Arctic werewolves in a romantic suspense.
When I wrote Legend of the White Wolf, I was still in the believing
stage that I wouldn’t sell any more wolf stories… you know, one was a
miracle, then two was nice, but it took the publisher a year to decide
it would fly, and the third and fourth book sold as a package deal, but
that time just on a pitch. So for the first 4 stories, I wrote them as
separate packs. Not connected, except that one wolf kept popping up in
all of them. So his story was after that. Readers demanded that. Leidolf
was a red wolf with a red wolf pack. All the stories were unique. And
that’s what I really wanted to ensure. That with each story, they had to
be different.
Billionaire in Wolf’s Clothing makes Book 20 in the series. Can you
believe it? And I’ve just finished up the next 3 books in the series and
turned them in. And I have 3 more to write now. So that will be 26 in
the series. So far. Every one of them has to be unique in some way. I
try to base them on real wolves, so in Alpha Wolf Need Not Apply–she is
in charge of her own pack. Just like some she-wolves are that have lost
their pack mate. But sometimes a persistent male falls head over tail
for the she-wolf, and after she quits chasing him off…she falls for him
too. (True wolf story)
Excerpt from:
Legend of the White Wolf
Copyright © 2010 by Terry Spear
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any
form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information
storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing
from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or
are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead,
is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
Prologue
The black bear was running away a hell of a lot faster than Owen
Nottingham and his P.I. partner David Davis thought capable. Their
hunting guide, Trevor Hodges, yelled at them to keep up, but at the rate
the bear was going, Owen and David would never last. Already Owen had
shin splints, and his side was aching something fierce, and damn, here
he thought he was in good shape.
They couldn’t use dogs on the bear this late in the year in Maine,
but the owner of Back Country Tours, Kintail Silverman got around that
by sending his pet wolves on the hunt. Made Owen feel like he was part
of a wolf pack, hunting for survival, the sleek white furred creatures
diving around snow-laden firs, blending in, exhilarated, hunting
together as a cooperative team. Although the experience would be more
pleasurable if their other partners were with them, Cameron MacPherson,
who wouldn’t hunt for anything other than criminals, and Gavin
Summerfield, who’d rather stay in Seattle and work, than fly anywhere.
But the four of them were like a wolf pack, solving crimes together as a
collective unit and socializing as the best of friends throughout the
good times and bad.
So Owen wished they could share hunting excursions together, too.
He noticed then only snowy woods in front of them, the wolves and
bear lost in the forest ahead as the chilly wind howled through the
trees. Trevor was still keeping a good pace in the distance. For being a
white-haired old guy, he was lean and in incredibly great shape.
David had dropped way behind, but Owen was too busy trying to keep up
the chase to wait for David to catch up. One last day before their hunt
ended. And hell, they’d tried to bag a bear for the last four years
without any luck. The way the bear was outdistancing them in a hurry in
the Maine wilderness, Owen was beginning to lose hope they’d make it
this time either. But it was the closest they’d come.
When Owen didn’t hear David’s heavy breathing behind him, or his size
ten boots trudging through the deep snow, he turned and looked to see
how far behind he was. David was holding his thighs, leaning over,
gasping for breath.
“David, you all right?” Owen asked, knowing it was a dumb question,
when he figured David was trying to catch his second wind and couldn’t
answer anyway.
David motioned him on, wheezing, his face red and pinched with pain. “Get the bear! I’m fine. Go. I’ll catch up.”
But it wasn’t like David not to keep up on a hunt and Owen ran back
to check on him. “What’s wrong?” Owen asked, grabbing his arm to steady
him.
“Go. You’ll…never…forgive…me…if we…” David clutched his chest.
The wolves and Trevor circled back and joined them. The old man shook his head. “Chest pains?”
Through clenched teeth, David growled, “From…running…damn it.”
David was the oldest of the four partners in their private
investigator practice, but at thirty-five, David couldn’t be having a
heart attack.
With millions of acres of forest land all around them, they were too
deep into the wilderness to get help. Cell phones wouldn’t work out
here. Owen knew CPR, but…
He helped David to sit. “What are you feeling?” he asked, trying to
disguise the anxiety in his voice, although he couldn’t hide a deepening
frown, and David noticed.
“Don’t be a…worry…” David clutched his chest even harder, his face sweating in the frigid air.
“We can’t get any help to him way out here,” Trevor said quietly. “If
he’s having a heart attack, it’s not a bad way to go. Quick, no
lingering illness.”
“No!” Owen snapped. “Do you have any aspirin?” How could he let his
friend from childhood and one of the best partners he’d had in law
enforcement before they’d left the force die on him? He couldn’t. “I
know CPR.”
“It won’t be enough.” Trevor sounded like the voice of reason, but Owen didn’t want to hear it.
The image of David lunging in front of him, taking a bullet in the
shoulder two years ago, flashed across Owen’s mind. He wouldn’t let him
go. He couldn’t.
The wolves watched silently, almost sympathetically as if one of
their pack members was in trouble, their ears perked, their tongues
hanging out, panting after the long run.
His hand clutching David’s shoulder, Owen clenched his teeth to bite
back the overwhelming feeling of hopelessness. “Can’t we do something?
Anything?”
“Possibly,” Trevor said, “but it will change his life and yours, forever.”
“I’d do anything to save my friend’s life,” Owen said, figuring
Trevor was thinking in terms of if he had enough money, they could air
evac him out somewhere, maybe in a clearing where the loggers had been.
Trevor put a hand on Owen’s shoulder. “You sure?”
“Anything, damn it. However much it costs, it’s worth it.”
Trevor looked back at the wolves. The biggest one bowed its head slightly, then bared his teeth and lunged.
Before Owen could fathom what was happening, the wolf bit David in the arm. He cried out in pain.
Owen swung his rifle to his shoulder to shoot the beast, when he
caught a blur of white fur in his peripheral vision, right before one of
the other wolves pounced on him.
***
You get what you ask for, sometimes, right?
Have a super wonderful Saturday!
Terry Spear
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
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