Night of the Billionaire Wolf by Terry Spear-Review & Giveaway

Night of the Billionaire Wolf (Billionaire Wolf #3) by Terry Spear-Review and Giveaway

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 26, 2020

It’s not easy being a billionaire, a wolf shifter, and a woman…

Lexi Summerfield built her business from the ground up. But with great wealth comes great responsibility, and some drawbacks Lexi could not have anticipated. Lexi never knows who she can trust… Even on vacation, Lexi has a hard time trying to relax. And for good reason―the paparazzi are dogging her, and so is someone else with evil intent.

Then Lexi meets bodyguard and gray wolf shifter Ryder Gallagher, who’s also vacationing at Redwood National Park. When the two run into each other on the hiking trails, and then serendipitously rescue two bear cubs, Lexi feels safe for the first time in she can’t remember when. But secrets have a way of surfacing… With the danger around Lexi escalating, Ryder will do whatever it takes to stay by her side…

••••••••••

REVIEW:NIGHT OF THE BILLIONAIRE WOLF is the third instalment in Terry Spear’s contemporary, adult BILLIONAIRE paranormal romance series, and the twenty-ninth instalment in the author’s HEART OF THE WOLF series. This is wolf shifters billionaire business woman Lexi Summerfield, and security specialist Ryder Gallagher’s story line. NIGHT OF THE BILLIONAIRE WOLF can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalments is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Lexi and Ryder) NIGHT OF THE BILLIONAIRE WOLF follows several paths including the building romance and relationship between wolf shifters billionaire business woman Lexi Summerfield, and security specialist Ryder Gallagher. Lexi Summerfield made her billions in the cosmetic industry but with her father in the witness protection program, and her mother dead in a fiery crash, Lexi found herself the target of Joe Tremaine, a very powerful man, the man her father witnessed murder the DA in cold blood. A few days of R&R with her PA and bodyguard Kate, Lexi would come face to face with wolf shifter and security specialist Ryder Gallagher, the wolf with whom Lexi will fall in love but Lexi struggles with issues of trust believing every man, human or wolf, is after he money, and in this Lexi is reluctant to reveal anything about herself. What ensues is the slow building relationship between Lexi and Ryder, as the couple, along with Kate and Ryder’s partner Mike, find themselves on a treasure hunt, hoping to find the clues, leading to information about our heroine’s father.

Meanwhile, Don Morgan, a paparazzi reporter continues to stalk our story line heroine, a reporter who finds himself caught in the middle when men are sent to take down Lexi Summerfield. Joe Tremaine is desperate to find the location of Lexi’s father, and the continuous barrage of gunmen and assassins he has sent to find Lexi, all will meet their final demise.

The relationship between Lexi and Ryder is slow to develop. Ryder is definitely interested in making Lexi his mate but Lexi’s cold veneer and distant attitude leaves something to be desired. Lexi finds herself on the receiving end of one too many dates and proposals, and in this, ‘dating’ Ryder Gallagher is just another potential male to add to her pile. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text but I struggled to feel any palpable sexual attraction-there were no romantic or discernable emotional ‘feels’ , and a barely perceptible acknowledgement of interest or sexual desire from our story line heroine until seventy-five per-cent of the story wherein Lexi asks Ryder to be her mate…that’s it….no romance, no chemistry, no seduction…only a few kisses…until this particular part of the story. At one point I thought the story was going to focus on Ryder and Kate, or Mike and Kate.

We are introduced to Lexi’s father physician Dr. Kurt and her paediatrician mother Dr. Adelaide Summerfield; Lexi’s PA and bodyguard Kate Hanover; Ryder’s friend and fellow security specialists Mike Stallings and Edward Manning: as well as numerous characters from the author’s Silver Town Wolves (Heart of the Wolf series) including Lelandi and Darien Silver.

NIGHT OF THE BILLIONAIRE WOLF is an engaging story of family , friendships, and vengeance but once again, there is too much telling, not enough showing and plenty of unnecessary and redundant repetition which added to the already slow building story line. The romance is tender; the characters are spirited and energetic. Sadly, this is not one of my favorites.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Billionaire in Wolf’s Clothing
A Billionaire Wolf for Christmas

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Excerpted from Night of the Billionaire Wolf by Terry Spear. © 2020 by Terry Spear. Used with permission of the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

