Tuesday Teaser 8/25/2015: Daughter of the Wolf Clan
Hello! This is coming out a little early because I’m off to my local writers’ critique group soon. I am posting all of chapter 8. The first half you read last week. I was going to give you only part of the new section, but there wasn’t really a good place to break. I had absolutely no idea that Olivia had gotten a reputation for playing fast and loose with men. And Patia is a little bit of a snot. Who knew?
Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Part II
Fourteen Months Later
Kearney, Nebraska
Chapter 8
Olivia shifted her sewing basket to a more comfortable position on her hip and waited for Red Wing and Nathan to finish their quick sweep of the Martins’ Trading Post before stepping into the store. Behind her were some of the other single women from the Plane Women’s House, but she paused in just inside to inhale the spicy scent of the Christmas potpourri Hannah Martin had sitting in bowls around the store. Olivia loved Christmas. She loved the little conspiracies of making gifts in secret to surprise her family, she loved baking and eating the Christmas goodies, and she loved having everyone she loved gathered all together in one place. Last year had been difficult, because her family hadn’t been with her. It was her first Christmas ever without her family. Her parents and brothers had stayed at the ranch, and although she loved her cousins and friends in Kearney, it hadn’t been the same. But this year everyone was coming to the den to celebrate. Christmas Day was only three weeks off, and her parents would be here on the 22nd.
“Do you mind?” groused her cousin Victoria from behind her.
“Oh, sorry.”
Olivia stepped further into the store and to the side, to let the other women enter. Red Wing nodded and gave his daughter Kendra a sharp look. “You be good today.”
Seventeen-year-old Kendra sighed. “I’m always good, Dad.”
He smiled. “I know. Well, have fun sewing. We’ll bring the lunch at noon.”
Hannah Martin waved to them from behind the counter.
“Go on back to the workroom, ladies,” she called. “We’ll be getting started in a few minutes.”
Olivia led Vic, Nikki, Sammie, and Kendra through the store to the room in the back that had been made into a workplace where the Lisa & Hannah clothing line was created. The Lupa from the den and her daughter Patia were already there, along with Paisley, the daughter of Snake and Mel, and Angela, Quill and Ellie’s daughter. Lisa Madison, her daughter Emily, and her son Ray and her brother-in-law Marty were there too. Patia and Ray were standing close together, whispering to each other. Olivia stopped for a moment, wondering how they were getting away with it. She looked around quickly. None of Patia’s brothers were here, which explained it. Uncle Taye had –amazingly—given permission for Ray and Patia to court, but normally the boys would have forced them to maintain a chaste distance. Aunt Carla didn’t seem to notice that her daughter and her beau were practically leaning on each other.
Victoria cleared her throat. “Mart,” she purred, pushing past Olivia to saunter toward the mayor’s younger brother like a wolf stalking prey.
Marty smiled at her. “Good morning, Miss Victoria. It’s nice to see you again.”
“Call me Vic,” she invited. “All my friends do.”
Olivia walked over to a long work table and put the sewing basket down. Not only was the spicy scent of Christmas potpourri in the air, she reflected, but so was love. For everyone but her. Her earlier happy mood began to slip, and she doggedly grabbed hold of it to keep it from disappearing.
“Good morning,” said Mrs. Madison with a smile. “Thank you so much for coming to help us out.”
She smiled at back Mrs. Madison. “Good morning. I’ll do my best to help, but I’m not much of a seamstress.”
Mrs. Madison, wife of the mayor of Omaha and the Lisa half of Lisa & Hannah Originals, waved that off. “We have so many orders to get out for Christmas that we’re happy to take any help. If you can press a seam or sew on a button, you’ll be a godsend. Even someone to sweep the floor and collect pins will be needed.”
“I think I can manage that part.”
Olivia turned to survey the work room. There were four long tables, each with a sewing machine on one end and a padded pressing surface on the other. Dressmaker dummies in a variety of sizes stood along the walls in various stages of undress. Bolts of fabric leaned drunkenly in corners. It was completely foreign to Olivia. She could rope a calf and slap a brand on it, but sewing was not her forte.
“Run along now, boys,” Lisa said sternly to her son and brother-in-law. “Marty, your mom needs you at home this morning. Her wood box is getting low. Ray, your dad is expecting you at the stables.”
“OK, Mom. We’ll be back for lunch,” Ray said agreeably. “We don’t want to miss the food Miz Renee is sending over.”
Lisa muttered, “Of course not.”
Marty gave Vic one last smile. Olivia didn’t think he was anywhere near as handsome as Ray, but she admitted that smile completely made up for it. She waited until the men had left and then gave Vic a raised brow.
“How serious are you about him?”
Victoria smirked like a cat in the cream. “More serious all the time.”
“Really? Do you think Uncle Shadow will approve?”
Vic swung out of her coat and hung it over the back of a chair. “Mom talked him into letting me come to Kearney for the winter to meet men. I’m only doing what I’m supposed to.” She made a face. “Besides, I’m twenty-six years old. How much longer do I need to wait to find a man my dad approves of? Much longer and my girl parts will forget what they’re for.”
Hannah came in then, and she and Lisa conferred briefly before assigning tasks to everyone. Kendra, the youngest of them, was the best at using a sewing machine, since she’d been working for Lisa and Hannah for two years. Olivia manned one of the irons while Victoria, Angela, and Paisley cut pattern pieces out of fabric at the same table.
Paisley slanted a glance at Victoria. “Are you really interested in Martin Madison? Or just playing?”
The shears sliced through fabric with a sound between a rasp and a crunch. Victoria arched both brows at her twenty-year-old cousin. “Why? Did you already stake a claim to him?”
“No.” Paisley made a face. “He’s too old for me.”
“Uh-huh. He’s all of what, twenty-six?” Victoria’s lips curved in amusement. “We were born in the same month in the same year. I remember meeting him a few times we were kids. Couldn’t stand him back then. But it’s been probably fifteen years, and he’s improved.”
From the table beside theirs, Patia said, “Ray is much better looking. He’s the handsomest man in Kearney.”
“Ray is good-looking,” Victoria admitted. “And he’s a good guy. But Marty’s the guy for me. I don’t know what it is about him, but I really like him. Some people might think he’s Kearney’s representative to the state assembly because he’s a son of the last mayor and the brother of the current mayor, but he’s a leader. He’s not an Alpha the way dad is Alpha. He’s quieter, gentler in his attitude, but he’s still an Alpha.”
