Noreen’s Choice
Wolf
Clan Shifters, Book 2
By
Ann Gimpel
Publisher:
Liquid Silver Books
ISBN: 978-1-62210-058-3
Release
Date: 11/4/13
Genre:
Paranormal romance
47,000
words
Snared by the
mate bond, Noreen risks everything for the men she loves.
Blurb:
It’s 1936 in Calgary. After a terrifying experience, Noreen is frantic to
escape the Garden of Eden cult, so she catches the night train north out of
town. An ominous stranger and a farmer who’s furious she slept in his barn
remind her just how alone she is in the world.
Wolf shifters, Les and Karl, eke out a primitive existence on the flanks
of the Canadian Rockies. Between Hunters who want to kill them and a wildfire
raging out of control, they’re relieved when their clan leader, Jed, shows up.
Jed has a surprise in his car, though. While passing through the nearest
town, he spied Noreen by the side of the road picking straw out of her hair and
offered her a ride. Before Jed’s car even stops rolling, Les and Karl know
she’s their mate. So skittish she’s barely willing to exit the car, Noreen
busies herself helping Jed and his pack mates unload supplies.
Can Les and Karl convince her to stay? If she does, will the risks she
faced as a cult member pale in comparison to being mated to shifters?
Excerpt:
Chapter 1
Autumn, 1936
The swish of
tires on wet pavement drove Noreen deeper into the shadows of a band of oak
trees. She pulled her black wool cloak tighter against her body and set her
teeth to keep them from chattering. Maybe running away from the Garden of Eden
cult hadn’t been such a hot idea, but staying didn’t work either. Not after
what she’d witnessed last night. When she’d joined the group two years ago,
they’d been warm and welcoming. The rituals were a bit risqué, but harmless all
in all. She squeezed her eyes shut to block out the image of a cheering mob
that had segued from chanting while scantily clad to blood sacrifice. Exposing
her body was one thing, a thirst for human blood quite another…
She pried her
eyes open. No one would save her except herself and there wasn’t much she could
do by playing ostrich. Escape was essential, the only thing that mattered.
Never mind she’d be walking away from what little she owned, since her things
were in one of the cult’s many apartments.
Noreen took
another step backward. One boot sank into sticky mud; cold water ran into it.
Reality hit home and terrified her. She couldn’t go back to work. Nearly
everyone she knew at the insurance exchange was related to the cult in some
way. Or to another similar group. Occult fervor had risen during the twenties
in the wake of World War I. By the middle of the nineteen thirties, it had a
well-established toehold. Fascination with the supernatural ran high and had
grown like an out-of-control weed. Most spiritual cults were rooted in the
States, but it hadn’t taken long before Canadians picked up the banner,
enthralled by the unseen world.
Despite
Noreen’s best efforts, shudders racked her body, and her teeth banged against
one another uncontrollably. October in Calgary meant the air was dry and crisp.
She’d seen frost on the roofs this morning. Tonight would likely see another
freeze. It didn’t take much of an imagination to realize winter would set in
soon.
Somehow, she’d
sat at her desk all day. When co-workers commented she seemed subdued, she’d
just said she wasn’t feeling well. It was the only way she’d gotten out of
mandatory attendance at tonight’s cult meeting. Midday, she’d slipped out of
the office and stopped by the bank. Closing her account would have engendered
suspicion, so she’d withdrawn two hundred dollars, half of what she had saved.
Even that earned her a stern lecture from one of the bank vice presidents.
Likely afraid she’d fallen for some scam, he drew her into a side office intent
on discovering why she needed such a vast sum of money. Noreen rolled her eyes
at the memory. She’d fabricated a story about a mythical aunt who had
unexpected medical bills.
“Yes, and I’m
wasting precious time standing here,” she muttered, the words barely discernable
against her chattering teeth. If she was going to follow through with the plan
she’d hatched during the day, she needed to be out of town and well-hidden
before someone looked for her. If she got really lucky, that wouldn’t be until
after she didn’t show up for work tomorrow.
Or they might send someone to my place
tonight to see if I need anything.
