by Bru Baker
Heat speared through Danny’s chest. His eyes fluttered shut as he felt the bond he shared with Max flare open. Energy poured into him, and Danny had to fight to stay upright. He focused on holding on to the energy until a tug on the bond sent it flowing backward, into Max and out into the Pack.
They’d done a few rituals and blessings as a Pack since he’d taken his place as the Alpha Mate, but they hadn’t inducted anyone. Danny hadn’t been prepared for how strong the surge of power would be. As Alpha Mate he was a conduit for Max’s Alpha power—a place for it to cycle through when it was too much for him. It was always exhilarating, but tonight it set his hair on end. He felt alive and joyful and like he could run all night without stopping. He felt strong. Whole.
Max enveloped their newest member in a tight hug as soon as the ritual was finished. Danny hurried over and piled on, laughing when Aidan nestled his little face against Danny’s neck and snuffled sleepily. He was a werewolf, so he couldn’t feel the Pack bonds. Not yet at least. He was Pack, but until he Turned at nineteen, he was human.
That was a blessing tonight. All the other kids were wired, high on the Pack blessing and the energy surge. Oscar had come to stay with Aidan while the rest of the Pack ran for the full moon, as he had every moon since Max and Danny had agreed to foster Aidan.
“Someone’s sleepy,” Danny said, taking his son from his mother’s arms. He carefully untangled his fat little fingers from the strand of pearls around his mother’s neck. “I’d better get him put down so the run can start.”
His mother kissed Aidan’s cheek, and he stirred, opening one eye to look at her. “Gigi loves you, sweetheart. Sleep well.”
Danny gave her a one-armed hug. “I’m glad you’re here, Mother.”
She looked so much younger when she smiled. “It’s where I’m meant to be. Family should be Pack.”
“And Pack should be a family,” Max said as he walked up. He gave Danny a kiss and nuzzled against the top of Aidan’s head.
“I’m going in,” Danny said. He readjusted Aidan’s dead weight in his arms and went inside.
His mother had helped them buy this house on the outskirts of Bear Mountain State Park two years ago as a wedding present. They had three acres that backed right up to the forest, giving them easy access for Pack runs. They’d taken to spending every full moon up here. Danny and Sloane might be part of a shifter Pack, but they still had Were urges. A good number of the Pack joined them each month.
Oscar was waiting for them in the living room. He held his hands out as soon as Danny came in, and Danny reluctantly transferred Aidan over. He’d been skittish when they’d first met him, but over the last year he’d gotten used to being transferred from person to person. The only time anyone put him down was to sleep in his crib. He was beyond spoiled, and after the rough start he’d gotten in life, he absolutely deserved every bit of indulgence they heaped on him.
“Everything go okay?” Oscar asked, his voice hushed.
“Perfect. We’re heading out for the run now.”
“Tori and I will have breakfast ready when you get back.”
Oscar had taken his partner’s secret identity as an Alpha shifter in stride. He and Sloane had dated on and off, but they’d been on now for over a year, and Danny was expecting a proposal any day now. Oscar would be formally brought into the Pack then in a ceremony similar to the one they’d had tonight. No blood would be spilled in deference to Oscar’s inability to heal like a Supe, but the vows would be the same. He wouldn’t be able to feel the Pack bonds, but the Pack would.
“Thanks.” Danny gave Aidan one last kiss. “We won’t have our phones on us, but if you need us—”
“Tori will be able to let you know through her mystical bond with you and Max, I know,” Oscar said.
Danny went over this with him every month, but he couldn’t help it. The first full moon after Aidan had come to them, he’d been so anxious he hadn’t been able to leave the property. He’d run the perimeter, always close enough to hear Aidan’s heartbeat. After that Max had started a rotation of Pack members who would stay at the house with Oscar, just in case.
“You’re the best,” he said over his shoulder as he let himself back out onto the porch.
Most of the Pack had already started sprinting, but Danny could sense Max lurking at the treeline. Danny undressed and shifted, loping off to meet his mate.
His heart soared when Sloane howled deeper in the forest, answered by a joyous howl from his mother and a chorus of higher-pitched howls from the rest of the Pack. Danny tipped his head up and joined in.
Three years ago Max had come to investigate a burglary and ended up stealing something much more valuable than the gifts in Danny’s closet. He’d stolen Danny’s heart, and when he’d given it back, it had been fuller than Danny ever imagined possible.
BRU BAKER got her first taste of life as a writer at the tender age of four, when she started publishing a weekly newspaper for her family. What they called nosiness she called a nose for news, and no one was surprised when she ended up with degrees in journalism and political science and started a career in journalism.
Bru spend more than a decade writing for newspapers before making the jump to fiction. She now works in reference and readers’ advisory in a Midwestern library, though she still finds it hard to believe someone’s willing to pay her to talk about books all day. Most evenings you can find her curled up with a book or her laptop. Whether it’s creating her own characters or getting caught up in someone else’s, there’s no denying that Bru is happiest when she’s engrossed in a story. She and her husband have two children, which means a lot of her books get written from the sidelines of various sports practices.
Website: www.bru-baker.com
Blog: www.bru-baker.blogspot.com
Twitter: @bru_baker
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bru.baker79
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/6608093.Bru_Baker
Email: [email protected]
By Bru Baker
DREAMSPUN BEYOND
CAMP H.O.W.L.
#7 – Camp H.O.W.L.
#22 – Under a Blue Moon
#28 – Hiding In Plain Sight
CONNOLL PACK
#36 – Stealing His Heart
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Now Available
Dreamspun Beyond #7
Camp H.O.W.L. by Bru Baker
Moonmates exist, but getting together is going to be a beast….
When Adrian Rothschild skipped his “werewolf puberty,” he assumed he was, somehow, human. But he was wrong, and he’s about to go through his Turn with a country between him and his Pack—scared, alone, and eight years late.
Dr. Tate Lewis’s werewolf supremacist father made his Turn miserable, and now Tate works for Camp H.O.W.L. to ease the transition for young werewolves. He isn’t expecting to offer guidance to a grown man—or find his moonmate in Adrian. Tate doesn’t even believe in the legendary bond; after all, his polygamist father claimed five. But it’s clear Adrian needs him, and if Tate can let his guard down, he might discover he needs Adrian too.
A moonmate is a wolf’s missing piece, and Tate is missing a lot of pieces. But is Adrian up to the challenge?
Dreamspun Beyond #22
Under a Blue Moon by Bru Baker
Once in a blue moon, opposites find they’re a perfect match.
Nick Perry is tired of helping people with their marriages, so when a spot opens up to work with teens at Camp H.O.W.L., he jumps at it. He doesn’t expect to fall in lust with the dreamy new camp doctor, Drew Welch. But Drew is human, and Nick has seen secrets ruin too many relationships to think that a human/werewolf romance can go anywhere.
Happy-go-lucky Drew may not sprout claws, but he’s been part of the Were community all his life. He has no trouble fitting in at the camp—except for Nick’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the growing attraction between them, and his ridi
culous stance on dating humans. Fate intervenes when one of Drew's private practice patients threatens his life. Will the close call help Nick to see a connection like theirs isn’t something to let go of?
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Stealing His Heart
© 2019 Bru Baker.
Editorial Development by Sue Brown-Moore.
Cover Art
© 2019 Aaron Anderson.
[email protected]
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64405-198-6
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64108-152-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018961342
Digital published March 2019
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America