Olivia laid a half constructed blouse over her ironing surface, and considered what she knew of Marty Madison. He spent a lot of time in Omaha, so she didn’t know him as well as she knew his nephew Ray. She thought Victoria was probably right. In his quiet, laid-back way, Marty was an Alpha. She handed pressed blouse back to Patia and smiled at Victoria. “And he has a killer smile.”
Victoria winked. “Yep, that smile doesn’t hurt his chances at landing me for a bride.” She looked across the table at Paisley. “So, if it’s not Marty that’s caught your eye, who has?”
Paisley had a fair complexion that showed her blush clearly. “I like Josh Gray,” she said softly.
Victoria whistled. “What does Uncle Snake think of that?”
“He says he likes Josh, but he’s too young to marry anyone yet.”
Olivia pictured Josh Gray in her mind. He was young, maybe twenty. He worked for his father Doug Gray in the power plant south of Kearney. The power generated by the collection of wind turbines, river water wheels, and the sun was what ran the lights, the iron, and the sewing machines in this workshop. It was an important job and guaranteed Josh a good living.
Angela said in a very small voice, “Lars Overdahl has invited me to join him and his family for Christmas dinner.”
“Well, you’re family.” Victoria smoothed the paper pattern over the blue wool fabric. “Your brothers are going too, right?”
Angela drew herself up to her full height, which was a foot less than Victoria’s. “My brother Connor is related to the Overdahls. My mother’s first husband was Mr. Overdahl’s brother. But I am not related to them. That’s not why I’m invited to Christmas dinner.”
All of them stared at Angela. Like her mother Ellie, she was petite and pretty, but her hair was like her father’s, golden brown curls cascading nearly to her waist. She lifted her chin and stared back at them.
Victoria flapped the hand that didn’t hold the scissors. “Seriously? You’re only nineteen! Uncle Quill won’t let anyone court you yet. No way.”
“Well, he is,” Angela said firmly. “I told him so.”
Victoria scowled around at all her young cousins and slapped her scissors into her other hand. “Why is every single father in the Clan more reasonable than mine?” she growled. She shot a glare at Olivia. “So who are you courting?”
Olivia froze. So did everyone else, including Victoria. The ghosts of the men she had flirted with since coming to Kearney a year and a half ago danced in the air between them. When each man had worked up the courage to ask Uncle Des for permission to call on her, she had told him to deny them. At the beginning of each courtship, she had thought she could love the man, but when it came right down to it, she knew she couldn’t. She plastered a smile onto her face.
“No one,” she said with false cheer. “You all have a clear field.”
Victoria growled out a curse. “That was awkward. Liv, I’m sorry.”
Paisley looked directly at Olivia. “Awkward,” she agreed. “But word is getting around that you’re a heart breaker. How many men have you turned down?”
Olivia wanted to shout that she hadn’t meant to hurt any of them. “Six,” she said defensively. “What? It just never worked out. And there hasn’t been anyone in months.”
“Maybe because everyone knows to steer clear of you now,” Paisley suggested.
That hurt. Olivia returned to pressing with fierce concentration until Victoria touched her shoulder lightly.
“Is it because of that damn cat who stole you?” she asked softly.
Of course it was because of Kit. She compared every man she flirted with to him. Every man who courted her was better than Kit in every way. They were civilized, with jobs, and manners, and decent morals, and comfortable homes. But somehow none of them was enough to banish him from her memory. She swallowed now. “Of course not. I just haven’t found the right man yet.”
Victoria raised a pale brow, but to Olivia’s relief, turned the subject. Talk turned to Christmas and what they were making for their fathers and their brothers. It helped Olivia relax, and the morning passed quickly. It didn’t seem like it could be noon when the door opened and the scent of Renee’s spaghetti and meatballs filled the air.
Red Wing and Hawk carried the insulated food boxes to the nearest table. Nathan carried a basket full of plates and flatware from the Eatery. “Renee says to eat it right away while it’s still hot,” Hawk called.
There was a flurry of activity while the fabric and clothing items were put away to keep them from collecting food stains, and the tables were covered by plain muslin. While that was going on, Ray and Marty came in, inhaling appreciatively.
“There are drinks in the store,” Mrs. Martin said. “Coffee, hot and cold cider, water, root beer. Help yourselves to whatever you like and bring it back here.”
Marty waited for Vic to join him, and Patia walked alongside Ray into the store. Olivia was right behind them. Pete was behind the counter ringing up a sale for a farmer from south of town. He was the only customer in the store. The rest of them spread through the one room store in search of beverages. Olivia was at the cold case with Marty and Vic on one side of her and Patia nd Ray on the other when the bell above the door jangled. She glanced away from the bottled drinks to see who the new customer was. So did Ray and Marty.
She frowned a little, not recognizing the newcomer. That was strange. By now she should be familiar with everyone in town. Her breath caught. No, he was familiar. The man was young, wearing a green knitted hat pulled over his forehead and a thick brown wool coat. Standing behind her, Uncle Hawk stiffened, inhaling deeply. He wheeled to take a step in front of her and fix a cold black stare on the newcomer. That wasn’t unusual; it was what happened anytime a strange man was in the vicinity of a woman of the Clan. Marty’s reaction was startling. His lip peeled back in a feral snarl and his eyes took on an odd green glow. He locked gazes with his nephew for one moment.
“Stranger cat,” he hissed.
The newcomer pulled off his hat, revealing golden brown hair that lay in neat waves along his head to a ponytail at his nape. He looked around the store and his green-gold eyes lit when they found her. He smiled in simple happiness and spoke the words that sealed his fate.
“My mate. At last I have found you.”
Tuesday Teaser 8/18/15: Olivia
We have completed Part One of Daughter of the Wolf Clan! It needs quite a bit of revising, editing, and polishing, but the bones are there. Now we are about to embark on Part Two. I confess I haven’t gotten too far with it. The action has moved back to Kearney and I’m getting a little bogged down in the next generation. I have no idea why Victoria (Shadow and Glory’s daughter) is doing stealing the show. Oh, I know that at twenty-six she is fed up with her dad’s over protectiveness, and with her mom’s help has gone to spend the winter in Kearney looking for a husband. Poor Shadow must be beside himself to be stuck in the winter camp in the Black Hills while his baby girl (all 6 feet 1 inch and 210 pounds of her) is partying in Kearney. I think she’s angling for her own story. No! Down, Vic!
