Be sure not to miss
WOLF TALES
12,
the final book in Kate Douglas’s
sizzling series!
An Aphrodisia trade paperback on sale July 2011.
An Aphrodisia trade paperback on sale July 2011.
Turn the page for a special preview… .
Montana, early August
He paused, raised his muzzle to the
dark sky, and sniffed the subtle currents on the night air. The
scent was there—faint, but still calling to him, even as the silent
night, the gentle breeze, the resinous scent of pine and fir
called.
His eyes narrowed, and his ears pricked
forward. Using all his senses—those of the wolf, those of the man
within, and those amazing Chanku senses—he tested the world around
him.
This was where he belonged, in this
wild, unforgiving place. This was home—the only home he wanted. The
only place where he could truly be free.
But, what good was freedom without his
mate? What was the point? She didn’t run with him tonight. She
hadn’t run with him for much too long.
A low whine sounded from the thick
tangle of willows. Cautiously he sniffed the air again. The scent
was stronger. Not his mate. No, but someone every bit as important.
Someone he sought here in the forest, in the ripe hours balanced on
the knife’s edge between darkness and dawning. Those perfect hours,
when all about him slept.
Even the skitter of mice in the long
grass, the squeak of bats overhead, the soft hoot of owls … even
those sounds had faded away as all the woodland creatures went off
to sleep, to hide, to mate … to celebrate another night of life
before the rising of the sun.
But he was awake, and so was this
other, the one who was his friend, his brother, his closest male
companion. The one he loved above all other men. The one who called
to him now.
“Anton? Over here.”
Anton Cheval slowly turned in the
direction of the soft call and blinked as Stefan Aragat rose to two
feet. Despite the darkness, Anton saw his smile. Thank the Goddess
for a man who smiled, even when all about them seemed so … what?
How could it be, that he felt so dissatisfied?
Life was good. All was well, and yet
…
Shifting, standing as a man beside his
lover, Anton chuckled. “You couldn’t sleep, either?”
Stefan shook his head, ran long fingers
through dark hair threaded with silver, and sighed dramatically.
“Teething is the bane of parenthood.” His familiar dry sense of
humor eased some of the odd tension stringing Anton tight as a
bow.
“I did my fatherly duty,” Stef said,
placing his right hand over his heart. “I spelled Xandi the first
half of the night, but it’s her turn. She’s on kid duty now, praise
the Goddess!”
Anton flashed him an understanding grin
as he stepped over the low-growing willows. “Lucia was fussing,
too. I waited until she fell asleep. Unfortunately, Keisha was
nursing her when they both drifted off. There wasn’t much room left
in the bed.”
“There was always plenty of room for
four adults.” Stefan laughed and hooked his arm around Anton’s
neck. “How is it a single woman and a three-month-old can take up
the entire bed?”
Silence stretched between them for a
long count as Anton thought about the statement Stefan had made in
jest. “So much has changed,” he said, unsure if it was a good or
bad thing. He leaned into Stef’s casual embrace and stared toward
the east, searching for the coming dawn. Was that a faint glow
between the trees? No. Not yet. He glanced at Stef. “It’s all good,
I think, all these changes, but …”
Stefan’s amber eyes twinkled. “But
you’re dissatisfied. I can feel it. What’s wrong, my friend?
Everything is as it should be. The pack is growing with so many new
babies. We’ve gone a full five years without an attack, a
kidnapping, an assault of any kind against any one of us…
.”
“Not since the assassination attempt.”
Anton shoved his tangled hair back from his eyes, remembering.
Those hectic months following the attempt on the president’s life
had ended with lengthy prison sentences meted out to their worst
enemies. There were still plenty of bad guys out there, but at
least none were focused on controlling or destroying
Chanku.
Their secret was still safe. With Nick
and Beth Barden continuing as private security for the First
Family—at least until the president’s second term ended—they
certainly had powerful friends in high places.
“So, what’s the problem? It’s not like
you to go searching for trouble.” Stefan planted both hands on
Anton’s shoulders and stared solemnly at him. There was no teasing
now, no sense of humor. Merely concern. Loving
concern.
Feeling a little foolish, Anton slowly
shook his head. “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Maybe things are too
good, too settled. I have a strong sense of change in the air, as
if something is going to happen. No reason for it. We’re all
healthy; our children are growing.” He smiled. “Our numbers are
growing, that’s for sure. I never once imagined myself as a
husband, much less a father of four.”
