Rising Heat: Claimed by the Pack, #3

By Kimber White

A bond so strong it's combustible. A passion so fierce it might rip the pack apart.

As fated mates, Neve and Tucker's love is as wild and raw as it is pure. With each day, each hour, Neve's connection to Tucker grows stronger. And with it, comes a rising heat more powerful than even Tucker understands. She feels what he feels, breathes when he breathes. But, the power that binds them might be the very thing that destroys them.

As Alpha, Tucker McGraw was born and bred for battle. He'll do anything to protect what's his. Even if it means tearing the pack apart. He's done it before and he'll do it again. But this time, his heart belongs to Neve and the stakes couldn't be higher. This time, Tucker's greatest threat might just be his most trusted ally as a new Alpha rises.

Dear Readers: This is part three of a five part paranormal werewolf shifter romance serial. The story began in The Alpha's Mark and Sweet Submission and continues in Pack Wars and Choosing an Alpha. These books contain sizzling hot scenes that know no bounds. These wolves like it rough! If you're not into that, you might want to sit this one out. However if you like hot, dominant, alpha male werewolf shifters and the kickass heroines who will do anything to please them, then click away and enjoy the ride!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nokay Press, LLC
• Release date: Dec 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215717073

Kimber White

Kimber White writes steamy paranormal romance with smoldering, alpha male shifters and kickass heroines (doormats need not apply). Because she just can't help herself from torturing her heroes…expect edge of your seat suspense as Kimber's characters fight for their happily ever afters and their fated mates. Kimber lives on a lake in the Irish Hills of Michigan with her neurotic dog and wildly supportive family. For the latest scoop on Kimber's new releases plus a FREE EBOOK as a welcome gift, be sure to sign up for Kimber's newsletter at www.kimberwhite.com

Book preview

Rising Heat

Claimed by the Pack: Part Three

Kimber White

Nokay Press LLC

Copyright © 2016, 2022 by Kimber White/Nokay Press LLC

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author or publisher, except where permitted by law or for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

About Kimber White

Kimber White Books In Order

Chapter One

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Flames licked at my feet, while thick smoke clouded my vision and filled my mouth. If not for Tucker’s strong arm around my waist, I wouldn’t have known the way to safety.

I can’t see them! My voice burned in my throat. I could see no more than a few inches in front of my face as Tucker ran with me through the woods. I’d grown so used to feeling Reed, Barrett, Jake, and Mal nearby that their absence left me empty inside. I fought back a rising wave of panic as I ran by Tucker’s side. He held my head against his chest as we pushed through the flames. His heart beat strong and steady despite the chaos around us and it’s what kept me from losing it altogether. But I couldn’t feel the other members of the pack and, even with Tucker’s strong presence, my heart tripped.

We need to keep moving, Tucker shouted. I felt the muscles of his chest tense and pulse beneath my cheek. The wolf within him struggled to break free. I knew every cell in his body wanted to shift. He wouldn’t, though, not until he’d gotten me through the flames. I prayed the others were on their way to safety too.

Then the ground shook beneath us, making even Tucker falter as the cabin exploded behind us as the fire hit the gas. A fresh wave of heat enveloped us, and I felt like my lungs might blister with each breath I took. Tucker lifted me over his shoulder, and ran with superhuman speed. He leapt over fallen branches and pushed through the thick brush until finally, the air cooled and we were past the worst of the danger.

We’d run all the way to the main ranger station where I’d first met him, several miles away, and it had only taken a few minutes. Finally, Tucker stopped.

Stay right here, he shouted. I’ll be back in two seconds.

Catching my breath, I nodded. Tucker smashed through the door of the cabin, not even bothering to unlock it. He came out just as quick carrying a set of keys.

What about the others?

Before Tucker could answer, the rest of the pack came busting through the tree line together in an avalanche of fur and limbs. The sight of them filled me with both relief and primal terror as their wolf eyes blazed hot, and I was suddenly surrounded in a circle of threat and snapping jaws. They were wild, out of control with fear, and driven by the instinct to fight.

Mal drew near me. His wolf was as large as Tucker’s, but Mal was midnight black with flashing golden eyes. One look from Tucker, and the pack came to heel, but not before Mal swung his great head back toward me. His pupils narrowed to pinpoints, and his black nostrils flared.

Tucker’s own eyes flashed silver, and again I knew he fought an overpowering urge to shift along with the others. Jake, Tucker said. You ride with Barrett in the Jeep. We stop in Mount Pleasant for gas if we need it. Otherwise, keep going. Mal, you and Reed go on foot if that suits you. Neve, you’re with me on the Harley.

Mal growled low, his inky black fur standing on end, and I had the urge to reach out and smooth it back. Though I couldn’t sense the pack’s feelings as well when they were in wolf form, he held his tail high in a gesture of defiance. Tucker gave him a look. The bones of Tucker’s face warped as he fought hard to hold his wolf in. When he spoke, his words were inhuman. His vowels and consonants formed hard around a growl.

We have no choice, he said to Mal’s wolf. The five of us can’t hold off Asher’s pack forever.

Mal bared his teeth and snapped his mighty jaw shut. Tucker’s whole body shuddered with the effort of fighting back his wolf. Whatever was going on between them, now wasn’t the time for them to hash it out. Not with the heat from the approaching wildfire and Asher’s pack most likely on the way.

Something rose up in me. An instinct took hold, and I stepped in between Tucker and Mal. I pressed a hand flat to Tucker’s chest, and put my other hand on the dome of Mal’s head, just between his ears.

Mal, go, I said. Please.

I felt Tucker’s heartbeat rise and fall, growing steady under my touch. Mal dipped his head down, even as he kept his golden eyes fixed on Tucker. Then, he stepped backward and took to the woods in a great, leaping bound. Reed followed close behind.

Then I went to Tucker’s side, and pressed my hand into his. I led him away, and climbed on the Harley behind him. I wrapped my arms around him as tight as I could as the bike roared to life beneath me. The wind shifted, and the woods around us grew hot from the approaching flames. Barrett and Jake came back out of the cabin. Human again, they were both drenched in sweat, but fully clothed. Barrett’s mouth was set into a grim line as he opened the door to the Jeep and climbed in. Tucker gave the pair one last nod, and then he hit the throttle and we zoomed away, leaving the blazing forest behind us.

Chapter Two

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Tucker hit the highway at a breakneck pace. Wind whipped across my face as we put distance