by Anna Lowe
Nina smiled a mile wide when her mate locked eyes with her.
“Hunter? What do you think?” Silas asked.
Hunter studied the bottom of his teacup, then shoved his chair back and stalked off, muttering something about catching up with work.
“May I make a suggestion?” Nina ventured in the awkward silence that ensued.
Silas waved his hand, telling her to go on.
“What about you take it on a case-by-case basis?” she said, careful to use the word you, putting the ball in his court. Inside, her heartstrings pulled a little. She’d once heard Lewis say that to one of the few friends he brought to the diner. Take it on a case-by-case basis.
“Makes sense to me,” Kai said, nodding to Silas.
“Me, too,” Boone said.
Cruz grumbled but didn’t protest.
“Hmpf,” Silas mumbled, not committing himself either way, and another heavy minute ticked by.
“So, Nina,” Tessa said, chopping into the silence in a clear attempt to lighten things up. “Did you talk to the lawyer about your donation yet?”
“I’m waiting to hear about the details,” she said.
“Lawyers,” Boone growled. “He’s probably just taking longer so he can charge more.”
Nina swatted at his back. “He said he’d do it pro bono.”
“Twenty-five million,” Boone shook his head, but she caught the veiled pride in his voice. “Giving half of your money away.”
“Half of Lewis’s money,” she corrected him.
“Your money,” Boone tried, then pointed at the ruby and sighed. “Figures I’d find me a mate who’s pure of heart.”
“Yeah, go figure,” Kai ribbed.
Nina laughed. In truth, Boone had loved the idea the second she mentioned it — donating half the money to a women’s cancer prevention program. Nina was sure Lewis would have approved, and twenty-five million still seemed like plenty of money to keep. The only thing she’d decided to spend it on so far was tuition at the state college so she could finally earn her psychology degree. Classes didn’t start for another six weeks, so she had time to settle into her new life.
“Are we done?” Boone asked Silas far too sweetly.
“For now,” Silas growled, shooting Boone a Watch it, buster look.
“Good. Because my mate and I have pressing business at the beach.”
Nina blushed. From the way Boone ran his hand down her back, it was pretty clear what kind of business he meant. But she, too, felt the pull, the insistent need.
Perfectly normal for a pair of freshly mated wolves, Boone said with a sly grin, pulling her from the table.
“Don’t forget the ruby,” Tessa said, giving her own mate a heated, Don’t you and I also have pressing business? look.
Nina took the gem and scurried away with Boone. The second they turned the first corner of the path, he pulled her into a huge, back-bending Hollywood kiss.
“Always wanted to do that,” he grinned, hauling her upright again.
“Me, too,” she joked, pretending to lean him into the reverse position. “If you hold the ruby for me, I think I might even manage it.”
Boone threw his hands up. “Whoa. No way. I’m thinking way too many impure thoughts right now to risk touching it.”
Nina pocketed the gem and sidled closer to him, giggling. “Oh, yes? What kind of thoughts?”
“Thoughts of you naked on our bed.”
Our bed. She loved how quickly his home had become their home, how easily she slipped into his life.
“And where are you while I’m naked on our bed?” she asked, kissing the line of his jaw.
“Inside you,” he said, all husky with need. “My mate.”
Her inner thermostat rocketed right off the charts, and she wrapped a leg around his side, craving the contact. But Boone went all serious again, gazing into her eyes. “Thank you,” he whispered.
She laughed. “For what?”
He waved a hand as if he didn’t know where to start. “For everything. I love you, Nina.”
He threaded his fingers through her hair and planted a sweet, soft kiss on her lips. A kiss she hijacked a few seconds later when the carnal need became too much to bear. Her tongue swept over his, and her nipples peaked against his chest.
Then she pulled back, panting. “Now take me home and show me you’re not all bark and no bite, wolf.”
Boone laughed and ran his hands down her back. “Be careful what you wish for, my mate.”
* * *
Thank you for reading Lure of the Wolf! If you enjoyed the story, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Reviews are the best way to thank an independent author for a story you’ve loved.
Lure of the Wolf is Book 2 of the new Aloha Shifters series. The action, emotion, and passion continues in Lure of the Bear, Book 3. Click here for a sneak peek of Hunter’s story, or order it on Amazon today!
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Sneak Peek: Lure of the Bear
Aloha Shifters: Jewels of the Heart, Book 3
There’s not much that can get this grizzly shifter worked up — except a threat to the woman he’s secretly loved for years. Then all bets are off, and he’s willing to risk anything — including the most closely guarded secret of his lonely shifter soul.
Read on for a sneak peek of Hunter’s story, or order your copy today!
* * *
A beep sounded, making everyone at the Kapa’akea resort look up, and Hunter caught a flash of red racing in from the main road.
