Excerpt from The Wolf on the Hill

Rain soaked Mia’s fur as she bounded through the woods bordering the Olcan Hills, relishing every inch of earth mashed beneath her claws. Trees became nothing more than a blur as she raced by, running to find her release out here where she answered to no one but nature. This was freedom.

When she reached the top of the hill she came to a standstill and released her primal scream of frustration in a howl, unleashing everything she couldn’t say to her overbearing family, pouring every hidden truth of who she really was into one long mournful call.

In the distance, another wolf echoed her cry and answered with one of his own. This was the reason her mother despised her shifting into her wolf form. She went kind of crazy and forgot all sense of danger in the excitement. Exactly the reason why she did it in secret. And now, here she was, totally exposed in the Northern Irish countryside, crouched and listening out for the intruder’s approach.

Snapping twigs and rustling leaves marked his stealthy journey towards her but she stood her ground, regardless of how loudly her heart was beating in her ears. The wind carried his scent and raised the hackles along her spine when she sniffed the air. Another shifter, but one she didn’t recognise. Big bro would use her pelt for a rug if he found out she’d strayed beyond the boundary.

Amber eyes glowed in the dark shadows as the large grey wolf stalked through the forest. She bowed in submission. Even if she had a clue how to fight, he was double her size and twice as powerful. He growled a low warning and sniffed her with interest, his wet nose nudging her clammy fur. Did he expect her to roll over and show her belly? Pride wouldn’t let her, but she was careful not to make eye contact as he circled around her twice in case he took it as a challenge.

She only lifted her head when she saw him pad away, heading back to the cover of the trees. He stopped, looked back at her, and cocked his head to one side. When she didn’t move he returned and nipped her ear. She yelped in surprise and indignation. Of all the nerve!

The rules of engagement were abandoned in the heat of her outrage and, in a snarling frenzy, she launched herself at him. For an animal so large, the grey wolf moved gracefully, dodging her attack to race ahead and leaving Mia in dogged pursuit.

Tree branches tore at her skin as she ploughed heedlessly into the woodland, but the pain dulled in the exhilaration of the chase. As they wove their way through the undergrowth, Mia’s anger subsided to let her long-neglected sense of fun take over.

He wanted her to follow him. She knew that from the glances he kept throwing back at her. So she stopped and slipped quietly behind the stump of an uprooted oak, waiting to see what he would do. White wisps of steam escaped from her nostrils as she fought to get her breath back and suddenly the area seemed too quiet.

With a thud Grey leapt onto the tree stump, and leant back onto his haunches ready to pounce. Mia took off again and this time she was the hunted. She didn’t get very far before he sprang and knocked her off her feet.

In a tangle of limbs they rolled through the leafy debris of the forest floor, shifting into their human form as they came to rest, with her pinned to the ground by a hard, muscular, naked body.

"Well, that was fun." He grinned down at her, making no attempt to get off her, his green eyes full of mischief.

"If you say so." Mia’s heart still raced but she was at enough of a disadvantage wedged underneath him without admitting she enjoyed the capture as much as the chase.

"I didn’t hurt you, did I?" He bent his head to kiss the scratches marking her shoulder and suddenly the only ache she felt was hidden deep inside.

"No." She swallowed hard as he ventured closer to her already puckered nipples.

"Do you want me to stop?" His hot breath on her sensitive skin engulfed her in a tide of hormones she hadn’t been ruled by in a long time, if ever.

Maybe a piece of her wolf was still in her system, thriving on the excitement and danger, but she was horny, and ripe for the picking. "No."

With a need to touch, to taste this handsome stranger on her tongue, she manoeuvred enough room to free her hands and wind them into his dark blond hair, pulling him down into a kiss.

He massaged her breasts, first with his hand, quickly followed by his mouth. The sucking and licking around her straining pink tips made her arousal too great to bear. She writhed against him, wet and waiting, but he let her suffer further still whilst he covered her mounds in tiny, exquisite bites.

Bewitched by the woods and her fantasy lover, she swapped the dull reality of her life for this moment, cavorting like the sort of woodland nymph she longed to be. Someone who lived without fear of consequences or judgement.

She wanted him. Prim and proper Mia Blake, who never stepped out of line, was lying naked in the woods with a stranger’s erection pressing into her abdomen, and she loved it. A restlessness seized hold as her body cried out with need. Her limbs trembled, her fingers and toes curled, waiting for that final act of completion. As dusk settled around them and an ethereal fog swirled between the trees, she lost herself in the erotic dream and let him sink into her.

