Into The Lair 0f Los Rey Lobo: Wildes 0f The West (Half Breed Haven Book 9)
Page 1
Table of Contents
INTO THE LAIR OF LOS REY LOBO
Author’s Note
From the Journal of Cassandra Wilde
FOREWORD
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
EPILOGUE
INTO THE LAIR OF LOS REY LOBO
A WILDES OF THE WEST
ADULT WESTERN ADVENTURE
By
A.M. VAN DORN
Copyright © 2018
Cedar Ledge Publishing
All Rights Reserved
OTHER BOOKS IN THE WILDES OF THE WEST SERIES
EITHER AVAILABLE NOW OR COMING SOON
THE WILDES OF THE WEST #1: THE DAUGHTERS OF HALF BREED HAVEN
HALF BREED HAVEN #1: WILDE-FIRE
HALF BREED HAVEN #2: IN DANGER’S SHADOW
HALF BREED HAVEN #3: DARK RIVALS
HALF BREED HAVEN #4: SILVER, GOLD & DECEPTION
HALF BREED HAVEN#5: THE FORBIDDEN RANCH
HALF BREED HAVEN#6: SING THE DEATH SONG
HALF BREED HAVEN#7: DISASTER AT DEVIL’S CANYON
HALF BREED HAVEN#8: RENEGADES AND REVENGE
HALF BREED HAVEN#9: INTO THE LAIR OF LOS REY LOBO
THE WILDES OF THE WEST #2: THE REAPER OF THE RIO SANGRE
(BOOK 1 OF THE DANGER DOWN MEXICO WAY TRILOGY)
THE WILDES OF THE WEST #3: THE TOWN OF NO RETURN
(BOOK 2 OF THE DANGER DOWN MEXICO WAY TRILOGY)
THE WILDES OF THE WEST #4: THE BOOT HILL EXPRESS
(BOOK 3 OF THE DANGER DOWN MEXICO WAY TRILOGY)
INFORMATION ON THESE SERIES CAN BE FOUND AT THIS LINK
https://www.amazon.com/A.M.-Van-Dorn/e/B077GNX3GP/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
If you enjoy the Wilde family and their spicy adventures join the Cedar Reader’s Mailing list and be alerted to new releases as well as receiving a gift of content available to members such as a short story of one of the Wildes many adventures for further reading.
Become a member at
www.thewildesofthewest.com
Author’s Note
Thank you for joining the Wilde family on one of their adventures. Just a quick note regarding what you are about to read
Please be advised the Wilde siblings are all grownups, and therefore they engage in very adult escapades and situations that include their romantic encounters as well as the sudden violence that can occur in their continued fight against assorted bad guys of the Old West.
So, in short, these stories are recommended for mature readers of 18+ years of age.
With that said it’s time to saddle up and dive into the world of Half Breed Haven!
A.M. VAN DORN
Contact Information can be found at halfbreedhaven@gmail.com
or
www.thewildesofthewest.com
From the Journal of Cassandra Wilde
1873
Weaponless, alone, but determined.
That was the way I was feeling as, step by step, I crossed the open plain after leaving the safety of the hill country. Looming large before me was once a place of peace and of God. Now it was a sanctuary for an evil that had corrupted a once gentle Nevada valley through violence, intimidation, and murder.
I’ll admit I did look back over my shoulder once at the hills I had just left. The memory was still fresh in my mind of the grisly warning staked out discouraging anyone from doing what I was doing now. The feeling passed quickly, though. My sisters and I were going to do everything we could to set things right in this basin, and I forged ahead, the risk be damned.
If one of the pillagers of this valley didn’t shoot me before I even got within the old mission’s walls, then I knew once inside I could turn the tables on this band of criminals. It was just a question of when and how.
I ought to scratch what I wrote before. I wasn't genuinely weaponless. Sure, I didn't have my twin pearl-handled Colts that had felled many a ruthless man, but I had other resources that would come into play—my wits and my body. As I write this now, I can sincerely say I used them both in a very dangerous ruse after I entered that den of danger … one from which there had been no guarantee I would ever return.
FOREWORD
My name is Allie Mastluehr, and in the spring of 1913, I stumbled upon some of the most remarkable but forgotten tales of the American Old West. These accounts were narrated to me in the desolate ruins of Cedar Ledge—a once mighty Arizona ranch—and I promise that everything I was told was not the stuff of legend; it was one remarkable family’s real history, almost lost to the unforgiving winds of time.
I experienced a countless series of shocks as the ranch's last inhabitant, aging Cattie Wilde, relayed to me the true story of the heroics of the most improbable of mixed race families, of which she had been a member. She quickly immersed me in all the action, adventure, romance, and family drama that came with being one-quarter of the formidable foursome known to friends and foes alike as THE DAUGHTERS OF HALF BREED HAVEN. In short, I learned of this stunning multiracial quartet whose bravery, thirst for justice and love for each other was matched only by their unbridled appetite for the most casual and sizzling encounters with the opposite (or in Catalina's case, the same) sex.
