Harvest Moon
Authors: Lisa Kessler
Tags: #Select, #Entangled, #nurse, #paranormal romance, #shifter, #Lisa Kessler, #Moon series, #Otherworld, #boxing, #boxer, #werewolves, #romance, #pnr, #tortured hero, #fated mate, #enemies to lovers
Some wolves were never meant for a mate…
Dr. Jason Ayers unleashes all of his rage and his frustration through fists and brute force in an underground boxing ring. The werewolf may be the pack’s doctor, but he can’t even heal his coma-stricken father after the Nero Organization’s attack stopped his heart. And as his Pack brothers settle down around him, he still refuses to believe in the fairy tale notion that every wolf has a true mate…
In hiding and on the run, nurse Kilani Akamu is a loose end that Nero is desperate to tie up. She can’t afford to be attracted to a doctor—especially one as unexpectedly hot and complex as Jason. Yet the sexual sparks arcing between them are undeniable…and Kilani’s precognitive senses warn her that temptation is inevitable.
All it takes is one touch to send Jason’s wolf howling. But even if he could protect her from Nero, he can’t protect her from himself…
Table of Contents
Moonlight
Hunter’s Moon
Blood Moon
Night Walker
Night Thief
Night Demon
Night Child
Beg Me to Slay
Discover more Entangled Select Otherworld titles…
This Weakness for You
Angel Kin
Pale Moon Walking
The Queen’s Wings
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Lisa Kessler. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.
Entangled Publishing, LLC
2614 South Timberline Road
Suite 109
Fort Collins, CO 80525
Visit our website at
www.entangledpublishing.com
.
Select Otherworld is an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC.
Edited by Liz Pelletier
Cover design by Heather Howland
Cover art from iStock
ISBN 978-1-63375-439-3
Manufactured in the United States of America
First Edition September 2015
For Amber —
I’m so lucky to have you as my best friend for over thirty years.
Through everything, we’ve still got the Eye of the Tiger!
This one is for you, Amb!
Chapter One
J
ASON
“N
ight, Dr. Ayers.”
I glanced up from my computer.
My office manager, Therese, gave me a wink. “You’ve been the last one out for a couple weeks now. Everything all right?”
Damn
, “all right” seemed like a pipe dream. “Yeah, I’m fine. Have a great night.”
“Anything I can help with?”
I leaned back in my leather executive chair. “I wish you could, but I’ve got it under control.”
“Okay.” She nodded, but her eyebrow rose like a natural lie detector. “I don’t mind staying.”
“Nah, I’m almost done anyway.” I forced a smile. “See you in the morning.”
She nodded and stepped back as the door closed, swaddling me in the silence. I flexed my bruised right hand and then fisted it, working out the stiffness in my joints. Tiger, my opponent last night, had an iron jaw, and I’d slammed too many jabs into it.
The welcomed pain kept me anchored in the present. Reminded me I was alive. Lately, I needed all the reminders I could get.
My cell phone alarm beeped. I had to take another bag of fluids and liquid nutrition over to my parents’ place for my dad. A knock sounded at the door.
I got up and opened it. At first I stared right over the top of her head, before I shifted my focus lower. A nurse dressed in jungle-themed scrubs narrowed her dark eyes, tipping her chin up in my direction. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and one hip jutted out to the side. Her black hair sat on top of her head in a loose bun, and her flawless tan skin glowed with life.
Although she stood barely over five feet tall, her stance made it clear she expected my respect.
She also looked vaguely familiar. “Can I help you?”
“I hope so. Two weeks ago I assisted you in reviving a man who’d been injected with potassium chloride. I was just informed the patient was never checked into the medical center. I’d like to know why.”
Damn it.
This was the nurse who’d helped me save my father’s life. Or at least get his heart beating again. Whether or not he actually had a “life” anymore was up for debate.
“I’d give you an answer if I could, but my hands are tied. Patient privacy regulations.” I could almost smell the bullshit coming out of my mouth. “I can tell you he’s feeling much better thanks to your help.”
“Enough with the elitist doctor double-talk.” She swiped her hand in the air and placed a fist on her shapely hip. “I’ve got to record the medications we used on your patient. If he’s not admitted, I can’t do that. I could get fired over the missing medicine, and I
need
this job. So save your privacy line for someone who gives a crap. Now what the hell happened to that man?”
Elitist doctor double-talk? I almost laughed.
“I’m sorry if you’re in hot water over the insulin and glucose.” What was her name? My brain replayed that evening. She had told me, but I’d been so wrapped up in trying to save my dad I couldn’t recall it now. “I’ll come by tomorrow and talk to the head nurse for you. I’m sure I can get it straightened out.”
“And you’ll tell them you’re there on behalf of…” She waited. I didn’t attempt to guess her name. She rolled her eyes. “You don’t even remember my name, do you?” I opened my mouth to apologize, but she went on before I could get a word in. “Typical. I’m Kilani.”
Kilani. Beautiful name. Polynesian, maybe?
“Are you listening to me?”
Shit.
“Yeah, I’m listening.”
She shook her head, her gaze holding mine. “You know what, never mind. I’ll handle this on my own. The last thing I need is a guy who can’t even remember my name to be poking around the hospital to ‘help’ me.”
Spinning on her heel, she walked away. I went out the door after her. “Kilani, wait.”
She stopped but didn’t turn in my direction.
“I’m not usually such an ass.”
Her shoulders relaxed a little and she faced me again. “Most doctors don’t apologize.”
The doctor jibes were starting to get to me. “That
patient
is my father.”
“I remember.” She nodded. “That’s why I was so surprised you didn’t admit him. I don’t know what your relationship with your dad is like, but you of all people should understand he needs twenty-four-hour care. He could have brain damage or…”
“God damn it. You don’t think I know that?” I yelled, and I didn’t give a shit. If anyone on earth understood how dire my dad’s situation was, it was me. And if I could, I’d have him in the hospital, but my dad was also a werewolf, and one blood sample in the wrong hands could expose our race to humans.
I might be the Pack doctor, but I couldn’t offer them the best treatment because it always came back to exposure. What good was my medical degree when my hands were tied? The medical center’s equipment could help my father—but it could also prove to the human world that werewolves existed.
We couldn’t risk it, even if it meant I might lose my dad.
“I’m giving him better care than he would get in a hospital, so spare me your judgment.” I forced in a slow breath and lowered my voice a couple of notches. “I’m sorry if you’re in trouble over the missing medication. I meant what I said about talking to the head nurse for you to smooth it over.”
“No thanks.” She put her hands up. “Nothing
you
could give me would be of help. I hope, for your father’s sake, he has a full recovery.”
She walked back toward the atrium that connected the medical office building with the hospital next door. Her hips swayed in a natural motion. Her job was at risk now. My fault.
“Kilani, wait.”
She didn’t slow and she didn’t answer. In another minute, she was gone.
I’d been an asshole to the one person who’d helped me keep my dad’s heart beating. And the hits just kept coming.
T
he sour scent of sweat and blood stung my nostrils as I taped my knuckles. In the center of the makeshift boxing ring, the two titans clobbered each other in a bid to face me next. As reigning champ of the underground fight club, they all wanted a shot at my title.