“You’re not the only one. At least I
think Xandi’s happy with our three. I hope.”
Anton raised an eyebrow. “I believe
Ariel counts as two.”
“That’s sort of what Xandi and I think.
She’s made Alex look like the world’s easiest baby.” Stefan
chuckled. “So why the dissatisfaction? Our once cozy foursome of
known Chanku now numbers fifty-six, a number that will be growing
quickly with Liana, Jazzy, Tala, and Daci expecting. No one’s tried
to kill us in the past five years.” He raised one expressive
eyebrow. “In case you’re wondering, that’s a good thing. You’ve
completed purchase of over half a million acres adjoining this
property, and the economy has the bank accounts smiling. Anton, my
friend, only you could find something wrong with so much that’s
good.”
Again Anton shrugged. He wished the
sense of foreboding would leave him, but he’d learned to listen to
his premonitions. Still, he hated to worry Stefan. He wasn’t about
to let Keisha in on his fears, either, not until or unless they
actually proved valid.
“You know me,” he said, feeling just a
little bit foolish. “I’m never happy unless I’m worried about
something.” He laughed. “I imagine it has to do with control
issues. If I can’t identify it, I can’t be in charge.”
Stefan chuckled, but he kept his
comments to himself. That alone got him a raised eyebrow from
Anton, but he disliked a sense of something waiting when he didn’t
know what to expect. “It’s odd. Nothing I can put a finger on, but
I have the strangest sense that things are about to change. I can’t
explain it, but I’m afraid to ignore it.”
Stefan leaned his forehead against
Anton’s. “Aren’t you the one who told me change is
good?”
Keisha stood in the doorway and smiled
at Anton. They’d run as wolves and grabbed quick showers. The baby
was sleeping, the older kids watching a movie, and they were alone.
For now. He waited impatiently in their bed as she leaned against
the door frame and stretched one arm overhead, brushing her free
hand down over her thigh, parting the shimmering fabric to display
one long, dark, sleek leg.
Immediately his body hardened, and he
was ready for her as he was always ready, wanting her with a need
that was almost painful in its intensity.
Then she blew it.
Keisha managed to hold the seductive
pose for a good five seconds before bursting into giggles. “Sex
queens are us. C’mon, Anton. You’re supposed to be impressed. Not
bad for forty-two, eh, big guy?”
“Not even bad for twenty-five.” Stefan
grabbed Keisha from behind and whispered, “Happy birthday, Keish!”
She squealed with surprise and laughter as he planted a sloppy, wet
kiss on the back of her neck. His mate, Xandi, slipped past them
and flopped down on the bed beside Anton.
“Happy birthday, sweetie.” Xandi held
up a bottle of chilled wine.
“What’s this?” Keisha glanced over her
shoulder at Stef’s twinkling eyes and then sauntered across the
floor to the bed. “Where are your kids?”
“With yours.” Laughing, Xandi punched
Anton lightly on the shoulder. “You didn’t tell her, did you? I’m
impressed! You actually kept our secret. We got Jazzy and Mei to
watch the babies while Oliver and Logan take the big kids to the
new Disney movie and then out for ice cream.”
“After which,” Stefan added, sounding
awfully smug for a guy who hadn’t made any of the arrangements
himself, “they are camping out in the backyard in a tent. We will,
of course, owe them child care for the next twenty
years.”
Keisha glanced at Anton. “You knew this
and didn’t tell me? How’d you ever manage that?”
He shrugged, almost embarrassed to
admit how much he wanted this time for all of them—how much he
wanted Keisha to understand how he’d missed this. As he spoke, he
opened his mind to her, showed her how much he loved her, how much
he needed this night where all of them could step back to what
they’d once had. “I wanted it to be a surprise, and I didn’t want
you fretting over details.” He reached for her hands, took both of
them in his, and gently squeezed. “It’s been a long time since we
all got together without rug rats underfoot. I’ve missed time with
you. With all of us together.”
The interlude in the forest with Stefan
had reminded him of what they’d so easily taken for granted for so
many years. Maybe this was all that was missing. Time as adults. He
could only hope. Keisha’s smile spread so wide he thought he’d
burst with the sense of having chosen correctly, at least as far as
birthday gifts went.
