Single
Wicked Wolf
Wolves of
Willow Bend
Heather
Long
A Wicked Tale
ARe Books
Genre: M/F, Werewolves, PNR
About the
Book:
He’s single, wicked, and a perfect
pretend boyfriend…but exactly who is she fooling?
Murphy DeWitt enjoyed two years touring
American consulates in Europe as an assistant to a diplomatic attaché. It was a
dream come true, and a hell of a learning experience. A master of languages,
she knows how to get her point across. Romance, however, proves to be a tongue
twister.
Now en route to Willow Bend for a
friend’s wedding—without the make-believe boyfriend she created for her
family—she debates how to confess her deception. Luckily, her flight includes a
fantastically hot wolf that leaves her breathless and contemplating all kinds
of naughty things.
Giovanni Conti thrives on protecting
others. As a Centurion for the Seven Hills pack in Italy, it’s his pleasure to
serve his Alpha wherever he is needed.
Dispatched ahead in preparation for the
Alpha pair’s trip to Willow Bend, he has no problem entertaining the sexy wolf
he encounters in the airport. The last thing the playboy wolf expects, however,
is to find in Murphy the most captivating chase of his life…
Available at
Excerpt:
“I’m in Rome, Mom,” Murphy repeated the
information for the third time. The connection sucked, but she’d promised to
let her family know prior to boarding the flight taking her back to the United
States. After two years of hopping all over Europe, she was actually ready for
a good old fashioned burger and beer with her friends. If it were warm enough,
maybe they could have a picnic by the old swimming hole and catch up.
Navigating through the
crowded corridors, she avoided being run over by businessmen hurrying, tourists
gawking, and mothers herding. She’d already checked her suitcase, but kept her
go bag with her. After visiting more than sixty U.S. missions and consulates
throughout Europe, she was heading home to Willow Bend. The roaming had been
fantastic for her, a dream come true. The idea of returning home—returning to
her pack—made her wolf heart sing.
“Rome,” she said again
when her mother’s voice crackled.
“I thought your last
assignment was in Zurich.” Switzerland was an appropriate place to finish her
European tour. Serving as a translator for an assistant attaché may have landed
her in boring meeting after boring meeting, but it had also taken her to a wide
variety of cities. A once in a lifetime opportunity, especially as not all
packs welcomed foreigners in their territory. Thankfully, most had given her a
pass for a day or two with freedom to leave the consulates or embassies. Only
three times had she received a text from either her Alpha Mason or his second,
A.J. advising her to stay with the detail in the host city or on the embassy
grounds.
Some packs killed and
asked questions later. She’d been turned when she was eighteen and at
twenty-seven, she’d had nine years of being a wolf. Even after two years of
limited shifting because of location and observation, she’d become more
comfortable with her wolf. Still, she avoided fights—and she dodged another
cluster of people. The airport made her crazy. She had to cross the entire
length of it to get to her connecting flight to the U.S.
“I was, Mom,” she told
her, weaving to avoid students from Japan who streamed past in organized
fashion. Part of the reason she’d taken the job was when she’d asked Toman for
the bite, she’d had to forgo a year of foreign studies.
Her wolf rubbed against
the inside of her skin. Yes, totally worth it.
“Now I’m in Rome, I’ll
be boarding my flight in fifteen and I’ll be home sometime tomorrow…and no,
before you ask, don’t send anyone to pick me up. I’m going to rent a car.”
“You’re sure?” Alison
DeWitt was the perfect mom. She baked cookies, attended all extracurricular
functions, encouraged her and didn’t hover. But she always had to confirm
everything. “The wedding is in three days, two after you get here, and I thought
we could meet your young man before the wedding. It will be so crazy at the
wedding.”
Crap. “I’m sure—I see my
gate. I need to go. I’ll see you soon. Love you.” Ending the call before her
mother could add anything else probably earned her bad daughter karma, but she
didn’t want to admit the mysterious boyfriend stories she’d entertained them
with on and off for the last few months were complete and utter lies.
Self-defense was her only excuse. After Shiloh and Matt announced their mating,
Mom began dropping huge, nuclear bomb-sized hints about marriage or mating
prospects for Murphy. The first fabrication had been to get her mother off the
phone, and it sort of snowballed from there.
Not one to lie to her
parents, she’d come right to them at fifteen and confessed her desire to be a
wolf. Her human parents were a part of the Willow Bend pack, and all of her
siblings were human, too. Her aunt and uncle, and by extension her cousins,
however, were wolves. Her aunt had taken the bite, and her children had been
born wolves. Murphy wanted to be like them.
No one in her family
tried to talk her out of it. Her stomach rumbled, so Murphy diverted into a
gift shop. Bottle of water, one pre-packaged turkey sandwich, and some chips in
hand, she dropped the food into her duffle bag after paying for it. Returning
to the concourse, she blew out a breath. No, no one tried to talk her out of
her desire to become a wolf. No one pushed her to be anything other than what
she was—and her mom talked to every wolf family, including her sister, and they
all took Murphy under their wings.
Eyes watering, she held
her breath at the cloud of Chanel and sweat floating past her. Contrary to what
most women thought, bathing in their perfume did not cover the lack of a
shower. Learning to ignore her nose took practice, and the airport was a great
place to remember not to suck in the scent of everyone in her path. A glance at
her phone told her she had another forty minutes till her plane boarded, which
was good. She would have time to eat and pee without going into the nasty
little onboard bathroom.
Plan firm, she found an
opening amongst the passengers hurrying along. Carry-on in hand, she heard a
mother call out to her child in French. The snap in the mother’s tone jerked
her attention more than the words. Homesickness swamped her all at once and
tears filled her eyes. It had been so long since she’d seen her mother, save
for the occasional Skype call, or been around the pack. The longing left her
aching.
Distracted, she didn’t
slow until she slammed into the hard bodied male and bounced off him. All the
air whooshed out of her, and her chest actually hurt from the blow. If not for
his hands on her arms steadying her, she would have landed on her ass.
Embarrassing enough to slam into someone, worse to fall.
Tilting her head, she
met the deep brown eyes glinting with concern and humor. The sexy brown eyes
matched the sexy, rugged features. Very Italian. Very hot. Her nostrils flared
and her heart clenched.
Oh. Crap. Very wolf.
~
About the
Author
Heather Long likes long walks in the
park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags.
Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as
Texas summertime. From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military
romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her
stories—her characters drive the books.
When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of
animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She
believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their
chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women
just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.
Sign up for Heather’s newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/iKxQ5
For more information on other books by
Heather, visit her website: www.heatherlong.net
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