Sedona Sacrifice: Southwestern Paranormal Romance with Shifters, Psychics, and Secrets

By Lisa Kessler

For Gage Woods, being a single dad means making sacrifices, and being a werewolf on top of it all makes secrets a must. As his pack brothers find their true mates, he yearns for his own, but dating is almost as perilous as fighting the rogue jaguar shifters who attack his pack. The moment he decides to give up and focus on his boys, fate steps in, but what if Becca is actually working with the enemy?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Publishing
• Release date: Aug 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9781094460772

Lisa Kessler

Lisa Kessler is a Best Selling author of passionate, page-turning 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. She also publishes horror and thriller novels under the pseudonym, L.A. Kessler. When she's not writing, Lisa is a professional vocalist and tarot card reader. You can learn more at http://Lisa-Kessler.com

Book preview

1

Gage

T wenty-nine. Thirty. I lowered my body to the ground, maintaining my plank position in spite of the wiggling werewolves on my back.

You did it, Daddy! Henry patted my hair from his perch between my shoulder blades.

His twin brother, Hawk, squealed from the small of my back. Thirty more!

I chuckled, shaking my head. You guys are going to wear me out.

My phone buzzed on the floor next to me. I frowned at the text message from Becca Yates. Why would my Alpha’s office manager be messaging me?

I know this sounds weird, but can I talk to you in person? Soon.

Very weird. I’d never spoken to her outside Asher’s office. Why would she want to meet in person?

I tilted my body until the little guys slid off so I could roll on my side to face them. Their infectious grins and giggles made it impossible not to laugh. Damn, what would I do without these little guys?

I tickled them until they screamed with laughter, then set them free. Time to go brush your teeth.

Do we have to? Henry whined. He was the eldest by about ten minutes, and of the two of them, he was also the master of sad puppy dog eyes.

Yes. I poked his belly, and he struggled to hold back his grin. Go brush.

They scrambled to their feet and raced to the bathroom. I got up and reread the text. Becca worked for Wild Sedona Tours, my Alpha’s company. They specialized in leading private hiking and Jeep tours. Becca ran the office, and Asher led the groups. She’d been his right hand for over five years. She’d started back when Asher was still human, before we both had been bitten.

Why would she want to talk to me? She’d watched the boys for me in a pinch a few times—Asher trusted her so I did, too—but other than brief pleasantries and reports about Henry and Hawk’s escapades around the office, we didn’t really talk.

If something really was wrong, she’d go to Asher. They’d been friends and coworkers for years. So why reach out to me? Before I could respond to her, she sent another text.

It won’t take long. Sorry.

Whatever she needed, I owed her for stepping up to watch the boys. I didn’t have any plans tonight anyway. I fired back my address, then added a second message:

The boys are going to bed so don’t ring the bell.

Becca didn’t know I’d be able to hear her park and smell her as soon as she got out of her car. She didn’t know werewolves were real or that her boss was one. As far as she knew, my boys were obsessed with wolves and liked to pretend they were wolf cubs. She’d never guess they’d been born with the shifter gene and that when they were older, they’d start shifting with us during the full moon.

That seemed like a lifetime away.

My little guys were about to turn three in a couple of weeks, but most people guessed they were at least a year older based on their size and vocabulary. Shifters matured at a faster rate than humans, which made sending them to preschool impossible. It was too hard for the boys to keep our existence a secret, and we couldn’t risk them spending time with humans outside the pack until they were old enough to understand why no one could know we shifted into animals.

Including Becca.

Until we were free of our enemies in the area, Asher thought she would be safer not knowing the truth. We all respected his decision, and she wouldn’t hear anything about shifters from me tonight, no matter what she was coming over to say.

I tried to think of reasons she might be coming to talk to me, but I came up empty. Or maybe I was just still rattled from the news Asher shared with us at the pack meeting earlier today.

He’d received a call from Adam Sloan, the Alpha from the Reno Pack. His uncle, General Miller Sloan, was retiring from the military, and it was Adam’s understanding that the retirement hadn’t been General Sloan’s idea.

Adam wanted to give Asher a heads up that Sloan’s retirement from the military meant our ability to live under the radar might be coming to an end. He’d been the liaison to the Armed Forces Committee and made sure military research on werewolf soldiers remained top secret and hidden from most elected officials. In fact, only Senator Hanson had the clearance to know General Sloan had been one of the original werewolf soldiers involved in the first experiment, Operation Moonlight. Without Sloan convincing the senator to continue keeping a lid on the research, our existence could be made public.

I’d served under the general while I was in the Air Force, and I had looked up to him for years, without ever knowing he was a werewolf. I definitely hadn’t known he was responsible for protecting the top-secret experiments that were being performed on werewolves by defense contractors like the Nero Organization and Evolution Defense who were trying to create super soldiers.