But enough of that. I really am bogged down with the next generation. I started a family tree to help me keep track of who was who, but I got bogged down with that too! I need names for the multitude of Wolfe Offspring! Help a writer out and tell me names in the comments. If you’d like to see it, here is the FAMILY TREE.
Some people are new to this story, so if you’d like the read the VERY UNEDITED Part One all in one spot, Daughter of the Wolf Clan Part 1 Please remember there are a ton of typos and changes in here, so please be kind and ignore them.
And now, here is the beginning of Part Two:
Part II
Fourteen Months Later
Kearney, Nebraska
Chapter 8
Olivia shifted her sewing basket to a more comfortable position on her hip and waited for Red Wing and Nathan to finish their quick of the Martins’ Trading Post before stepping into the store. Behind her were some of the other single women from the Plane Women’s House, but she paused in just inside to inhale the spicy scent of the Christmas potpourri Hannah Martin had sitting in bowls around the store. Olivia loved Christmas. She loved the little conspiracies of making gifts in secret to surprise her family, she loved baking and eating the Christmas goodies, and she loved having everyone she loved gathered all together in one place. Last year had been difficult, because her family hadn’t been with her. It was her first Christmas ever without her family. Her parents and brothers had stayed at the ranch, and although she loved her cousins and friends in Kearney, it hadn’t been the same. But this year everyone was coming to the den to celebrate. Christmas Day was only three weeks off, and her parents would be here on the 22nd.
“Do you mind?” groused her cousin Victoria from behind her.
“Oh, sorry.”
Olivia stepped further into the store and to the side, to let the other women enter. Red Wing nodded and gave his daughter Kendra a sharp nod. “You be good today.”
Seventeen-year-old Kendra sighed. “I’m always good, Dad.”
He smiled. “I know. Well, have fun sewing. We’ll come back before suppertime to collect you.”
Hannah Martin waved to them from behind the counter.
“Go on back to the workroom, ladies,” she called. “We’ll be getting started in a few minutes.”
Olivia led Vic, Sabrina, Sammie, and Taylor through the store to the room in the back that had been made into a workplace where the Lisa & Hannah clothing line was created. The Lupa from the den and her daughter Patia were already there, along with Lisa Madison, her daughter Emily, and her son Ray and her brother-in-law Marty. Patia and Ray were standing close together, whispering to each other. Olivia stopped for a moment, wondering how they were getting away with it. She looked around quickly. None of Patia’s brothers were here, which explained it. Uncle Taye had –amazingly—given permission for Ray and Patia to court, but normally the boys would have forced them to maintain a chaste distance. Aunt Carla didn’t seem to notice that her daughter and her beau were practically leaning on each other.
Victoria cleared her throat and pushed past Olivia. “Mart,” she purred, pushing past Olivia to saunter toward the mayor’s younger brother like a wolf stalking prey.
Marty smiled at her. “Good morning, Miss Victoria. I’m glad your parents allowed you to spend the winter here in Kearney. It’s been great getting to know you better.”
“Call me Vic,” she invited. “All my friends do.”
Olivia walked over to a long work table and put the sewing basket down. Not only was the spicy scent of Christmas potpourri in the air, she reflected, but so was love. For everyone but her. Ray was devastatingly handsome, and really nice. Marty was twenty six, only a year older than his nephew, but he made a good living. Either of them would have been an acceptable husband. If only she could forget about what had happened to her! Her earlier happy mood began to slip, and she doggedly grabbed hold of it to keep it from disappearing. She smiled at Mrs. Madison.
“I’ll do my best to help,” she said to the Mayor’s wife. “I’m not much of a seamstress, though.”
Mrs. Madison, the Lisa half of Lisa & Hannah Originals, smiled back. “We have so many orders to get out for Christmas that we’re happy to take any help. If you can press a seam or sew on a button, you’ll be a godsend. Even someone to sweep the floor and collect pins will be needed.”
“I think I can manage that.”
She turned to survey the work room. There were four long tables, each with a sewing machine on one end and a padded pressing surface on the other. Dressmaker dummies stood along the walls in various stages of undress. Bolts of fabric leaned drunkenly in corners. She hadn’t lied. She couldn’t sew, especially not on one of these fancy electric machines. When word had come to the Plane Women’s House that Lisa and Hannah were looking for last minute seasonal help, she’d decided to volunteer.
“Run along now, boys,” Lisa said sternly to her son and brother-in-law. “Marty, you mom needs you at home this morning. Her wood box is getting low. Ray, your dad is expecting you at the stables.”
Marty gave Vic one last smile before. Olivia didn’t think he was anywhere near as handsome as Ray, but she admitted that smile completely made up for it. She waited until the men had left and then gave Vic a raised brow.
“How serious are you about him?”
Victoria smirked like a cat in the cream. “More serious all the time.”
“Really? Do you think Uncle Shadow will approve?”
Vic swung out of her coat and hung it over the back of a chair. “Mom talked him into letting me come to Kearney for the winter to meet men. I’m only doing what I’m supposed to.” She made a face. “Besides, I’m twenty-six years old. How much longer do I need to wait to find a man my dad approves of? Much longer and my girl parts will forget what they’re for.”
Tuesday Teaser 8/11/15: Daughter of the Wolf Clan
Wolf’s Princess has been out for a little more than a week! Thank you so much, everyone who has left a comment or posted a review on Amazon or another retailer or GoodReads. I love reviews, even the not happy reviews, because they help other readers decide whether or not they might like to try a book from a new-to-them author. I think a lot of readers are like me. It feels safer to buy a book from an author we know we like, or if a review gives us enough info to want to try it. I think my stories are good (I hope I don’t sound like a big-headed egotist here. I’m really not, I swear!) and people would enjoy them if they tried them. Wolf’s Princess is selling nicely. It’s certainly not on any bestsellers lists, but the ratings I’ve seen and the reviews let me know that people are generally happy with the story. Nothing makes me giddier than to know that people enjoy reading my stories. Five years ago I hadn’t published a single thing because I was afraid no one would like my stories. Boy, am I ever glad I worked up the courage to submit Sleeping With the Wolf to Liquid Silver Books!
