Forbidden Seduction (Lee County Wolves Series) Book #2

FORBIDDEN SEDUCTION

BY

Teresa Gabelman

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A writer may write the story alone, except for the characters in their head. Once the story is written, there are many who surround the writer. I want to thank those who have and continue to surround me. This may be my journey, but each of you walk beside me.

Donna Bossert is not only my PA but my friend and sounding board. Thank you, Donna, for reading this story so many times I know you screamed. Believe me, I was screaming right along with you. Your honesty is so appreciated as is your belief in me.

Becky Johnson, my awesome editor, who is so much more than that. Thank you for everything you do for me. You are my rock during edits and freak-out mode.

Donna Pemberton, thank you for working so hard for me and making me laugh till it hurts. Without your eye rolls and snarky comments, I would never be able to hear the words… “NAILED IT!”

To my mom, Emma aka Gran, thank you so much for putting up with my panic, mood swings, and for reading everything I write, even when it makes you say the “F” word. True story!

Ron, my talented husband, thank you for the awesome covers. The care you take with my Warriors and Shifters when making sure the readers buying them drool, shows how much you really do love and believe in me.

To my son, Cody, and his girlfriend, Cassie. Thank you both for always being my cheer squad during deadlines. Your support means so much. You both are totally awesome!

My awesome street team, The Warriorettes, your never ending pimping of everything I write humbles me beyond what I can even express. Thank you so much because I know you are taking time out of your life to help me. You crazy women mean more to me than you will ever know.

To my father, an English teacher, who passed from a diabetic coma when I was five years old. I never really got to know you, and though I suck at grammar and punctuation, I hope you would have been proud of me.

And most of all, to my readers, thank you for believing in me. Without you, my stories would have no meaning. You, and you alone, bring them to life.

Lee County Wolves

Forbidden Seduction

Copyright 2016 Teresa Gabelman

All rights reserved. The right of Teresa Gabelman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This is a work of fiction and any resemblance between the characters and persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Gabelman, Teresa (2016-7-30). Forbidden Seduction (Lee County Wolves Series)

Kindle Edition.

Editor:
Hot Tree Editing

Photo:
www.bigstockphoto.com

Cover Art: Ron Gabelman

Chapter 1

Hunter Foster knew someone trailed him, but he kept his eyes on the road. As soon as he passed the Beattyville sign, more followed. He felt them but couldn’t hear anything because he had closed himself off. A pack could hear each other’s thoughts, but he had enjoyed the silence that came with being away and wanted that silence to continue. A small smirk passed his lips. His brother was making damn sure he didn’t turn around and head the other way, but he wouldn’t do that. His respect for his alpha was strong.

Spending weeks with the VC Warriors had taught him many things. He wasn’t ashamed of what he’d done. Actually, he was proud of the stance he had taken and would do it again in a second flat. So he was there to take his ass chewing like a man, but if his brother thought he would cower, then Garrett Foster was in for a rude awakening.

Hunter kept his eyes straight ahead as he rode his motorcycle deeper into town. Eyes of disapproval hit him as people and wolves came out of the shadows, but he let the disappointing glares bounce off him. He only had one person to answer to other than himself, and that was his alpha.

A restlessness that he hadn’t experienced for a long time surged through him. His wolf clawed anxiously, but he ordered him to calm. Glancing over at Rocky’s Bar & Grill, he pulled in and parked. With a fluid motion, he slid off his bike and headed inside. He might as well get his ass kicked on a full stomach.

Hunter became alert as soon as the door closed behind him. The talking slowed to a complete stop as all eyes settled on him, which wasn’t anything new, yet the hint of hostility set him on edge. Putting his leather gloves in his back pocket, he headed toward a table in the back of the room. With his back to the wall, he sat down and grabbed a menu, despite knowing every item on it, and stared at it.

His gaze rose when someone sat directly across from him. “Dell.” He nodded before looking back at the menu.

“Hunter,” Dell responded with a half grin on his face. “How was your trip?”

With a sigh, Hunter closed the menu putting it back between the napkin holder and the salt shaker. “Eventful.”

Dell leaned his head back laughing loudly. “You don’t say.” Dell glanced around at everyone staring their way, giving them a glare. Dell was a big man. His arms were strong and muscular to the point of bursting out of his shirtsleeves. Not many wanted to tangle with Dell Farris, so everyone in the bar went back to their own business. “So you figured you’d get something to eat before seeing your brother.”

“Figured it would be a smart move.” Hunter leaned back in his chair with a casual grace as if he didn’t have a care in the world, then reached up rubbing his jaw. “Don’t know when I’ll be able to chew after he’s done with me.”