The Mexican Catalina along with the fair-skinned, blonde Cassandra, mulatto Honor Elizabeth, and the Asian Lijuan, all half-sisters, were the proud daughters of Judge William Henry “Whip” Wilde. The interracial sisters along with their sibling—cavalry officer Dutch and his Indian love Bright Feather, and their youngest brother, the Yavapai brave Blue River, the WILDES OF THE WEST upheld the law and aided those in need amidst the pristine beauty and natural wonders that was their corner of 1870s Arizona and beyond.
About Catalina Wilde—my courteous host and now, for all practical purposes, becoming the mother I never had. From what I can tell, she has not changed one bit from her youth. An impetuous, fun-loving woman who enthusiastically engaged in her romances that flew in the face of what society deems acceptable. Come what may, little ever stifled her good cheer, not even the dangers she faced against the countless robbers, rustlers, polecats, and jaspers the West kept throwing at them. Woe to anyone that stood in the way of Catalina and her sisters.
As for her siblings, though I have only had the privilege of knowing Catalina, through her stories and the significant volume of diaries and journals mercifully saved by Cattie, the rest of the Wildes have become as alive to me as if they were standing before me as I write this.
Catalina has graciously made available to me all her family’s writings so that I may pen the definitive tale of this unique and exceptional family and the adversity they faced. The more I read of them, the greater my amazement and respect for them grows as I follow their adventures in vanquishing villains and bedding whatever conquest happened to come their way.
Together, the Wilde sisters could be a force to be reckoned with. Without
a doubt, just how much so can be found in a journal from Cassandra Wilde detailing the sister's valiant attempt to thwart the outright theft of an entire valley through a reign of terror, mayhem, and murder.
For victory to be achieved only the most desperate measures lay before them. Disregarding her own personal safety, Cassandra committed herself to take on one her deadliest gambles ever in a daring attempt at infiltration that could only be achieved in the very heart of the enemy stronghold—a deadly and dangerous foray … INTO THE LAIR OF LOS REY LOBO!
PROLOGUE
OLD SPANISH MISSION
Beyond the south side of the Sweetbriar
Nevada Territory
1873
The Wolf King was a man on the brink of success; a victory so total he would likely be set for life when all was said and done. A fortune lay under his feet, and the livelihoods, as well as the blood of others, was the paltry price paid to make it possible.
He stood in the middle of his room above the old chapel area in the mission and looked about as he took a long drag of his cigar. The room was finely appointed with its lush carpets, the most exquisite furniture produced in and shipped from Mexico City, and other trappings of wealth. Wealth also obtained through the criminal endeavors masterminded by his formidable sister, Daniella, and himself.
Now, at last, their greatest undertaking was on the threshold of success. The entire valley would be theirs for the taking. The campaign against those who called this valley their home was winding down, most of the denizens either driven away or dead. The De La Santa Barbara Valley would soon surrender all its treasures, but the Villanuevas were already plundering its riches.
Carefully, lest he get any ash on the carpet, he tapped his cigar in an ashtray on a little stand by the bed. He looked down at the bed with a smile, knowing soon it would be put to full use. Extinguishing the cigar completely, he walked to one wall where on a shelf jutting out from it was the form of a gray wolf. It had forfeited its life and been stuffed so many years ago in a regal pose as if it was to simulate it as being on the hunt. His hand passed over the fur. He was like the wolves, a hunter—only his prey wasn't food but the accumulation of wealth.
As he returned to the side of the bed, his dark eyes fixated on the closed door to his art studio where he indulged in his favorite past time of putting brushes to canvas, making great works in oil. He was not a patient man, and he found himself longing for the woman to hurry up and finish undressing.
This blonde beauty was the cherry on the top of all his successes. A short time ago, out of nowhere, had she appeared. Just as quickly as she had arrived, she had fallen under his spell. His charms with the ladies were well known, so it didn’t surprise him. Just look at his little housekeeper. Eighteen-year-old Lupe became moist with desire for him with just a few touches to her supple body with his hands.
Still, he had given pause somewhat; this woman was not a nubile teen like Lupe who could only wait and hope for him to deign to take her into his bed. No, this woman had been different, and he was not accustomed to women being as forward as she had been. Especially as she had said, she was a school teacher, who one would expect to be very demure. But he had dismissed any worry. What did it matter? The only thing that did was soon she would be his plaything.
His eyes widened in pure delight as the door suddenly swung open, and the nude woman appeared in the doorway. With a smile, she put one hand behind her head and the other against the doorframe in a pose. This vixen wanted him to get a good look at her, and he was only happy to oblige as his eyes swept over her from head to toe.
She was what he had once heard described as statuesque. Her sandy, golden hair tumbled down to her shoulders. Now free from the old dress she was wearing the size of her breasts reminded him of the massive melons he used to see unloaded on the docks at Cozumel when he was a boy. Each one was graced with pert nipples, surrounded by large, round areolas. Below her bosoms, her waist tampered and suddenly flared out into curvaceous hips with an inviting triangle of the same golden hair at their center.