In all the excitement last week with the new release I somehow completely forgot to post the Tuesday Teaser from Daughter of the Wolf Clan. Mea Culpa! To apologize, I’m posting ALL of Chapter Seven. Because of its length, I’m attaching a link to it rather than posting all 10 pages of it here. I haven’t reviewed this, so there are probably even more boo-boos then usual. Please overlook them and enjoy! 🙂
Chapter Seven
They had run for several hours past dawn before her dad called a rest break at a stream. Olivia waddled off to find a bit of screening brush to hide her while she peed. Being carried made her tired. Or maybe it was just the fact that she was worn out. When she emerged from her hiding place she all but tripped over her dad.
“Dad! Can’t a girl have a little privacy?”
“Not yet,” he answered quietly. “We’re not letting you out of our sight anytime soon.”
She followed him back to the others. Her brothers and Colby, in wolf form, lapped water from the stream. They looked up at her, water dripping from their muzzles, before shifting back to human.
Click To Continue to the next page to Read Chapter Seven
Tuesday Teaser 7/28/15: Wolf’s Princess
Only a week until Wolf’s Princess is out! I promise to give you more of Kit and Olivia’s story, but this week I want to tease you a little with a new snip from Sky and Rose’s story. Here Rose is in the reception room at Sky’s House, taking a little break at the bar, while the ladies are entertaining. White Horse is the bouncer on duty. Sky is away. I hope you enjoy it!
“Damn,” the bartender muttered, staring with disapproval at the man who had entered.
Before Rose could ask what was wrong, Dana moved off to fill customer orders. The man came right to the bar, which wasn’t surprising since Tracy couldn’t get all the drink orders herself. But instead of trying to flag the bartender down he came and stood much too close to Rose. She lifted her tray to hold like a shield in front of her and gave him one of the vague smiles she had perfected over the evening.
“Excuse me, sir,” she said, trying to wiggle her way along the wall to get away from him. There was no room for her to go anywhere because the crowd was so thick. “Pardon me.” She made her voice cold and firm. “Let me pass, please.”
“Sure,” he said. “It will only cost you a kiss, honey cakes.”
Honey cakes? Rose managed not to gape at him. “That’s not my job. I’m a waitress. Excuse me so I can go get my tray refilled.”
The man smiled at her and she had to admit it was a very attractive smile. His hair was dark blond, about shoulder length with a hint of a wave to it. Against it, the dark tan of his handsome face and the pale blue of his eyes were almost startling. Really, he was a very handsome man, and probably not more than twenty-five years old. Rose wondered how many other waitresses would have been happy to give him a kiss. But she was a married woman and she was not interested. Well, she wasn’t really married, and if she had met him in Kearney she might have liked to get to know him better.
“Excuse me,” she said with a little more force. When he spread his arms out to keep her from moving, she rotated the tray into a horizontal position. If she shoved the sharp edge into his throat he would move in a big hurry. But there was no need for such extreme actions. She gazed directly up into eyes rimmed with long, dark lashes. “My name is Rose Wolfe. My husband is Sky Wolfe.”
She waited for that to sink in, sure he would step aside as soon as he realized who she was. He moved, but not away. One step brought him close, and he pushed the tray down so it was vertical between them. He was so close that using the tray as a weapon would be impractical. If she jerked it straight up she might be able to slam it into his chin. That might do more damage than he deserved. He put both his hands on her shoulders, leaning in so she could feel his breath on her forehead. Her gaze flicked to his crotch. She could jam the corner of the tray there. That would cause severe pain and humiliation, but he would still be alive. If White Horse took action, there was no guarantee he would live to walk out the door.
Where was White Horse? Rose thought he would be here by now. Of course, there were so many people maybe he hadn’t noticed that this man had corralled her. A low growl sounded behind the man. Nope, Rose thought with an inner smile, White Horse is on the job.
It wasn’t White Horse. She looked over the man’s shoulder and saw Sky, and for the first time since they came to Omaha he looked like a wolf warrior. In spite of his short hair and perfectly fitted business suit, at this moment, Sky looked as feral and scary as Taye in his worst protective rage. His voice rumbled low in his throat as if he were speaking around gravel.
“Take your hands off my wife.”
Tuesday Teaser 7/21/15
I’m putting out the Tuesday Teaser a little earlier than usual since I’ll be out tonight, and once I’m home I’ll be busy. So, without further ado, here is poor Kit. 🙁 or 🙂 Which do you think?
Kit lay on the ground, the pain of his broken and shredded leg throbbing in time with the beating of his heart. Olivia, his one and true mate, was leaving him. She rejected him. She had left him while he slept, and ran to escape him when he found her. She had begged the men of her pride for his life, but hadn’t demanded to be allowed to stay with him.
Her pride would never allow him to court her now. He watched with tear blurred eyes as they hustled Olivia quickly away from him. For one moment, his mate looked over her shoulder at him, but at the direction of her elder, she turned away from him, giving him only her back. Defeated, he let his head sag to the ground and wept.
Dawn was breaking over the eastern hills when Devlin found him. In his half-cat form he didn’t heal as fast as his pride mates, but faster than his human form would heal, so the broken bone in his lower leg had only begun to knit and the slashes in his skin were barely closed. Devlin leaped the last few feet to him and crouched over him, whiskers quivering while he gave him a thorough visual examination before shifting back to human.
“Kit,” the other man said sorrowfully. “How long have you lain here?”
“Two hours. Maybe three.” The tears he’d thought he’d run out of leaked again from Kit’s eyes. “They took my mate. Her pride—her family came and took her away from me.”
Dev smothered a curse and carefully stroked a hand over Kit’s wounds and the broken leg. “How badly are you hurt?”
His leg didn’t hurt nearly as much as the burning hole in his chest. “My body will heal. My heart will not.” Kit began to shift back to human, but Devlin stopped him.
“No, you’ll heal faster in your cat form. You need to get strong again so you can go after your mate.”
“I can’t.” Despair dropped his head back to the ground. “The one she called Dad said he would kill me if he saw me.”
“So don’t let him see you,” Devlin advised. “Can you sit up?”
Kit did, wincing as newly healed skin split again. “You think I should steal her back?”
