A Wolf's Love: A Paranormal Romance Short Read (The Flame Series) Read online

  A WOLF’S LOVE, A Paranormal Romance, A Short Read

  The Flame Series Book 5.1

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Have You Read These Books by Caris Roane

  Do You Enjoy Giveaways and Learning New Things?

  Dear Reader

  A WOLF’S LOVE

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  A Note from Caris

  Coming Up Next

  About the Author

  Have You Read These Books by Caris Roane

  Find Caris at…

  Author of…

  Copyright

  A WOLF’S LOVE, A Paranormal Romance, A Short Read, the Flame Series Book 5.1

  By Caris Roane

  Copyright © 2017 Twin Bridges Creations LLC

  All rights reserved. No part of this e-book may be reproduced in whole or in part, scanned, photocopied, recorded, distributed in any electronic form, or reproduced in any manner whatsoever or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without express written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  Have You Read These Books by Caris Roane

  The Flame Series…

  BLOOD FLAME – Book 1

  AMETHYST FLAME – Book 2

  DARK FLAME – Book 3

  AMBER FLAME – Book 4

  A TOUCH OF FLAME – Book 5

  CHRISTMAS FLAME, A Holiday Novella

  The Blood Rose Series…

  BLOOD ROSE SERIES BOX SET, 1-2-3

  EMBRACE THE DARK – Book 1

  EMBRACE THE MAGIC – Book 2

  EMBRACE THE MYSTERY – Book 3

  EMBRACE THE PASSION – Book 4

  EMBRACE THE NIGHT – Book 5

  EMBRACE THE WILD – Book 6

  EMBRACE THE WIND – Book 7

  EMBRACE THE HUNT – Book 8

  EMBRACE THE POWER – Book 9

  The Blood Rose Time Travel Series…

  A VAMPIRE’S SOFT EMBRACE – Book 1

  A VAMPIRE’S EMBRACE – Book 2

  The Blood Rose Tales…

  BLOOD ROSE TALES BOX SET

  Guardians of Ascension…

  The Original Six Books Published by St. Martin’s Press

  ASCENSION – Book 1

  BURNING SKIES – Book 2

  WINGS OF FIRE – Book 3

  BORN OF ASHES – Book 4

  OBSIDIAN FLAME – Book 5

  GATES OF RAPTURE- Book 6

  The Dawn of Ascension Novels, Self-Published by Caris Roane, as part of Guardians of Ascension

  BRINK OF ETERNITY as part of VAMPIRE COLLECTION

  THE DARKENING

  The Rapture’s Edge Series as part of Guardians of Ascension

  AWAKENING – Rapture’s Edge Book 1

  VEILED – Rapture’s Edge Book 2

  REVEALED – Rapture’s Edge Book 3

  The Amulet Series…

  WICKED NIGHT/DARK NIGHT (Boxed Set)

  The Men in Chains Series, Published by St. Martin’s Press

  BORN IN CHAINS – Book 1

  CHAINS OF DARKNESS – Book 2

  UNCHAINED – Book 3

  SAVAGE CHAINS – A Separate Novel in the Same World

  Do You Enjoy Giveaways and Learning New Things?

  For giveaways, freebies, updates on my latest books, and lots of photos, be sure to sign up today for my mailing list: Caris’s Newsletter.

  Do you like to learn new things, keep your mind sharp and come away inspired? Consider signing up to get my blog delivered into your email inbox. Go to the right hand column of my Home Page. I offer weekly giveaways and cover a broad range of topics including Love, Beauty, Life and Romance.

  ~ ~ ~

  Dear Reader

  Welcome to 5.1 of The Flame series.

  A WOLF’S LOVE is a short read that follows A TOUCH OF FLAME.

  A WOLF’S LOVE continues the journey into the world of Five Bridges and the transformed lives of those humans devastated by the effects of alter serums. The Flame Series follows the lives of vampires, witches, wolf shifters, fae and dead-talkers. A WOLF’S LOVE showcases a wolf shifter, Officer Cole of the Border Patrol, and a gifted witch, Lauren.

  So, welcome back to the Flame Series!

  Here’s a brief look at the story:

  An injured wolf. A witch with killing power at the tips of her fingers. A young witch in danger. Will Cole set aside his hatred of witches to help Lauren save a girl from certain death?

  Cole never wanted to see Lauren again. She was a witch who’d hurt him. Bad. Wolves and witches don’t get along. But when she asks for his help to rescue a teenage girl from a vicious drug lord, he can’t refuse. He’s a Border Patrol Officer in Five Bridges. He’s sworn to serve-and-protect. Yet when he sees Lauren again, his desire for her ignites once more. But how can he ever trust a witch who can kill him with the touch of her fingers?

  Lauren fell hard for the wolf. They’d dated for three sizzling months that she thought would go on forever. But when he broke with her because he believed she lied to him, she knows he’ll never come back. Asking for his help to rescue a kidnap victim was the hardest thing she’d ever done. But will being close to him break her heart all over again?

