by Price, E A
The Witch, the Wolf and the Snowstorm
(Book 6, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas)
By E A Price
Copyright ©2014 by Elizabeth Ann Price
All rights reserved. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. 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 express written permission from the author.
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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
Epilogue
Thanks
Chapter One
21st November
Kayleigh Lewicki smiled at her boyfriend Greg. They’d been dating for just over five months and had recently moved in together. In spite of a few teething problems, such as Greg never doing any housework, never cooking, and inviting his friends round at the drop of a hat to play video games things were going okay.
Kayleigh folded the menu and glanced round the restaurant. She pouted a little, they’d ended up coming to the local wolf pack run pizza parlour Pizza Moon. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Pizza Moon, it’s just that she was hoping for something a little more... special. They could go to Pizza Moon anytime, surely if they were celebrating it should be somewhere a bit fancier. She had wanted to go to the fancy pants Italian restaurant in Darlington called Alberto’s, but Greg had balked at the prices.
Greg had wanted to spend the night lazing on the couch watching TV and eating microwave frozen burritos, that he seemed to have existed on until Kayleigh crashed into his life. She had nagged him until eventually he gave in and agreed to go out, but when it came to Alberto’s he absolutely put his foot down. She sighed, I guess you have to pick your battles.
Since coming out he had been a little sullen, missing his darn couch she thought in irritation. She didn’t feel a lick of guilt though, it really wasn’t asking too much for them to go out as a couple at least once a week. And them both going out with their respective friends and happening to see each other at Bar Luna did not count as going out ‘together’.
At Kayleigh’s insistence this dinner was a belated celebration of the two of them moving in together. Or of her moving into his apartment. Up until a couple of weeks ago she had been living in a boarding house which was home to a number of other women who like herself were witches.
But since the witches circle she had belonged to disbanded the boarding house had been sold to a development company, who were planning on turning it into a hotel. They had given the witches a few months to move out. Most already had, there were just a couple of stragglers left now.
Kayleigh had considered her options. She didn’t think she could afford a place on her own, and wasn’t sure she really wanted roommates again, so had asked Greg if she could move in with him. He had been reticent at first. They had only been dating for four months and he wasn’t sure if he was ready. And before he dated Kayleigh he had been heavily involved with his boss’ daughter Sharron, who had cheated and him and broke his heart. So naturally he was a little gun shy about getting serious with another woman.
Kayleigh, though, had her heart set on them living together. The more she thought about it the more she liked the idea and was certain it was the best thing for both of them. So she had set about working on him, and wearing him down until eventually he gave in and agreed to it.
Okay yes she knew she was being pushy, it wasn’t something that was new for her. She’d always been a bolshy kind of person, if she wanted something she went for it. Being shy never got you anywhere.
Besides which she had a vision of them living together.
Kayleigh was a seer... sort of. Occasionally she received visions, most of which were quite obscure and took some deciphering. To put it mildly she knew she couldn't be relied upon in a crisis to have a helpful vision. She certainly wasn’t about to offer her services to the police in hunting down murderers.
But every now and then she had a helpful one, mostly about something mundane such as splurging on a new pair of shoes. With her bank balance it never ended well.
She was however pretty good at palm and card readings. She had a steady clientele, most of whom were also witches, and who for a modest price asked for regular readings. She was clear though that if during one of their sessions she didn't see anything they got their money back. It happened occasionally that she went completely blank. She generally wasn’t sure how helpful she was, she suspected that she was more like a cheap therapist who helped her clients to reinforce decisions they had already made. That was totally fine with her.
It was a vision that persuaded her to move to Rose in the first place, and that was one of the best decisions she ever made. Since arriving in Rose she had settled into a job she loved and found some great friends. Not to mention meeting Greg.
Who she loved, she really did. Okay so he wasn’t her perfect guy but come on, doesn’t everybody settle? Nobody really finds their dream guy.
“Hey, can you order me a veggie deluxe with low-fat cheese? I’m just going to the bathroom.”
Greg nodded and she began to weave her way through the restaurant, wide hips swaying. A couple of young wolf shifters gave her some wolf whistles. She rolled her eyes playfully, in truth she kind of enjoyed the attention. Growing up she’d had a few issues with her plump body and boys generally hadn’t been interested, it felt nice to be appreciated.
Not that she had confidence issues anymore. Since her curves had filled out the boys had soon changed their mind about her. She’d learned to love her body. Who in their right mind would want to be a supermodel when they could be a Marilyn Monroe?
Plus the dress she was wearing didn’t hurt either. She’d practically maxed out her credit card purchasing it from Charlie’s, the only women’s clothing store in town. In the bathroom she surveyed herself in the mirror. It was worth it.
