Her dark wolf a holiday.., p.1
Her Dark Wolf: A Holiday Wolf Story, page 1
Her Dark Wolf
A Holiday Wolf Story
River Starr
Copyright © 2022 River Starr
All rights reserved.
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Cover design by MANUELA SERRA DESIGN
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
About Her Dark Wolf
My name is Juliet and it has definitely had a negative impact on my life love.
I’ve just left a seven year relationship. I quit my job. I lost my apartment. So when my best friend insists I go out with her on Valentine’s Day to a single’s bar, I figure, why not? My life can’t possibly become any more of a disaster.
That’s when a man appears seemingly by moonlight itself. He says he’s my dark wolf for the night, there to help me believe in both love and myself again. And when he saves me and sweeps my off my feet quite literally at the same time, who am I to argue with the one thing apparently going right?
What I don’t expect is for my body to respond to his voice, his touch, his very presence. I don’t expect to fall for him. I don’t expect to think that, just maybe, this werewolf can make make me whole.
We have until sunrise to find out.
HER DARK WOLF is a sizzling hot werewolf shifter fated mates holiday novella about a whirlwind Valentine’s Day night. HEA guaranteed!
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Imprisoned Heir - Atlantis Institute For Dangerous Criminals
Soul Bound - Free Prequel
About the Author
Chapter One
It must have been some kind of joke. Juliet, alone on Valentine’s Day. That was the only reason I could find for the other girls at the bar joking and smiling while I ordered my third drink of the night. Not that it was possible for them to know my name, or that I wasn’t simply waiting for a date.
They didn’t know, right?
I sipped my vodka cranberry and scanned the dancing crowd for Ashley, my best friend. We’d come here together on Valentine’s Day, happy to spend the night as single friends, partying and owning that single status. But Ashley had found a guy beneath the club’s red and pink lights, and had danced off with him some time ago.
I didn’t have it in me. And I was pretty sure no matter how many drinks I bought, I wouldn’t find a happiness substantial enough to get me to dance at this very moment.
Three weeks ago, I’d broken it off with Jeremy, my now ex, and it’d been a colorful evening, to say the least. Arguments. Screaming matches. Me running out of his apartment with a box of my stuff. And that was after leaving my job with a different box’s worth of my personal effects.
It was safe to say that whatever gods existed did not want this Juliet to have love on Valentine’s Day. Or a job. Or an apartment.
I turned back to the bar and caught sight of my reflection in the mirror behind the bartender. All things considered, I didn’t think I was really that unattractive. I was thin, but not horribly so. My long blonde hair was done up tight tonight, topping off a dark jeans and black leather jacket over a red tank top look. I had bright blue eyes and a small nose. Some freckles. Quirky, maybe, but not unflattering. It wasn’t my reflection—or appearance—that was the issue with me. No, that was too many other layers deep, apparently.
I stared down into my drink, distracted for a moment as the bar’s lights danced off the silver wolf charm on my bracelet. Three weeks ago, I thought my future was pretty set. I’d even convinced myself that despite our more frequent arguments and miscommunication that maybe, just maybe, Jeremy was going to finally propose to me this Valentine’s Day.
Joke’s on me.
Or, I was the joke. I wasn’t sure anymore.
My life had turned upside down, and while I’d landed in a gorgeous new studio apartment, I hadn’t yet found a job that would help me keep it after a few months.
I was a mess. But at least I was a buzzed mess.
I sipped my drink again and turned back to the crowd. Everyone was so happy out there, whether they were dancing with somebody or alone. I wanted to join them, but my god-awful mental state pinned me to my seat with too many stupid questions and what-if’s. The same games I’d been playing for three weeks now—or longer, if I were being honest. I’d started to question my entire relationship before the new year.
I cursed beneath my breath and sipped my drink. I knew I’d be happy again, eventually. Even if things didn’t get better right away, happiness was achievable. But love?
After seven years together, Jeremy and I hadn’t made it. We had spent together a third of our lives together, and even that wasn’t enough to keep our relationship alive. And Mom and Dad had gotten divorced. Even my sister…
Oh. My. God. I groaned loudly into my drink before throwing it back and standing up. I would not sit here and pout all night. At least, I wouldn’t be a total downer here in public surrounded by happy, intoxicated people either totally in love with each other or out with people they could fall into easy lust with. This scene was not for me, no matter how much Ashley had wanted me to come out and maybe find someone to hook up with just to forget Jeremy for one night.
No way. Not on overrated Valentine’s Day.
I paid my tab at the bar before weaving my way through the crowd of dancing people. When I found Ashley, I tapped her on the shoulder and leaned in to her ear so she’d hear me over the pounding EDM from the speakers. Ashley was still dancing with the same guy from before, but some of our other friends had joined them.
“I’m going home,” I shouted.