Friendship is fine. Mating for life is a whole other story.” Lexi had never checked into their backgrounds, something she would definitely have done if one of the wolves had really moved her.
“I agree with you there.”
The rain-saturated breeze switched, and Lexi smelled the scent of a male wolf and a black bear that had passed through there recently.
“The wolf has to be a lupus garou like us,” Kate said, “since no one has reported any sightings of wolves in the area. Maybe the wolf was the one who left the message?”
“I don’t believe so.” Lexi didn’t think her father would ask another wolf to get involved in this. The fewer people who knew about it, the better. “And there’s a female black bear, by the smell of her, roaming the area. Keep your eyes peeled and continue to make noise. We need to head on back before the rain starts anyway. We can check the other location later. It will take us about an hour to reach the cabin.”
Kate laughed. “How often does the weatherman get it right?”
Lexi saw a fairy ring of mushrooms and took another picture. “Yeah, I know. But you know me. I always try to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
Light rain began to fall, and then the drops grew bigger. Lexi hurried to put away her camera, and both laughing, they pulled out their ponchos. They were already soaked by the time they got the ponchos on. Still, they’d be protected somewhat from the continuing rainfall.
A couple of young bear cubs cried out somewhere in the distance, and Lexi’s adrenaline surged. “Do you hear that?”
“Yeah, they’re close by. It sounds like danger to me.”
“They’re crying for their mother. They have to be in trouble. I’ll see if the park rangers can rescue them.” Lexi hurried to get her phone out and called the ranger service. “Hi, my friend and I were hiking, and we heard the distress calls of a couple of bear cubs.”
“We’ve got our hands full with a family of hikers who have lost their way, including one who’s badly injured. And a search party is looking for another missing hiker. We can look into the cubs’ situation after we’ve taken care of the hikers in distress.”
“Thanks.” Lexi ended the call.
“You didn’t tell them where the bear cubs are.”
“The park rangers are too busy with human distress calls. You’re my bodyguard. You can protect me.” Lexi left the designated trail, which she wouldn’t normally do as a human because she didn’t want to trample the vegetation. The bear cubs’ cries guiding her, she raced through the forest as best she could, trying not to stumble over tree branches and fall into the ferns filling the understory.
Kate trailed close behind her. “This is a dangerous idea. Where there are cubs, there’s a mother bear nearby. The female bear we smelled, I betcha.”
“Unless something has happened to her. And then we need to rescue them.”
“What do you propose we do? Take them home with you?”
Lexi was sure Kate wasn’t being serious. Wolves raising bear cubs at her oceanside home? No way.
“Once we rescue them, I’ll call the park rangers to pick up the cubs and take care of them if the mother doesn’t come for them. The rangers can find a home for them. As young as the cubs’ cries sounded, they wouldn’t be able to make it on their own.”
Lexi and Kate continued to move quickly through the underbrush in the direction of the cliffs. Lexi’s skin prickled with unease, her stomach twisting in knots. From the sound of the cubs’ cries, they were way down below the cliffs, and the only way to reach them quickly would be climbing down there. That terrified her. Worse, her fearful scent would clue Kate in.
No way had Lexi wanted anyone to know what had happened to make her fear cliffs. She prided herself on keeping her secret. But even now, she suffered a flashback: gasping as a wolf as the soil and rocks at the edge of the cliff gave way, free-falling toward the rocky ground, praying some of the tree branches would help to break her fall. They did, scraping and bruising her, but she still landed badly on the rocks below and broke her left hind leg. Just from the memory, she felt a shock of phantom pain shoot up her left leg. That would be the last time she’d fight with a boyfriend and take off on her own without telling anyone where she’d be.
It had been a stupid thing to do, something she had seen others do in videos on I Shouldn’t Be Alive—in other words, going alone, not telling anyone where she’d be, not having a satellite phone in remote areas, and not having water with her—though as a wolf, that was understandable. She’d sworn she’d never do anything that dumb herself. Worse, she’d been in her wolf form and couldn’t climb to safety with a broken leg, so she’d had to shift into her human naked form before help arrived.
She and Kate finally reached a steep cliff and Lexi hesitated, not wanting to get near the edge that, according to forest ranger reports on the area, were known to crumble. Chills raced down her bare arms and legs. She had to force herself to move toward the cliff’s edge. Slowly, so she wouldn’t end up falling and breaking a leg like she’d done before.
“Are you okay?” Kate asked.
“Yeah, sure. The cliff face is unstable. I’m just being careful.” But it was a lot more than that.
“Okay, yeah, you’re smart to do that. I guess I can’t talk you out of taking this dangerous route and looking for a safer way to get down there instead.”
“I don’t want to risk delaying the rescue.” Lexi finally reached the edge. She observed the rocky cliff, looking for the best way to climb down, terrified she would fall. The mewling cries were coming from the base of the cliff near a couple of trees.
“This is not what I had in mind when I signed up to… Holy shit,” Kate said, peering over the edge of the cliff.
Lexi looked down at the swollen creek rushing along the banks of the cliff. “The creek’s risen because of all the rain. The cubs are crying in a den down below. They could drown. We have to save them.” Lexi started down the cliff, grabbing whatever she could—rocks, tree roots, vines—to keep from falling to her death or breaking a leg or more. She grabbed what looked like a stable rock, but as soon as she tried to hold it and move her right foot to another rock, the one in her left hand pulled free. She fell and cried out, grabbing for anything that could stop her fall. She grasped a tree root and hung on for dear life, her breath coming out in harried puffs.
“Oh God, hang on, Lexi. I really didn’t sign up for this.” Kate waited to descend so she didn’t cause an avalanche of rocks and dirt to collapse on Lexi.
“You don’t have to do it.”
“Are you kidding? Then you’d be able to take all the glory!”
Lexi smiled, then frowned. If the mother bear attacked them, there wouldn’t be much glory in that. 