“Was it worth it?” Dell watched him closely. Hunter figured Dell knew the answer, but that was the thing about Dell; even though most thought he was just a mechanic, there was something much deeper about the shifter. He knew things, things that he had no right knowing.

“Yeah, it was.” Hunter’s eyes didn’t waver from his intense stare. “No man I know would let a woman lie dying without protecting her in some way. My way was a little excessive, but I would do it again without hesitation.”

Dell nodded without saying a word, grabbing the menu as if to give Hunter a few minutes to think about what was to come.

His only job had been to go to Cincinnati and help a friend. What he didn’t know before going was that his friend Blaze wasn’t the one who needed the help. Jax Wheeler, who was a Vampire Council Warrior needed Hunter’s tracking skills to hunt down his brother. Before he’d known what was happening, Hunter had become a part of their team, connecting with not only the Warriors but their mates. So when Jill, a VC Warrior, lay on the steps of Cincinnati City Hall dying, he went into protective mode and shifted, not caring that there were cameras and news reporters surrounding them. He was now home to pay the price for revealing himself.

“You need to eat and quick before—” Dell started before he was interrupted.

“You ordering?” Janice Feldman stood over him holding her order pad. Her tone was anything but friendly. He guessed he couldn’t blame her since he didn’t call her back after their first and only date.

“How you doing, Janice?” Hunter offered, figuring just placing his order wasn’t going to fly.

With her pencil held over her pad, she just glared at him without saying a word.

“Are you crazy?” Marcus scowled as he stomped through the door, heading straight toward his table.

Hunter looked at Dell who wore a half “I tried to warn ya” grin, then put the menu back where it belonged before looking at Janice. “I’ll take the special.”

“No, he won’t.” Marcus stopped next to Janice, his arms crossed over his massive chest.

Janice looked at the two brothers before giving an irritated sigh and walking away.

“Garrett knows you’re in town.” Marcus glared down at him.

“Figured that,” Hunter replied. He hated being the youngest of the three. If Garrett wasn’t on his ass, then Marcus was. Damn, it had been nice getting away from this shit for a while, and if they weren’t careful, he would beg Sloan Murphy, the Warrior boss man, to put him on the VC Warrior payroll.

“Then what in the fuck are you doing sitting here? Do you have any clue what you have done?” Marcus’s voice lowered to a deep growl. “Do you even care?”

Hunter was up and in his brother’s face before Dell could stop him. Chairs slid across the tile floor screeching through the restaurant as nervous customers moved to get out of the way. All eyes were on the brothers.

“Never question my loyalty,” Hunter hissed, standing nose to nose with Marcus.

Marcus didn’t back down. There wasn’t even a lean of his head. “Don’t give me a reason to.”

Dell took that moment to step between them. “I think this town has seen enough excitement lately.” Dell took a moment to look around before turning his attention back to Marcus, then Hunter. “Tearing up the only restaurant for miles isn’t going to calm things.”

With thick tension in the air, Hunter backed down first, taking a step away out of respect. He was already in deep shit and didn’t need to add more to it by fighting with Marcus in front of people who already doubted Garrett’s leadership because of what he himself had done.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out some money and tossed it on the table for Janice’s time. Without a word, he walked out of the restaurant, hopped on his bike and headed toward Garrett’s house, not caring if Dell and Marcus followed.

It was pretty much a two-second ride. Parking, he slid off the bike and headed up the steps to the front door before stopping. His wolf had grown restless since entering Beattyville and warned him he was being watched. Slowly, he let his eyes roam the area around the house. Seeing nothing, he still knew his wolf was right. He was being watched. With one last sweep of the area, he continued up the steps and into the house.

Voices came from the back of the house where the kitchen was located.

“I say he needs to go.” A gravelly voice traveled from that direction.

Hunter rolled his eyes recognizing Willis Hardy’s voice. The only reason Willis wanted him gone was because he had dated his daughter, Sue, and had hated him for it. Not many fathers in Beattyville liked him much, but their daughters sure did. Hunter grinned even in the seriousness of the moment.

“Now, Willis, he only dated Sue once or twice, and she’s not worse for it.” Jonah McCall’s voice was unmistakable. He still had the air of alpha about him even though Hunter’s brother Garrett had taken over that role years ago. “That’s no reason to toss him out of the pack.”

If Jonah knew what he and Sue did on their last date, he may have rethought that. Hunter chuckled.

“I say we take a vote.” Willis growled, obviously ignoring Jonah. “Which I think is being too soft considering he put our pack in danger.”

Hunter’s grin quickly disappeared. His eyes hardened. He knew they had heard him enter the house, but yet they still talked. In three strides, he walked into the kitchen with more calm than he felt.