That last
thought galvanized her into action. Noreen broke into a shambling trot and
ducked into a coffee shop. She needed something hot to drink, and then she’d
head for the train station and catch the evening express north toward Edmonton.
“Looking pretty
wet there, hon.” A smiling waitress hustled over to her. “We’re closing soon,
but I can get you some soup.”
“Just coffee,”
Noreen managed. “And I promise I’ll drink it fast.”
The waitress, a
buxom blonde with gray roots, cocked her head to one side. “You okay, sweetie?”
Her brown eyes flickered kindly.
“Fine.” She dug
a nickel out of a pocket. “Here’s for the coffee. I like it black.”
The waitress
frowned and then shrugged. “It’s six cents now, but seeing as how we’re just
going to toss what’s left in the pot, keep your money. Looks as if you need it
worse than we do.”
Tears
threatened at the woman’s unexpected thoughtfulness. Noreen blinked them back
and murmured, “Thank you.” She sank into a red leather padded chair at the
counter and waited while the waitress poured steaming liquid into a heavy,
white ceramic mug. The heated crockery felt heavenly when she cradled it
between her hands. The coffee burned her tongue, but the jolt from the caffeine
was instantaneous and welcome.
Noreen glanced
at her watch. How had it gotten to be nine p.m.? Her train left in an hour; it
was a thirty minute walk to the station, and she needed time to purchase a
ticket once she got there. She didn’t have extra money to waste on streetcars
or taxis. Setting her cup down, she nodded at the waitress and hurried out of
the café. The streets weren’t exactly deserted, so she pulled the sodden wool
of her cloak’s hood over her bright hair. She didn’t want to have to explain
why she hadn’t been at the meeting if anyone recognized her. After all, her
excuse had been she was too sick to leave her home that night, and it would be
blown to hell if she were seen wandering around in marginal weather.
Stop that! She lectured herself. Everyone else is at cult headquarters. No
one’s out and about who might recognize me.
Brave words. Too bad I don’t believe them.
Her heart
thudded so hard, she was afraid everyone she passed could hear it. Noreen counted
off blocks as she walked through the heart of Calgary’s business district. Her
wet sock squished in her boot. She wished she had time to take it off and wring
it out. Another café, this one advertising it stayed open until ten, looked
inviting, but she walked on by.
I’ll take care of my sock problem at the
station. I’m cutting the timing close as it is.
Noreen felt
ill. The coffee she’d welcomed going down ate at her stomach like acid. If she
met up with anyone from the cult at the train station, she’d be finished. Cult
members signed on for life. There weren’t any early out clauses that she knew
of. A tear dripped down one cheek; she brushed it aside. No point in feeling
sorry for herself. She’d made a bad decision and didn’t have any fallback
position. There was no family to run home to—or call for help. They’d all died
in the flu epidemic of 1918. She’d been seven at the time and had ended up in
the Calgary orphanage.
“Even if I had
relatives,” she mumbled, “they’d be the last place I’d go. Wouldn’t want to
implicate them.” There hadn’t been anything truly wrong with the orphanage, but
there hadn’t been much right there, either. Noreen understood perfectly why
she’d been so attracted to the cult. For the first time in her twenty-five
years, she felt as if she belonged somewhere. Like she had a family.
What a joke! Noreen castigated herself
for being a fool, and a gullible one at that, and then gave it up for wasted
effort.
The station
lights shone through ground fog that had misted out of nowhere during her
flight across town. A few more steps and she pushed the door open, walking into
warmth so welcome it took her breath away. She didn’t realized how cold she’d
gotten. Not just body-cold; her spirit was frozen to the core of her soul.
Noreen gazed
around the station. A few people milled about, but not many. Resolute now that
she was here, she marched to an open ticket counter and said, “Edmonton,
please. Economy coach.”
The man didn’t
bother to look up. “How many?” In his fifties or sixties, he was rail thin with
sparse, gray hair.
“Just me.”
“Name?”
“Noreen Galen.”
His fingers
shook as he wrote out her ticket. “That’ll be a dollar-fifty, miss.”