Ashley pouted and grabbed my wrists, trying to get me to dance. “Come on. Dance with me. Find a hot guy and then go home with him.”
I gave her enough of a smile to hopefully convince her I’d thought it over. “I’m good. I’m really not into it this year.” Especially when I’d spent the last seven in a relationship. Maybe if the wound from the break-up hadn’t been so fresh, I could have made myself feel up to Ashley’s suggestions.
Ashley’s frown deepened, but she nodded. “Okay. Will you get home all right?”
“Yeah. I’ll text you.” I waved to our friends, happy she’d not be here alone.
“Good,” she said over the music before wrapping me in a quick hug.
I squeezed her back and then headed off the dance floor. I felt like a total loser leaving the club alone, even more so than I’d felt while sitting alone at the bar on Valentine’s Day, but at least I’d be home soon, in some comfy pajamas, and ready to binge some comfort TV shows. All that stood between the loud chaos of being single and a calm evening alone was a ten-minute taxi drive.
Why, then, did every step out of the bar and toward the moonlit road outside it feel so heavy? It was as though I were walking through deep slush and snow when most of it had melted the day before. A full moon shone down on me. All around, the sounds of the city lit the streets with car horns and sirens. Mist and fog rose from sewer lids and drains. This city. My home. A home I’d only come to because of Jeremy in the first place.
Was nothing simply mine anymore?
I was halfway to the street when I turned my gaze on the bar behind me, guilt spiraling into anxiety about my decision to leave. To leave what, though? This bar? Or the job I’d hated? Because I’d finally had enough and left that, too, but the guilt around that decision had finally just stopped eating me alive.
Then there was the guilt for ending a seven-year relationship because, hey, maybe it could have gotten better. Maybe we could have patched things up. The constant fights weren’t that bad, we just needed to work on our communication, right? And maybe Jeremy flirting with other girls online was just another miscommunication, too.
Frustration bloomed within me, lighting the guilt on fire. Searing it from my mind. No. I had nothing to be guilty for. I deserved to be happy. To have a relationship that was healthy and stable. To have a job I loved. To go out with my friends and party the night away carefree.
Just like everyone else.
Every emotion within me bubbled to the surface at the same time. It started as a fire in my chest and rose until my lips gave voice to the overwhelming rush. I lifted my gaze to the full moon above and screamed. Tears pricked my eyes and my throat stung, but I kept screaming—more of a roar, really. Guttural. I felt every emotion tenfold, and it only fueled the overwhelm until, with a giant gasp of air, I bent over, quiet, resting my palms on my thighs as my chest rose and fell.
I wanted to be somewhere else. To be someone else.
A male voice cut through the silence with all the grace of a boulder slamming through glass. “Over the top feral, that one.”
“Still beautiful, though,” came a second male voice.
I straightened immediately. I’d come here with Ashley, and the bar was totally safe with friends. But in this city, alone, no street was really safe as a female. I scrubbed my cheeks free of tears with my palms and turned to face those approaching m
“Think she’s interested?” the shorter one asked.
“She’s not,” I said as firmly as I could. It surprised me there was any strength at all still in my voice after the scream that’d nearly run it raw.
The two men walked closer. I resisted the urge to retreat and turn my back to them. But no taxis had been in sight before, and the men stood between me and the door to the bar.
The realization my safest place was behind them sent my heart pounding in my ears.
“Aw,” the taller one said as he slapped his buddy on the chest. “She’s playing hard to get. That’s cute.” He stumbled the most as he walked, clearly the more inebriated of the two.
I swallowed hard and cursed everything under the moon for not coming equipped with so much as keys to hold between my fingers tonight. Then, for a split second, I thought I saw a huge dark form in a nearby alleyway. Another person maybe.
Hope bloomed in my chest. Maybe they could intervene. But then the form seemed to fall onto all fours and a wolf howl sounded.
A wolf howl. In the middle of the city.
In a flash, both the dark form and also clearly my sanity were gone.
How stupid can you be, Juliet?
“Back off,” I barked. “I’m not interested.”
The shorter man frowned. “I don’t know, man.”
His taller friend rolled his eyes and strode closer. I backed up, taking a step off the sidewalk and into the road, but my foot landed awkwardly and I teetered backward immediately. A yelp escaped my lips at the same time both men strode closer. I reached out, arms waving, and caught myself on the hood of a parked car next to me. But before I could recover, the taller tool had gripped my wrist.
“I’d say she’s fallen for us,” he said with a laugh in his voice that twisted my stomach and rose bile in my raw throat. “Are you into feral women?”
He laughed as if it was the funniest thing in the world. I squeezed my eyes shut, which kept me from seeing what exactly cut off the taller man’s laugh. But it stopped immediately, and his hand was torn from my wrist. The man cried out, cursing under his breath, before a sickening crunch echoed through the air.