  I hope you’re enjoying the Flame Series! I’ve loved living in this conflict-riddled world of five territories at war and the extraordinary alter beings who risk their lives to make Five Bridges a better place for all.

  And now, have a wonderful day and an even better night!

  Live the fang!

  Caris Roane

  October 2017

  A WOLF’S LOVE

  A Paranormal Romance

  A Short Read

  By Caris Roane

  Chapter One

  Frank Cole leaned against the door of his Border Patrol SUV waiting for an invisible witch.

  It had been a long night, his knee ached up into his tailbone, and he hadn’t gone wolf in over a week. He needed to shift.

  He’d gotten the call ten minutes ago from Lauren, but the last thing he wanted to do was set eyes on her again.

  She’d said it was urgent.

  He’d refused.

  She’d begged.

  He’d told her to forget it.

  Then she’d told him the kidnap victim was a sixteen-year-old girl, taken off the front porch of her alter transition house. She’d only been in Five Bridges a month.

  So, here he was with flashes of pain shooting up the back of his leg and spasming his lower back.

  He’d chosen the meet-up spot to keep the conversation private, a place called Broken Bridge. He also didn’t want any of his fellow Border Patrol officers knowing he was seeing Lauren tonight. When he’d dated her for three months earlier in the year, few had approved his choice. There were more wolf-murders in witch territory than in any of the others.

  The sky was clear in late June and the intense summer heat had arrived. But the air was dry as a bone in Phoenix because the monsoon season hadn’t yet begun. The weather was balmy so late at night.

  His patrol shift was over and he still had a couple of hours before dawn. He had time to help Lauren out, but he o
nly said he’d listen to her. However, the thought of being this close to her again chapped his hide. He’d broken with her two months ago and had promised himself he’d never see her again.

  A breeze blew across the wasteland behind him, a place called the Graveyard. The wind came from the east, and carried the scents of desert and death.

  The Graveyard was located in the center of Five Bridges. It served to keep the five alter territories separate as did the massive bridges that allowed a careful flow of vehicles between them. The alter species didn’t do a lot of mixing-and-matching. They were just too different from each other. Battling usually followed proximity.

  Broken Bridge was one of hundreds of smaller, makeshift bridges that had been built to span as many gullies. A brief war eleven years ago and a rocket launcher had torn the bridge up. It was surrounded by thickets of small, jumbled palo verde trees that never got enough water.

  Another breeze. Another scent, only this one was fully Lauren, a blend of citrus and tropical fruit. They could have made margaritas with what this woman gave off. When they’d been lovers, he’d teased her about it, then used his tongue to grab as much of her flavor as he could.

  He shifted his stance. He’d never known a woman like Lauren, not before his alter transformation two years ago, not since.

  But she was a witch and in one terrible move, she’d proven how much he couldn’t trust her. The break had been final. He was still mad as fire.

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “I know you’re there. Show yourself, witch.”

  When she emerged from her protective shield, she was only eight feet away. He grew grimmer still as this evidence of her level of power made itself known. But for a moment, her beauty struck him hard all over again.

  She had a heart-shaped face with molded cheeks and full lips. She wore her thick light brown hair in layered waves just past her shoulders. Her brows were arched over eyes an unusual shade of violet. Tonight, she wore her favorite get-up. Jeans, snug t-shirt and running shoes. The sight of her curves, which he knew well, hit him in the gut.

  The time he’d spent with her had felt like forever.

  Then she’d ruined it with one touch of her killing power.

  He launched in. “I didn’t say I would help. Not sure it would do any good. You might want to take this to Alpha Warren or Alpha Fergus. Each has clout in Savage Territory. I’m just a patrol officer. I’d never be able to find the girl, even if you were sure she was in Savage Territory.”

  As she took several steps toward him, he could sense her distress. Her violet eyes were red-rimmed. “The young woman’s name is Vickie. I’d been working with her for the past two weeks, helping her get acclimated to her new surroundings. She was incredibly sad about her transformation, but she was making progress. Her case worker said she barely survived the alter process.”

  Children below the age of twelve never survived the alter serum that had changed all of their lives so completely. Teenagers had an especially rough time of it. He’d heard different statistics about the survival rate, the latest being fifty percent under the age of eighteen.

  The alter serum had resulted from the creation of the flame drugs, now rampant in the US. Five Bridges was one of the headquarters for cartels manufacturing the drugs. Most of his job as a Border Patrol officer was designed to stop the flow of drugs out of their cordoned-off area. The serum was outlawed in the United States proper, but there were always scum making up batches and infecting the food and drinks of the nation.

  Phoenix wasn’t the only prison for alter species. Every major city in the US had a designated ghetto, surrounded by tall cement walls and barbed wire. Border Patrol bridges controlled the flow in and out of each ghetto.

  He looked away from her. It was damn hard being this close to Lauren. He hadn’t stopped loving her. He just couldn’t trust her. “You shouldn’t have wrecked my knee.”

