by Anna Lowe
One step closer and you’ll regret it, Cole’s snarl warned, though the bears were nearly twice his size.
Janna brushed against his side and stepped forward before anyone tore anyone’s throat out. Simon! Soren!
Cole’s head snapped toward hers. You’re kidding.
She shook her head. Not kidding.
The lights of a squad car appeared behind them, and Janna called out in relief. Kyle! The shifter cop from Twin Moon pack would know just how to clean up any evidence of a shifter fight.
He’s a wolf, too, she explained to the man at her side.
Cole stared at her, wild-eyed. Don’t tell me the rest of the customers in the saloon can turn into animals.
Just a few…
A few? Cole didn’t look convinced.
Janna, you okay? Simon rumbled.
Yeah, you okay? Soren echoed in his gritty, bear voice.
I’m fine. She looked around the alley and gulped, thinking how close a call it had been.
Jesus, what happened? Jess asked.
And who the hell is this? Simon demanded.
Soren stood behind him, baring his teeth at Cole.
This, she said, stepping between them, is Cole.
Cole? Jess peeped.
Simon pulled back. Holy…
…Shit, Soren finished.
Yeah, that about summed up her evening. But, hell, she’d gone this far; she wasn’t backing down now.
Cole. She nodded fiercely. My mate. My destined mate.
Cole growled at her side, echoing the sentiment. Mate. My destined mate.
Epilogue
One month later…
Sunlight stretched in through the long, arched windows, and although Cole’s eyes were closed, he could feel the warmth on his bare skin. His chest rose and fell under the light weight of Janna’s arm, looped over him, and he sighed a little.
Another beautiful morning, another beautiful day. It was late — too late for any self-respecting cowboy to be waking up, but he and Janna had been out running for most of the previous night.
The door separating them from the rest of the apartment above the Blue Moon Saloon was closed, but the sound of footsteps and two voices carried from down the hall.
“Those two still catching up on sleep?” Simon chuckled.
Jessica shushed him. “As if you’re any better, bear.”
Cole rolled to face Janna, still asleep at his side, and ran a finger gently along her cheek. Truthfully, he was still catching up on a lot of things. Like the fact that he could shift back and forth between human and wolf forms, and that Janna could, too.
It had been a crazy couple of weeks. Janna hadn’t left his side the entire time, seeing him through what she called the Change. He’d survived a week of fever and wracking pain after the night of his first shift, and there’d been times when he’d felt one howl away from insanity. But her voice and touch always pulled him back, and he’d come out the other side of the tunnel to a place brighter and sunnier than he’d ever been before. That peaceful mountain meadow was part of his world now, all the time.
Without Janna, he never would have made it. She helped his two sides work together as partners instead of rivals. The wolf was his ally, and Janna’s, too. All those terrible images he’d seen weren’t his wolf hurting Janna, but a foreshadowing of the rogues. The rogues his wolf had saved her from.
Told you so, the voice yawned inside.
It still took some getting used to, even now that the worst had passed. Sometimes, being a wolf came naturally, as it had that night of the rogue attack, when he needed it most. All he’d had to do was turn his brain off and trust the wolf to coordinate four feet, a hell of a lot of sharp claws, and a really, really startling set of teeth.
It was like Janna said all the times they’d gone out in the forest since then to practice wolf stuff, as she so casually called shifting and howling and shagging on four feet. Just follow your instincts.
The first time she’d said that, she’d been standing in the light of the pale, waning moon, lit up like a goddess of the night. Janna the wolf, as sleek and sweet and spunky as she was in human form.
Instinct, huh? he couldn’t resist shooting back. You know what instinct is telling me to do right now?
Instinct had led him right through their first round of sex, wolf-style. The feverish, satisfied sounds Janna made told him he’d done that pretty well, too. And a couple of nights later, when they’d been two human lovers going at it in bed, instinct had told him just how and when to deliver the mating bite. The high that came with it still made him tingle, even want to roar.
