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  As he walked down the street, Adam hunched his shoulders, ducking his head down. Right about now, he’d kill to be in comfortable surroundings, listening to the soft wash of conversation among his sisters and his parents.

  He wanted to go home. He couldn’t though, not just yet.

  Angrily wiping away the tears that once again filled his eyes, Adam sniffed, rubbing his cheek against his shoulder.

  He needed to distract himself from his homesickness. It wouldn’t do any good. He’d left for a reason, and he hadn’t reached his goal yet. He needed to prove to himself, and his family, that he could stand up for himself. That he wasn’t going to just blindly follow his father’s dictates.

  “Right, ‘cause you’ve done such a great job of taking care of yourself so far,” he muttered, softly.

  He limped toward the gas station when he came close, making his way as quickly as possible over to the payphone. Digging out a handful of change from his pocket, he dialed the number to Wolf Creek, tapping his foot nervously.

  “Wolf Creek Bar and Grill.”

  Adam jerked at the low, clipped baritone. He’d been caught up in rehearsing his speech for Rick. Although the two men were brothers, Max was way more intimidating than Rick. Adam hadn't quite gotten comfortable around the brusque werewolf yet.

  “Uh, h-hi, M-Max. It’s, uh, this is Adam. I, uh, didn’t ex-expect you to p-pick up.”

  The voice immediately softened, the drawl becoming more pronounced. “Hey, Adam. The place is pretty busy. I’m just helping Rick out since I was right beside the phone. Aren’t you supposed to be in tonight?”

  Adam nodded, sniffing when he realized the man couldn’t see the movement. “Yeah, I’m a little late. I, uh, had a little…well… C-could you tell Rick I’ll be in soon? I promise I’m coming in; I’m just a little late. Well, more than a little, but… Uh, yeah. Can you tell him?”

  “Sure thing.”

  Adam hung up the phone after saying his goodbyes, taking a deep breath. “You’re okay. Just breathe.” If he wasn’t careful, they were going to think he was the world’s biggest chicken. He needed to get a hold of himself. This was ridiculous. There was no need to be stuttering and stammering on the phone. He didn’t even want to imagine how much worse it was going to be when he saw them all in person.

  Halfheartedly wiping at his face, Adam continued walking toward the harbor and Wolf Creek Bar and Grill, making himself as small as possible. If he’d been in his other form, he just knew his fur would be standing on end. He needed to be alone, not caught on a street corner with a handful of smelly, sweaty humans. Adam shuddered, cursing his sensitive nose for the millionth time since he’d moved to Campbell River.

  * * *

  Marcus Black inhaled deeply the minute he got out of his truck. Home. He loved that smell. Fish and saltwater combined with the scent of wolves and all sorts of other creatures of the night. Christ, what did his brothers do, sleep out here? Unobtrusively looking around to make sure he was alone and unobserved, Marcus stepped up to the side of the building and relieved himself. He hummed. Rick was going to hate that.

  Done with his first order of business, Marcus walked around Wolf Creek Bar and Grill and stood looking out at the water. He loved it here. Dozens of sailboats bobbed in front of him, spread out along the Discovery Harbour Marina that Wolf Creek bordered. He started down the gangway, nodding at a couple wandering along the docks. Quadra Island was a welcome site across the water. He wondered if his brothers wanted to go camping soon. He itched to be out in his fur.

  For a few peaceful minutes, he wandered up and down the dock to his family’s berth. Damn, she looked fine. The Four Howlers was a prime example of why you shouldn’t let your half-wild wolf children name a perfectly good 44’ sailboat.

  With that thought in mind, he figured he should finally go inside and figure out what his brothers wanted.

  Half an hour later, he cradled his beer protectively in his hand, lifting his arm above the people around him. They were packed like sardines inside the bar, and he desperately needed some fresh air before he snapped and growled at someone. He’d been bumped from behind one too many times tonight, and he wasn’t exactly in the most peaceful frame of mind. The fact that he hadn’t been able to speak to Rick yet just made things worse. What the fuck did his brother want?

  Reaching the back of the bar and the door marked Private, he turned his nose up and fought the urge to sneeze at the strong odor of wolf. His brother’s scent was nearly overpowering. What did he do, rub on everything?

  “Goddamn bastard.”

  He grinned at the surprise Rick had in store the next time he stepped out into the parking lot. The man obviously spent too much time here.

  Hey, that's just what brothers did. Although, he’d take one of his pack over a human any day. The ones crowded into the bar tonight had no respect for personal space or decorum. Fuck, he couldn’t stand this.