“Him again,” the security guard muttered at the sight of Boone zipping up in the Ferrari.
The wolf shifter flashed one of his winning grins as he pulled up. “Hop in.”
“Hop?” Hunter sighed as he squeezed into the low-slung car. “Couldn’t you have driven the Land Rover?”
“No time to waste,” Boone said as he raced back to the highway and made the left turn for home. “My errands took forever. I need to get back to my mate and—” He cut himself off there. “Oh. I mean…”
Hunter looked at his feet as an awkward silence fell over the car — silence broken a few minutes later when the car swerved, and another beeped.
“Oops,” Boone murmured, unfazed.
“Keep your eyes on the road,” Hunter muttered as the Ferrari’s speed inched up.
“No problem.” Boone shrugged, jerking the wheel to straighten out.
“You need to slow down, too.”
“Nah. Like I said, no time to waste.”
Hunter braced his arms on the dashboard as the scenery flashed by. “Boone…”
“I got this, man. We’re nearly there.”
They were nearly to the curve staked out by Officer Dawn Meli off the Maui Police, too. If she was on duty, she was bound to pull them over, and Hunter wasn’t ready to face her yet.
“Boone…”
“Live a little, man,” Boone said, racing around the corner.
Hunter peeked right, and his heart pounded at the sight of Dawn’s white-and-blue cruiser.
She’s back! his bear practically leaped for joy. She’s back! Maybe she’ll pull us over.
The Ferrari raced on, and Hunter kept his eyes glued to the side mirror, waiting for the flash of police lights.
“Hey,” Boone murmured, slowing down. “She’s not pulling me over?”
The joy that had burst into Hunter’s soul slowly seeped out. Dawn wasn’t pulling them over. She was avoiding him, just as he’d been avoiding her ever since the shifter battle that had revealed his animal side.
Boone slowed even more, then signaled a left turn into a private d
rive.
Hunter made a face. “Wait. What are you doing? This isn’t the driveway to Koa Point.”
Boone put the Ferrari into reverse, scattering gravel as he headed back the way they’d come. “I’m going back.”
Hunter dug his nails into the dashboard. “Whoa. What?”
“I have a right be pulled over, damn it,” Boone said with a sly look on his face.
“I thought you were in a rush to get back to your mate.”
“I am, but this is important, too.”
“Boone,” Hunter growled, to no avail. He sank as low in his seat as he could when Boone drove past the squad car again, but damn it, the Ferrari didn’t offer much space to hide a bear shifter of his size. “Don’t do this, Boone.”
“Time to man up, bear.” Boone chuckled as he turned the car yet again. He drove right up to the pullout and parked next to the squad car, putting Hunter window-to-window with a wide-eyed Officer Meli.
His breath caught, and his blood warmed.
Mate, his bear hummed. My perfect mate.
She was perfect in every possible way. Her fine features, her glossy black hair, her dark, searching eyes. Back in high school, there’d been people who talked about Dawn getting modeling contracts and hitting it big thanks to her gorgeous blend of Polynesian, Asian, and Caucasian features, but she’d shunned the suggestion and gone to law school instead. And after law school, she’d surprised everyone — again — by going into law enforcement.
My mate always does the unexpected, his bear said with a dreamy sigh.
“Officer Meli!” Boone called cheerily.
Hunter closed his eyes, savoring a whiff of her flowery scent.
“Mr. Hawthorne,” she said in an icy voice that warmed and wavered when she looked at Hunter. “Mr. Bjornvald.”
Hunter snapped his eyes open again. “Dawn,” he whispered.
“You didn’t pull me over,” Boone said.
“No, I didn’t.” Her dark eyes were hard and unamused, but when they strayed toward Hunter, they flickered — and not in fear. More like…recognition. Maybe even warmth.
I told you! his bear cried. I told you she loves us.
But why would she? Humans didn’t know about destined mates.
Deep inside, our mate knows, his bear insisted. Destiny told her, too.
“I was speeding,” Boone said.
Officer Meli’s brow furrowed. “I decided to let it go this once.”
“But speeding is unlawful. I really think you ought to give me a ticket.”
She pushed the door of her squad car open and stood with her hands on her hips. “Mr. Hawthorne,” she said in a stern, policewoman’s voice. “I decide when I issue a ticket, is that clear?”
How she managed to look beautiful and menacing at the same time, Hunter didn’t know.
She’d make a great bear, his inner beast sighed.
“Yes, ma’am,” Boone said, putting on his best chagrined schoolboy look as he swung the car door open.
Officer Meli went into a defensive stance, one arm hovering over the weapon at her hip. “Hold it right there.”
Boone stood and stretched. “Sorry. An old army injury is suddenly flaring up. I need to walk it off.”