 

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Billionaire in Wolf’s Clothing (Billionaire Wolf #1) by Terry Spear-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

BILLIONAIRE IN WOLF’S CLOTHING (Billionaire Wolf #1) by Terry Spear-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

Billionaire in Wolf's Clothing

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 5, 2016

Real estate mogul werewolf Rafe Denali didn’t get where he is in life by being a pushover. When sexy she-wolf Jade Ashton nearly drowns in the surf outside his beach house, he knows better than to bring her into his home and his heart. But there’s something about her that brings out his strongest instincts…

Rafe has good reason to be suspicious. Jade Ashton and her baby son are pawns in an evil wolf’s fatal plan. How can Jade betray the gorgeous man who rescued her? But if she doesn’t, her baby will die, and her own life hangs in the balance…

To get to the truth, Rafe is going to have to gain Jade’s trust. If he can do that, he just might be her last—and best—hope

•••••

REVIEW: BILLIONAIRE IN WOLF’S CLOTHING is the first installment in Terry Spear’s new, contemporary, adult BILLIONARIE WOLF paranormal romance series. This is billionaire real estate investor Rafe Denali, and lingerie/children’s clothing designer Jade Ashton’s story line.

Told from dual third person points of view (Rafe and Jade) BILLIONAIRE IN WOLF’S CLOTHING follows wolf shifter Jade Ashton, as she is ordered by her alpha, to gather information about billionaire Rafe Denali and his brother Dr. Aidan Denali. Pretending to be on vacation, Jade finds herself the victim of a near drowning, then rescued by the very wolf she has been ordered to contact. What ensues is the building relationship between Rafe and Jade, and Rafe’s suspicion that Jade is hiding more than she has revealed.

Rafe is immediately attracted to the she-wolf but suspects there is more to her story than a quiet vacation alone. While gaining her trust, Rafe must get Jade to confess her true story including the reasons behind her willingness to go along with her alpha’s orders. The $ex scenes are intimate and hot. Rafe wants forever and will do everything in his power to make it so. Herein I struggled because of Jade’s original deceit and intent. I thought our hero was too quick to forgive and forget but Jade had yet to implement any sort of plan-our heroine revealed the truth almost immediately fearing the threats against, and potential loss of her son.

We are introduced to Rafe’s brother Aidan; Rafe’s private investigator Edward; and his head of security Sebastian, and friend Hugh. Jade’s family is virtually non-existent but for a brother whose plans are to destroy the Denali brothers for a betrayal from the past. We meet B&B owner Fiona who becomes a close friend when Jade needs her the most; and we can’t forget about Jade’s three year old son Toby- a young boy who steals the heart of every man in Rafe’s employ. A couple of characters from Terry’s Heart of the Wolf series cross over adding familiarity, as well as the renewed search for longevity in the shifter world.

The world building focuses on family and friendship in the world of the wolf-shifter. Betrayal is meted out with swift justice, when threats against Jade and Toby become personal.

BILLIONAIRE IN WOLF’S CLOTHING is a familiar story of betrayal and revenge; family and friendship; falling in love and moving forward. The premise is entertaining; the characters are fun, colorful and charismatic; the romance is a quick build to a happily ever after-there is a little bit of insta-love to Jade and Rafe’s relationship. BILLIONAIRE IN WOLF’S CLOTHING is a welcome introduction to a new series.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Excerpt

Jade Ashton had made a lot of mistakes in her life, but returning to her brother’s pack topped the list. She should have known the pack members wouldn’t
accept her son, the product of a love affair with a human, despite pretending they were fine with it. She glanced at her three-year-old son, napping on the daybed in her office in her brother’s home where she alternated between sketching new designs for intimate
apparel and for a new baby and toddler wear line she had developed when her son was born.

Toby had just fallen asleep, looking angelic with his blond curls resting on his cheek, his dark brown eyes closed as he licked his lips. No way would she
ever give him up, despite how everyone in her pack viewed him as a grievous error in judgment.