Mine! My mate!
When he overthought things, though, he still made for a clumsy canine. Scratching an ear with his back foot was a trick he hadn’t quite mastered yet, and Janna collapsed into laughter every time he fell trying it. Which was okay because she said it was cute, and she always made it up to him with a long, wolf lick or a nuzzling session that could go on and on and on.
“Mmm,” she sighed dreamily beside him. “Cole…”
Oops. He’d only meant to touch her, but it had turned into another nuzzle.
“Can’t help it,” he murmured. “Not with my mate.”
That was another thing that gave him a ridiculous sense of pride. Saying those two words. My mate. When Janna had said it that night in the alley, he’d understood the true meaning in his bones, in his soul. Mate.
His, forever. He leaned closer and whispered it in her ear.
Her naked body arched, stretched, and settled down again under his touch.
“Mmm,” she mumbled. “Nice way to wake up.”
It was a nice way to wake up. Slowly. Sober. A little sore from shifting, but just enough to feel settled and peaceful inside.
The place was part of it, too. After a couple of weeks going back and forth between his place and hers, they’d settled into hers, which meant the three rooms in their own little wing at the back of the apartment over the saloon. Soren had the first room at the top of the stairs. Jessica and Simon had the suite of rooms above the café. All of it was interconnected by a hallway with just enough sharp turns in it to give everyone their own space. The apartment really needed a second bathroom and a lot of fixing up, but overall, it was good. Really good.
The first week had been a little awkward, dealing with housemates who could shift into deadly grizzlies or wolves at will, but once they’d all staked out their respective territories, he’d been accepted as if he’d been there from the very start. The bear brothers called their funny little rooming situation a clan, while Janna and Jessica insisted on calling it a pack. Either way, Cole liked it. A lot. In a way, he’d been part of a pack all his life: growing up with a lot of siblings, then working the bull-riding circuit, when he’d traveled and roomed with his brothers or buddies. It was only during those lost, empty couple of months before he met Janna that he’d been alone, and that hadn’t suited him at all.
Janna slid a hand up and down his belly, making him hum.
“Watch it, lady.”
“Not up for a little fun?” she teased. Just her voice was a temptation, never mind the warm curves begging to be touched.
He snorted and scooped her into his arms. “Fun is riding. Dancing. Having a tail.” He grinned, then pressed his lips to hers. “This is more than fun.”
He wasn’t sure what the right word was, but it had to be made up of more than three little letters and one short syllable. What he had with Janna… Yeah, a hell of a lot more than fun.
He kissed his way over to her ear, then started down her chest, relishing the way she sighed and rose under his touch. The way her skin heated made him go hard, and the scent of her arousal filled the room, driving him wild.
“Yes…” she murmured, guiding his head lower.
He was an inch south of her belly button and headed for heaven when a knock came at the door.
“Janna! Cole!”
“Nuh-uh,” Janna muttered. “Not answering tha
t. So not answering that.” She threaded her fingers into his hair, coaxing him along.
The scar of the mating bite she’d left on his neck tingled, making his whole body hot.
“Janna!” Soren called in his deep, authoritative voice.
Cole broke away. Soren was the alpha of the pack. Even if Janna treated him as more of an older brother than almighty ruler, Cole knew all about hierarchy and order. He might be top dog when it came to things like bulls, but under this roof, Soren was boss, and Cole sure as hell wasn’t going to get on the bear’s bad side. Being the only unmated shifter in the clan could make a guy grouchy — especially given that Soren had lost his destined mate in a fire. Cole didn’t even want to think about how bad that would be, so, yeah, he always cut the guy some slack.
“Later,” Cole whispered into her belly button. “I promise this will be twice as good later.”
“Not possible,” Janna grumbled.
“Come on!” Soren called. “Jess wants everyone downstairs, now.”
“Is it eleven o’clock already?” Janna glared at the clock.
