the door closed behind him. I used to look forward to Christmas, seeing the light in the eyes of our youngest generation of Pack members.
This year it was a cruel reminder of the people I’d lost. I narrowed my eyes and crossed the street. The marquee on the outside of the building read:
Help Santa find homes for shelter pets!
Adoption event 6 – 9 pm
He was getting a dog? I raised a brow. Vance Park was one of Nero’s deadliest assassins. I didn’t take him for a guy who would adopt a shelter dog. Didn’t matter.
I kept walking, right past the building, and out of the parking lot, into the vast red rock high desert. Snow dusted the tops of the mountain peaks as I waded through the bushes. I needed to be far from human eyes before the change took over.
Thankfully the night was quiet. The tourists were indoors, hidden from the chill of the winter wind. I sniffed the air before jumping into a shallow ravine.
I’d only been in town for a few days, but I’d caught the scent of another werewolf Pack here. Crossing paths with a Pack as a lone wolf was dicey at best, and I had no interest in joining another wolf Pack.
We’d always viewed lone wolves as trouble. The animal instinct of the wolf inside our spirits ached for the community of a Pack. Werewolves who lived alone, made Packs nervous. As shifters, our safety depended on humans never discovering we existed, and a Pack could police its members.
Lone wolves didn’t have an Alpha keeping them in line. They were a threat.
And now I was one of them
. I ground my teeth, struggling to hold it together. My sole focus was taking out the bastard that killed my family and my Pack.
A dark spot in my soul whispered a promise of eternal rest once the job was finished. I wasn’t hoping I’d die in the attack, or at least I didn’t think I was, but I wasn’t afraid of it. As long as I took him with me, I could rest peacefully for the first time in months.
I took off my coat and laid it out flat on the ground. Quickly I stripped the rest of my clothes off and dropped them on top. My wolf was eager for Vance’s blood. Losing our Alpha pained the wolf. He was a Pack animal. Being a lone wolf brought no peace, only an empty ache. If I got the chance to end Vance Park as a wolf, both animal and man would be satisfied.
The winter wind howled through the red rock mountains, stinging my bare skin, but I hardly noticed as the change sucked the air from my lungs. Fuck. I fell onto all fours, clenching my mouth shut to keep from screaming. The shift from man into a wolf was painful every single time, but the freedom that came with it was worth every second of torment.
My muscles tore, ripping and stretching, then reknitting around my new bone structure. Thick brown hair forced its way through my skin as my face jutted forward. Sharp teeth erupted through my gums, and I snapped my jaws.
I panted through the pain as it gradually faded away. Sniffing the air, my mammoth brown wolf hopped out of the ravine, his ears twitching as he took in his surroundings. During the full moon, the animal half of my soul took the lead. I was still conscious and aware, and at times I could even guide the animal. He wasn’t obedient, but we respected each other.
We loped out of the desert, back toward the community center. He slowed, trotting around the back of the building. The lights in Sedona were yellow and dim, some kind of star gazing ordinance, but the wolf didn’t care. His sense of smell was much stronger than his sight anyway.
Sorting through the mingling smells, he cataloged dogs, cats, cologne, brownies, humans, and finally, his lips drew back in a snarl. Vance was nearby.
The wolf started for the back door, sniffing the crack at the bottom edge, but I managed to coax him back, away from the lights. We had to be patient. If the humans saw a wolf they’d panic, and Vance could slip away.
The wolf crept back into the shadows outside the parking lot and crouched down, keeping all his attention on the door.
People and pets came and went. A couple of dogs barked in our direction, probably catching our scent on the wind, but no one outted us. A branch swished to the north. We turned, the wolf sniffing the air. His hackles rose.
A jaguar shifter, but this wasn’t the one we were hunting. Quietly the wolf followed the scent, wary of the intruder. Jaguar shifters shifted during the new moon in the cover of darkness. So, while I was a wolf, the jaguar shifter would still be a man.
Careful to stay upwind, we finally found the source of the scent. A man dressed all in black from head to toe was crouched behind a