The Finder (Wolves of the Northwoods Book 1)

by A J Manney

  “Go,” Garrett said.

  “What about the vampires?” he asked, his voice low and quiet.

  “We don’t know anything yet. When I know something, I’ll let you know. If I need you, I’ll call you back,” Garrett said patiently.

  “What about your ceremony?” Liam asked. Emma laughed. He was like a little kid being told to wait before he could have his candy.

  “Go,” Garrett said again. “Just stay in contact with me.”

  “I will,” Liam said. He stepped back and looked at them both. “I guess I’m going back to high school,” he said with a big grin. He slapped Garrett one more time on the back, saluted Max, and tore out of there. Garrett and Emma watched him go.

  “Does he have any idea where he’s going?” Emma asked, amused.

  “Nope,” Garrett responded.

  “What if he can’t find her?” she asked.

  “He will,” Garrett said, sounding absolutely certain.

  “How can you be so sure?” she asked, turning to him.

  “Because I believe in the impossible. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he said gazing at her with such emotion and love. “Just as you came to me, Liam’s mate will come to him. Fate wouldn’t have it any other way. Besides, he’s got the finder on his side.” With that, he put out his arm and she placed her hand on his arm. “You ready, beautiful?” he asked.

  Emma smiled. “Yes.” For the first time in her life, she was surrounded by people that loved her. It felt good, really really good. She was excited about the future and all the possibilities it held.

  The doors opened, and everybody’s heads turned towards them. Just before they started walking, Garrett bent his head next to her ear. “I do want to see you in that dress again later in our room where I can take my time peeling it off you,” he said in a growl. Emma could feel herself turn red. He chuckled a dark, sexy chuckle next to her as he began leading them forward to their future.

  THE END… for now

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  To My Readers:

  Thank You!

  Thank you so much for reading The Finder. I had so much fun writing in this world and hope you enjoyed it as well. I am excited for the other books in the series. I think you’re going to love Liam and Talya’s story in The Dreamer. I’ve included CHAPTER ONE from The Dreamer at the end of this ebook.

  If you enjoyed this book, I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave me a rating or review on Amazon. Reviews are like currency for an indie author like me.

  Bonus Chapter:

  Wolves of the Northwoods Book 2

  The Dreamer

  Chapter One

  Talya zipped her backpack shut and threw it over her shoulder. She was going to be late if she didn’t get a move on. She glanced at herself one last time in the mirror and eyed herself critically. She was short. Too short. It wreaked havoc on her figure. She eyed her long blond hair. She wanted to cut it, but Brandon wouldn’t let her. So, it was now down to her waist. A lot of the girls envied her for it, but it often gave her headaches because it was so long and heavy. She did like her eyes, though. They were a pretty blue and her best feature. Today, they popped because she was wearing a soft blue sweater with jeans. She slipped on her Chuck Taylors, and was ready to go.

  She walked out into the living room. “Breakfast is in the kitchen, sweetie.” Talya turned towards her grandpop sitting in the recliner reading the newspaper.

  “Thanks, Pops; but I’m good.” She didn’t tell him that she couldn’t eat the toast or bagel or whatever other carby food he had put out for her. Her grandparents never understood that she couldn’t eat any of those foods. She bent and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Is Grams still in bed?” she asked.

  Grandpop looked up at her. “Yeah. She wasn’t feeling well this morning.”

  Talya glanced towards the closed bedroom door. She was worried about her Grandma. She wasn’t doing well. She needed more medicine, but the medicine cost a fortune. Talya tightened the strap on her backpack. She would have to ask Joe, her manager, if she could pick up more hours at the diner. “Don’t you worry, Talya; she’ll be okay,” Grandpop said with a smile.

  Talya smiled and bent to kiss his cheek. “Have a good day. I’ll be back late tonight after my shift gets done.”

  “You work too much,” he grumbled.

  Talya didn’t say anything. She was going to be late if she didn’t get going, and she knew better than to think Brandon would wait for her. Sure enough, she heard him honk before she opened the door. Sighing, she opened the door and made her way to Brandon’s mustang. She climbed into the front seat. “Hey baby,” Brandon said as he leaned across and kissed her on the cheek. Talya ignored the comments from the guys in the backseat. Mitch and Trevor were Brandon’s best friends. The three of them were worse than girls. They had basically grown up together, and none of them went anywhere without the other two. Now they played football together and were incredibly popular. Brandon was the star quarterback, and he looked every inch the part. He was tall and muscular with shaggy brown hair and brown eyes. He captured all the girls’ attention wherever he went. Mitch and Trevor were both pretty much the same way.