Cole slid along her body, slowly sitting up. “Come on, it’s her big day.” He turned his head and called to Soren, “Be right there.”
“Opening day is tomorrow,” Janna sighed. “Couldn’t we toast the café opening then?”
“She’s already pushed it back two weeks for us.”
“Get moving, already,” Soren called from the other side of the door.
Janna grumbled a little longer, but she brightened with each layer of clothing she slipped on and each step she bounced down on her way to the ground floor.
“Quarter Moon Café,” he chuckled. “I love the name of the new place.”
They stepped out the back door of the saloon and circled around into the café next door.
“Hello?” Janna called.
“We’re out front,” Jess called.
Janna dragged him past the enticing scent of the muffins to the airy front room of the café, where everyone was gathered. Jess brushed the crumbs off Simon’s face, looking ridiculously happy. Tina Hawthorne was there, too, with her mate, Rick Rivera, the wolf shifter who owned the property adjoining Twin Moon Ranch.
“Ready to start work soon?” Rick asked as Cole shook his hand. Rick, his new boss, because Cole had scored the perfect job at Seymour Ranch. “We’re desperate for help with those new bulls we got in.”
Cole grinned. He’d been by Seymour Ranch to teach Rick’s ranch hands how to handle the new stock and had immediately been offered a job. The new cattle could turn great profits as organic beef, but they’d been causing the ranch hands hell ever since they’d arrived.
“Can’t wait,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.
It was true. He couldn’t wait to start. His month of settling into his new skin was almost up, and it was time to earn an honest wage again. He’d been helping Rosalind transition to a new stable hand. Two, in fact — a very capable, very eager brother-sister team who hailed from a wolf pack up in Colorado. Not that Rosalind knew about the wolf part.
The only aspect of the new setup he didn’t like would be the hours of separation from Janna, but they’d get through that, too.
“Okay, everybody. Here we go,” Jessica cleared her throat and handed him a champagne flute. “To the Quarter Moon Café.”
Everyone raised their glasses and watched Jessica’s eyes shine at the idea of a dream come true. It was exactly the same way Janna’s eyes shone at him — and probably the way his eyes glowed right back at his mate.
“To the Quarter Moon Café,” everyone echoed with a hearty cheer.
“To a great manager.” Tina nodded to Jess.
“To lots more muffins,” Simon added.
“To more working hours,” Janna chimed in, wearing a wry smile. Other than worrying about Victor Whyte, the rogue leader who’d slipped away, the only thing the Blue Moon clan had to fret about was finding enough help to run both the saloon and the café.
Tina pinched her lips together. “I found someone to help here all next week. After that… Well, I’m working on it.”
Rick pulled Tina into his side, and Cole was tempted to do the same with Janna. He let his eyes drift across the cheery faces. Everyone working together, pulling together, helping each other along. The way it should be.
A figure walked by the front doors then pulled up short, and he smiled. Getting people to try out the new café wouldn’t be hard, not with Jessica’s cooking and Janna’s knack for pulling customers in.
He looked more closely and realized the woman outside wasn’t looking at the colorful tables and chairs he’d helped paint. She wasn’t studying the menu Jessica had posted in the window, either. She seemed lost and weary. Except for the swell of an unmissable baby bump, the woman was thin. Too thin. She stood in the bright sunlight, teetered on her feet, and—
Whoa! Cole ran to the sidewalk just in time to get an arm around her before she crashed to the ground.
“Whoa there. You all right?”
She sure didn’t look all right, so he steered her into the café despite her mumbled protests.
“Oh, you poor thing,” Jessica cooed, guiding the stranger in.
Janna and Tina dashed in to help, too, and as they took over, he caught a glimpse of wicked burn scars running down the woman’s arm.
“Rick, get her a cushion.”
“Get her a glass of water, too,” Jess said, kneeling by the woman.