“It has been too long. And I’m not
wasting a second.” She slipped the silky fabric over her shoulders
and let it fall to the floor in a puddle of teal blue silk. In
spite of her bravado, he sensed her worry, that her body might not
be quite as firm after her fourth child, that the others might not
find her as appealing.
“You’re wrong, you know.” The words
slipped out before he even considered the fact he’d invaded her
private thoughts. “You’re more beautiful now than ever
before.”
She blinked rapidly, and he hoped he
hadn’t made her cry. That wasn’t what he had wanted at all. Then
she slid across the smooth sheets, reached Anton first, and kissed
him soundly. Before he could deepen the kiss further, she turned
and gave Stefan a quick kiss, but she saved the last for
Xandi.
He savored her joy in this long, deep
kiss with the woman she loved. Heard her thoughts, open to all of
them now. It had been much too long since they’d kissed one another
with passion in mind. Too long since they had been together without
either having a baby slung on one hip.
He noticed Xandi had braided her
hair—dozens of tiny braids falling in auburn perfection, each one
tipped with a colored glass or wooden bead, and it reminded him of
an earlier time, when they’d all been new to this now familiar
reality, new to the world of Chanku.
The memories were fresh in Keisha’s
eyes as she lifted a handful of Xandi’s braids in her palm. They
clattered softly, beads bouncing off one another, sparking old and
treasured memories that she shared with both men.
Arousing, sensual memories with graphic
images filled all their thoughts, images so clear they were almost
tactile.
“Remember our first time?” she asked,
and while she spoke directly to Xandi, the words were obviously
meant for both Anton and Stefan as well. “Remember when I was so
damned scared, so afraid to be touched, and you made love to me?
Your hair was braided, just like this.” She ran her fingers through
the tiny braids. “I remember thinking those beads felt like dozens
of tiny fingers trailing across my skin. When you swept your hair
across my breasts, I almost came, just from that alone. It was such
an amazing time. The first time, ever in my entire life, that I had
sex with a woman, that I climaxed with a woman. That experience
took away so much of my fear.”
“Do I remember? Are you kidding? You
spanked me!” Xandi laughed. “How could I forget that? You tied me
to the bed and spanked my butt, and you got me so turned on I was
practically screaming.” Muttering in mock outrage, she added,
“Telling me I had to address you as the alpha bitch. You wouldn’t
let me come for the longest time.”
“Yeah, but when I did, I did you
right.” Keisha wrapped her fingers around the back of Xandi’s neck
and pulled her close for another kiss.
Anton tapped her shoulder. “Whoa,
ladies. Wait a minute. I want more details. Did you ever tell us
about tying Xandi to the bed? Why don’t I recall that part of the
story?” He glanced over his shoulder at Stefan. “Why is it, with
these two, you and I are always the ones in
restraints?”
Stefan shook his head. “I’m not sure,
but don’t you think we need to do something about that terribly
unfair and sexist dynamic?”
Anton nodded. “I do.” He glanced again
at Stefan, carefully keeping his mind shuttered and his thoughts
hidden from Keisha. He knew she was still wondering about those
shielded thoughts when he pounced. She’d barely let out a shriek
when he flattened her to the bed, holding her down with the weight
of his body.
Anton awoke in darkness. Body sated,
mind moderately relaxed, he lay in the tangle of arms and legs and
ran a silent inventory of what body parts belonged to which of his
lovers.
Xandi’s arms were wrapped around his
lower legs, and Keisha’s cheek rested on his thigh. That had to be
Stefan’s head on his belly—he recognized the stubble from a day’s
growth of beard. Anton lay quietly, thinking of the night past, of
the joy they’d all taken in this very special time with one
another.
Still, the restlessness remained. He
couldn’t attribute the subtle sense of something undone, of change
looming, to anything in particular. He’d wondered if he might be
frustrated by the changes in their lives with so many
children—Keisha certainly hadn’t planned on twins, but Gabe and Mac
were identical, and that single egg had split all on its own. Lucia
had come along when Keisha had suddenly realized her boys were no
longer babies, that Lily—already an old soul—was growing up faster
than she’d expected.
Anton hoped she no longer felt guilty
about her unplanned pregnancy with Lucia. She’d released an egg
without actually discussing it with him, thank goodness. Lucia was
already proving to be a treasure, one they might not have had if
he’d allowed his practical nature to interfere with Keisha’s
powerful need to mother.
Still, four children meant so little
time alone together.
