Fated For The Wolf: A Fertile Shapeshifter Romance (Werewolf's Harem Series Book 6)
Read Fated For The Wolf: A Fertile Shapeshifter Romance (Werewolf's Harem Series Book 6) Online
Authors: Vivian Wood
Fated For The Wolf
Werewolf’s Harem Book Six
By Vivian Wood
Amazon Edition
Copyright 2014
May not be replicated or reproduced in any manner without express and written permission from the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to author and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
An Excerpt
Elijah crossed the space between them in two big steps, halting just inches from Ivy. This close, he could see that she trembled, some mixture of nerves and desire. She tilted her head back to look at him, the silky curtain of her blonde hair spilling down her shoulders and back. Her eyes gleamed, promising that she felt more lust than fear, and the hopeful expression on her face did him in.
His hands found the curves of her hips, fingers pressing into her warm, soft flesh. Elijah pulled Ivy flush against his body, relishing the contrast of her body against his. She was so delicate and warm and small, making him feel even taller and stronger, rousing a fiercely protective instinct in him.
He kissed her again. This time it was no gentle exploration, but a greedy and insistent need to taste, to feel her innermost warmth against every inch of his body.
Werewolf’s Harem Series
Though these books may be read as standalone stories, we recommend reading them in order for maximum enjoyment.
Hot New Release News
Click here
to get all the latest details on giveaways, discounts, and hot new releases from author Vivian Wood.
Chapter One
August
Elijah Buchanan stared down at his best friend’s brand new mate, trying to decide whether to scowl or laugh at her antics. Kiley was a wee thing, her head coming only to his shoulder, but you’d never know she was the smaller one by the way she was scolding him just now. She crossed her arms and flipped her long, dark curls over her shoulder as she gave an exasperated sigh and shook her head.
“You are being entirely too rough with him,” she said. She stepped between Elijah and the
him
in question, an eight week old wolf pup. Kiley and Garrett had saved a litter of wild wolf pups recently, and they were fostering them for another couple of months until the pups were old enough to roam free on the brand new Montana wildlife preserve Garrett and his brother Lucas had created.
Elijah had just finished a mission at the security firm he co-owned with Garrett. Now he was spending a couple of well-earned weeks off at Garrett and Kiley’s rambling Montana farmhouse, located smack in the middle of their new wolf sanctuary. Elijah had followed Kiley outside to the property’s newly-resurrected barn, intending to help her feed the pups, but he’d ended up tussling with the most rambunctious of the bunch while Kiley did all the work.
“He’s the one doin’ all the biting!” Elijah protested, climbing to his feet and dusting himself off. He chuckled at the look on Kiley’s face. She hadn’t quite grasped his words, and for good reason. His Scottish accent was thick as tar, and sometimes Americans had trouble understanding him when he didn’t take care to enunciate each word.
“It’s his fault,” Elijah clarified, slowing his words down to make sure Kiley got his meaning.
The pup proved Elijah’s point in the next second, pouncing on Elijah’s foot and giving the toe of his thick leather boot a playful nip. Elijah gave a teasing growl and the pup jumped back, scampering behind Kiley for protection. When the pup peeped out from behind Kiley’s legs, Elijah laughed. He crouched again and beckoned to the pup, who ran over and pushed his head under one of Elijah’s hands, hind leg thumping when Elijah scratched him behind the ears.
Kiley’s face softened into a smile as watched them.
“You’d make a good dad, you know?” she said, looking thoughtful.
Elijah’s stomach dropped at her words, and he disengaged from the wolf pup.
“Been hearin’ that a lot of late,” he said, rolling his shoulders in an attempt to ward off the tension that now built there.
He could hear his father’s voice now, accent thicker even than Elijah’s own.
Ye’ll give me a babe before the year’s out, or ye’ll get nothin’. No’ a penny, no legacy whatsoever. Ye’ll no’ keep the name Buchanan, I swear it.
Adam Buchanan had dropped that bomb on Elijah three days prior, and since then Elijah had been hard-pressed to think of anything else. He was only thirty four, true, but he was the only heir of the Buchanan line of Alphas. In Adam’s mind, Elijah had been wiling away the years until it was time for him to produce a strong group of heirs and return to Scotland and reclaim his birthright.
Or something like that. Elijah had stopped listening after about five minutes of Adam’s belligerent ranting and raving about blood lines and heritage and duty. Only when Adam had said the words
an’ my fortune, an Castle Buchanan…
had Elijah snapped to attention once more. Apparently if Elijah didn’t produce an heir, and soon, the castle that had been home to countless generations of Buchanan wolves would be forfeit to a distant and little-loved cousin.
Elijah didn’t give a whit about the money or his father’s disapproval, but the castle couldn’t be passed to some mere cousin.
“Earth to Elijah,” Kiley said, waving a hand in front of his face.
She pointed to the pup at his feet, but it was too late. Elijah looked down just in time to feel a warm, wet sensation against his ankle as the tiny wolf cocked a leg and pissed.
