Stolen by the Werewolf: A M-M Paranormal Romance E-Book

AJ Tipton

• Herausgeber: AJ Tipton
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Jim is an outsider trying to prove he has what it takes to be Alpha. Osric is a shameless con man who ran away from Jim over a decade ago. Can these werewolves steal a second chance at love?

As the handsome, responsible future Alpha of the Singer Valley werewolf pack, Jim Stewart always follows the rules. But when his greedy brother, Brad Huntington, empties the town’s bank accounts when the funds are most desperately needed, it's up to Jim to steal the money back before it's too late. But how can a goody-two-shoes pull off a robbery?

Osric Tan is a sexy con artist who ran away from Singer Valley after tragedy struck his family. For fifteen years, he has thrived at a life of crime, but he never forgot the man he left behind: his first love, Jim Stewart. When Jim crashes back into Osric’s life, Osric must decide whether he should stay on his crooked path, or if he can face his past.

With Jim wary to trust a thief, and Osric running from the life he left behind, can these two get a second chance at true love?

Stolen by the Werewolf is a short, gay paranormal romance novella. If you like smoldering love stories you can read in a day, then you’ll love the first installment of the Werewolves of Singer Valley romance adventure series.

Buy Stolen by the Werewolf to get your heart stolen away today!

Leseprobe

Stolen by the Werewolf

A M-M Paranormal Romance

AJ Tipton

Copyright © AJ Tipton 2015 The right of AJ Tipton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (or other similar law, depending on your country). All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author, except in cases of brief quotations embodied in reviews or articles. It may not be edited, amended, lent, resold, hired out, distributed or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s written permission. Permission can be obtained from [email protected]

This book is for sale to adult audiences only. It contains substantial sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which may be considered offensive by some readers.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and incidents appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is purely coincidental.

All sexually active characters in this work are 18 years of age or older.

Cover art photos provided by BigStock.com, Morgue Files, Flickr.com, and Upsplash.com.

Created with Vellum

It had been a difficult winter for the mountain town of Singer Valley. The roads were more pockmarked than a pre-teen at prom, and they had to close off one of the main bridges because too many of the supports had worn away under the blizzards' relentless assaults. But werewolves were survivors, and the Singer Valley pack even more so.

The scent of fresh bacon, tabasco omelets, and the musky tang of a large pack of werewolves drifted through The Howl Cafe. Jim Stewart took it all in with a satisfied breath and sighed with stuffed contentment. Spring was just starting to arrive, bringing with it the first waves of repairs for the crumbling town.

The remains of a once-towering stack of pancakes littered Jim's plate, along with a thick piece of rhubarb pie. Jim's adoptive family, the Huntingtons, had Jim pinned in the back of their booth, the "place of honor". The twins, Charlie and Morgan, boxed him in on either side, with their mom, Jodi and other brother, Jared flanking the booth’s exits.

"You are going to accept this honor, or I will bite you," Singer Valley's Alpha werewolf, Jodi Huntington, declared. In her early sixties, Jodi was a striking woman, with fine lines of expression around her eyes and mouth which emphasized her elegance. She rapped two fingers against the center of Jim's chest. "Don't give me shit about this. I know you want to be Alpha just as much as I want this for you."

Jim shifted in his chair under her stare, regretting eating that sixth pancake, which had hardened into a heavy ball in his stomach. The woman had a way of always being right that was downright scary.

"Jodi, you're years from retirement. Is it really necessary to make everything so official-?"

Jodi laughed. "Of course it is. Sit up straight, Jimmy."

Jim smiled. It was the same thing she'd said to him the first night he arrived at the Huntington house over a decade ago, a gangly fifteen-year-old with his face still wet with tears. Jodi had taken him straight home from the vigil besides his parents' graves, and she sat with him long into the night as he’d tried to articulate the vast emptiness surrounding him. At the time, he had been so sure it would never be filled.

The largest of the Huntington brothers, Jared, slapped Jim hard on the back. "Come on, Jim. You've earned this. It's not like any of us misfits would ever want the job." Jared's smile, so similar to his mother's, was dimpled with pride.

"You're hardly a misfit," Jim said.

As owner of The Howl--the beating heart of Singer Valley and the only restaurant in town--Jared was as indispensable as the Alpha, and everybody knew it. The blond beast of a man who hosted nearly everyone's birthdays, wedding receptions, and bar mitzvahs drank in gossip like a sustaining force.

"Yeah, but I'm no Alpha. I love knowing everybody's business, not having to fix it," Jared said.

Jodi silenced her sons with a look and sprung up to stand on the table, positioning her feet between Jim's plate and somebody’s half-finished eggs Benedict.