“I’m fine,” the woman insisted, but her voice was weak and uncertain. “Just need a minute…”
She needed about six weeks, Cole figured, until that baby was ready to take on the world. The woman was gaunt, but her belly was stretched with what had to be seven or eight months of baby. For a moment, he panicked, thinking she might be in early labor.
The woman puffed once or twice and sat straighter. “I’m fine,” she repeated, a little more insistently.
The curtain of her hair fell back, and Soren froze in front of her, holding a glass in midair.
“Soren!” Janna chided.
“Soren?” the newcomer whispered.
“Sarah,” he whispered, barely above the sound of his breath.
For a moment, everyone stood still. Time stood still, and Cole’s mind whirled. Janna had explained about Soren being in love with a human from back home in Montana. A girl named Sarah who’d died in a fire…
One look at the way Soren and the woman stared at each other told him this was that Sarah. So she hadn’t died in that fire. She was alive. Alive and expecting a baby…
His mind spun through the math. According to Janna, the fire happened seven months ago and Soren had been away a few months before that. Which meant that baby had to have been conceived sometime after Soren left.
Oh, shit.
The woman’s hand dropped to her rounded belly, and when Soren’s eyes followed, the glass slipped out of his hand and shattered on the floor.
The woman’s eyes remained dry, but her expression wept with something like, Let me explain.
Before the splinters came to rest on the new linoleum floor, Soren wheeled and strode out of the room. Not a word. Not a backward glance. Not a sign of emotion. But the air around him wavered with sorrow and doubt.
“Soren!” Janna called sharply, but the bear shifter was gone.
Cole’s eyes met Janna’s and he gulped. They’d found their happiness — but Soren… God, how would he ever find his?
* * *
Turn the page to start reading Redemption - but get your tissues ready first!
Redemption
Book 3 in the Blue Moon Saloon series
by Anna Lowe
Redemption
Bear shifter Soren Voss lives and breathes for the new clan he leads. It’s all he has left after the rogue ambush that murdered the woman he loved — the woman he swears he’ll always love, even if it’s only in his dreams. But the day this alpha’s dream comes true is also the start of a nightmare, because
his destined mate may no longer be his and his alone. Is it fate’s way of torturing him or his last chance at redemption?
Sarah Boone narrowly escaped the inferno that claimed her family and her home. For months, she’s been on the run with a secret that is rapidly becoming impossible to hide. But the clock is ticking, and she needs a place to settle down soon. She never expected to find the love of her life running a funky little place called the Blue Moon Saloon. Soren is darker and more dangerous than ever, but somehow more vulnerable, too. Does she have it in her to be the woman her world-weary warrior needs most of all?
Chapter One
“Man, where are those two?” Soren looked around. “Everyone’s ready but them.”
Jessica stopped unwrapping the foil at the neck of the champagne bottle to chuckle. “I can guess where Janna and Cole are — in bed, snoozing or shagging.”
Soren sighed. It was to be expected of freshly mated shifters in his growing clan. But really, could those two not drag themselves out of bed by eleven?
“I’ll get them,” he sighed and headed out the back door of the café then through the entrance of the neighboring saloon he ran with his brother. The stairs creaked under his step as did the wide wooden floorboards of the hallway upstairs, until he came to the happy couple’s door and knocked.
“Janna! Cole!”
The giggle that had been drifting through the door broke off abruptly. Yep, those two were busy, all right.
Mates, his inner bear whispered sadly.
He let a few seconds tick by, swallowed away the lump in his throat, and knocked again.
“Janna!” he called, and even his inner bear winced at the way it came out. He hadn’t meant to bark quite so sharply, though it sure did come out that way.
Happy, his bear reminded him. Be happy for them.
He was happy for them. Truly. It was just hard to forget that he’d once dreamed of mornings like that. Joyous mornings, waking up beside his own mate. Carefree mornings, watching her smile in her sleep. Sensual mornings, when an innocent touch or a quick kiss could so easily turn into more.