She felt a little dizzy, probably because she’d been so busy that she hadn’t had anything to drink in hours. She got up from her chair and headed out the
door, practically running into her twin brother moving silently down the hall like a wolf. She fell back and gasped softly when he grabbed her arm to steady her.

“We need to talk.” Kenneth started to guide her to the den, his blond hair much darker than hers, his amber eyes focused on her in a way that said he had
serious business to discuss.

Did he know she intended to leave the pack, again? Or did he want to tell her he didn’t think her being here was working out? “I need to get some water. And we can’t talk
long because Toby will be waking in a half hour or so.”

“This will just take a minute.”

It had better, because she wasn’t going to be drawn into any long-winded discussions with her brother. She hadn’t told him she was leaving first thing in
the morning. She wasn’t sure how he’d take it. She had to admit she was afraid he’d try to talk her out of it. But she was determined.

Every time he and the others had looked at her son in judgment, she’d been annoyed. Not only that, but she’d caught Kenneth and the others having secret
conversations and then abruptly stopping whenever they saw her approaching. The pack members pretended to tolerate her son, but she saw through the facade. They didn’t like her having a human son who couldn’t shift. They believed he could be a danger to the
pack.

Which was one of the reasons she had left just after her son was born. She had also wanted to save his human father from her brother’s wrath. But raising
Toby on her own had been tough. When her brother had promised that the pack members wanted her to live with them and have the backup they could provide, she had agreed. She and her son had left southern Texas far behind, so she figured she’d never run into
Toby’s father again. And Kenneth had sounded sincere in wanting to ensure her protection—just like a pack leader should. She wanted to be part of a family again. She didn’t have a lone wolf personality.

She didn’t believe Toby would be welcome in any other pack either.

Clearly, the members had changed their minds about having her and her son there. Unless they had never wanted her back and it was all her brother’s idea.
He was the pack leader, so ultimately, it was his decision—one he was apparently coming to regret. He was just being stubborn, didn’t want to admit he’d made a mistake, and didn’t want to have to tell her to leave.

Then again, maybe he realized she was planning to leave. Being twins, they sometimes sensed things like that before they really shared with each other.
She hadn’t packed anything yet. She planned to tell him in the morning, before he left for work at his auto body shop. She thought it would be easier on all of them that way. She’d call him when she got settled and let him know where she was staying. It was
for the best—for her son, for her, and for Kenneth and the pack.

Having detoured from the direction of the den to go to the kitchen so she could get something to drink, Kenneth leaned against the granite counter, his
focus on her, his expression still ultra-serious. “I have a job for you.”

She raised her brows, then grabbed a glass from the kitchen cabinet. Between raising Toby and running her own businesses, she didn’t have time for a whole
lot else. But if this was something quick that she could do this afternoon, she would, to thank Kenneth for taking her in—and then she was through with the pack.

“It’s simple. And hell, you might get real lucky.”

She snorted, pouring water into the glass and adding crushed ice. “Lucky?” She drank several sips of the water.

The front door shut, and she figured Kenneth’s girlfriend, Lizzie, was running out for something. She was a wolf too, which meant they were sleeping together,
but he hadn’t decided to mate her yet so they hadn’t gone all the way. If they did, he’d be stuck with her as his mate for life. Jade didn’t know why the she-wolf put up with her brother. If Jade was in a situation like Lizzie’s, she’d tell the wolf that either
they mated or she’d look elsewhere. But Jade supposed Lizzie wanted to be a pack leader’s mate and was sticking around in case Kenneth decided she was it. Total beta wolf.

“You’re living off me so you can put more money into your apparel business that isn’t making enough to really sustain you and your son. So, I need you to
do this job and—”

“Like hell my business isn’t making enough money.” She was extremely tight with her money. No fancy food for either of them. No special entertainment. No
expensive clothes. Since lupus garous lived so long, she had worked other jobs to help pad her bank account before Toby was born. She wasn’t wealthy, but she got by just fine. As long as she was frugal. “That’s okay. Being here with the pack isn’t working
out for Toby and me anyway.”

Kenneth’s eyes widened. “You’re not leaving.”

“Listen, Kenneth, you know no one wants my son here. And they barely tolerate me. You make Lizzie babysit Toby sometimes when I really need someone to watch
him so I can work, but it’s not fair to her. The rest of the pack worries about him. I appreciate all you’ve done for me. I really do.”

She shrugged. “But…I know this is the right thing for me to do. And for you and the pack too. I’m leaving tomorrow, and we can get together from time to
time…later.” She really didn’t believe that would happen, but she’d make the gesture anyway.

“Like I said, I have a job for you.”

What part of she was leaving did her brother not get? He was so stubborn! Or did he feel it was his place as pack leader to decide if she was leaving? He
hadn’t decided things for her since before she left the pack nearly four years earlier, and she wasn’t going to allow him to start now.