So little time like this past evening,
making love. Playing grown-up games as if they had all the time in
the world.
Keisha stretched and shifted her
position until she lay alongside him. She ran her fingers through
his tangled hair. Thank you for last
night. This feels so good, just lying here without anyone depending
on us. Without anyone needing anything.
It
does. He nuzzled his cheek against her breasts, now
swollen with milk, and sighed. She’d need to leave soon and feed
Lucia. He’d heard her get up once during the night, but already it
was time again.
Something
troubles you, my love. What is it? Everything is so good right now.
What can possibly be worrying you?
Her question interrupted his convoluted
thoughts, but for some reason, knowing Keisha worried helped him
focus his concerns, and it came to him, then. So clearly he
couldn’t believe he’d not realized before what was wrong with their
lives. What they were all missing.
Don’t laugh
when I tell you. It’s the fact that everything is so
good. He rolled his head to one side and smiled
sheepishly at her. I worry that we’ve
grown complacent, that we’ve adjusted so completely to our lives as
Chanku that we’ve settled into a routine. Routines frighten me.
Complacency is dangerous.
Stefan rolled slowly to a sitting
position. “Sorry,” he said, stretching. “I was eavesdropping
without shame.”
Xandi sat up and leaned against the
headboard. “Sweetheart, your middle name is shameless. So what’s
this about complacency, and why are we all awake? It’s barely
dawn.”
Anton sat up and crossed his legs. He
pulled Keisha into his lap and grinned at Stef and Xandi. All of
them awake and sitting on the big, rumpled bed, hair in disarray,
bodies damp from sweat and hours of sex. It reminded him of those
first early months before Lily and Alex were born, when they’d made
love every night, when all of this had been so fresh and
new.
“Stef and I talked about this a while
back,” he said. “The fact we’re all healthy, the children are
healthy. We’ve gone five years now without an attack or any threats
to our safety. Our lives are as close to perfect as I’d ever
imagined, but this perfection reminds me that we’ve forgotten
something important.”
He wrapped his fingers around Keisha’s
hand and squeezed. “What if I hadn’t found you? What if Stef hadn’t
rescued Xandi, or Oliver hadn’t found Adam walking along that road?
If Mik and AJ hadn’t stopped in that little bar in New Mexico and
saved Tala, or Baylor hadn’t gone in search of the wolf girl and
ended up with Manda? Stef? Remember how we used to argue about
coincidence versus fate? I still believe in fate, but I think we
need to help it along, not wait complacently for fate to happen to
us. I’ve been thinking of all the others, the Chanku out there who
don’t know who or what they are. The desperation in their lives.
The unfulfilled destinies of people just like us, who don’t know
they’re like us. Who haven’t got a clue what their lives could
be.”
Stefan grabbed Xandi’s hand and lifted
her fingers to his lips for a quick kiss. “I would have no life
without Alexandria Olanet as my mate, as my wife. None at all.” He
turned to her and rested his palms on her shoulders, touched his
forehead to hers. “Anton’s right. We’ve grown much too comfortable;
our lives are fairly well cocooned. But how do we find them? It’s
not like we can run an ad or spike the water supply with Tibetan
grasses.”
“No.” Anton chuckled. “Though I hadn’t
thought of the water supply angle. I’m actually thinking more along
the lines of talking to Liana, maybe even reaching out to Eve. As
an ex-goddess, Liana might be able to help. As our current goddess,
Eve could possibly steer us in the right direction.”
He raised his head. “All the packs are
planning to come for the birth of Adam and Liana’s baby next month.
Let’s see if anyone’s got any ideas. We can’t be the only ones.” He
shook his head and tightened his grasp around Keisha’s waist.
“There are others out there. They have no idea who or what they
are. We have to find them.”
Keisha squeezed Anton’s hand, and he
stared into her beautiful amber eyes. They were filled with
tears—tears that sparkled on her dark lashes.
“I agree with you, my love. I know we
should be looking, but it makes me afraid, too.” She sighed. One of
those errant tears ran down her cheek and trembled against her
lips. With a brusque swipe of her fingers, she wiped it away. “I’m
sorry, but I keep thinking of that old saying, something about
borrowing trouble.” She shook her head. “Why do I have a horrible
feeling that’s exactly what you might be doing?”
A shiver raced over Anton’s spine.
Without a word, he tightened his hold on Keisha and held her even
closer.