  They had all basically ignored Talya her entire life until her sophomore year. Suddenly, she was on Brandon’s radar. He asked her to the prom that year, and they had been together ever since. She had initially been excited to be Brandon’s girlfriend. The excitement had faded over the years, especially after she had seen his mean side. And boy, did he have a mean side. Her ribs had felt his mean side one too many times. She knew she should probably dump him, but she was terrified of doing so. So, she put up with him. Most of the time he wasn’t too bad. He just was demanding. Her grandpop had made it no secret that he didn’t like Brandon, so Talya tried to not bring him home much.

  “You excited for the game tonight?” Brandon asked her as they squealed out of her grandparent’s driveway. Talya just nodded; it was pointless to try to talk over the noise of the engine and the wind blowing. She hated that Brandon always kept the top down. By the time she got anywhere, her hair was always a mess. She had told him that once, and he had told her in not very nice language that she needed to deal with it. Since then, she never complained.

  Talya watched the scenery pass and tuned the boys out as they talked. Thankfully, the drive wasn’t long. They parked in Brandon’s usual spot, and Talya climbed out of the car. She tried to smooth out her hair; no doubt it was all tangled from the drive. Brandon grabbed her arm and pulled her along with him as they walked towards the school building. Thankfully, she only had to endure first period with him.

  With a kiss goodbye, Brandon left her with a promise to see her in a few minutes. He had something to take care of. Talya began to make her way to her first class. “Hey Talya.” Talya turned and saw Stephanie wave at her. Talya smiled and waved back before continuing on her way. The problem with dating the school QB was that she never knew who her real friends were. Well, she did have one real friend. She smiled her first real smile of the day when she saw Sage.

  Sage was quiet and incredibly sweet. Talya had taken her under her wing when Sage transferred into school in their junior year. Since then, they had been close. “Morning, girl. You ready for this Physics quiz?” Talya asked.

  Sage shook her head. “I hope so.” Talya just grinned. Sage would most likely ace it. She was just that smart. They were walking towards their Physics class talking when somebody fell into Sage and Sage went down hard. Talya turned instantly.

  “Oops, sorry,” Brittany said. “I didn’t see you there,” she said with a smirk.

  “Do you need glasses?” Talya snapped at her.

  Brittany turned her glare on Talya. Meanwhile, Sage tugged on Talya’s hand. “It’s fine. Just let it go. Come on.” Talya turned back around and helped Sage off the floor.

  By the time
she turned back around, Brittany and her giggling minions were gone. “I hate girls like that,” Talya said. Brittany was the lead cheerleader, a position Talya had once held before her grandma got sick and she had to take on more hours at the diner. Sage grinned at her. “Not a word,” Talya said. She didn’t need to be reminded that she had once been just like that. Her friendship with Sage had helped to mellow her out. With a sigh, Talya turned around and started towards class again. Talya was lost in her own world. That’s why she didn’t see the man coming out of the classroom. With a grunt, Talya ran smack into a hard chest. She would have fallen backwards, but two strong arms reached around her and steadied her.

  Talya looked up and up. “Holy muscles,” she whispered. Then caught herself when the insanely gorgeous man in front of her smirked at her. She couldn’t even stop her response to him. She just stared at him. He was like a real-life Adonis standing in front of her. He was insanely tall and built broadly. She could see the muscles through the shirt he was wearing. He had blond hair that was perfectly gelled and a beard that looked more like scruff. She itched to run her hand through it and see if it was soft or scratchy. His eyes were a startling blue that she felt she could get lost in.

  “I’m Sage, and this is Talya,” she heard her friend say. Her voice was like a glass of cold water to the face. Talya got ahold of herself when she realized she was staring at this man and practically drooling over him. Well, he was drool-worthy, but... she shook her head. Focus, Talya.

  “Talya,” his insanely sexy voice said, and Talya practically melted on the floor. Talya looked up at him and was surprised to see his eyes boring into hers. He was staring at her in awe, like she was a fresh piece of meat and he hadn’t eaten in days. “I love it,” he said, his rich warm voice melting her insides.

  “Me too,” she said before she caught herself. She felt her face redden. “I mean, I like it, my name, that is,” she stumbled to a halt and could have slapped herself. She needed to escape this guy before she said something more stupid than she already had.

  “My name’s Liam,” his sexy voice said. Talya memorized it; it seemed like the smart thing to do. Liam. His name even sounds sexy.

  “We need to get to class,” Sage said, pulling her towards the open door. “Your boyfriend is probably wondering where you are.” Those words got her attention like nothing else could. It would not bode well for her if Brandon saw her talking to this gorgeous man.

