Wolf’s Promise
by Ambrielle Kirk
Wolf’s Promise (Caedmon Wolves, 2)
Selene is thrust into the aftermath of Caedmon pack rivalry when determination to help a friend leads her to the foothills of the Virginia mountains. She doesn’t anticipate that her generosity would earn her a place behind bars and at the mercy of man who saves her from a sentence worse than death. Soon she discovers that Nick is far from ordinary. Under the façade of his commitment to protect her from evil hides a secret that shatters her faith in him.
Nick knew his life would be forever changed when Devin, the new Caedmon leader, honors him with the title of Second-in-Command. With this responsibility, he’s introduced to a web of pack politics and threats. Darius, the banished wolf who lost the most coveted title within the pack, turns out to be a sore loser, and he demands either complete dominance or total destruction. Someone must stop him before he tears down the unity that has held the pack together for decades.
In the midst of it all, he meets a tempting brazen beauty. Selene is not just any woman, and the wolf inside reminds Nick of this fact every time she’s in his presence. She awakens raging passion within him, and he desires her like no other. Nick’s past misfortunes has taught him many things. For one…never trust a woman with his heart.
True love awaits in the path of danger, but will Selene and Nick let the chaos destroy their bond?
Copyright © Ambrielle Kirk, October 2012
Cover Art by For the Muse Designs © October 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, places, incidents, and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or person, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
Don’t promise forever. No one knows the future. Love day by day.
~Anonymous
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Wolf’s Touch (Caedmon Wolves, 3)
About the Author
Chapter One
Selene Moore pulled her Honda into the slump of a gas station. She cringed in distaste as the storefront came into her full view. It looked like one of those rest stops straight out of a stupid C grade horror flick. As she expected, the town was completely deserted with nothing but trees, fields, and barns for miles. Every so often she would see a stray critter run across the road. Signs of any human life form were vague. Her cell phone barely got reception out here, and the GPS had given up on finding a signal hours ago.
So much for technology when you really needed it…
After slowing down to a complete stop, she leaned over the armrest to peer at the map in the passenger side seat. According to it, she had another fifteen to twenty miles to go before she reached the exact coordinates.
Selene returned her attention to the store. There were people moving around inside.
Finally! Some actual people.
She glimpsed the silhouette of a woman walking around.
There were two cars parked out front and a sign on the door that said: Hot Boiled Peanuts. Another sign hung on the inside facing out that read: Yes, We’re Open.
This gas station wasn’t any better looking than the last one she passed. One thing was for certain, she needed to pee really badly. There was no way she could hold her water for even one more mile. No use waiting any longer. She wasn’t anywhere near her destination, and she certainly didn’t want to reach it in wet undies.
This was what she got for acting on impulse. Couldn’t she leave things as they turned out to be? No, she just had to be miss nice pants and try to go out of her way to help people.
This, though, was personal. She could not let Tamara down. She’d promised the woman that she’d personally see to it that she was completely safe. When she’d spoken with Tamara on the phone, there was something in her voice that worried Selene. What would have made her change her mind about the new life and identity offered to her? The plans had all been in place—it was a quick way out of the life Tamara had declared she couldn’t lead anymore. What had led her astray?
Selene only hoped that she didn’t find trouble again. She needed to see for herself that Tamara was alive and well. Her conscious would not let her rest until she did.
She swallowed down all her reservations, opened the door, and got out of the car.
As she walked toward the store, a burly man stepped out from the corner of the building. She hadn’t even noticed him before.
He took a cloth out of his pocket and cleaned his car grease stained hands on them. “Do you need gas, ma’am?” His ancient had a hint of southern drawl to it.
“Yes.” She could probably make it on a half a tank of gas, but she didn’t want to risk it. “Yes, please. Can you fill it up?”
Relieved that the man posed no threat, she made her way into the store as he headed toward her car. Upon entrance, the woman looked up over a shelf and the man at the cash register also stared rudely.
“May we help you find something?” the lady finally spoke as she rounded the corner.
“I’m looking for the restrooms.”
“Straight to the back.” She pointed to a door near the back of the store.
Selene hurried toward it anxious to relieve herself. When she got inside, she immediately turned up her nose. It wasn’t as bad as she expected, but there was still a smell of must and dirty mop water lingering in the air. What could she expect from a public restroom at a gas station anyway?
She held her breath and did her business, careful not to touch the toilet seat. After washing her hands, she headed back out into the store. Both the woman and man looked up at her once again. They weren’t even trying to be discrete about staring at her.