“Oh.” She bit
her lower lip and fished in her handbag.
He glanced at
her, rheumy blue eyes shrewd. “You got a problem with that?”
Noreen
swallowed hard. It went against the grain, but she spoke up for herself. “Since
you asked, yes I do. I don’t have much, and I thought the advertised fare was a
dollar. I, um, called today and asked about it.”
He shrugged.
“You got a buck?” She held it up so he could see. “Okay, missy. Here’s your
ticket.” He stamped it and held it out to her, but Noreen was still nonplussed
he’d tried to overcharge her, so she didn’t reach for it. “Ain’t you going to
take your ticket?” He sounded annoyed.
“Uh, sure.” She
pushed her money under the bars and took the ticket.
“Gate seven.
She boards in twenty minutes.”
Noreen scuttled
away, not wanting to deal with the clerk who’d tried to cheat her. If she
wouldn’t have said anything, he would have pocketed the extra fifty cents.
Outrage flooded her and left a bitter taste at the back of her mouth. Someone
really should report him.
Yes, someone should, but not me. The last
thing I need is to draw attention to myself. Following the signs, she
settled in to wait near where the train would come and bent to unlace her boot.
Her sock had soaked up most of the water. She wrung out what she could and put
it back on before the wool could cool off and become clammy. Some strands of
her white-blonde hair had escaped from beneath her hood; she tucked them back
out of sight and drew in a shuddery breath. Fifteen more minutes and she’d be
safe on the train. Well, maybe safe, though it seemed unlikely she’d run into
any Garden of Edeners on the night train to Edmonton.
She’d studied
maps during the day and decided to get off around Red Deer. Buying a ticket all
the way to Edmonton was a hedge in case anyone tried to find out where she’d
gone. From Red Deer, hopefully she could hitch a ride west into some of the
smaller communities dotting the Rockies. Maybe, if she were really lucky, she
could land a job before her money ran out. Insofar as she knew, cult activities
were limited outside major cities.
Wonder how much trouble they’re going to go
to to find me?
The loudspeaker
announced her train; after a final glance around the station, Noreen strode
toward the door and out onto the platform. The steam engine’s headlamp lit the
night. With a whoosh and a roar, the train clattered to a halt. She waited
until a flood of travelers disembarked, went up the steps, and found her way to
a nearly deserted coach.
Her seat was
soft and the train car warm. Before the train had even pulled out of the
station, her eyes felt heavy. Noreen pinched her hands. Sleeping, at least
until they got underway, wasn’t an option. She had to stay alert and keep an
eye on the few passengers entering her car.
It wasn’t easy
to stay awake. She’d barely slept the night before as her mind replayed the
horror of a man she’d known and respected chopping off two of his fingers while
lost in cult-driven zeal. If it had just been him, acting by himself, it might
have been one thing, but hundreds of other cult members were screeching,
cheering, and egging him on. They’d put his fingers in a brass bowl and used the
blood to lure a spirit guide. Two men had gone into a deep trance after that.
Noreen had excused herself, barely making it to the ladies’ room before her
stomach rebelled. She hadn’t returned, but the cult was so high on bloodlust,
she figured no one even noticed her absence.
Finally, the
wheels squealed against the rails and the train chugged northward. Her car was
still mostly empty. As she sank deeper into her seat and drew her hood low over
her eyes, Noreen dared to let herself hope. She’d made it this far. Maybe, just
maybe, she’d escape to start a new life, one where she’d make better choices.
* *
* *
The phone
jangled again. Loud and strident, it made Les’ sensitive lupine hearing ache.
It took him a moment to realize he needed his human form to make the noise go
away. He’d tried to ignore the damned thing, but whoever was calling wouldn’t
give up. Every time he ventured near the house, it was ringing. With an
aggravated snort, he commanded his body to shift. As soon as he had feet rather
than paws, he strode through the door of his cabin deep in the woods, jaw tight
with annoyance. His remote location a few miles outside Rocky Mountain House
often lost phone service for long periods of time.
“Yes and too
bad this isn’t one of them,” he muttered, snatched up the receiver, and barked,
“Yes, I’m here.”