  “Right,” Talya said. “It was nice to meet you, Liam. We will just be going now,” she stumbled over her words. Talya looked up at the man and was shocked to see anger on his face. He blinked, and it was gone. Talya wondered if she had imagined it.

  “I’ll be seeing you,” Liam said. With a nod to the two of them, he disappeared down the hall. Talya watched him go until Sage pulled on her arm.

  “We’re going to be late for class,” Sage said. Talya allowed Sage to pull her towards the class. She sank into her chair, while Sage sat directly behind her. Thankfully, Brandon wasn’t there yet.

  Sage leaned forward. “You okay?” she asked softly.

  Talya turned to look at her. They hadn’t started class yet. “Yeah, why?” she asked, confused.

  Sage shrugged. “I’ve never seen you respond like that to a guy before?”

  “That was no guy; he was like a Greek god or something,” Talya said.

  Sage laughed. “Wow. Well, get it out of your system before Brandon gets here,” she said seriously.

  “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking. Sorry,” Talya said, feeling embarrassed. She had totally acted like she’d never seen a good-looking guy before. She had a boyfriend for goodness’ sake.

  “It’s okay, Talya. You’re too hard on yourself,” Sage said quietly.

  Talya didn’t say anything in response. Brandon had just entered the classroom. He came towards her with a big smile on his face. He planted a kiss on her cheek and dropped into the seat next to hers. Sage leaned back against her seat. She always kept her distance when Brandon was around. Talya opened her book to try to cram a few last minutes of studying in. Brandon didn’t. He laughed and talked with the guys seated around him who worshipped him like a god. Talya ignored all of it, so she could study. It didn’t matter how hard she tried to focus, though. She couldn’t get her thoughts off of a certain tall, gorgeous male. She wondered what he was doing here. He couldn’t possibly be a student, and she hadn’t heard of any new hires. Her thoughts were pushed aside when their physics professor arrived. Talya had to mentally focus, so she could pass the quiz.

  The class dragged on, and so did the next two. Finally, it was time for lunch. Talya couldn't help the pep in her step. She wondered if she would see Liam at lunch. She walked into the cafeteria next to Brandon and quickly scanned the room. Disappointment flooded her when he was nowhere to be seen. She grabbed a tray and walked through the buffet line. She put some salad on her plate and light Italian dressing with a little bit of grilled chicken. She grabbed a water and made her way over to where Brandon sat. She slid in next to him and across from Mitch and Trevor. She ate her salad quietly while her mind wandered. When she was finished, she just sat and waited for the guys to be done.

  The next class passed quickly, and Talya found herself making her way to her last class of the day—her most dreaded one. P.E. She had found out at the beginning of the year that she was missing P.E. credits and she would have to take the class this year. She hated it. The only bright spot was that Sage took it with her. She had heard of Talya’s misfortune at the beginning of the year and signed up to take it with her. Talya was so thankful for her.

  She and Sage quickly joined the other girls changing in the locker room. She changed into her shorts, sports bra, and t-shirt. After slipping on her sneakers, she was ready to go. “Come one. Let’s get this over with,” Sage said. Talya couldn’t agree more. That is, until they walked into the gym. Talya froze when she saw who was standing with their P. E. teacher.

  Stay in Touch

  For all things pertaining to the Wolves of the Northwoods, including release dates, teasers, and more, be sure to follow A. J. Manney Books on Facebook and Instagram.

  Visit my author website to discover your next escape into the world of fantasy fiction! ajmanneybooks.com

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  While you’re waiting for the next book, check out my other books.

  True Marks Series

  Red Rose Rising

  Courses Clashing

  Hope Dawning

  Allies Ascending

  Christmas in Cascadia

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to my readers for taking a chance on this book. This is my second fantasy series, but my first in the “shifter” genre. I loved every minute of it and hope you did as well!

  Thank you to my editor, Caryn for countless hours editing this book. You are the best!

  Thanks to my amazing cover designer, Les. Your work is always amazing!

  Thank you to my kids for being patient and allowing me “mommy time” to be able to write.

  Thank you to my husband, Matthew for hours of formatting. Thank you for always believing in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself. Thanks for loving me and inspiring me. I couldn’t have done this without you!

  About the Author

  A. J. Manney

  Amanda lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband and four kids. Some of her favorite things to do include reading, family days, being a pastor's wife, and watching football on Sunday afternoons with her family.

  Don’t miss Book Two of the Wolves of the Northwoods Series!

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