Selene cleared her throat and headed toward the snack aisle. She’d been craving something salty the whole ride. There was one bag of her favorite brand of potato chips left on the shelf, and she snatched it up. As she ventured down the aisle, she couldn’t resist picking up a packet of vanilla crème filled cakes. The place was filled with junk food, so she didn’t feel the least bit guilty about it. She hadn’t seen a reasonable place to stop and eat for hours. She damn sure wasn’t going to go hungry out here.
Damn her diet. Desperate situations called for desperate measures.
“Are you finding everything alright?” The lady came up behind her.
“Yes, thank you.” Selene turned around to acknowledge her.
“You’re not from around here.”
The worst thing she could do was admit to a complete stranger that she was alone and had no idea where the heck she was. Much less—where she was going. “Do you have anything hot to eat?” she asked.
“We have hot boiled peanuts.” The lady motioned toward a food station in the back of the store.
She followed, and her mouth watered when she saw the espresso machine. “I was thinking more along the lines of a nice hot drink.”
The lady smiled. “It is rather frigid outside. This is on
e of the coldest winters I can remember in a long time, but there’s warmer temperatures on the way.”
Selene grabbed a large cup. “I was born in New York City, so the cold doesn’t really bother me. The air here is rather humid though. Do you get much snow?”
“Oh yeah, we got a bunch of it a couple of weeks ago. Much of it has melted away.”
She filled her cup almost to the brim, exhaling deeply when the rich coffee aroma wafted under her nose.
“Where are you headed?”
“To the mountains,” Selene said, quickly. It was better than telling her that she had no earthly idea. She had a paper map and the coordinates picked up from the tracer report she received from Tamara’s cell phone. It was her only hope for finding the woman.
The lady looked at her as though she smelled something rotten. “This time of year?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“It’s a mighty dangerous place to be for such a young woman. Where’s your companion?”
“I’m meeting her,” she lied.
The woman’s nose wrinkled. “Just be careful up there.”
“Thank you.” Selene backed away and headed toward the cash register. She was relieved to be free from the woman’s prying. But she was right. Coming out here may have been a mistake, but she’d already driven too far to turn around. No matter what she told herself, she could not bring herself to go back.
“Will this be all?” the clerk at the register asked when she dropped her items on the counter.
Selene glanced toward the window. The sun was a calm orange and low in the sky. It would get dark soon, and she needed to hurry. She swallowed down those reservations again. She’d come too far to let doubt and trepidation stop her from helping a friend.
She turned back to answer the clerk. “I suppose so.”
***
Nick Hyatt dropped his backpack to the ground, bent down, and peered inside the cave. The cobwebs on the ceiling and broken tree branches on the floor told him the space had long been abandoned. It was the perfect place to rest for the evening before his big plans tomorrow.
He crawled inside and pulled a lantern and lighter from his pack. Light illuminated the inside of the small cave as the flames engulfed the wick. Resting his back on the rigid stone, he lifted his decanter of water to his lips and guzzled it down.
It had been hours since he left the confines of the village, and the weight of his burdens seemed to have already faded away. A loner since birth, he’d always preferred to chill in the privacy of his own surroundings. Except these weren’t his normal surroundings. Only a few days had passed since he’d made the decision to sell his bachelor pad back in Montana. He was needed here, in Virginia. Back with his pack.
After his friend, Devin, rose to Alpha leader of the Caedmon Pack, he’d then honored Nick by naming him one of his most trusted confidants and advisors. Second-in-Command. Nick had accepted, fully aware that his life would take a sharp turn.
But the direction of the Caedmon Pack had turned sour following the death of its previous leader. Devin, on the other hand, wanted to turn it back around…and for the better.
Nick wanted to help, but he needed refuge from it all before the real grind began. At times like this, he’d talk with Devin about his issues. Now Devin had a mate to love and care for, as well as pressing duties of the Pack inherited from the last leader. He doubted the man would have much time for him anymore. Not with a mate…
Mate. He laughed. Was there even such a thing as a mate? He could remember several years ago when even Devin himself swore up and down that finding a true mate was like finding a piece of thread at the bottom of the ocean. Devin had obviously been wrong. One woman. A human woman, for that matter, had turned his friend’s life around. To their people, a union such as theirs was highly unlikely. Yet the truth was in the details. Devin had found his mate.
Seeing them together affected Nick in a way he couldn’t fathom. It wasn’t jealously. He was happy for Devin. For all the guy had been through, he deserved a life-long companion. It was a different feeling. The desire to feel wanted and needed just like he saw how Tamara wanted and needed Devin. And likewise, how Devin needed and wanted Tamara.
Nick had been successful for years in keeping those feelings from ever resurfacing. He had everything he wanted and needed within himself. Wanting for more only caused disaster and heartbreak in the long run. He’d never let another woman break his heart again.