Even so, she’d humor him because she was leaving tomorrow, with or without his consent. “What’s the job?”

“Do you remember when that doctor was taking blood samples from us last week?”

“Yeah, Dr. Aidan Denali. He wanted to take some of Toby’s, and I said no. What of it? He’s not asking to take blood samples from Toby again, is he?”

“No, but here’s the thing. I looked into his background, and his brother is Rafe Denali.”

“So?” She’d never heard of the guy. Not that she’d heard of Aidan Denali either before she’d met him at Kenneth’s house. Since Toby wasn’t a shifter, there
was no reason for Aidan to take blood from him. Though she hadn’t given the doctor that reason since he hadn’t needed to know.

“Rafe Denali’s a billionaire. Real estate mogul.”

“So?” Her brother was usually much better at getting to the point.

“The good doctor told me he’s close to finding a cure for our longevity issues.”

“Okay. What has this got to do with me? Or you, for that matter?”

“I need you to find out where he’s living. Where he does his research.”

“What?” She narrowed her eyes. “Why?” She was getting really bad vibes about this.

“His brother is ruthless. Hell, he’s the reason our grandparents lost their manufacturing business.”

She closed her gaping mouth. She had never known anything about her grandparents. Since her brother had taken over the pack when their parents died, he’d
been the one interested in all things family. She’d been rather a wild card growing up. She’d always known she would never run the pack, so she’d done her own thing. After her son was born, she’d thrown herself into her work and raising him. No room for getting
into any further trouble. She was faced with enough already.

“Okay, so I don’t get the connection between what happened with our grandparents and what you want me to do. Or why you want to know where the doctor lives.”

“Rafe is well-known—”

She opened her mouth again to tell Kenneth she had never heard of Rafe, so he couldn’t be that well-known.

“—in financial circles. The kind that you don’t belong to. I know where he lives. He and his brother are close, but Aidan lives somewhere else. I want you
to befriend Rafe and learn where Aidan lives.”

“Why would you want to know that? Besides, I don’t run in billionaires’ circles. You already said so yourself.”

“He’s a bachelor wolf. He’s not dating any she-wolves. I’ve checked. If he sees you, and you intrigue him, you can cozy up to him and learn where his brother
lives.”

“I’m not interested. Besides, didn’t the doctor give you his business card and tell you to contact him if you have any concerns?”

“It has his phone number. That’s it.”

“Why do you want to know this anyway?”

“I told you. Rafe is ruthless. When he gets hold of a cure for our condition, he’ll sell it to only those who can afford it. What if lupus garous begin to age even more
rapidly than we are now? What if we don’t just end up with a human’s life span, but our bodies begin to age rapidly to match all the years we’ve already lived? Hell, your boy would lose you, and he’d have no one to raise him. Think about it.”

She had thought about it. But she wasn’t one to live with a fatalist viewpoint on life. She hadn’t thought her brother was either. Until now.

“If you really want this information, ask Rafe yourself. Or call his brother. You have his phone number.”

“As if either would tell me.”

“Send Lizzie.” Jade turned to leave, and her brother seized her arm. She rounded on him, yanking her arm away from him, and said, “We’re family, Kenneth,
but that doesn’t give you the right to make me do things that go against what I believe in. If the worst-case scenario ever comes to pass, I’m sure wolves can unite and make the brothers see the right in this.”

Kenneth folded his arms. “Lizzie isn’t right for the part. She’s not as classy as you.”

“Oh, wow, give me a break. I hope you didn’t tell her that.” Jade started heading back to her office, but she hadn’t taken more than a few steps when her
brother cleared his throat.

“I need you to do this. Whatever it takes. After that, you and your son can be on your way. You really don’t have a choice.”

“Nothing would make lying to the Denalis worthwhile, no matter why you want this information. Toby and I will be leaving tonight.” Sooner—once she could
get her car packed and Toby ready for the journey. She’d have to plot a course too. Had her brother known about the wolf geneticist before he’d asked her to return to the pack? She whipped around.

“How long have you known about Aidan? Is this why you asked me to return to the pack? So I could be your spy?”

When Kenneth didn’t deny it, she swore under her breath. “I thought you were concerned about me and my son. Or at least me. Thanks for letting me in on
the truth.” Furious with her brother, she stalked off toward the office and had nearly reached the doorway when Kenneth let his breath out in a huff.

“You will do this for me, and then you can have your son back.”

His words made her stomach fall and her head spin as she rushed into the room.

Toby and his soft leopard blanket were gone. All that was left on the daybed was his blue rainbow-colored teddy bear.

Lizzie! She must have taken him when Jade heard the front door open. Lizzie was the only one who was close enough to Toby that if she woke him while taking
him from his bed, he wouldn’t cry out. He’d settle in her arms and go back to sleep. Kenneth had stalled Jade long enough for Lizzie to gather up Toby and leave.

