Running with Wolves

Running with Wolves
Cynthia Cooke

Destined to wed anotherFated to serve…Shay Mallory knows nothing of her shifter heritage, only that she has always felt something was missing from her life. So when Jason Stratton, a compelling stranger, arrives offering protection and something more, Shay leaps at the chance to know him better.Despite their immediate bond, it is Jason’s duty to deliver Shay untouched to The Colony – and into another man’s bed. With demonic forces circling, the very future of their kind depends on Jason and Shay resisting their growing passion. But Jason possesses something that no other Alpha can ever claim…Shay’s heart.

“Do you hear it, too?”

With a whoosh, Shay's chest filled with air. She gasped in, quick shallow painful breaths. Jason's aura was strong, bright. Chasing away the darkness in her eyes as she hung on to him.

“I'm afraid something … in the walls is making me sick,” she confessed.

“It's going to be all right. I'll take care of you,” he said, and before she could respond or even contemplate his words, Shay was up in his arms, cradled against the too-good-to-be-true stranger's warm chest. She didn't know if the whispering had stopped or if she was so consumed by his body heat and by his heady, earthy scent that she no longer heard the disturbing whispers. She breathed Jason's scent deep, holding it within her, as if it alone could protect her from the darkness …

Many years ago, CYNTHIA COOKE lived a quiet, idyllic life caring for her beautiful eighteen-month-old daughter. Then peace gave way to chaos with the birth of her boy/girl twins. She kept her sanity by reading romance novels and dreaming of someday writing one. With the help of Romance Writers of America and wonderfully supportive friends, she fulfilled her dreams. Now, many moons later, Cynthia is an award-winning author who has published books with Mills & Boon and Steeple Hill Books.

Running with Wolves

Cynthia Cooke

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

This book is dedicated to my good friend

and critique partner, Kelly Keaton!

Contents

Chapter 1 (#u6339219c-c255-5b8b-a47e-4d9afdbbfb19)

Chapter 2 (#u563a95ef-ca6f-507b-bab6-dfa6f7d5f8b5)

Chapter 3 (#ucedcafe3-72dc-5562-928b-83ceeacca317)

Chapter 4 (#u7cf2f04e-fd77-5fc6-99c2-de159fe7f603)

Chapter 5 (#u105ce3c8-1c65-52aa-bf28-ae795ec5e1a3)

Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Excerpt (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 1

Shay Mallory felt the sensation of being watched as she walked down her long driveway, her tennis shoes crunching on the sparse gravel. Late morning fog hovered in the branches of the tall redwoods forming a canopy above her. She breathed deep the briny scent of ocean air and willed herself to relax. Not an easy task.

A twig snapped behind her. Tensing, she peered over her shoulder at the deep shadows lengthened by the soaring trees, but saw no one. She was being jumpy. There was no one there. Nothing to be afraid of, and yet she was. Fear clung to her back, digging its long sharp claws into her shoulders, a constant reminder of its needling presence.

She’d spent her whole life jumping at imaginary threats, constantly moving until one town blurred into the next. But her paranoid father had been dead a long time now. For years, there had been just her and Grams in these woods, and no reason to be afraid. No reason to jump.

A whimpering sounded behind her. Smiling, she stopped and turned.

“Hey, Buddy.” She squatted next to the large husky that had been shadowing her and rubbed the thick brown fur on his cheeks. He looked more like a wolf than a dog and had been her only companion since Grams died last year. If it weren’t for him, she’d be completely alone. She brushed off the thought and the sense of deep sadness that came with it. Until she figured out what was going on with her, spending less time around people would be better anyway.

Buddy sat and she patted his head. “You can’t come with me, Buddy. You know that. You scare people.”

The dog whined and, lying down, dropped its head onto its outstretched paws, looking absolutely adorable. “I know. They’re idiots. Stay here. I’ll be right back. Promise.” She stood and, with a lighter step and a pat to her pocket to make sure she had her iPod, she hurried down the road.

She knew she should move closer to the city and try to find a job in a design firm. Home-based graphic design businesses could be tough to get off the ground since it seemed as if everyone and their brother could design a website these days. But there weren’t too many places she would be able to live with Buddy. He needed room to run, to stretch his legs, to be free where some gun-happy yahoo wouldn’t mistake him for a wolf and shoot him. She’d find a way to make the money to fix up the old house and stay right where she was.

In her home.

As Shay considered her options, she crossed Highway 1, and headed toward picturesque Main Street. Thank goodness, with the onset of school and the cooler weather, most of the summer tourists were gone and she encountered no one on her way. She passed through an alley between two buildings and walked into the hardware store.

“Good morning, Shay,” Mr. Henderson said from behind the counter. “You know, it’s not sunny out.”

Shay smiled and took off the dark shades she never went without these days. She couldn’t take the chance. Without them she’d be distracted and sometimes scared by the colors, but Mr. Henderson was okay. She already knew what his colors were, yellow and blue and happy.

She took a deep breath and looked around her. Luckily no one else was in the store. “I need another tube of Spackle.”