Nick kicked off his boats and slumped deeper against the rocks. He would rest this evening. Tonight, he would hunt. In the morning, he’d do something he hadn’t done in five long years.
Climb a mountain.
Chapter Two
Selene drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and bobbed her head to the hip hop music blaring from her car speakers. Music was the only thing that really kept her sane on this dismal journey. At least this part of the town looked a bit more habitable. Every so often, she would pass a farm house or a group of residences.
She picked up her cell phone on the seat next to her. The reception bars had been going in and out for hours.
“Meirda! What a piece of shit phone,” she mumbled, as she checked the time. It was nearly six o clock. Dusk surrounded her like a blanket. Night was approaching fast and the temperature had dropped considerably, but she wasn’t far from her destination. According to her notes on the map, there should have been a small motel about five miles up ahead where she’d reserved a room for the night.
With eyes still on the road, she grabbed for the map and folded it out on the steering wheel. She wondered how Tamara could have called her from a cell phone with the crappy reception out here. Why would she even come to a town like this? This place was basically a damn forest.
The car swerved and she threw the map down. It slid off the seat onto the floor.
“Shit.” With one hand on the vehicle, she leaned to the side and tried to reach it. Her arms weren’t long enough.
When she glanced back up, she spotted a sign up ahead. It was nearly hidden by overgrown trees, and the writing was so small that she had to really focus to read it.
“Caedmon village?”
She hadn’t remembered seeing anything like that on the map. She slowed as she came into full view of the sign. There was an unpaved road alongside it.
It wasn’t where she was going, but it certainly piqued her interest.
Shoving her curiosity aside, she looked back at the road.
A large brown animal stood on the pavement in her path. Its big blue eyes shone brightly against the evening back drop. Eerie and majestic at the same time.
Her foot slammed on the brake pedal.
It was too late.
As the car slid across the asphalt toward the big critter, she got a better look at it unmoving in the middle of the highway.
It was a wolf. She was sure of it now.
Selene grabbed the steering wheel and jerked it to the left. The car swerved and jolted. All she glimpsed were trees just before she squeezed her eyes shut and prepared herself for impact.
“Oh, dear God.”
Her eardrums seemed to exploded as blood rush to it. Fingers gripped the wheel like a vice.
The pad of her shoe was still glued to the brake pedal. Burnt rubber fumes assaulted her senses. The sound of metal crashing into trees alarmed her. Every nerve ending in her body seized in pain.
The impact knocked the breath right out of her, immobilizing her. Her head spun as she shifted her gaze from left to right, but focused on absolutely nothing but a blur.
Her eyelids folded, and she succumbed.
***
Something tickled Selene’s face and her eyes flew open.
Murky gray irises looked back at her.
Her head pulsed in enormous pain as she struggled to focus on the face. After her vision cleared, she realized there was man standing over her.
She parted her mouth to scream, but her lips were taped together.
Her
breath hitched as she jerked away from him. Something bound her, preventing her from moving.
A wide grin spread across the man’s face. “Hello, doll.”
The tone of his voice matched his sinister grin. He had three long scars on his left cheek as if someone had clawed him across the face. They were raised, ugly imperfections. Scarface.
Everything about him—from the way he stood before her with defiance to his demeaning greeting warned her.
Selene’s heart sped up and her brain worked overtime trying to backtrack. What had happened? Why was she lying here?
Pain gripped the entire left side of her body as she attempted to sit up. Where am I? She tried to speak but it was difficult to talk with the gag.
“If I told you, I’d have to kill you?”
“Mmmm, mmm, oooo,” she muffled again. Who are you?
Scarface laughed. “Shall I repeat myself?”
Her arms were tied together. Her legs were bound too. She thrashed about on the bed. The rough cords cut into her wrists and ankles, adding to the sharp pain radiating through her body.
“I’m going to remove your gag, but when I do…you remain quiet.”
It was a threat, but the consequences if she didn’t cooperate were not made clear. She nodded anyway.
As he reached out, she inspected him. His skin complexion nearly matched hers, and there were black and brown streaks throughout his hair. The trench coat he wore made him seem bigger than he really was. There was some sort of chain worn at the waistband, like a belt. The fabric of his shirt was stretched tight against his chest.
He ripped the tape from her lips, causing a stinging pain on her mouth. She screamed, but more from the shock of it.
He smiled. “I knew you couldn’t remain quiet.”
“Who the fuck are you?” The force of her voice surprised her.
“Ooooo.” He stood back and sized her up. “A feisty one.”
Despite his facial scars, her captor was easy on the eyes, tall, and built, but from the expression on her face and the way she was tied up on the bed, he didn’t seem like the type of man to play nice.
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