I am buried in revisions for Tracking Tami, Book 3 in the After the Crash series. Tami is a modern woman who runs a wilderness survival school but is thrown into a future where women are treated in some places like possessions. She was married against her will and runs away. Tracker is a loner from the Clan who was hired to find her and bring her back. It’s a long hard chase for both of them. The woman that Tracker expected to be an easy job challenges him every mile of the way.

1-3

As she turned to leave the kitchen to get her snare set up something on colorless, papered wall caught her eye. Stapled to the wall was a sun faded, age-yellowed calendar. For the year 2017.

4-6

“Sky,” Rose uttered with loathing.

Tracker politely pretended to not notice this sign of discord in his young cousin’s mating.  He would allow himself be amused by it later when he was alone.

7-8

The first thing that struck Tracker when he came back to camp was the rich enticing scent of one particular woman. The second thing was that the damn woman had made off with his dinner.

9-11

“Ma’am?”

Tami woke with a silent gasp. The quiet murmur came out of the cold dark like a lover’s whisper.

12-13

Helpless was one thing she was not. Tracker wiped at the blood on his face with the back of his wrist.

There we go. 13 sentences from my WiP Tracking Tami. What are you writing or reading these days?

To celebrate last week’s release of Wolf’s Glory, here are 13 random paragraphs from the story.

 1.    Shadow watched the woman riding beside him with wonder. At last, his wolf had chosen a mate for him. And what a mate. This was no thin scrap of a woman. No, his mate was tall and strong, with soft lush curves that he wanted to explore in great and loving detail. Her face was a soft oval with startlingly pale blue eyes and a soft, plump mouth that he wanted to taste again. He couldn’t stop looking at her hair. “Why is your hair pink?” he asked, fascinated.

2.    After one last kiss he stepped back. Good thing, too, thought Glory, because the kid was back, all big curious eyes and long black braids. Shadow took the bowl of stew and shooed the kid off. As she spooned warm stew into her mouth she looked around his tent. Spartan didn’t begin to describe it. Glory hated camping even more than she hated clothes shopping. Good thing she wouldn’t be here long.

3.    “Excuse me.” This voice was different. Glory looked up and saw one of the plane-crash survivors politely raising a hand like a kid in school. Well, it made sense. She was still in the all-arms and gawky-legs stage of being a teenager. “Excuse me. What exactly do you mean by wolves within you? Is it symbolic?” 

4.    Glory tried not to cry. She hated crying, especially in front of strangers. But everything hit her at once. Her parents were dead. She was stuck here, in this crazy world with werewolves. For God’s sake, werewolves? She wanted her own bed. Her own bathroom. She wanted her own life back.

5.    Glory waited for Sky to hand over the rolled-up bandage, but he was staring open-mouthed at Rose, inhaling deeply, bandage forgotten in one hand. Glory smirked a little. “Rose, have you met Sky yet? Rose, this is Sky, Shadow’s brother. Sky, meet Rose Turner from the plane.”

6.    Shadow flipped his waist length hair over his shoulder. This time his kiss was a lot less comforting and a lot more sexy. Damn, he could kiss. His kiss could bring a dead woman back to life just so her toes could curl. It was the type of kiss to make a woman forget the hurt people around her, the blankets boiling in the pot behind her, and even the fact that she was wearing torn, filthy clothes. She felt beautiful and desirable and reveled in it. 

7.    Did werewolves give off extra-strong pheromones? Glory had read that modern Americans had showered and deodorized natural pheromones away. That couldn’t be the case with the Clan. They all smelled pretty natural, sometimes to the point of stinking. But Shadow didn’t smell bad to her. She inhaled his scent and felt a whisper of desire curl deep inside.

8.    He lifted his lips away and stared at her with eyes that shimmered wolf-gold in their black depths. “Are you giving me orders?” he asked with mild disbelief. “All right. But when I come back we’re going to finish this.” He gave her one more kiss and walked away, fading to his wolf form even as he untied the string of his breechcloth and let it drop. Glory had about a second to admire that muscled physique before it blurred into fur. 

9.     “Yes,” Glory crooned at the dog. “Those two girls are Bad. Calling them bitches would be an insult to you, wouldn’t it? You’re a very smart little dog.” She made little kissing noises before she straightened back up. “Seriously,” she told Shadow. “Those two are a waste of time. The other one, Sherry ? Some guy says she’s his mate, but she’s scared to death of him. And I know why.”

10. Carefully, slowly, Shadow released her. His eyes were almost frightening in their intensity. He turned with deliberate calm and walked with dignity around the fire back to his place. His face was smooth and cold, but his eyes shimmered across the fire at her. Glory swore she saw his wolf in those eyes. And Wolfie was not happy.

11. Before the sun was up Shadow forced himself out of bed. He was careful to smooth the blankets back into place around his mate so that she would stay warm. Did she love him? Once he had thought that just her acceptance of their mating would be enough. Now he knew acceptance alone would never satisfy him. He wanted her heart.

12. Quill put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. His voice was hardly even a whisper when he said, “It’s hard to not be able to claim your mate.”

13. A familiar scent in the crisp air made Glory inhale deeply, her heart flinging itself into her throat. “Shadow?” She thought she yelled, but it came out in a choked whisper audible only to wolf ears. She didn’t notice the way all the wolves stopped their play to watch her scramble to her knees and swing around. He was there, long hair drifting in the breeze over his naked body, gaze fixed on her. She devoured him with her eyes. He looked magnificent, all bare brown skin and taut muscle under what seemed like miles of black hair.