Wolf Baited: Enigma Falls Fated Mates, #2

By Eliza Gayle

Life Lesson: You should never kiss a wolf.

Following a lead south to find a missing female shifter, Greer and Calder land in the middle of unfamiliar territory. Enigma Falls, South Carolina to be exact. Everything there seems innocent enough until their questions begin to ruffle fur and their oddball waitress at the local diner has a meltdown. Leaving Greer covered in an order of chili cheese fries and obsessed with one curvy, but clearly unstable woman.

 

Lily Hale fled to the small southern town to get as far away from her bleak, Alaskan backwoods family as she could. All she wants is a little color in her life and a taste of freedom. Getting involved with a wolf shifter seems like the last thing she should do.

 

Except she kissed him and now he won't go away. She also can't shake the feeling her life is about to implode.

 

Is Greer the kind of man who'd stand up to her family of savage werebears and protect her? Or just maybe, she can become the woman who stands on her own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eliza Gayle
• Release date: Mar 18, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224488889

Eliza Gayle

Eliza Gayle is the NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of over 30 paranormal and contemporary romance books.(she writes contemporary under the name E.M. Gayle) Known for sexy, action packed stories with alpha male heroes (the tall, dark and furry kind) and the often sarcastic heroines who fall for them. Her bestselling Southern Shifters series has also been developed into a KindleWorld where anyone can write, publish and earn money on their own Southern Shifters fan fiction. Visit elizagayle.com for more information. But...before her writing career began, she served in the Marine Corps and lived a crazy life of adventure. Then she read her first erotic romance novel and everything changed. Now, she lives on a small island in the Pacific Northwest and spends her days writing sexy stories, wandering the beach or accepting torture from her demanding kitty. To keep up with new releases, contests and sales, sign up for Eliza's VIP newsletter at: http://elizagayle.com/newsletter 

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Lily. Earth to Lily. Her coworker Jeanie snapped her fingers in front of her face, finally pulling her out of her stupor. Girl, if you need to take a break and let me finish taking care of the two hotties at table four, I’d be happy to do it.

She inwardly rolled her eyes. Jeanie was more than a little man crazy, and spent all of her time chasing after every eligible guy who dared to step foot inside the diner. Lily didn’t understand why she did that though. The woman was gorgeous and already had men in this town clamoring for more of her. She was also more than capable of taking care of herself and needed no help from anyone to get by.

Truth be told, she might have been a little jealous of Jeanie and under normal circumstances she’d let her have the table so she could get her flirt on. But her rent was due in two days and If she didn’t take every table possible, she was going to come up short—again.

Nah, I got it. She glanced toward her section of the surprisingly full diner on a Saturday night and surveyed the various customers lingering over their meals. If she stayed careful and got through these tables without incident, there might be just enough in tips to cover her bills. If she got lucky.

She wasn’t usually the lucky one, but she wasn’t giving up. Not now or ever. She’d come to town with simple goals and sure as heck didn’t want to leave now that things were kinda sorta not totally but maybe a little working out.

It still felt surreal to her that she lived in this mostly quiet southern town where the people were kind to each other even if not everyone knew the truth about the people they lived next door to. That exception aside, it was still a far cry from the wilds of Alaska with her narrow minded family living as separate from the real world as possible.

Her whole life she’d dreamed of a place like this and the possibilities that came with it. It was like moving from a cold and eerie black and white world to one where color lived and breathed every second of the day. And this little town came with as many quirky characters one could imagine, making it a lot easier for someone like her to fit in.

She choked back a laugh at the picture she’d made on the day she’d first arrived. No money, no clothes other than the ones on her back, and no where else to go. Fortunately for her, it was Vicky, the co-owner of The Enigma Inn, who found her dumpster diving behind the local diner and not the local cops. It certainly had not been her proudest moment, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Vicky took pity on her and convinced her husband, Johnson, to let her stay. From there things changed quickly.

It turned out that the big building that comprised the inn also housed a small, but popular diner called The Buttered Biscuit and they were in desperate need of another waitress. Since she kinda sorta had experience serving other people, they offered to give her a trial run.

Thank goodness all those years of waiting on her large family hand and foot had paid off. After a few weeks the job turned permanent and recently she’d moved out of the inn into her very own apartment. It was her first and quite the accomplishment in her eyes.

So what if compared to the rest of the town the place was a total dump? If they could see where she’d come from...

Well, this was a huge improvement.

Vicky had done everything in her power to keep Lily from moving to what she frequently referred to as ‘hell on earth’ and a shameful one at that, but she’d resisted. It had been time for her to make her own way with her own money and it was simply all she could afford.