Devlin propped him up. “That didn’t work very well the first time. Do you think Olivia will accept you the second time?”
“No.” He hung his head, pain from his broken heart slicing like claws through his chest. “She said I should have courted her like a civilized human.”
“Then that’s what you should do.”
Kit clenched his teeth closed over a moan of pain when Devlin heaved him up over his shoulder. His head, hanging down Dev’s back, throbbed. “I’m not civilized or a human.”
“Then learn to be.” Devlin began walking carefully back toward their pride. “Do you want your mate or not?”
Could he learn to be what she wanted? The idea circled his mind, dodging doubt and yearning. “Yes, but I don’t know how to be human,” he confessed.
“Justin will help. He and his human mate can teach you.”
For the first time since his mate had turned her back and walked away from him a spark of hope flared. His pride mate Justin had found his mate among humans and had left the pride to live with her human family. Yes, Justin would help him. He and his human mate would teach him how to be a civilized human. Kit hated the idea of being tamed, but winning his mate was worth it.
Kit closed his eyes against the early morning sun and took a deep breath. He had to concentrate on healing so he would be strong enough to go to Justin. Kit had a mate to learn to court. He would not fail.
7/14/15 Tuesday Teaser: Daughter of the Wolf Clan
Happy Bastille Day!!! Another Tuesday is rolling around, and that means we get to find out what happens when Tracker and his boys catch up with Olivia and Kit. But first, a Public Service Announcement:
This weekend I will be sending out the newsletter with the entry forms for the Kindle Fire and other Prizes!
And now back to your regularly scheduled program.
Strength gone, Olivia fell, skidding painfully on her elbows along the rocky ground. She dragged herself up, to stare as two—no, three—wolves launched themselves, snarling viciously, at Kit. They crashed together in the air and went down in a thrashing mass of fur and teeth.
“Dad!” Olivia croaked. “Wait!”
She scrambled to her feet, but before she could go to the fight, another wolf was there, blocking her way and sticking his nose in her crotch. She slapped at him, realizing too late it was her cousin Colby, not one of her brothers.
“I’m okay,” she said. “I’m not hurt. Let me by.”
Colby growled low in his throat and didn’t move. He was one of the bossiest of her cousins, more Alpha than even his father Taye. She glanced at the furry bodies writhing on the ground, seeing how her dad and brothers were tearing into Kit. They were killing him. It didn’t look like he was even trying to fight back.
“Dad! Stop! Colby, let me by.” Kit was bleeding from multiple lacerations. He didn’t deserve to die. “Dad, I mean it! Let him alone!”
No one was listening to her. They were going to kill Kit. She glared down at Colby’s big gray head and tried to shove him away. “Get out of my way, Cole. The only way you can stop me is if you bite me. You wanna bite me?”
Colby whined, but let her go. He walked so close to her that he nearly pushed her over a couple of times. She clenched her fists as she watched the fight. Except it wasn’t a fight, because Kit only tried to defend himself, not attack. It was three against one, and Kit was losing.
“Dad, he’s not fighting back. Look! You’re going to kill him if you don’t stop.” For the first time in her life, her father ignored her. He ripped into Kit’s leg. “Dad!” she screamed. “He’s not fighting back. Stop!” She didn’t even know she was crying until Kit’s face blurred from her tears. “Kit! Oh, God, you have to fight.”
“No hurt my mate’s pride.”
At least, that’s what she thought he said. His words were distorted and his voice was weak. Desperate, she flung herself at Taylor, the nearest wolf, and grabbed him by the ruff. “Leave him alone,” she ordered. “He never hurt me.”
Colby morphed into a man and grabbed her arm to haul her back. “Are you crazy?”
She twisted away from him. “No. Kit didn’t hurt me. He fought his own people to keep me safe.” She launched herself into the fray and let out a yip when a claw scored through her jeans. Something –the scent of her blood?—turned her father and brothers’ attention from their victim. She immediately launched into a tirade worthy of her cousin Victoria.
“What are you doing? You never even asked if he was a bad guy!” she yelled. “He didn’t hurt me!”
Parker shoved his snout into her crotch to inhale. She slapped at him, but he leaped back and changed to his human form. “I don’t smell him there, Dad.”
“That’s because he didn’t rape me!”
“I smell you all over him,” Parker retorted hotly. “And him on you. He stole you.”
Kit lay on the ground, the moonlight showing his blood as black blotches over his furred body. Taylor and her father crouched over him, snarling. Kit’s eyes looked at her with mute pain. She turned to her father’s wolf and tried to control her voice. “Dad, don’t kill him. He didn’t hurt me. When some others wanted to, he protected me.”
Her father shifted back to human, his face cold and pale in the moonlight. “Was he the one who took you?”
Olivia swallowed. “Yes.”
“Were you running away from him?”
“Yes.”
“But you think we shouldn’t kill him.”
“No.” She tried to sort of her feelings for Kit, but they were too jumbled. “He didn’t hurt me,” she said again.
“Why did he take you?”
Kit answered, and Olivia could tell he was trying hard to speak clearly. “She’s my mate.”
She drew in a shocked breath at the rage that flashed over her father’s face. He never showed much emotion, and this was raw.
“That’s not the way a man treats his mate!”
That was her cousin Colby, harsh and loud, glaring at Kit who still lay at their feet. Taylor, still in wolf form, snarled.
Olivia turned on Colby. “And how did your grandfather claim his mate? Wasn’t he the one that carried her off and held her captive for three years until she accepted him?”
“That was different.” Colby scowled, trying to push her behind him. “He tried to court her first.”
Her father, face once again cool, cut them off with a slashing gesture. He stepped closer to Kit. “My daughter has asked for your life, so I’m gonna let you live.” His voice sunk to a harsh whisper. “But if I ever lay eyes on you again, I’ll kill you.”
“My mate—“ Kit began, but all her men folk growled.
Her father leaned over Kit’s battered, bleeding body. “I don’t give a rat’s ass what you think she is. If I see you sniffing around, you’re dead.”
He turned sharply away, catching Olivia’s arm. “Let’s go.”
As she was marched away, she cast a quick glance over her shoulder. Kit curled in a tight ball on the rocky ground. He lifted his head to watch her leave. She wondered if the gleam on his cheeks were tears on his fur. When her father tapped her chin she faced forward again.