It was a strappy wiggle dress with a pencil skirt, the bust was made from animal print whilst the rest of the dress was black. There was a generous slit at the front and it was fairly low cut. It was a bit risqué for Pizza Moon, but in her defence she had been expecting to go to Alberto’s. Not that it mattered, she felt incredibly sexy wearing it. She just wished that Greg had said something too. He hadn’t even noticed.
She sighed. Yep, definitely not her dream guy. But god help her she did care about him, and there was an iddy biddy chance that she did kind of have high standards when it came to men.
She’d grown up reading romantic fiction and was now a full blown addict. Her absolute favourites were the ones set in Texas were there was an innocent young farmers daughter, who was handed over to a handsome older rogue who her father owed money too. Of course she would hate him, but eventually he would wear her down. The handsome older man would teach her abo
ut her sexuality and of course he would turn out to be a good guy, they would fall in love and then live happily ever after...
She’d read more than a hundred of them and they were all kind of interchangeable, yet she got so excited whenever she found a new one she hadn’t read yet. Just thinking about it made her sex flutter. After reading some of those books she and Greg had enjoyed some truly fantastic sex. They certainly got her in the mood!
She sort of wished Greg was a bit more gruff, a bit more domineering... although she was the first to admit she wasn’t an easy woman to dominate!
Still Greg was who he was. He wasn’t exactly attentive, and he looked at other women a bit too often for her liking but she knew he cared about her. So what if he didn’t pant after her like a puppy dog?
Kayleigh applied another coat of lipstick and made a kissing motion at the mirror. Perfect. She patted her blonde hair and stepped back into the restaurant.
She immediately noticed that Greg was noticeably staring at Melanie Ramirez’s ass. Kayleigh groaned, she was pissed at Greg but didn’t really want him to get hurt over it. She rushed over to the table.
Kayleigh threw her purse down on the table making him jump. “Unless you want to get killed I’d advise you to stop ogling Melanie’s ass!” She said peevishly.
She inclined her head to the kitchen where Melanie’s mate, and wolf shifter, Hans was staring at him murderously. Greg immediately paled and immediately began concentrating on the table in front of him.
Melanie was a fellow witch, for a time she had lived at the boarding house too and they had become friends. Melanie had moved out and started renting a house, not long after she had mated with Hans Lucas a member of the local wolf pack. Melanie and Hans ran Pizza Moon together, she was the manager and waitressed while Hans was the chef. Hans had a very short fuse, even for a wolf, and didn’t take too kindly to anyone looking at his mate.
“I’m sorry.” Mumbled Greg.
She rolled her eyes. “It’s fine, just please don’t look at Melanie like that again. She’s my best friend and I do like having you all in one piece. Besides it’s not like I don’t look at other men...” She was only human... sort of.
Greg lifted his head and raised his eyebrows at that. She giggled. “Oh come on! That can’t be such a surprise.”
Greg pouted and took both of her hands in his. “I don’t know how I feel about you looking at other men.”
Kayleigh quirked a shapely eyebrow and curled her red lips. “Jealous?”
“Maybe a little.” He admitted quietly.
Remembering his last girlfriend she felt a pang of sympathy. “You have nothing to be jealous of, I would never do anything.”
He beamed at her. Kayleigh, for all her quirks, was loyal to a fault. “You wouldn’t would you?”
“Of course not.” She leaned over and gave him a lip-smacking kiss on his forehead. She chuckled at seeing the lipstick left behind and began rubbing it away with a red lacquered thumb.
He fished around in his jacket pocket for a few moments before pulling out a small velvet box. “Open it.” He said, joy written all over his face.
She looked at him in confusion for a few seconds before doing as he said. She gasped. The box contained a ring. Not just any ring, a diamond engagement ring! She stared at it dumbfounded.
“Well? Will you marry me?” He asked, a little impatiently if truth be told.
Her first thought was, he’s proposing to me in a pizza parlour and he’s not even bothering to get down on one knee! The romantic part of her died a little at that. But after a few seconds of disappointment she started to get excited. Her boyfriend was proposing!
The proposal wasn’t as wonderful as she had imagined it would be, not by a long shot, but that didn’t matter. She was getting married! “Yes of course I will!”
She leaned across the table and planted a huge kiss on his lips. He grinned at her. She held out her hand waiting for him to slide the ring on. He continued grinning. After a few moments she sighed inwardly and eagerly did it herself.
“This is great!” She squealed. “I can’t wait to tell everyone.”
“Yeah we should probably wait...” His voice died away as Kayleigh leapt to her feet ignoring him.
“Everyone, we just got engaged!”
The restaurant erupted into happy yelling and clapping. Greg quickly hid his look of annoyance and sheepishly accepted the congratulatory handshakes and backslaps. Kayleigh was enthusiastically hugging Melanie and showing off her ring.