  She drew in a shaky breath. “I know you don’t believe me, but I did it to save your life. Why won’t you let me heal you?”

  He flashed his gaze back to hers. “Because I don’t want you touching me ever again. If my knee hurts, it’s a good reminder to stay away from your kind.”

  She released a sigh and shifted her gaze out onto the Graveyard. “I can see Maeve’s Jeep in the distance.”

  Maeve was a witch with a rescue operation that saved lives every night. Her refuge was called Hard Landing, though most called it the Landing. The cartels and sex club owners dumped bodies in the Graveyard at will, though mostly in the early hours of the morning. It was a pitted, cactus-infested place where a number of large battles had erupted over the years.

  The dead were hauled away at dawn by Tribunal clean-up squads and cremated. But Maeve searched the entire area night after night hunting for any who lived. Many of the discarded victims of their world were still alive when they were left in the Graveyard. Once the sun rose with its horrendous devastation on most alter skin, those who still breathed would perish before a couple of hours had passed.

  He was lucky. He could tolerate the light of dawn and sunset. Most alters had to be indoors or underground by the time the horizon showed the smallest sign of gray. Crescent Territory, with its population of vampires, shut down completely an hour before dawn.

  Yeah, he’d set the meet-up close to the Graveyard as a reminder of how unforgiving their world could be. Lauren would do well to remember that.

  ~ ~ ~

  Lauren didn’t know what to do. Vickie’s plight had broken her heart all over again. She hated Five Bridges and she despised being a powerful alter witch.

  But right now, she wished more than anything she hadn’t fallen in love with a wolf. Seeing Cole again was heaping salt all over again in a still-fresh wound. Yet, she’d come to him because she knew he could help. As a witch, she had few contacts in Savage Territory, yet she had good reason to believe Vickie had been brought here.

  If she’d had any other recourse, she wouldn’t have come here tonight. Though she’d wept for the lovely young woman, she was also in real danger of losing it again because she missed Cole as much as she did. She had a damn hole in her heart only he could fill.

  They’d been lovers for three extraordinary months. When she’d tried to protect him by using her witch killing ability, he’d broken with her for good.

  He had no idea how sexy he looked leaning against the Border Patrol SUV. He was all in black: Tank, leathers and heavy boots with buckles, the typical uniform for the alter men and women who served on each territory’s serve-and-protect force. He wore his gun as well.

  He had light blue eyes, a strong jawline and angled cheekbones that gave him a don’t-mess-with-me appearance. He was lean, worked out, and was amazingly cut. His shoulders showed each built muscle.

  He wore his long, thick, dark brown wolf hair with two forward braids, then the entire mass pulled back with a clasp. When they’d been lovers, she’d spent time working out an intricate braid for the right side of his head. Women dating wolves often did that. It was an alter thing.

  At the time, Cole had loved the attention. She’d loved doing it. She’d loved all the ways she’d engaged in an intimate relationship with him. The sex had been profound, earth-shattering and oh, God, she missed being with him.

  She steeled herself against her personal grief, however, and refocused her thoughts on rescuing Vickie. “I considered contacting the lead Alphas of your territory, but both Warren and Fergus have too much on their plates to take this on. I know it and you know it. They’re both trying to figure out what to do about Julio Mendez.” Julio was a powerful wolf and the current, main drug lord in Savage Territory. “I’ve asked for your help, because I trust you and because you know me. Together, I think we could get this done. In fact, I know we could.”

  “You’re way too optimistic. Do you even know where she was headed? Kidnapped, as you say she was, she could be in any of the five territories.”

  He wasn’t going to like what she told him. “I recognized t
he wolves who took her. They work for Julio.”

  Cole scrubbed a hand over his face and blew the air from his cheeks. A growling sound followed.

  Besides his drug business, Julio also owned several sex clubs on the Savage Strip and had made it clear he intended to own several more.

  In recent months, he’d also taken over two of the lowest packs in Savage and combined them into a single, large pack known as El Lobo Grande. What no one yet knew was how he’d done it, though rumors abounded he possessed an inexplicable wave power that could subdue hundreds of people at once.

  Lauren suspected Julio was in league with a wizard. She didn’t possess any kind of ‘wave’ ability herself, but she knew some of her fellow witches had a similar though modest capacity.

  She didn’t give voice to these thoughts. Instead, she offered a plan. “I’ve put in a call to Ralph. If anyone will know where this girl is, he will.”

  Everyone in Savage knew Ralph. He was a warlock of limited ability who owned one of the Strip sex clubs. He’d made a home in wolf territory because he had a thing for wolves. He even had a live-in, wolf girlfriend.

  Despite his inclinations, he was well-connected and knew the goings-on in every club in the area. It was also rumored that he helped at-risk wolves escape the more brutal club owners.

  “I told Ralph about Vickie and her abduction from Elegance. He was appalled, even angry. He may run a sex club, but he takes good care of his workers. He said he’d find out where she’d been taken. But he also said that’s all he could do. He can’t take overt action.”