She was rescued. Why didn’t it feel like it?
Tuesday Teaser 7/8/15: Daughter of the Wolf Clan
Here we are, the next snip in Kit and Olivia’s story, and it’s still Tuesday so it’s not really late, right?
I had a casual poll on my Facebook Author Page a while back and people seemed to be split pretty evenly about which of these two best represented what Kit looked like in their minds. Which do you think? Light blond hair guy leaning on the tree? Or darker blond hair guy crouching? Let me know what you think!
And here is the snip:
Slowly, carefully, she moved away from him, easing her leg from between his, and untangling his hair from hers. Her heart thundered while she stepped over him. It jerked into agonized stillness when he caught her hand. He immediately let her fingers go and curled more tightly on his side. Her heart started up again after a long minute of watching him to be sure he slept.
Once out of his cave, she hesitated. Which way was home? She studied the dark landscape, wishing she had her brothers’ wolf-born eyesight. She didn’t know which way Kit had come when he stole her because she had inexplicably fallen asleep while he carried her. Just, she realized with uneasily, as she’d fallen asleep earlier.
No time to think about that now. She had to get moving before he woke and came after her. When he first picked her up and carried her off he had headed north and west. A look at the stars told her it was around midnight, and south and east were that way. Moving carefully to avoid kicking any loose rocks, she started down the steep slope and began her journey for home.
It was too dark to make a fast pace safe over the rocky terrain. Each slow, careful step made Olivia frantic to go faster. Kit could wake up any time, or one of his pride could find her. After what had happened when Kit was born, they must put out perimeter guards. Normally Uncle Taye at the den had men patrolling a mile out. If he had any reason to expect trouble, he had another set of guards two miles out. Olivia looked back to try to estimate how far she had come. Maybe a half a mile. She had to move faster!
She kept walking, trying to keep to the shadows where she could, flinching at every stumble or clatter of pebbles. Every now and then she glanced up at the sky to be sure she was still heading south and east, and to gauge how long she had been away from Kit. Please, she begged silently, please don’t let him wake up before morning.
As she walked, her mind went over the time they had spent together. When she first woke in his cave she was sure he would rape her. A shadow of the terror and fury she’d felt then moved through her now. If Maria hadn’t come, would he have stopped? Yesterday —er, before she fell asleep, he said he would never hurt her, that he hadn’t understood. For heaven’s sake, how hard was it to understand the word No? Yet, she believed him. She couldn’t say she knew what his life had been after spending only fifteen minutes with his family, but it was plain they were completely crazy. All of them having sex with each other? In plain view of everyone else? A shudder that had nothing to do with the cold night air jerked down her spine. No wonder Kit was messed up. She almost felt sorry for him. Even though he was a feral, uncivilized half-cat, a tiny part of her was drawn to him. He said he loved her. Once he was convinced she didn’t want to have sex, he respected that. Maybe if they’d spent more time together she could have convinced him to let her go. But she couldn’t wait around for him to change his mind. Her dad and brothers were already looking for her. She was pretty sure they’d started after her within hours of her disappearance. How long had it been? Only a day? It felt like weeks.
It was three hours later that she heard a distant rattle of rock behind her. She jerked around, her heart doing its best to block her airway, to search the dark shadows of the craggy landscape she’d passed through. It was just a nocturnal animal moving around. Right? It couldn’t be Kit. No, please, not Kit. She increased her pace until she was almost trotting, looking back every minute or so. She stumbled while she was looking over her shoulder, kicking a small avalanche of debris free. She froze, listening hard. Nothing. Relief made her almost dizzy as she rushed on. No, she told herself firmly, running and not watching where she was going was dangerous. The risk of spraining her ankle here wasn’t worth the increase in speed. She forced herself to keep her eyes on the ground and her feet to a walk. She still heard occasional rocks falling behind her, but each time she strained to hear more there was nothing. She struggled on, hoping she was moving in the right direction.
Hunger and cold made her long for dawn, but dawn was still hours away when a faint roar chilled her heart. Kit! Completely abandoning caution, she ran as fast as she could, sliding and skidding in the gravel as much as running. She chanced a glance back and saw a man-cat shaped shadow outlined against the star lit sky when it leaped from rock to rock.
Oh, God. She couldn’t outrun him. She couldn’t hide. And he was running right toward her.
“Olivia!” he screamed in his distorted cat voice. “Back back, my mate!”
“No,” she sobbed, running even faster.
He was closing on her. Fifty yards. Forty. Thirty. Olivia ran, knowing escape was agonizingly hopeless. Twenty yards separated them when she heard a sound ahead of her. Growling? Her breath rasped in and out of her so loudly she wasn’t sure what she heard. Kit was only ten yards away when she saw the gleam of canine teeth shining white in the dark fur of a wolf’s face.
Strength gone, Olivia fell, skidding painfully on her elbow and jaw on the rocky ground. She dragged herself up, to stare as two—no, three—wolves launched themselves, snarling viciously, at Kit. They crashed together in the air and went down in a thrashing mass of fur and teeth.
“Dad!” Olivia croaked. “Wait!”
Tuesday Teaser 6/30/15: Daughter of the Wolf Clan
It’s almost July!! That means it’s only a little over a month until the release of Wolf’s Princess. I expect to see it up for Pre-Order in about a week at the publisher and Amazon in about two weeks. That’s just a guess. As soon as I know anything I’ll be sure to let you know too. Also, don’t forget about the newsletter giveaway!
And now, here’s the next bit of Kit and Olivia. The end of chapter 5 isn’t quite working for me. I’ll go in later and add some more emotion and tension and hopefully make it flow better. But Chapter 6 is up next, and then we get some real tension. 😉
Her moan stabbed him like a knife. Her face was so beautiful. He couldn’t help himself. He lowered his head and put his lips on hers. For one wonderful moment she accepted his kiss, but all too soon she jerked her face away. He hid his hurt and turned her questions back on her.
“How many brothers in your pride? Your family?” he corrected himself.
“I have two brothers.” Her chin lifted as she stared in something close to a challenge. “The Clan has over two hundred men.”
He understood her meaning well enough. She came from a large pride and they would search for their stolen queen. The knowledge sank like a stone in the pit of his belly. “They won’t find you, Olivia.”
“Yes, they will, Kit.”