I curled against the hood of the car, my eyes still squeezed shut, and hoped that whatever was happening ended quickly. Maybe I shouldn’t have left the bar alone. Maybe I shouldn’t have come out at all. A woman named Juliet out and about on Valentine’s Day surely felt like asking for bad luck.
A heavy thud sounded as something large contacted another car parked nearby, followed by a rolling and a second thud. Then came the sounds of bones crushing.
I opened my eyes at that, determined to face whatever was happening, and found the taller of two men face down on the pavement next to a car. A third man, new to the scene, held the shorter of my attackers in the air, his feet dangling wildly.
“Next time, think twice about hurting a woman,” the new man growled before throwing the shorter one off to the side. He landed by his buddy, the both of them groaning in pain.
I slid off the car’s hood and stared at the new man, who’d seemingly appeared from nowhere. Fear made my heart race. My mouth had gone dry. I wasn’t sure I could scream again if I wanted to.
The man turned to me. He was easily over six feet tall, with broad shoulders, a built frame visible beneath a tight black t-shirt, with huge biceps and corded muscles on his arms. His bronze skin caught the full moon’s light, and his dark brown eyes matched his hair that fell to his cheeks. He had a dark beard, too, and everything about him both set me on edge but also made me want to run to him at the same time. Despite his huge form, he felt safe. He had to be safe, right? He’d stepped in to stop those men from attacking me. Only nice guys did that.
He stepped toward me. “We need to go.” His voice was deep and rolled like thunder. It felt electrified as it sifted through the air between us—like lightning looking to strike.
My body reacted to his voice before I could acknowledge or stop it. A chill coursed down my spine, curling my toes and making me lick my lips to wet them.
“Now,” he nearly growled before reaching for me. He scooped me up off the ground and threw me over his shoulder.
Fear spiked within me again. Panic swept through my chest. I swallowed it down as I beat on his shoulders and found my voice. “What are you doing?”
“Taking you somewhere safer than this,” he said, as if that explained everything from his attacking those two men to man-handling me himself. And yet despite the way he was handling me, my fear, I realized, was mostly shock. This man did not scare me the way the other two had. It should. But I kept feeling inexplicably safe in his arms.
Maybe that should’ve worried me. But it didn’t. Not with how otherwise messed up my life had become.
Chapter Two
“The danger is gone!” I protested. “Hey, put me down!”
“Not yet.” The man walked us away from the bar, with me still over his shoulder, and around the corner like a man on a mission. A mission, apparently, to get me to safety. Which was so over-the-top unnecessary.
I tried to ignore the way his massive shoulders felt as he walked. How strong his back muscles were beneath my fingers. I hadn’t been this close to a man since Jeremy and I had broken up, and I hadn’t pictured this being how I’d get close to one again.
The man kept walking until we were a solid block away from the bar, to a small green space park. This tiny park was newer and had solar-powered lights lighting its bike and walking paths.
Finally, he set me down. I backed away instantly—just a few steps to create some distance from this large, muscular, hot as hell, man.
He inclined his head in my silence and took a step toward me. “Are you hurt?” His voice rolled through me like thunder again, and an excited shiver that had no place existing coursed over my body.
I blinked rapidly. Every word he said seemed to wrap around me and hold me close. It wasn’t just safety—no. This was… I didn’t know what this was. But suddenly I realized I wanted him to keep talking. His voice alone was a balm to my previous fear and my now confusion, and when he reached out to take my hand, when our skin met, an instant warm rush flushed through me. I wanted to melt—might actually melt—before him.
“I—I’m fine,” I managed to get out through my overall shock at the situation. “Thank you. I don’t think fleeing the scene was necessary, though.”
The man studied me, maybe looking for injuries, but his gaze made me want to squirm. Not from discomfort, but from how thorough it seemed to be—and how transparent I suddenly felt before him. “Are you sure?”
I nodded and stepped back again. “Yes. Thank you.”
He wasn’t terrifying, but my willingness to melt before him was. To my surprise, he let my hand go.
Now that I was looking closer, I saw the faint outline of a tattoo on his forehead—a barely there red ink in the shape of a rune. Once my eyes caught it, it felt like that was all that could capture my attention. The rune was strange, yet familiar at the same time.
With a moment of realization, I glanced down at the bracelet on my left wrist. A silver chain charm bracelet with exactly one charm: a wolf. A wolf with a rune like this man’s tattoo.
My brow furrowed. How was this coincidence even possible? This bracelet had been a family heirloom that had ended up in my possession as a child. It wasn’t even originally mine.
The man relaxed a measure, which drew me out of my thoughts and questions.
“Good,” he said, sending another wave of excited chills through me.
What the hell sort of reaction was that to a man’s voice? He was hot as hell. I’d give him that. But I’d never, not once, had this reaction to a man’s looks and voice before. It was like my body had a mind of its own, and it’d act on it no matter what.