Shocked at what he had done and angrier than she ever thought she could be, Jade hurried out of the room, ready to kill her brother—but only after he told
her where her son was. “Where is he, Kenneth? I swear I’ll—”

“You’ll do this one thing for me, and he’s yours. And then you can damn well leave the pack. But if you ever cause any trouble for our kind, I’ll kill both
of you.”

So furious she couldn’t think straight, she beat on her brother’s chest with her fists, cursing at him until he grabbed her wrists and slammed her against
the wall. “I’m serious about this, Jade. Do what I say, and your son won’t meet his father’s fate.”

“What?” Tears filled her eyes, but she tried to get a grip on her emotions so he wouldn’t see her as weak. Kenneth had promised he would leave Stewart alone
if she left the area before he even knew she was pregnant, and she never had anything more to do with him.

She felt sucker punched. “Why? You said…” It didn’t matter now. All that mattered was Toby’s safety. “Damn you, Kenneth.”

She kneed her brother in the crotch with one good shove as a final comment on how she felt about him taking her son hostage. Kenneth collapsed to his knees,
swearing that he’d make her pay if she didn’t do what he said.

Maynard Myer—one of the men who worked in Kenneth’s body shop—interrupted them, red-faced. He was a redheaded bulldog of a man who had brazenly shown his
contempt for her and Toby when he dropped by the house. She suspected Maynard didn’t want to intrude on this scene, but the news had to be serious enough for him to do so.

“What?” Kenneth growled at him, still on his knees on the floor and holding his crotch.

“Grayton wants his money now. You’ve got two weeks to pay up or…” Maynard glanced in Jade’s direction.

She didn’t know who Grayton was, although the name sounded like he might be a wolf. If he had loaned Kenneth money, and now her brother was in arrears…

“What are you involved in, Kenneth?” she asked. “Gambling? The horse races? I’ve got money”

“Get out of here, Jade. You want to see your son in one piece, leave and do what I told you to do.”

No matter how angry she was, she knew she didn’t have a choice. She had to get her son back before her brother killed him. She grabbed Toby’s rainbow bear
and hurried into her room to pack, praying she could pull this off without getting her son killed. If Grayton was threatening her brother, what if he took out Kenneth’s debt on his closest relations? Her and her son?

What would the Denalis do if they learned what she was up to?

***

Jade had driven by Rafe Denali’s house numerous times, watching for Rafe to leave so she could run into him wherever he ended up going. Accidentally. The
palatial mansion was set back off the road, a long circular drive visible beyond the gates and providing a glimpse of the white stucco house with its ocean view, but not much more.

This was the first time she’d seen him leaving the estate. He was alone, driving a bright blue Maserati with the top down, and she followed him to a farmers
market and parked several cars away.

Wearing a pair of blue shorts, sandals, a pale blue T-shirt, and mirrored sunglasses, he climbed out of his car. He didn’t look like he was a billionaire, except he had
a hot car, but otherwise, he just blended in with the rest of the shoppers.

She hurried to catch up to him. She couldn’t imagine what he’d be buying. Wouldn’t he have someone else buy his groceries? If she were shopping, she’d get
fresh corn and tomatoes.

He stopped at a colorful booth filled with flowers, a bright-red canopy shielding the bouquets and shoppers from the afternoon sun.

In all of the research she had done on Rafe, she hadn’t seen one thing that indicated he had a girlfriend. She let out her breath. Just her luck.

She hesitated, feeling jittery and uptight, but she had to run into him, making it look real and not faked, and then apologize. He’d smell she was a wolf
and maybe get interested. God, how she hated this. But she had to do it for her son.

She drew closer, the crowd of shoppers helping to conceal her as she focused on the flowers as if they were her goal and not the hot wolf.

Just as she was getting closer to him, a fair-haired man wearing jeans, sandals, and a black muscle shirt approached Rafe. “Hey, getting something for Consuela?”

“Yeah, Derek. Not sure what else to get her. But I thought she’d like these.” He paid for the bouquet of red and pink roses, and the two men walked off.

Damn. If the breeze had been blowing in her favor, he would have smelled her, turned, and checked her out, at the very least.

She wasn’t going to get anywhere with this while he was with a friend—or whoever Derek was. But since it was the first time she’d seen Rafe leave his place,
she decided to wait in her car for him to leave and see where he went next. Or maybe try running into him when Derek left.

She climbed into her car and rolled down the windows, then Googled Rafe on her cell phone. The site that mentioned him the most was written by a photojournalist
named LK Marks. He seemed to be obsessed with Rafe’s lifestyle—how Rafe hosted charity events but seemed reclusive otherwise. A number of times, LK Marks mentioned that Rafe was one of California’s most eligible bachelors.