We’d also discovered recently that a group calling themselves the Transparency Collective were backing candidates who made it a priority to show Americans how the Department of Defense was spending their tax dollars, including exposing the research experiments into DNA modification for the super soldier program. If they had their way, they’d be airing video footage of men being pushed to the brink of their sanity as researchers struggled to unravel the mystery of a shifter’s DNA and new ways to exploit it, all in the name of defense.

My boys’ giggles echoed down the hall, and my heart twisted. Even though I worked hard to stay in shape and be ready for a fight, there was no way I could protect them from a world that would hunt them out of fear. People wouldn’t see them as children; they’d see them as monsters.

I forced the dark thoughts from my head and checked my phone again. No reply from Becca, but I had two missed calls from my grandmother. My brows knit together as I pressed her number and waited.

She answered on the second ring. Gage? How are you, sugar?

I’m okay, Grands. Sorry I missed your calls. Are you all right?

I raked my short hair back from my forehead, my gaze flicking to the bathroom door. Hearing her voice made me homesick. I hadn’t seen her in a couple of years now, not since I’d taken Henry and Hawk to meet her. Grands had been so thrilled, cooing about how they looked just like me. All I could see was Samantha. They had her dark eyes, but their ginger hair and wide smiles were all me.

But she didn’t know I’d been attacked by a werewolf and changed into a shifter. She also didn’t know my boys had lost their mother to a bullet when they had been only six months old.

There was so much I couldn’t tell her.

Oh, I’m fine, she replied. Just wanted to see if you ever figured out when you can come visit. Maybe I could meet your whole family this time.

She knew I wasn’t married, but she was obviously fishing for information about the boys’ mother. I needed to tell her the truth, but I didn’t want to do it over the phone—or at least that was the excuse I gave myself. Until recently, I’d deluded myself into believing I might find my true mate, and once my family was whole, then I’d take them home to meet Grands.

Time to get real. I was never going to find my mate.

Gage? Grands prodded. Are you still there?

Yeah. I clasped the back of my neck. Sorry. Work’s been really busy. I promise I’ll let you know as soon as I can come up to Oregon. How’s the new crop from your garden?

She happily told me about her tomatoes and lettuce while Henry and Hawk came back out to show me their shiny clean teeth.

Is that Grands, Daddy? Hawk asked, easily hearing the other end of the call.

My grandmother was pretty hard of hearing, but somehow, she never had trouble hearing her great-grandsons. Oh, I want to talk to the boys!

Okay, just a sec. I put my cell phone on speaker and lowered it between them.

Hawk grinned. It’s me, Hawk.

And Henry, too! his brother chimed in.

They told her about learning karate from Auntie Naomi and how I’d promised to take them fishing soon.

Your great-grandfather, Paul, loved to fish, she said. Ask your daddy to tell you about him sometime.

The boys chattered on with Grands as I closed my eyes, reining in the emotions stirring at the mention of my grandfather’s name. My grandparents had raised me after my parents were killed by a drunk driver. I’d only been two at the time so my earliest memories were of my grandparents. I’d named Hawk after my grandfather. He had been an Air Force pilot, and Hawk had been his call sign.

Before I’d left for boot camp eight years ago, I’d helped her sell the house and downsize to a condo. I’d even built her a garden box on the balcony. It seemed like lifetimes ago now.

’Night, Grands! the boys said in unison.

They bumped each other as they ran to their room. I lifted my phone to my ear. I love you, Grands.

I love you, too, sugar. She paused. Are you sure everything is all right? I could come stay with you and help with the boys if you need me.

Although I would love to have her closer, I didn’t want her anywhere near the crossfire from the enemies of our pack. She was safer up in Portland.

Thanks. I lowered my voice. We’re okay, really. I hope we’ll get to visit again soon.

You’re welcome anytime. I miss you.

I hated hearing her disappointment. Dammit. I sighed. I miss you, too. I better get the boys in bed. Talk to you soon.

’Night, Gage.

The call ended, and I slipped my cell into my pocket. When I rounded the corner to the boys’ room, they ceased whacking each other with their pillows and dropped onto their butts. I could almost see the halos pop up over their heads.

I chuckled, shaking my head. Time for bed. I tucked them in their beds on either side of the small room and turned out the light. ’Night, boys.

’Night, Daddy, Henry said with a yawn in his voice.

Hawk rolled over in his bed. Daddy?

Yeah? I hesitated in the doorway dreading what would come next. Almost every night my little guy asked me the same question.

Is the Collective far away now? he asked.

My shoulders tensed as I struggled to keep my expression neutral. Very far.

Good. He closed his eyes. I love you, Daddy.

I love you, too. I shut their door and went straight to the fridge to grab a beer. The Transparency Collective had kidnapped Hawk five months ago while we were at a street fair and had taken him to Evolution Defense. Thankfully, we’d found him and brought him home within a couple of hours. They hadn’t harmed him, but ever since, he had a hard time closing his eyes for bed without needing the reassurance that they weren’t close enough to make grab him again.

Every time fear colored his voice, rage smoldered in my gut. These kids hadn’t asked to be born, or to be werewolves, but as long as the Transparency Collective was out there, champing at the bit to expose our existence to the world, my innocent little boys were in danger. They’d already lost their mom, so the fear that they could lose me too was very real to them. I understood that fear more than most.