And again, it was still better than any place she’d lived before. The inn notwithstanding.

Order up! the chef yelled, pulling her out of the wandering chaotic thoughts in her head. She would have sworn lately she had the attention span of a gnat.

Her thoughts were often random and all over the place. It was like someone yelled squirrel every five minutes.

The animal inside her was also nuttier than ever and she didn’t understand why.

She walked over to the counter, grabbed the food ladened trays and strode over to table four to deliver them. Two older local women who came in every day were seated there, their heads bent and deep in discussion.

Did you see both of them? one asked.

Of course I did, Doris. Hard to miss two strapping young men like those two come waltzing into town like they own the place.

She smiled. These ladies always came in every day at the same time and at the same table to catch up on their gossip.

Before they’d settle in to grill each other about anything new going on, they always ordered identical grilled cheese sandwiches with bowls of fresh homemade tomato soup to go with them and super tall glasses of sweet iced tea with extra packets of sugar.

They were very particular about their routine and refused to settle into their discussion until they were served their drinks.

Although once that happened, it was on. And entertaining as all get out to watch. No subject was too taboo and they’d often caught her blushing over some of their topics whenever she got close to their table in the middle of one of their discussions.

Honestly though, it was mostly cute and a good way for her to keep up with the goings on around town. There wasn’t anything happening in this town that these ladies didn’t know.

In fact, she may know more than she ever needed to about certain residents, but she also felt like knowing so much made her fit in. Almost anyways.

Today, though, they didn’t pay attention to her as she set down their food. The excited energy flowing between them made the fine hairs on her arms stand on end instead.

"I hear they are here looking for a missing woman. Such a sad thing when someone up and disappears like that, don't you think? Especially if there is any family left behind. Like a husband or children… I hope whoever she is they find her—alive."

Doris! Her friend whisper screamed.

What? It’s not like you weren’t thinking it.

Lily’s heart froze. Literally skipped a beat as the words she overhead sank in.

A missing woman.

Oh God no.

By the time her heart started again, the two women were looking at her with quizzical looks.

You okay, dear? You turned white as a sheet standing there. What’s wrong?

She blinked her eyes several times and tried to focus on the women in front of her and not the words ricocheting through her mind. It didn't work. The room spun and it didn't want to stop.

Doris, she looks ready to faint.

Doris jumped to her feet. Here, let me take these. You look like you need to sit for a minute. The older woman removed the tray from her hand and set it down on the table. She then nudged her hip until she dropped into the booth.

Are you sick?

When was the last time you ate?

Oh my God. Do you have food poisoning? They both said in unison, eyeing the plates in front of them with clear suspicion.

She stared at the women peppering her with questions. There was definitely something wrong since she couldn’t seem to feel her legs anymore and could no longer remember her name.

Missing woman.

The two words kept replaying in her head over and over as sweat broke out across her skin. Air sawed in and out of her lungs but she couldn't seem to catch her breath no matter how much oxygen she took in.

What in the world? She's hyperventilating.

Do you need to put your head between your knees? Doris asked. That’s what always works for me.

Desperate, but unable to respond she simply nodded, still unable to string words together or do more than gasp.

Oh, you poor thing. You are in a state. Lean forward.

She vaguely felt a hand at her back pushing her forward and she dropped her head obediently.

I tried to tell you there's been a rash of people in town getting sick lately, the other woman said. There must be something nasty going around.

That’s just poppycock. You’re just paranoid about germs. That doesn’t mean everyone is getting sick. Don’t listen to her, dear. She’s desperate to start trouble today is all.

I am not! Look at her. Something is clearly wrong.

She pressed her hands to her temples and willed her racing heart to calm. Any other time their bickering would have been entertaining. Today it exacerbated her fear. Rational or not. Although this didn't exactly have anything to do with some case of the flu. This was her worst nightmare come true.

She’d gotten too comfortable. AND stupid.

She’d gone clear across the country, covering her tracks as best she could as she went. Making sure there was no way her family could hunt her. For several weeks after that she’d jumped at every sound and every voice, waiting for someone to catch up to her or find out the truth. As time passed she’d settled in and grown comfortable. Complacent.

She even went so far as to finally believe she’d gotten away. In fact, the last few weeks had been the best of her life and now it was all about to come crashing down on her head. Apparently this new life she’d built was about as secure as a house of cards.

What about water, dear? I could get you some.

She shook her head. These women were already doing more than enough by letting her take their seats and interrupt their dinner. What kind of person acted like