The last posting anyone had made concerning the billionaire was a week ago. So maybe the paparazzi were off chasing someone else for a change and Rafe was
old news. Which was good news for her.

An hour passed. The breeze helped keep her cool, but she was annoyed that Rafe was taking so long to return to his car.

Then two hours passed. She left her vehicle and was searching for him when she spied him sitting on the veranda of a Mexican caf�, burritos on his plate
and a glass of iced tea beside it. He was talking with Derek, a couple of packages on the table next to the bouquet of roses. So they must have gone shopping. She let her breath out in an irritated huff. She wasn’t cut out for spy work.

Now what? She needed to get Rafe alone. Unless she could take a seat near him and he caught her wolf scent and piqued his interest, but all the tables out
on the veranda were full. She asked the hostess how long it would take to get a veranda seat. Approximately an hour. Across the street, there was a sandwich shop. She headed to it, figuring she could get a view of the Mexican caf� from there and watch until
he left.

Twenty-minute wait there. Trying not to look obvious that she was watching Rafe, she quickly glanced over the menu and decided on a chicken and provolone
sandwich. She was called to her table, and when she walked with the hostess through the restaurant to the outdoor seating, she saw where the woman was leading her. Perfect. Flowers obscured the men’s view of her, but she could peek through to watch them. She
took her seat and thanked the hostess, then looked over at the men—but they were gone.

***

Early in the morning, Rafe Denali perched above the rest of the world, reclining on his poolside lounger and eyeing the aqua-colored Pacific Ocean, the
foamy, white waves crashing against the beach with their usual unpredictable rhythm. A rainbow-colored hot-air balloon and a bank of puffy clouds drifted across the bright blue sky, pushed by the ever-present salty sea breeze. Seagulls called out as they soared
high above, and long-legged sandpipers ran across the wet beach as the water began to recede, looking for a meal. A few beachgoers had erected colorful umbrellas in blues and yellows and pinks, along with chaise longues or chairs, and were sunbathing or reading.
A few were walking the beach. Life couldn’t be better. Rafe had needed a break after making another thirty-million-dollar sale, and what better way to do that than by sipping a mixed-fruit smoothie while visiting with his best friend, Derek Spencer—also one
of the filthy rich and, like him, a wolf.

But he couldn’t relax completely. Rafe was certain that different men had been following him for the past week or so, watching his every move. He’d had
one of his private investigators trying to learn what was up, but without success.

He knew those following him hadn’t been paparazzi looking to capture shots of him to show to the world, or sexy women looking to catch his attention—he
was used to that. After all, he was an extremely eligible bachelor, at least as far as the unknowing public thought. He was certain that if human women knew he was also a wolf, his single, male billionaire status wouldn’t have as much appeal.

The problem was that the men following him were wolves—just as wary and capable of concealment and evasion in their human form as in their wolf coats. What
had tipped him off was that the men hadn’t been carrying cameras when following him as humans. And when he’d caught them watching him at various restaurants or stores, they’d quickly looked away. But when he’d tried to track them, they’d always given him the
slip. Sometimes, they left a bit of a telltale wolf scent behind, as if they’d used hunter’s spray for concealment but hadn’t quite masked their own unique scent.

Rafe took another sip of his smoothie. This was so different from when he’d lived with the pack of his birth. He had moved on, left that life behind, wanting
something more. The power to make things happen in the human world, not just with a pack.

“Has your brother learned anything from the research he’s been conducting?” Derek asked.

“When he’s running his experiments, he doesn’t like to discuss the results—or, I should say, details—with anyone. Certainly not with me, since that’s not
my field of expertise. Just like I don’t discuss the details of my real estate ventures with him.”

“I heard he was off to check some other leads besides testing lupus garou blood samples.”

“Yeah. He’s let me in on his other research so I’ll know where he is at all times. He’s studied children with progeria, a premature aging syndrome. He also
investigated an eight-year-old girl who still had the physical maturity of an infant, having barely aged in all that time. Another case was that of a forty-year-old man who looked like a ten-year-old boy. A couple others: a twenty-nine-year-old man who appeared
to be ten, and a woman who was thirty-four but looked like she was two years old. So the rate of aging was significantly different for each of them.

“Aidan had wondered if any of them were wolves, which was one of the primary reasons he checked into their cases, but he learned none were. Since lupus
garous age at the same rate humans do until they are young adults, he really hadn’t believed they were our kind, but he still wanted to determine if any of their conditions were similar to ours.”

Derek finished his smoothie and set the glass on the table. “With all the research he’s doing, I think he needs a bodyguard. Knowing how to return us to
our original wolf life spans could be dangerous in the wrong hands.”