Yep, she had a nice job, terrific friends and now she was getting married. Life was good.
Chapter Two
26th November
Kayleigh Lewicki yawned and slurped down another cup of coffee. She hadn’t been sleeping well ever since Greg proposed. She wished she could say it was because of her own excitement, or because they had been enjoying some very energetic bedroom romps. But no, it was due to her dreams.
Every night she had a dream where a grey wolf with black furred paws and ears was chasing her through the woods. Just as she was starting to get away it started snowing, which quickly turned into a blizzard. The snow became so deep she could barely walk, and eventually exhausted and freezing she collapsed. The wolf caught up with her and then... she woke up.
Every night was the same. The chase, the cold - it all felt so real. She would wake up tired and shivering. It was totally annoying.
A soft giggle reached her ears and she sighed. Her boss Terri Tanner was currently being lavished with attention by her mate and wolf shifter Mal Tanner.
Kayleigh was working her shift at the library, and desperately trying not to openly eyeball the canoodling couple. Wolf shifters were incredibly possessive over their mates, but they were also unbelievably attentive too. She could see why her friends Terri and Melanie had wanted to mate with them. What she wouldn’t give for a little bit of that attention.
Mal was going away for a week to do some training with the pack’s tracker Don Cross. You would think by the way he was clutching at Terri that he was going away from a year. She heard a few whispered ‘I’ll miss you’, and ‘I’m counting to the seconds until you return’. She tried to drone them out.
The way Mal looked at Terri was the look of a man who had been told that there was no chocolate left in the world and then had been given a huge plate if brownies. It made Kayleigh cold with jealousy and warm with longing. She wanted a man to look at her in the same way. Hungry with desire and love. Like she was the last cheesecake on earth...
She suspected that she might actually just be hungry.
Growing up as a witch she had been taught to be wary of wolves, there was contention between their two species. Wolves feared witches magic, witches feared wolves brute strength. It was odd that witches didn't share the same contention with other shifters, but then wolves were by far the most stubborn of all the shifters. And witches were dangerously dismissive.
Growing up her mother had told her dozens of horror stories regarding wolves. Her wariness had only worsened when she moved to Rose last year. However, she was steadily coming round. She saw the wonderful relationships her friends had with their mates, and she herself had become friends with the gentlest wolf of the pack, Carly the Omega, so she knew that her old prejudices were ill founded.
Despite her unease Kayleigh always ensured that she was outwardly friendly and bubbly to everyone. She smiled at Terri and Mal, who were now kissing. It was actually kind of making her hot. Could she drag Greg out of work early?
“Ahem.” She jumped in her seat as someone cleared their throat. Her head snapped away from Terri and Mal.
“I’m sorry can I...” She stopped short.
She gasped at the sight before her. The most ruggedly handsome man, no wolf, she had ever seen was currently leaning casually on the desk. His square jaw was covered in black stubble and his blue eyes twinkled as he winked at her. She shivered pleasurably as she noticed he was wearing a black stetson. Hello cowboy!
&
nbsp; “Sorry to disturb you ma’am.” He drawled.
His sexy accent sent tingles right through her body straight to her sex. God he really was from Texas!
“I just came by to pick up lover boy over there.” He inclined his head in Mal’s direction.
He smiled at her and she realised she must have been gaping at him, mouth open like a damn fish. Say something... say anything, it doesn’t matter what! “I work at the library...” Okay so it matters a little.
“Huh?” He frowned at her.
God she must look like a total idiot. “I ummmm... I’m Kayleigh... Lewicki.” Well done, you managed to tell him your name, cue sarcastic clapping.
“Nice to meet you Miss Kayleigh Lewicki I’m...”
“Don Cross...” She said dreamily. “I know... I mean I know you by reputation... and I guessed by the fact that you said you were here to pick up Mal...” That’s it, all men love a babbling fool.
There was no way she was managing to impress him. Wait, why would she need to impress him?
He chuckled throatily. “Ten outta ten on the deduction skills Miss Kayleigh Lewicki.”
“Just call me Columbo.” She giggled inanely. “I mean no don’t, I just meant that.... I mean I love that show... I always catch it on rerun...” Perhaps she could pretend she was an escaped mental patient.
“Yeah? Me too, one of my favourites.”
“Oh!” She smiled beatifically. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks, she hoped he didn’t notice her blushing so furiously.
She felt his eyes raking over her body, he must have liked what he saw because he grinned at her and let out a small growl. Her whole body warmed at the idea that he liked her body, she wondered what he would like to do to it...
She looked at him sideways. He actually looked kind of familiar... maybe they had met before, or maybe she had just seen him around town. She had a niggling feeling that wasn’t it though.
She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Mrs Martin approaching the desk. She was a part-time library volunteer and the nosiest, most obnoxious woman in town.