Without hesitation, he began peeling off his clothes leaving him naked save for the rawhide cord with the three keys on it dangling from this neck. His eyes never left hers and he felt a swell of pride as her lips parted slightly and she swallowed at the sight of his impressive endowment. The woman dropped her pose and began to walk towards him, the sway of her hips, sexy and inviting. Now they faced each other by the bed, and he lost himself in those eyes, the deepest shade of green he had ever seen.
Their time together would be short he knew … as was her time on this earth. He held little doubt in his mind that when his sister returned, she would be displeased to find an outsider in the very heart of their operation to plunder the riches of the De La Santa Barbara. Daniella's displeasure would be lethal for this woman. Her body probably dropped into one of the exploratory holes they were blasting all over the landscape in their search.
Given that she was a dead woman, he took it upon himself to see that at least some of her last moments on this earth would be filled with pleasure before she met whatever violent demise Daniella would deal out to her.
Saying nothing, her left hand reached down, and her fingers wrapped themselves around his rising cock. He raised his left hand up and cupped her breast, his thumb caressing her nipple. The blond looked up at him with a devious smile, and just for a fleeting moment, alarm mushroomed through his body, but it vanished as quickly as it came on, and he shrugged it off. The time was at hand to enjoy this beauty.
***
Cassandra Wilde maintained her smile as she stood in front of him, took his wrist, and guided his other hand up to her left breast and placed it on its fullness. The man whose name struck fear in those desperately fleeing the valley had just become an animal walking obliviously into a snare.
Cassandra intended to enjoy herself and keep him occupied as long as she could, for she knew that out there somewhere was Catalina, Lijuan, and Honor Elizabeth. Once they were all together again, the Daughters of Half Breed Haven would crush this evil operation, and if history was any judge, leave Carlos Emmanuel "Los Rey Lobo" Villanueva—the so-called Wolf King to be fitted for a pine box. All she had to do was stay alive until the cavalry arrived.
CHAPTER 1
DE LA SANTA BARBARA VALLEY
North side of the Sweetbriar
Nevada Territory
EARLIER THAT MORNING
Soaked with sweat, Cody Holmes looked to the west. A mile distant, he saw a covered wagon followed by a fully packed buckboard making its way towards the edge of the valley. Even at this distance, he knew that it was the Cornwallis family. Last week he'd spoken to the patriarch, and the man had said he was going to get out while he still had his possessions intact rather than lose everything, or worse, their lives. It seemed to Cody that the man had been true to his word.
He had thought about leaving too. It was a hardscrabble life out here in the valley. The few ranches that existed were small and barely eked out more than a living wage for their owners. Most of the settlers worked at these ranches. Cody himself was one of the few independently employed of the De Ls Santa Barbara Valley. Sure, he'd tried ranching when he was fifteen when his parents died in the landslide in Woodley Canyon, leaving him their meager ranching operation as well as the responsibility of raising his fourteen-year-old sister. That had all happened ten years ago, but it only took him two years to realize he wasn't cut out for it.
His skills lay in carpentry, however, and soon those in the valley would turn up on his doorstep when they needed anything from repairs to special furniture. The eggs also supplemented the Holmes's income from his sister's poultry operation out behind their house. Jocelyn had several coops filled with chickens and many customers who enjoyed the fresh eggs.
Now, however, he thought as he returned to the grueling work of sawing a board in two that he had propped up on a pair of sawhorses outside his workshop, customers were dwindling for both his services and Jocelyn's eggs.
So many families were gone—either run out of the Santa Barbara or murdered outright by the scourge of the valley Rey Lobo and his men. The sound from the house of a door opening drew his attention, and he smiled to see Jocelyn carrying a pitcher and two glasses of water in his direction.
Seconds later all three of the glassware was in shards on the ground, the water seeping into the earth from where Jocelyn had dropped them in startled terror from the sound of the blast that swept over the Holmes settlement. His sister's terrified shriek cut through the air even as the boom was fading into nothingness.
Cody grabbed her hand and they raced around to the front of the building stopping beneath the ancient shade tree that stood astride the edge of their front lawn and the wagon trail leading through their valley. A half mile away the tell-tale plume of smoke was billowing up from beyond the hills. Rey Lobo had struck again! The ruthless despot had been systematically working his way through the settlements on this side of the Sweetbriar Creek that coursed its way through the middle of the valley.
He wrapped his arm around his sister's shoulder and squeezed it. Cody had little doubt that had been the Cornwallis farm blasted to bits to ensure the family never returned. He was thankful that the family had made it out in time. Unfortunately, though he felt a coldness running through his body despite the heat.
If the Cornwallis home was gone, then that meant that the Ruiz farm, visible in the distance, would be next. After that, the target would at last fall upon their home. Jocelyn looked up at him pleadingly, looking for him to say something of comfort. Some form of hope and encouragement he knew she desperately wanted to hear, but he had nothing to offer. There was no law enforcement to speak of in the Santa Barbara save for perhaps Bert Stoddard, and he was missing and presumed dead. The entire valley was at the mercy of Rey Lobo.