“Agreed. I have a man watching his back, even though Aidan wouldn’t approve if he knew. So I haven’t mentioned it to anyone. Aidan doesn’t believe he’s
close to learning anything.” Rafe studied a couple of bikini-clad babes running along the beach below his estate. He swore the women were plants, seeking to catch his attention. Most of the wealthy landowners up here were older. Truth be told, he was much
older than them. But in human years, he appeared to be thirty. He was also looking for anyone who seemed to be watching him, but he didn’t see anyone like that here today.

What really caught his eye was a woman wearing a pair of white short shorts with what looked like a one-piece bathing suit underneath, though the back plunged
so low that all he could see were the royal blue straps. What piqued his curiosity even more was how low the front of the swimsuit was cut. It was funny how sometimes a one-piece and a pair of shorts could be more enticing than a tiny bikini.

When she began wading up to her thighs in the surf, watching the sea, her golden hair whipping about her shoulders in the warm summer breeze, he sighed, reminding himself
he couldn’t be interested in a human woman for any kind of permanent relationship.

“Enticed yet?” Derek asked, smiling, his attention focused on the scantily clad bathing beauties jogging along the beach.

Rafe finished his smoothie. “Are they different ones, or the same two who were out here yesterday?”

“Hard to tell. They have all the right curves, the tanned bodies, the skimpy bikinis. I think one was a redhead yesterday though. So you think it’s a ploy
to see if one of them would appeal more to you?” Before Rafe could reply, Derek tacked on, “Given a choice, which would?”

“None of them.”

“Not even if she was a wolf?”

Rafe glanced at his lifelong friend. Tall, tanned, and muscular like him, Derek was much fairer, his hair blonder and his eyes amber. They didn’t exactly
appear like the billionaire type. Not to mention they had a wolfish wild side to them. Both were wearing board shorts—his green with a blue ocean wave, Derek’s an orange-and-white floral—and they looked more like surfer dudes, except neither of them surfed.
As a wolf, Rafe preferred swimming, hiking, running, boating, or climbing—freestyle.

In a gesture of feigned exasperation, Derek threw up his hands. “Okay, so most are interested in our money more than anything. Sometimes it’s important
to just have fun.”

Rafe checked out the woman walking deeper into the water. He grew worried when he saw the telltale signs of danger. The surf was flatter there, looking
like a road heading out to sea. The color was lighter than the surrounding water, the foam on the surface moving out to sea, instead of being drawn into the shore like the regular breakers. A rip current. Which could imperil the woman.

Instantly, Rafe bolted from his lounger and raced to his private stairs to the beach, wishing like hell he’d noticed the water before. His attention had been solely on the
woman the last time he looked.

“Hey, where you going?” Derek asked, jumping up from his lounger and hurrying to catch up as Rafe ran down the stairs.

“To rescue the third woman this month who’s headed for trouble in the surf.” Rafe reached the electronically locked gate, threw it open, then sprinted across
the sun-warmed sand.

A summer of storms and hurricanes had altered the landscape of the ocean floor along the Pacific coast, creating more rip currents, which had resulted in
more lifeguard rescues in the area. Except they didn’t have any lifeguards here. That meant whenever Rafe took a breather from work and relaxed poolside, he watched the situation in front of his estate as if he were the local lifeguard. He couldn’t help it.
If he saw someone in danger, he was compelled to lend a hand.

Rip currents typically flowed faster than any human could swim. If the woman he saw walking into the rip current was caught up in it, she could be pulled
out to sea as much as half a mile or more before it ended. It wouldn’t pull its victim under; usually, those who drowned had attempted to swim against the flow, panicking in an effort to return to the shore through the path of the rip current, tiring them
to the point of exhaustion. If she was a good swimmer and knew how to navigate horizontally to the beach, or remained calm and treaded water until the rip lost its drive, she should make it just fine.

But he didn’t want to risk her safety.

He raced around the beachgoers soaking up the sun. No one seemed to notice the possible danger.

Rafe reached the incoming waves, bolted through the water, and heard his friend splashing behind him. The woman was up to her shoulders in the surf, and
Rafe dove for her just as the current swept her off her feet and pulled them both out to sea.

About The author

Terry Spear Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

Love, love, love romance, the paranormal, hunky Highlanders with their delicious brogue and hot kilts, so Terry Spear writes about those hunky Highlanders both in medieval times and as wolves in contemporary times. Jaguar shifters too! And young adult urban fantasy. And romantic suspense. She grew up reading mystery, adventure, mythologies from around the world, ghost stories, the paranormal, fell in love with Dracula and Wolfman, and felt they needed loving too. Everyone should have someone to love. Which means her stories always have a HEA. USA Today Bestseller residing in Central Texas from Sacramento, California who creates award-winning teddy bears too!

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