Hunter furrowed his brow. Boone had his share of war wounds, as had every member of their Special Forces unit. But as a quick-healing shifter, Boone didn’t suffer any long-term effects. What was he up to?
Old army what? Hunter demanded, stepping out of the car at the same moment Dawn asked, “Old army injury?” She arched her perfect eyebrows, then spun to face Hunter. “Whoa. You hold it, too.”
Hunter threw his hands up as Boone faked a grimace and limped up the dirt track that led from the pullout point toward the West Maui mountains. “I’ll be fine in a few minutes. Don’t worry.”
“Worry?” Dawn muttered, not sounding the least concerned. Her eyes darted from Boone’s back to Hunter’s face.
Hunter pushed the car door closed and leaned against it, keeping his hands in plain view. Damn. What had he been thinking, hopping out of the car like that?
I was thinking, get closer to my mate, his bear murmured inside.
We’ll scare her, he hissed back.
Boone’s footsteps crunched over gravel, then faded into the distance, leaving Hunter alone with Dawn. He scrubbed a hand over his jaw, wondering what to do.
Time to man up, you stupid bear. Boone’s words echoed through his mind, and a few awkward seconds later, he finally spoke. “Look—“
“Look,” Dawn said at exactly the same time.
They both stopped cold, looking at each other.
Hunter scuffed the dirt with his boot. “Ladies first.”
“No, you first,” she insisted, crossing her arms.
Right. If only he knew what to say other than, Look.
Say I love you, his bear tried.
Hunter shook his head. No way was he opening with that line.
Say, you can trust me.
Hunter shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. Damn it, why was it that a bear who didn’t fear anything had to be so scared of uttering a few words?
Then kiss her.
He gritted his teeth. Much as he’d like to, that wouldn’t work, either.
She sighed. “Tongue-tied as ever, I see.”
Hunter looked up. Another woman might have laced the words with scorn, but not Dawn. If anything, there was a hint of fondness in her voice. Or was he imagining things?
They stood facing each other for a full minute, speechless. Any second, Hunter figured, his brief stint in heaven would be over — just being close to Dawn was heaven — so he imprinted the moment into his mind. A wisp of hair had strayed out of her single braid, and the sea breeze twirled it exactly the way he fantasized about doing himself. The sun shone from high overhead, casting her face into smooth fields of shadow and light. When her eyes strayed to his chest and back to his eyes, her throat bobbed with a tiny swallow.
Hunter gulped, too, because it was happening again. That magical aura that overwhelmed him every time he came close to his mate. The sensation that rose out of nowhere and wound around the two of them, locking the outside world away. The hum of passing cars, the scratch of insects in the surrounding scrub — all sound faded until the only thing Hunter heard was the beat of his heart. All he saw was the faint rise and fall of Dawn’s shoulders with each deep breath. Her face was bright and clear, but everything else was blurry, as if the sun was slowly turning a lens and focusing all its light on her.
This is your mate, a whisper came from somewhere deep in the earth. This is your destiny.
Dawn’s eyes shone brighter than ever, and she leaned forward slightly.
She needs you as much as you need her, the voice said, coaxing him along.
A yellow butterfly fluttered between them, but even that was a blur. Nothing mattered but Dawn.
His lips moved with words he couldn’t form, and when his hand brushed hers, she didn’t jerk away.
“Hunter,” she whispered.
* * *
That’s just a little taste of another unforgettable paranormal romance! Get your own copy of Lure of the Bear to follow all the suspense, emotion, and romance!
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Books by Anna Lowe
Aloha Shifters - Jewels of the Heart
Lure of the Dragon (Book 1)
Lure of the Wolf (Book 2)
Lure of the Bear (Book 3)
Lure of the Tiger (Book 4)
Love of the Dragon (Book 5)
Blue Moon Saloon
Perfection (a short story prequel)
Damnation (Book 1)
Temptation (Book 2)
Redemption (Book 3)
Salvation (Book 4)
Deception (Book 5)
Celebration (a holiday treat)
The Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch
Desert Hunt (the Prequel)
Desert Moon (Book 1)
Desert Wolf: Complete Collection (Four short stories)
Desert Blood (Book 2)
Desert Fate (Book 3)
Desert Heart (Book 4)
Desert Yule (a short story)
Desert Rose (Book 5)
Desert Roots (Book 6)
Sasquatch Surprise (a Twin Moon spin-off story)
Shifters in Vegas
Paranormal romance with a zany twist
Gambling on Trouble
Gambling on Her Dragon
Gambling on Her Bear
Serendipity Adventure Romance
Off the Charts
Uncharted
Entangled
Windswept
Adrift
Travel Romance
Veiled Fantasies
Island Fantasies
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