“Damnation!” he shouted, jumping back.
“He must like you,” Kiley cackled, picking up the now-spent pup and returning him to the barn before closing the door.
She turned and headed back toward the house, Elijah spewing a stream of inventive curses as he followed her. His eye was drawn to a flicker of movement on the horizon, something coming their way and moving fast. He squinted, identifying the blur as a figure on horseback.
Kiley stopped in the yard of her two-story white farmhouse. Eyeing the approaching rider, Kiley perched herself on the wraparound porch’s broad whitewashed wood steps.
“Someone you know?” Elijah asked, leaning against the porch railing but remaining on his feet. Garrett had driven into town for the morning, and Elijah felt it was his job to watch after Kiley in his friend’s absence, no matter how feisty she was.
“Yeah, a friend,” Kiley replied. In the next moment, she turned her bright emerald gaze on Elijah, considering. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but her stare was intent enough to make him fidget and clear his throat.
He turned his gaze to the figure, noting the big leopard Appaloosa he rode, a very fine horse. The rider drew closer, and Elijah realized that it was actually not a man, but a woman. A stunning woman, at that. She slowed as she approached, giving him time to drink her in.
She wore her wheat-colored blonde hair shoulder-length, with a thick fringe of bangs that shaped wide but delicate features. Luminous, toffee-brown eyes rimmed with dark lashes, high cheekbones flushed with the exertion of riding, and lush lips that curved up to reveal a brilliant smile. She wore dark jeans, an oversized blue plaid shirt, the long sleeves pushed up at the elbows, and well-worn leather cowboy boots.
“Kiley!” she called out as she slowed the horse to a walk, stopping ten yards from the porch.
“Ivy, hey,” Kiley said, flapping a hand in greeting. Kiley stayed put, and Elijah realized that she was trying not to spook the other woman’s horse. Horses didn’t do well around strange werewolves, in general. His gaze flickered up to the woman. Even from here, even over the strong scent of horse and ligament, he could smell her, could tell she was one of their kind.
She smelled damned good, in fact.
“Everything okay?” the woman asked, giving Elijah a sharp once-over.
“Oh, yeah,” Kiley said with a laugh. “Ivy, this is Elijah Buchanan. He’s Garrett’s friend and business partner. He’s spending some vacation time with us. Elijah, this is Ivy Sullivan. We’ve known each other for a long time, but she just bought one of the adjoining ranches. She’s going to let us use it as an extension of the wolf sanctuary.”
“How’dya do?” Elijah said, cocking his head. It felt strange to be so low to the ground and so far away during an introduction. He could tell just from looking at Ivy that she was even smaller than Kiley, probably more than a foot shorter than his own 6’4 stature. She had a small, finely made shape, though her breasts were enticingly large no matter how she tried to hide them beneath her too-large work shirt.
Ivy flushed under his gaze, her tongue darting out over her lips before she spoke.
“I should— I should be going,” she said, breaking his gaze by turning her face from him and regarding Kiley instead.
“Don’t you think you should be
staying
?” Kiley asked. Ivy blushed even harder, her face going from pink to red. Clearly there was a hidden subtext in Kiley’s words, but Elijah couldn’t work it out.
“I’ll come back some other time,” Ivy said, gracefully turning the horse away as she spoke.
“Ivy, you really should come inside,” Kiley scolded her. Elijah raised a brow, but the two women ignored him.
“You’ve got those pups in the barn. I can’t just leave Jericho out,” Ivy said with a shrug.
Kiley rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Her horse,” Kiley explained, at last favoring Elijah with a glance.
“Alright,” he said, bewildered by the whole exchange. He turned his attention back to Ivy. “Perhaps another time, then?”
“Later, sure,” Ivy said with a shrug. She nudged Jericho with her knee, clicking her tongue softly. With that she fled, leaving Kiley and Elijah staring at her retreating back for several long seconds.
“Jeez,” Kiley sighed after a moment, shaking her head. Elijah held out a hand and helped her to her feet, following her up the steps and into the house.
“And what exactly was that all about?” Elijah asked as they entered the kitchen, a 1950’s cream-and-clapboard affair. Just being in this room made Elijah feel a bit like a cowboy in the old west, though his bright red hair and Scottish accent belied the fantasy.
Kiley pursed her lips as she opened the small fridge, pulling out various items.
“Sandwiches okay for lunch?” she asked.
“Sure, sure,” Elijah said, nodding.
Kiley spread out all the sandwich makings on the kitchen counter, looking thoughtful. For a moment Elijah thought she was ignoring his question, or hadn’t heard it at all. When she eventually did answer, she was hesitant.
“I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to say about Ivy,” Kiley said. Her hands were busy preparing lunch, her brow creased with a troubled furrow. “Her situation is… unique.”
“Unique?” Elijah asked, canting his head. His accent butchered the word, and it came out more like
yUH-niiCK
. “You know her well, then?”
Kiley’s lips twitched, and she nodded.