I checked the time. I thought Becca was already on her way over, but she should’ve already been here. Maybe she had changed her mind. I snatched the remote off the coffee table and skimmed through the endless shows and movies on Netflix without actually picking anything to watch.

Outside, a car pulled up in the lot below and stopped. I glanced over my shoulder at the door, listening. As soon as the door slammed, I noticed her familiar scent, and got up to go to the door.

Her footsteps echoed up the flight of stairs to my second story apartment. I opened the door just as she gave it a little tap. Becca had thick brown hair and dark, chocolate-colored eyes. She was maybe five foot nine, and while she had curves that I’d have to be dead not to notice, I’d never allowed myself to think about her as anything other than Asher’s employee and my emergency babysitter. She didn’t have any makeup on, and her hair was up in her usual high ponytail, but there was a glint of panic in her eyes that was new. Whatever had sent her over here, it wasn’t good.

Stepping back, I waited for her to come inside, and I scanned the street out of habit. No strange cars. No one had followed her, although I wasn’t sure why I thought they might.

When I turned around, she was much closer than I’d expected. I’d never noticed the dusting of freckles across her nose and the tops of her cheeks. For a second, we stared at each other as if we’d never really seen each other before.

In the tight space, her scent toyed with me. She smelled like lavender and roses with a hint of something woodsy and wild, but there was an undercurrent of uneasiness that had my wolf on high alert. Since being bitten, I’d learned that emotions often carried their own scents. Right now, the smell of perspiration combined with her natural scent to form an invisible fog of fear around her. With my heightened hearing, it was impossible to miss the way her heart raced, too. Something had her worked up, but why was I the one she’d reached out to?

If I didn’t get some space between us soon, I was going to start sniffing her hair and freak her out even more. I broke the awkward silence and gestured to the couch. Do you want to sit?

Oh. She nodded and turned. Thanks.

I sat on the opposite end of the couch. What’s going on?

I got a call tonight from my uncle, and it has me a little— her gaze darted around my living room, anywhere but my face —shaken up.

Her uncle? I didn’t know anything about her family.

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. I guess I’m trying to figure out why you came to me instead of Asher.

Oh. She finally looked at me. Well, it’s about Asher, and we both know him, so…I don’t really have a lot of…friends to…confide in.

Your uncle told you something about Asher? I asked.

Yeah. She paused and sighed, shaking her head. But I think this is a mistake. I’m sorry. She stood. I shouldn’t have come here.

Becca? Hawk came down the hall rubbing his eyes. Why are you here?

She smiled, knelt down, and opened her arms. I came by for a hug.

His lips curved into a sleepy smile, but he couldn’t resist running to her. He squeezed his arms around her neck, and my heart twisted. I wanted to give them everything, to give them a mom, but after numerous dates over the past few months, I still hadn’t found my mate. I had finally given up the search. Maybe someday I could find a woman who loved my kids as her own and that would be enough. She wouldn’t be my one true mate or the other half of my soul, but we could still be happy.

Yes, I’d be settling, but at least my boys would have a real family.

Becca released him and looked him in the eye. I’m pretty sure it’s past your bedtime, right?

He nodded and stifled a yawn. But I’m not tired. He looked over at me and back to Becca. I could stay up with you guys.

I shook my head, crossing to my son. Sorry, buddy. I mussed his hair. You need to sleep.

He turned around and lumbered back to his room. Becca straightened, and when she smiled, there was a sparkle in her eyes that had my full attention.

Affection.

Not for me, but for Hawk, and I caught myself wishing Becca could be my mate. My boys loved her, and Asher trusted her to run his business. I pushed the useless thoughts aside and reminded myself of my Alpha’s hard line in the sand to keep Becca out of our shifter world. The less she knew, the safer she would be.

Can I get you a drink? I asked. I have beer and bottled water. I might have a Dr. Pepper left, too. I could check.

I’ll take a bottled water. Thanks.

I went into my small kitchen and opened the fridge. She followed me. I didn’t have to look over my shoulder. Her unique scent that made me think of the Red Rocks after a dusting of snow. It was fresh and clean. I handed her the water, then picked up my beer.

Taking a sip, I glanced down the hall to check for any other little wolves. All clear. I focused on her again and quickly pulled out

Reviews for Sedona Sacrifice

[Holly · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While I liked this one, I feel like it ended too abruptly. I was expecting the story to continue and it went to the epilogue. I really liked Gage and Becca together, but was not a fan of how much Gage was stuck on the "needing a mommy for my boys" mentality. It took away from the coupling to me. I do hope we get more of them so I can get the completeness of their story that we've been able to get with all the other couples.

Now solely about the narration, I wanted to throw out there that the male narrator made NO differences in the male characters voices, which made following some conversations hard to know who was saying what. The female narrator made everything sound so breathy it was irritating, but she did at least differentiate the characters voices.