Excerpt from The Wolf on the Run

"Thanks for stepping in here, Mia. It looks like we have a rush on today." Naomi squeezed past her friend to serve a stream of new customers at the bar. Although Mia was no longer her employee, she’d volunteered to give a helping hand during her lunch break from her childcare centre.

"It might have something to do with this." Mia stopped pulling pints long enough to grab the newspaper out of Rory’s hands.

"Hey!"

Mia ignored her brother’s protest across the counter and thumbed through the pages until she found what she was looking for.

"There you go." With a tap of her finger, she directed Naomi to an article taking up half the page.

'Good food, cold beer and a warm welcome at The Wild Dog'

The headline topped a photograph of her pub. Naomi’s blood ran cold as she scanned paragraph after paragraph. There it was in black and white – ‘Licensee, Naomi Duffy’…

The words swam together as her world came crashing down around her.

"It’s great publicity, isn’t it? Rory has a contact at the newspaper." Mia carried on serving as though Naomi hadn’t just been delivered, gift wrapped, to the Devil himself.

"You did this?" Naomi spun around to face the well-meaning policeman she’d been trying to avoid these past months.

His dark chocolate eyes widened at the harsh tone of her voice. "I just recommended the place to a mate—"

"For once in your life, Rory, I wish you’d mind your own bloody business!" The stunned look on his face blurred as tears marred her vision. She slapped the newspaper into his broad chest and made a hasty exit before she caused any more of a scene.

After her few years of freedom here, the walls of the pub suddenly became her prison. Keeping her trapped until the O’Connells found her. After reverting back to her maiden name and moving to Northern Ireland, she’d tried to minimise the disruption for her daughter’s sake, and prayed they would never cross the border to find her. She’d done her best to keep her anonymity, avoiding social network sites and generally staying under the radar. This small piece of publicity could potentially seal her fate.

Like the hunted animal she now was, Naomi scrabbled for her freedom through the back door. Doubled over outside the cellar doors, she fought to breathe as fear clawed from the inside out. Should she run? This was her livelihood. Olcan Hills was the only home Emily had ever known. Yet, if she stayed and they came for her daughter…

Naomi retched at the very thought of the consequences.

"Okay. Let’s have this out." She heard Rory a fraction of a second before he grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her upright.

"This isn’t the time." He was lucky she didn’t puke on his shiny black shoes.

"You’re right. The time should’ve been about ten months ago when I kissed you." He nudged her chin up with his finger, forcing her to look at him. It would probably be better for her health if he kept up the brutish act instead of reverting back to his typical kind-hearted self.

"Don’t—" The nausea dissipated, leaving that all too familiar ache in her heart she experienced every time she saw him.

"Don’t what? Talk to you? Try to help you? Kiss you?" He dropped his gaze to her mouth and her poor heart took another hammering.

The memory of that sweet kiss was forever imprinted on her lips. The tenderness in that brief moment almost made up for the long time she’d spent denying herself any happiness. But nothing could come of it.

"We’re friends, Rory. What happened was a mistake. We simply got caught up in our friends’ joy after the birth of their baby." Emotions had been running high all around when they’d welcomed baby Sophie into the world, with proud Uncle Rory and honorary Aunt Naomi. She’d simply let her guard down and acted on the simmering attraction during a friendly hug. One kiss couldn’t erase her past, and she wouldn’t take a chance on getting involved with someone when she had so much at stake.

"I’ve spent long enough hanging back, waiting until you’re ready to accept there’s something between us. For some reason you seem determined to keep me at arm’s length."

There weren’t many men like Rory Blake willing to give her the space to work out her feelings. It made what she had to do even worse.

"If you’ve spent nearly a year mooning over a peck on the lips, you really ought to get yourself a life." She shook off the emotional attachment with a toss of her dark hair and walked away, pretending her heart wasn’t breaking in two. He might hate her for the cruelty now, but ultimately she was saving him from a shitload of hurt down the road. After all, she’d damned near killed him already.

The cannonball of hurt, which fired into his gut, almost felled Rory’s six foot two frame. It took a moment for him to get his breath back after the tiny brunette’s torrent of ire. He could lash out in similar fashion and tell her she meant nothing to him, but where was the point in lying?

"I don’t know what happened to make you change the way you feel about me, but I know we have something."

He made another grab for her and spun her back around. A lock of her hair fell across her big brown eyes and he was halfway to brushing it away when he caught himself. He let his hand drift aimlessly to his side, leaving her hair to shield her partially from view.