“I say string him up by his balls while disgruntled fathers with daughters beat him with sticks.” Hunter’s voice rose above them all.

Willis, the pain-in-the-ass older pack member, stared at Hunter with disgust, swallowing nervously as Hunter eyed him before looking at his brother, his alpha.

Even though Garrett looked pissed, his lips quirked into a small grin before it disappeared quickly. “How was lunch?”

Hunter’s eyebrow rose at the question. “Don’t know,” Hunter replied, thumbing behind him. “Dumb and dumber wouldn’t let me eat.”

Two sets of growls erupted behind Hunter, but he ignored them.

“So let the ass chewing begin.” Hunter leaned against the counter, his eyes staying on the only person who he swore his loyalty to and the only person whose opinion mattered. “I have arrived.”

“Everyone out,” Garrett ordered. When no one moved, Garrett’s growl rocked the room. “Out!”

Hunter rolled his eyes as Marcus threw him a glare before walking out of the room. Once everyone was out of the house, he turned his attention to his brother and saw for the first time the stress lining his face.

“Listen, I know what I did—”

“You did what you had to do to save a woman’s life,” Garrett interrupted. “And I wouldn’t expect you to do anything else.”

For once in his life Hunter was speechless. He expected to get his ass handed to him by Garrett. Had prepared for an ass kicking. He was surprised to the point his mind went completely blank and honestly, it scared the shit out of him.

“Not what you expected?” Garrett crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at Hunter, his eyebrow cocked.

“Not even close.” Hunter finally found his voice.

“Although, I wish you would have found a better way of dealing with the situation since there were news cameras everywhere, I understand.” Garrett didn’t even sound pissed, didn’t look pissed, and Hunter started to freak out.

“But I single-handedly ousted not only our pack but the shifter community.” Hunter eyed Garrett. “I shifted in front of humans without thought of what it would do to our kind. I broke the number one rule of our code.”

“It was bound to happen one day,” Garrett replied with a nod.

“She wasn’t even one of us. She was a vampire, a half-breed.” Hunter narrowed his eyes at his brother, baiting him to get angry, to kick his ass. Was he crazy? He was off the hook, yet something wasn’t right. He broke the shifter code. There were consequences to that. Wasn’t there?

“And she must have been someone special for you to do what you did,” Garrett replied, then tilted his head as if listening for something before turning his focus back to Hunter.

Hunter started to nod but then stopped as he shook his head in disbelief. “Okay, what the fuck is going on?” Hunter put both hands on his hips. “I have been glared at, bitched out, and I almost beat the hell out of Marcus for questioning my loyalty. But the one person who I worried I’d let down the most is standing here with an understanding that is completely fucking with my head.”

Garrett didn’t say a word as he waited patiently for Hunter to stop.

Suddenly Hunter’s mouth dropped open, his eyes wide. “Is this what mating does to you?” Hunter looked away, cursed and then glared back at Garrett. “Son of a bitch, I knew it. Mating is like cutting your balls off and putting them on a shelf. What the fuck has Janna done to you?”

Reaching out with lightning speed, Garrett grabbed Hunter by the throat and held him against the wall. “My balls are exactly where they need to be and have always been.” He squeezed Hunter’s throat as if emphasizing his words. “Now, are you finished being a dumbass?”

Hunter knew he was seriously close to passing out, so he wheezed out a “Yes.” Rubbing his throat after Garrett released him, Hunter watched as his brother turned to look out the window as if trying to calm himself.

“Another one is coming.” Marcus hurried into the kitchen, the concern on his face evident.

“Another one, who?” Hunter asked, looking between Marcus and Garrett.

“Who the fuck do you think, dumbass?” Marcus spat. “The
who
we’ve been fighting off while you’ve been playing nice with the VC Warriors. The
who
that wants to come in and take over
our
town because
you
decided to shift in front of humans.”

Hunter’s growl was loud and before he could reach Marcus, Garrett stepped between them. “Enough!”

“Don’t go, please.” Janna walked into the room, her eyes only for Garrett.

Hunter glanced at Janna and had to do a double take. Her face was pale. Deep dark circles underlined her eyes. What the fuck was going on?

Garrett turned, pulling her into his arms. “Why are you out of bed?” He kissed the top of her head, but she wasn’t having any of it.

“I’m fine.” Janna’s voice grew stronger as she glared up at Garrett. “You don’t have to do this. You haven’t healed from the last one.”

Garrett chuckled before picking her up in his arms. “Are you calling me weak?”

“No.” Janna sighed. “But this is the third one in two days.”