“It’s about
damned time. I’ve been trying to get hold of you for days.”
Les’ eyes
widened. “Jed?”
“Who the hell
else?”
Les brayed
laughter. “Good point. It’s not as if very many people have this number. What’s
up, boss? I thought you were coming my way months ago. The boys and I wondered
what happened.”
“Now that I
have your attention, hang up.” Jed’s voice had a sharp edge that Les remembered
all too well. “We’ll do this a more private way.”
“You got it.” Les
dropped the black receiver back in place. He kicked the door shut to keep the
cold breeze out. It didn’t bother him as a wolf, but he was naked and the air
had a chill edge to it. He trotted into the bedroom and had begun to dress when
Jed’s voice sounded in his mind.
“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been
trying to reach you for a week.”
Les sank onto
the bed and pulled a quilt over his still-bare legs as he considered where to
start. Jed was clan leader for wolf shifters. He needed all the information Les
could provide. “First off, we’re all
still okay.”
“That’s a relief. When I couldn’t raise you,
I was afraid Hunters had killed everyone. Made me half-crazy not to know
anything. Anyway, we pulled into Calgary last night.”
“With your new mate?”
“Affirmative. Bron, Terin, and Alice are
with me.” Jed blew out a breath. “You
may have heard through the grapevine, we’d originally decided to come north as
part of our wedding trip, but Hunters nabbed half a dozen of us in northern
California. It took a major offensive to free our people. Even so, we lost a
couple.”
Les nodded, and
then realized Jed couldn’t see him. “Yes,
I know. We’ve had problems of our own. First it was Hunters. They almost got
your cousins Ron and Chris. I’m still waiting for the fallout on that one since
we killed the whole posse that came after us. All five of them.”
“Was there any choice?” Jed’s voice was
stern.
“No.” Anger tightened Les’ muscles. He’d
like to kill every goddamned Hunter in the universe, but he wasn’t about to
tell Jed that. And there hadn’t been any choice, not really. They’d been
surrounded. The only thing that saved them was taking a firm offensive
position.
Jed broke into
Les’ thoughts. “What’d you do with the
bodies?”
“Don’t worry, boss. No one will ever find
them. We dragged them to the very bottom of a cave system where there’s a vent
to an upper cave and burned them.”
“How long ago?”
Les thought
about it. He’d spent much of the last month as a wolf which skewed his time
sense. “Maybe a week.”
“You still haven’t told me why you weren’t
answering your phone.”
“We’ve all been in our wolf forms. There’s a
fire burning out of control between our pack and the crest of the Rockies. A
couple of the cabins farther west incinerated—”
“Hmph,” Jed interrupted, obviously not
concerned about an out-of-control wildfire. “Any
of you find mates yet?”
“What do you think? It’s not as if the odds
are in our favor.”
“Maybe Alice can change that. Women trust
her. She’s actually scared up three mates since she joined Bron, Terin, and
me.” A hesitation. “How close did you
say that fire was?”
“My cabin’s not in any immediate danger.
It’s fall and I’m expecting it to rain soon.” Les scratched at month-old
beard growth on his chin. “It’s pretty
primitive here, boss. Nothing like your digs in Hollywood.”
A different
voice sounded in his head, rich, vibrant, and definitely female. “I’ve been listening in. Shameless of me not
to have said something earlier. Don’t worry about me. My life was a whole lot
simpler before I met up with Jed and my other two mates. Besides, I’m looking
forward to meeting the clan members here in Alberta.”
Les’ mouth
twitched into half a smile. “You must be
Alice. We’ve heard a lot about you. Are you really six feet tall?”
Alice snorted;
it made Les wish he’d kept his mouth shut. After all, Alice was mated to his
clan leader. “How about if we leave the
details open and you can see for yourself when we get there? Jed says it’s a
four or five hour drive and we should arrive sometime tomorrow. Is there
anything we need to bring from the big city?”
Les gazed
around his one bedroom cabin as if he expected a grocery list to materialize.