It was the utter assurance in her voice that shook him. “No, no one can find us here.”
His mate rose to her knees and fixed him with an urgent stare. “My father is called He Tracks the Wind in Lakota. He’ll find me. I told you that. And if he has to, he’ll bring the entire Clan to rescue me. How many men are in your Pride, Kit? Two dozen? The clan has twenty dozen. They’ll destroy your Pride.”
“No!” It was a visceral denial. “No one will ever destroy the Pride again. Never again.”
The urgency in his mate’s face faded to confusion. “What you mean, again?”
He had never spoken of that time. He didn’t remember it. He only knew the stories, but they were bad enough. “The day I was born, the pride was discovered by humans. They slaughtered almost all of us. Only the young survived. The queen who bore me had been badly wounded and I was born two months early. She died.” He closed his eyes against the unfamiliar sting of tears.
When he opened his eyes he saw Olivia’s eyes were wet. “That’s terrible. Years ago some men stole some of the women of the clan and murdered them. That’s one of the reasons why they protect women so fiercely.”
“Your pride understands what it’s like then. Did you notice there are no elders in the Pride?”
“No,” she whispered. “I didn’t see any old people in the other cave.”
“That is why we hate humans.”
The warmth of her hand on his arm eased the old hurt and rage. “Not all humans are like that.”
“But your family will destroy the pride to get you back. You said that.”
She withdrew her hand. “Yes, they would fight to get me back, but they wouldn’t murder people who hadn’t done anything to them. Kit, let me go.”
“Never.” It was a flat statement. “You are my mate. I can’t let you go.”
“You have to. I’m not rejecting you. You can come to my house and court me properly. We can take our time to get to know one another.”
Why did she have to insist on leaving him? “No.”
“But you have to!”
“I said no.” When she opened her mouth again he gripped her chin and his fingers and stared deeply into her eyes. “Sleep, my mate.”
He’d never seen anyone come so close to shaking off his compulsion. “Sleep,” he commanded.
Gradually she lost her fight against sleep and slumped against him a warm, precious weight that he swore he would never give up.
Chapter Six
Her head hurt. That was all Olivia could think of at first. And her hip was sore from the hard ground. Then she became aware it was dark and a heave weight was draped over her chest. An arm. Kit’s arm! She peered through the dark, trying to figure out where she was. Kit’s cave, she decided. They were lying together a few yards from the banked fire. The barest hint of a glow lit the outline of his long hair where it spilled over his broad shoulder and onto hers.
She sighed when she remembered his refusal to let her go. The story he’d told her –yesterday?— explained her reluctance to bring harm to his family. They had suffered enough, and though the Clan wouldn’t murder the women or children, they would probably kill anyone who tried to keep them from retrieving her. She had to escape. Could there be a better opportunity than this?
Slowly, carefully, she moved away from him, easing her leg from between his, and untangling his hair from hers. Her heart thundered while she stepped over him. It jerked into agonized stillness when he caught her hand.
Tuesday Teaser 6/23/15: Daughter of the Wolf Clan
You know, we’re far enough along with this story that I should start thinking about an actual title. I like Daughter of the Wolf Clan, but I wonder if there is a better title. What do you think?
This next bit is mostly dialogue. When I do revisions, I might condense this a bit. I know a lot of you are waiting to read the scene where Tracker catches up with his daughter, then again, I want the readers to get to know Kit and his feelings, and also explain a little of how the Pride works. We’ll see. Here is the middle of Chapter 5:
Kit leaned to press a gentle kiss to her forehead. “Tell me, my mate, what love is.”
“Love,” she said slowly, thinking about her mom dad and how they acted toward each other, “is when a person cares more about another person than they do about themselves. They want the other person to be safe and happy.” She frowned. “I think.”
A smile curved his lips, making him startlingly handsome. “I love you,” he said.
She leaned away from him. “No, you don’t! You don’t even know me.”
A shade of hurt crossed Kit’s face, dissolving the smile into a tiny frown. “If love is caring about another person more than I care about myself, then I love you. I want you to be safe and happy. You said that’s what love is. I love you, Olivia.”
She swallowed hard. “We haven’t known each other for very long. It takes time to fall in love.”
Inwardly she flinched. It hadn’t taken her dad any time at all to fall in love with her mom. He said he’d fallen in love with his mate before he’d ever laid eyes on her. But that was different. She blinked back the urge to cry. Just thinking of her parents made her ache to be home with them. She missed Parker and Taylor, as bossy and overprotective as they were, because even though they teased her, they loved her.
“Why does it take time? You’re my mate. I knew it as soon as I saw you.” Kit hauled her tightly against his side. “I love you. Do you love me?”
Olivia took a deep breath and let it out in a shaky sigh. “How can I? I don’t even know you.” A low growl rattled in his throat and her lips trembled. “So we should talk to get to know one another. Um, do you have brothers?”
* * * *
Kit stared at his mate, trying to keep his frustration back. Why didn’t she love him? He loved her. Why didn’t she want him to give her sex? He would act whichever way she preferred. Fast, aggressive, slow, tender. All she had to do was instruct him and he would obey. But she was rejecting him. He examined her carefully for any hints of her feelings. Her face was composed except for the tiny shaking of her lips. Her breathing was too fast and too shallow for calmness, but she pretended well. Was she angry? Or frightened? She wanted to talk, so he would talk. What had she asked? Were brothers the same in the human world as they were in the Pride?
“There are nineteen mature males in the pride. They are my brothers.”
She flashed him a quick glance out of her eerie, pale blue eyes. “No, I mean your siblings. The sons of your mother and father.”
Kit had an idea of what she meant by mother and father, but those were human terms. “The queen who bore me died. I don’t know which male fathered me. The Queens accept any male they wish to have sex with. Their children are all brothers and sisters.”
“Oh my God!” Olivia slapped her hand over her mouth. Her eyes were huge. “Do you mean that you and Maria and Juanita and Patricia might be literally brother and sisters? And you have sex with them?”
She looked utterly horrified. Kit sighed. “Humans don’t do that?” He didn’t need to hear her emphatic denial to know his guess was right. “I won’t do it anymore. I have a mate now.”
“Are any of those … children yours?”