  Curling his lip, Marcus sidestepped a lady wearing a tiny bit of lace over a stupid excuse for a skirt. She batted her eyes up at him in what she probably thought was a seductive expression, but it only served to make him want to slap her upside the head and tell her to go put some damn clothes on. This night was fast turning into a waste of time.

  “This is why I fucking hate coming out in public,” he muttered. The woman stopped with a smile, probably thinking he was talking to her, and Marcus beat a hasty retreat.

  He was just about to leave the bar, his promise to Rick that he’d talk to him be damned, when the sweetest scent drifted close to him. Marcus froze, ignoring the body that bumped into his back, and the accompanying curse, to try and pinpoint the scent.

  He turned, raising his nose and drawing air deeply into his lungs. Almost instantly, his cock hardened, testing the limits of his jeans. Christ, he hadn’t had that happen since he was a randy teen, popping wood at the slightest breeze.

  Snapping his head to the right, his gaze was unerringly drawn to the small man making his way through the crowd. He moved sinuously, gracefully, stepping around people without touching them. His right leg dragged briefly and Marcus frowned.

  A low growl came from deep in his chest. He cursed silently, trying to grasp control of his wolf. He couldn’t let it take over in a crowded bar, but it took everything in him to stop from plowing through the crowd and screaming for the assholes around the man to move out of the way. What the hell was wrong with his wolf?

  The man had his head tucked down so it was almost uncanny how he seemed to know where to move next. The low light in the bar wasn’t the best for seeing the man’s features, but Marcus felt that they were arresting. Although, it wouldn’t really matter if he looked like the ass end of a hedgehog. He was about ten minutes away from belonging to the big, bad wolf in the bar. Marcus stepped forward, making his way closer to the man, uncaring of the people he was cutting off.

  Stripes of brown, ochre and black hair tufted up around the man’s face, with a little black M shaded in the hair right above his forehead. Marcus had only ever seen that on…wait. Being closer to the man made the subtleties in his scent intensify. He smelled like a cat and he looked like a tabby.

  Actually, he smelled like more than cat. He smelled like mate. Deep inside him, he felt the wolf give an impatient snap of teeth, anxious to get out and claim what belonged to him.

  Marcus grinned, ignoring the two men who abruptly backed away from his feral expression.

  He kept his gaze locked onto the small tabby, the man who was completely unaware that he was now being hunted. He licked his lips, starting forward. This was going to be fun.

  BIO

  Jade’s writing is as eclectic as her reading tastes, with over thirty erotic romance tales currently published. She’s been known to accept writing challenges from friends and family just to see their reactions and Jade is also a firm believer that love and romance are universal concepts, no matter a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation.

  Originally from Northern Ontari
o, she's lived in British Columbia and the Sultanate of Oman in the Middle East. Jade currently lives in Calgary, Alberta where she’s hard at work on her next story.

  Jade loves to hear from readers! You can contact her at:

  Website: http://www.jadebuchananbooks.com

  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jade.buchanan1

  MORE JADE BUCHANAN TITLES AVAILABLE

  The Bandit Creek series:

  PENNY CANDY

  HARD CANDY

  The Wolf Creek series:

  BLACK WOLF

  DUCK FART

  HEDGEHOG’S DELIGHT

  The Felidae series:

  LAITHE’S PRIDE

  ASAD’S MATE

  USAMA’S JOURNEY

  LEV’S DISCOVERY

  NAVIN’S MASTER

  ROWAN’S MEN

  The Pridelands series:

  DARREN’S SURPRISE

  ZULA’S STAND

  SHEER’S CHOICE

  GRIFFIN’S JOY

  KHALID’S CHALLENGE

  ACHAN’S PEACE

  The Broken Trilogy:

  BROKEN RULES

  BROKEN SILENCE

  BROKEN DISTANCE – coming soon

  The Horsfall Trilogy:

  TAIL OF TWO BROTHERS

  TASTE TEST

  AS THE CROW FLIES

  The Northern Bears Trilogy:

  BEAR WITH ME

  UNBEARABLE

  BEAR OUT

  PANDAMONIUM

  Single titles:

  NUT CREAM

  THE FROG IN THE ROOM

  ALL WRAPPED UP 3 COLLECTION: BOUND TO PLEASE

  ROOKERY COVE: FAUN OF A TIME

  BULL RIDER

  DREAMING OF HARMONY

  FIRESTORM ANTHOLOGY

  THE HANDYMAN

  THE BOARDROOM

  TAKING CHANCES

  THE STORYKEEPER

  AELLA’S SONG