He cleared his throat before remembering he didn’t need his actual voice. “Um, we’ve been pretty much living off the
land this past month, so anything you bring would be welcome.”
“I get the picture.” Jed broke in with a
laugh. “We’ll fill up the trunk and the
rest of the back seat.”
Les couldn’t
help himself. “Who gets to sit next to
Alice?”
Female
chuckling made his heart lighter than it had been in a long time. “Oh, they fuss and snarl a bit, but they
sort of take turns. It’s nice actually, to have three doting mates.”
“I’m sure it is.” Les brushed a wave of
sadness aside. He’d love to have a woman to fuss over, alongside Karl, his pack
mate. They’d hunted for years for a female to grace their lives without
success. A few promising candidates had crossed their path when they’d lived in
Edmonton, but Hunters had driven them out of the city fifty years before.
“We’ll be there by tomorrow afternoon.” Jed’s
voice was gruff, and Les figured his clan leader could read his mind.
“I’ll alert the troops, boss. Everyone will
be really glad to see all of you. And to meet your mate.”
Les waited, but
a certain emptiness told him Jed had signed off. He shoved the quilt aside,
finished dressing, and called Karl through their telepathic link. It didn’t
take long before paws scrabbled against the door, and Les remembered he’d shut
it. By the time he crossed the small space and pulled the door open, Karl had
found his human form and stood shivering, arms wrapped around his tall, spare
frame. Black hair hung to his waist in tangles. “Thanks. Damned cold out here.”
The wolf shifter bounded into the room, giving the door a shove as he passed
through it. “What’s up?”
“Jed’s here.”
Les spread his arms wide and rolled his eyes. “Along with his lieutenants and
their new mate. We’ve got to clean this place up.”
“Why? It’s
always been good enough for us.”
Les slugged him
in the arm. “You weren’t listening. Jed’s mate
will be here.”
“Oh, I get it.”
Karl chortled, dark eyes gleaming with glee. “Maybe if we didn’t do anything,
she’d take pity on us and—”
“Right. Find
some clothes and we’ll get to work. I don’t think Jed, Terin, or Bron will want
their new mate waiting on the likes of us.”
Karl sprinted
for his sleeping alcove toward the rear of the log cabin’s main room. Drawers
banged open. “Fire’s getting closer,” he called over one shoulder. “Maybe it
would be better for all of us to get together in Red Deer.”
Les considered
it. “Nope. Too soon since we axed those Hunters. That’s where they were
from—there and Edmonton. I don’t want any friendly sheriff asking questions if
they discover we live out here. Are you sure the fire’s closer? Maybe the wind
just shifted direction.”
“It’s definitely
closer. The smoke’s thicker, and I can actually hear it burning from the rise a
couple miles west of here.” Karl slid his legs into trousers and pulled a
sweater over his head before shoving his feet into an ancient pair of sheepskin
slippers. He turned to Les. “Where do you think we should start? Come to think
of it, when do you want to alert the rest of the clan, or should I do that?”
“We can take
care of that later tonight. How about if you work on the dishes? I’ll sweep and
get the kettle going for laundry.”
Karl strode to
the sink and pumped the handle for water. “Eww.” He wrinkled his nose. “How
long have these plates been here?”
“Does it
matter?” Les lugged a large, cast iron kettle in through the back door and
hefted it onto a wood-burning stove. He opened the firebox door, levered a
pocket knife out of his pants, and started shaving tinder. “Let’s warm some
water. That should help.” As he worked, Les dialed in his lupine senses and
scented fresh air coming through the back door. It was indeed tinged with
smoke. What bad timing for a major fire. If it drove them into one of the
nearby towns, they’d risk discovery because Hunters could scent them.
“Les?”
He looked up
from his half-built fire. “Um-hum.”
“Maybe it’s
time to move on.”
“No!” Les banged
a fist down on his thigh. “I’m sick of running. If the fire gets this far,
we’ll come back when it’s over and rebuild.”
“But we’ll
never find a mate out here.”
“Just do the
damned dishes. We’ve got enough problems without adding to them.”
@AnnGimpel (for Twitter)
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