His mate seemed very concerned about which male fathered which children. “All of them are mine. They are part of the Pride, and I am a mature male of the Pride.” When her horror didn’t diminish he quickly went on. “But only I will be the father of your children.” He frowned, troubled by another thought. Unless Patricia forced Olivia to have sex with other males as she had threatened. He caught his mate’s chin in his fingers and turned her face so she had to look at him. “I will not give you sex without your permission, but if you make me wait too long the Queens could take your choice away from you. Then I would have to fight my brothers. I won’t be able to win against them. If I am killed, I can’t bear to think what will become of you. If I’m not killed I could be banished from the Pride. Please, please don’t make me wait too long.”
Fear joined the horror in her eyes before she shuttered her emotions behind her closed lids. “Oh, God.”
Her moan stabbed him like a knife. Her face was so beautiful. He couldn’t help himself. He lowered his head and put his lips on hers.
Tuesday Teaser 6/16/15: Daughter of the Wolf Clan
I’m back! Back from moving, back from surgery, back from working my butt off on Wolf’s Princess, back from RAGT, and back from that sino-bronchitis crap. 2015 has been quite a ride so far! But I devoutly hope I can get back to Kit and Olivia on a weekly basis now. In this snip I’m not sure of the best way to write Kit’s dialogue. In his half-cat form he is single-minded and he can’t speak clearly, but I don’t want him to sound stupid. He tends to speak in short sentences with few connecting words. In human form, he speaks in more complex sentences. What do you think? Should I re-write Kit’s dialogue to be normal in both forms?
It’s been a while, so before you read the first half of Chapter 5 let me refresh you: last time we were with Tracker and his family as they embarked on their mission to rescue Olivia. And before that, Olivia was dragged in front of Kit’s Pride and told to make nice with him.
As Kit ran full speed along the teeny ledge, Olivia gripped the thin fur covering his back. It was softer than she expected. He made a final leap into his cave and bent over to set her down. Kit’s smaller cave looked almost welcoming after the menace swirling in the one they’d just left. Olivia swayed as her feet landed on the ground. Nonetheless, she moved quickly away and held out both hands to ward off his embrace. “Just wait, Kit.”
“Why waidt?” That face, with its mix of human and cat, looked confused for a moment before it cleared and he ran a clawed hand down his furry chest. “I nah human. Cand gih you sex in this shape. We waidt undil I change.”
Olivia braced her feet. “We’ll wait a lot longer than that. I’m not having sex with you.”
His lips peeled back to show wicked fangs when he growled. “Mah madte!”
Olivia folded her arms, hoping to hide her hands’ tendency to shake. “Yeah? But I haven’t accepted your mate claim yet. In my pack a man doesn’t force his mate to have sex. He waits until she agrees.”
His furry face frowned. “How long until she agrees?”
She wondered if she should mention Aunt Naomi making her mate wait three years. Probably not. “As long as it takes for him to woo her into agreeing. Sometimes it’s a long time. Sometimes it’s only a few weeks.”
“Weeks?” His fur seemed to bristle.
“Yes,” she said firmly.
He prowled back and forth in front of her. “What is wooing? The queen wants us to mate soon.”
His diction was becoming clearer. “Well, wooing is…” She tried to think of what wooing actually consisted of and how she could use it to put him off until she could escape or her father found her. “Wooing is nice. A man and a woman talk to get to know one another. He brings her presents. He never insists on sex. He doesn’t try to rape her like you tried to rape me.”
“I nah rape you!”
“When I first woke up! What was that?”
“I gih you sex.”
She waved her hands around in helpless fury. “I didn’t want you to give me sex!”
Kit stared at her with alien green-gold eyes, still prowling. “Tell me more of wooing.”
“When a man finds his mate, he is gentle and kind. He is …” Her imagination ran out of ideas. “He tries to make her fall in love with him.”
He stopped prowling to stare again. “Fall in love? What is that?”
Now she stared. And realized he was still naked. “Oh, dear. Put some clothes on, Kit.”
He didn’t move. “What is fall in love?” he insisted.
“Really? You don’t know what love is?”
“No.” He closed the distance between them like a cat closing on prey. “You tell me what it is. We talk. That’s wooing. I woo you. Then I give you sex.”
“You will not give me sex,” she shouted, retreating. Immediately he closed the gap she’d put between them, so she made herself stop. “Kit, you can’t give me sex until I ask you to. And I’m not asking you to.”
He trailed the backs of his fingers over her cheek. “The queens not accept you until we have sex. If you not accepted, you die. I can’t let my mate die.” He curled his hand around her arm, obviously taking care to not let his claws touch her. “Sit down. Talk. I woo you.”
“We’re not having sex,” she warned.
“No sex,” he agreed. “Soon? Tomorrow?”
Olivia tried to control the panic threatening to drown her. Was one more day enough time for her dad to find her? “Maybe in four or five days,” she offered.
“Two days,” he countered.
“Kit,” she began.
“No wait long. Queens say. I give you sex or all the males do. Choose.”
She pressed her lips together hard to keep the tears back. She could either have one lover or two dozen. Surely dad was already on his way. “Three days?” she asked with desperate hope.
He trailed the backs of his fingers down her cheek again, a strange sort of tenderness in those feral cat eyes. “I no force you. We talk? Woo?”
What else could she do? “Okay.”
He exerted gentle pressure on her arm to move her over to the blankets. “Sit. You cold?”
“A little.”
“Sit.”
He let her go to put more wood on the fire, then joined her on the blankets. His flattened cat nose touched hers for a brief moment. With a horrible shudder, he shifted from half-cat to man. It was an agonizingly slow transformation, with crunching sounds as if bones were breaking. Olivia felt a reluctant wave of sympathy.
“Does that hurt?” she asked. “I don’t like pain, and that looks painful.”
He shrugged and grabbed a pair of jeans to put on. She shifted to make room for him on the blanket. He sat and faced her, their knees touching. “Olivia, I will never cause you pain. I’ll never force you to have sex. I didn’t understand before. I’m sorry. I will fight even the entire Pride to keep you safe.”
“I want to go home,” she whispered. “You could court me there.”
He shook his head, his golden brown hair flowing over his shoulders with the motion. “I can never leave the Pride. I can’t live in that world.”
She sighed as he moved to sit beside her and drape an arm over her shoulders.
Kit leaned to press a gentle kiss to her forehead. “Tell me, my mate, what love is.”