Jared snatched the plates out of the way muttering, "If you break it, you bought it," as his mother held up her hands for the pack’s attention.

The Howl Cafe was teeming for Saturday brunch, the fifty or so gathered pack members giddy to finally feel the sun’s warmth once more. At Jodi's clap for silence, everybody surrounding the dark, wooden tables quieted and turned their attention to their Alpha.

Jim forced himself to sit up straight in his chair. He'd known the announcement was coming for the last few months, ever since Jodi declared she didn’t want to deal with cranky contractors by herself any more. As the next in line to be Alpha, Jim would be just as responsible as Jodi for ensuring the town was safe. He just hoped that someday he might feel equal to the task.

"Wolves of Singer Valley, I have a long-overdue announcement to make," Jodi declared to the room of upturned faces.

Jim's hands trembled with nervousness, shaking enough that he quickly hid them under the table. It wasn't that Jim didn't want the job. Jim had been training with Jodi for the last five years to succeed her, ever since he finished up his graduate degree in public administration. But, now that the moment was here, the full weight of responsibility felt heavier than he had anticipated.

Jodi beamed at everyone. "We've survived the winter with no casualties.” A smattering of applause surrounded them, along with a couple of celebratory hoots. “To help us rebuild, I have chosen a successor, one who will lead you all when I decide it's time to retire. My son, Jim Stewart." She pointed down to Jim, and the room broke out into thunderous cheers and whistles. It took all of Jim's willpower to hold back a wince. "Jim has been the best right-hand man I've ever had. He’s smart, caring, and dedicated to the safety and prosperity of our community. Three cheers for Jim!"

Cheers erupted anew all around the cafe, shaking the rafters enough that Jim eyed the ceiling with unease.

Jared, Charlie, and Morgan slapped Jim on the back, shouting encouragements over the roar. Jim found himself pushed to his feet, pulled up by Jodi to stand beside his adoptive mother on the table, his head almost scraping the ceiling. From the heat on his face and chest, he guessed a furious blush coated his skin. Being in front of so many people was his least favorite part of the job.

"Speech!" Jared cried, and Jim would have happily throttled his brother right then.

"Speech!" Charlie and Morgan took up the chant, clapping their hands in rhythm. The rest of the cafe joined in until the restaurant shook with stomping feet and calls.

"All right! All right!" Jim waved them to silence. They're going to bring down the place. His mind raced to come up with the right words. "Thanks, guys. It is a huge honor and privilege to serve the people who have been so good to me. Singer Valley is a magical place, and I--"

The front door of The Howl burst open, and an enormous woman stomped through holding a scrap of paper in one hand and a mattock axe large enough to splatter skulls in the other.

"I demand to see the Alpha!" the woman bellowed.

Everyone in the cafe turned as one from the fuming woman to where Jodi and Jim stood on top of the table.

Jodi hopped to the floor in one, fluid movement. "What is it, Beatrice?" Jodi demanded, striding across the cafe to pull the woman back outside, out of earshot of the fifty pairs of curious ears.

Jim scrambled after Jodi with slightly less grace, the sounds of his brothers' footsteps following close behind until the Huntington men stood behind Jodi facing Beatrice in the town square outside the restaurant.

"It bounced." Beatrice breathed heavy with fury. She pushed the scrap of paper toward Jodi, and the Alpha read it carefully before mutely handing it over to Jim. Jodi's face had lost a lot of its healthy color. The paper was a check made to Beatrice's construction company, who had been hired a few weeks ago to fix the bridge into Singer Valley.

"What are you trying to pull, huh?" Beatrice yelled. "What am I supposed to think when a check from the town's account just bounces?"

Jared and Jodi rushed to assure Beatrice it was surely a mistake, while Jim whipped out his smartphone to check the town’s bank account. The blood drained from Jim's face at the blinking zeros on his screen.

Holy crap. Jim’s stomach churned as he mentally ran through the massive list of repairs the town needed. He turned his phone so Jodi could see it, and her lips pressed into a thin line.

Jodi reached into her purse, pulled out a checkbook, scribbled down the originally-promised amount, and handed the check to Beatrice. "Here. This is from my personal account, and it won’t bounce. Keep working. I'm sure this was just an accounting error. We'll get everything sorted on our end, but you make sure that the town's bridges are safe. Okay?"

Beatrice frowned at the check, but turned on her heel and stomped away toward the bank. Jodi let out a deep breath and turned to her sons.

"Theories?" she asked.

"It was all in there yesterday," Jim said. "I remember looking before I wrote out the check for the new generator for the clinic." His pulse galloped up a notch as he thought about all the checks he'd written just that week. The town would crumble around them if they couldn’t pay for repairs.

"You know exactly who did this," Jared growled. "This has Brad writt [...]