Shiver (For Puck’s Sake 1) by Crea Reitan-review tour

Shiver (For Puck’s Sake 1) by Crea Reitan-review tour

 

 

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 25, 2023

A touch so intimate, a kiss so deep…

Egon Wolf is on a hockey scholarship but failing at everything else. Knowing he’s going to lose his ride if he doesn’t get his academic act together, he seeks out a tutor.

Rakesh Aahnu is a dual major and dangerous when bored. What he enjoys more than anything is the challenge of making straight men fall for him before walking away. Just because he can.

But both Egon and Rakesh are about to discover that life has a way of throwing you in the sin-bin when you least expect it.
And when faced with an unfamiliar play?

All you can do is shiver.

•••••

REVIEW: It’s just m/m in this book. And to be honest I loved it. This author can be relied upon to get our pulses racing with multiple partners and established groups. So I did wonder how only two bodies would fill the page. I need not of worried, Egon and Rakesh fill those pages just nicely thank you.

Egon Wolf is a hockey player with a problem! His grades are slipping! And if they fall any further he’s off the team and out of college (he’s on a scholarship) so he needs a tutor, luckily his hockey coach has a genius on hand to help him……

Rakesh Aahnu is teaching assistant in the same college who is also working on his own dissertation on atomic metric of an RNA for his P.h.D, getting his master’s in physics
(not to brag, but the man is a genius) he doesn’t do people, nor does he like to tutor (most of the students he tutored did not take him seriously!) but he owes his uncle a favour and reluctantly takes Egon on…….

Gay guy leads straight guy astray ? and that’s all Rake wants, (he finds the challenge of selecting a man and then conquering him, until the novelty wears off! But along the way feelings are involved (which is a foreign concept for Rake!) and this angers and scares Rake (he’s only looking for a little fun then he moves on to his next conquest.
Egon is also struggling with his feelings and thoughts about his tutor! He likes girls, he has a “sort” of girlfriend. But the more time these two spend together the lines become blurred….

And when the inevitable happens, one heart will break, and the other heart shatters! And when that moment came….. I blubber like a baby! I wanted to scream at Rake for abandoning Egon, I know he was scared, but the way he left Egon was just low!!!!

Both characters have family issues, and it’s great that they are looked at and resolved.

The bedroom scenes are hot ? the humour between Egon and his teammates will have you chuckling. And the romantic moments…. Well they will just have you sighing like a Victorian maiden ?

So will Egon forgive Rakesh? Can Rakesh move past his fears of commitment? Will they get their happy ever after?

This book has been a little gem. And I hope we get to see more of the team in future books.

Loved Egon (my favourite character in the book) he was just a gem. Took me a little while to warm up to Rake, but once you see his caring/dominant side come out, I’m there grinning from ear to ear. Secondary characters had me wanting to read their stories, especially Uncle ? and BFF’s Rakkis and ?

I’m not a big sports fan, so the writer could have written anything, but with enough hockey terminology it stopped the book becoming boring.

There are a few subjects that might upset some readers, my advice is to check them out before reading this book.

A highly recommend read ??

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Julie B ?

 

Crea lives in upstate New York with her dog and husband. She has been writing since grade school, when her second grade teacher had her class keep writing journals. She has a habit of creating secondary, and often time tertiary, characters that take over her stories. All of her RH relationships end up being heavily polyamorous – meaning it’s not just all the men for one woman. There’s also some M/M action going on. When she can’t fall asleep at night, she thinks up new scenes for her characters to act out. This, of course, is how most of her meant-to-be-thrown-away characters tend to end up front and center – and utterly swoon-worthy! Don’t ask her how many book boyfriends she has…

When not writing, Crea is an avid reader. Her TBR pile is several hundred books high (don’t even look at her kindle wish list or the unread books on her tablet). Sometimes, she enjoys crafting; sometimes, exploring nature; sometimes, traveling. Mostly, she enjoys putting her characters on paper and breathing life into them. Oh, and sleeping. Crea loves to sleep!

Author Links:

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Lost and Found (PASS 4) by Freya Barker-Review tour

Lost and Found (PASS 4) by Freya Barker-Review tour

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Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58078861-lost-found

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 12, 2021

Even with a degree in psychology and a keen ability to read people, security specialist Bree Graves can’t seem to get a bead on her boss. There was a time she thought she had him figured out but she’d been wrong. Still, she loves her job with PASS and her team has become her family. However, she doesn’t realize how much she needs them until her latest assignment puts her on the radar of a dangerous stalker.

For Yanis Mazur the safety of his PASS team is paramount. Even if that means sacrificing his personal life. Not only did he spend years building his security firm, but also the shield protecting his emotions. Yet when the one person who could breach his walls goes missing during an assignment he sent her on, he’s willing to risk both his business and his heart to get her back.

A victim of obsession, betrayal, and violence, Bree has no choice but to put her faith in the man who almost broke her.

••••••

REVIEW:LOST AND FOUND is the fourth instalment in Freya Barker’s contemporary, adult PASS romantic suspense series focusing on the men and women who work for PASS (Protection and Security Services) in Grand Junction, Colorado. This is forty-six year old, head of PASS Yanis Mazur, and forty-two year old security specialist Bree Graves’ story line. LOST AND FOUND can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Yanis and Bree) LOST AND FOUND is a second chance story focusing on forty-six year old, head of PASS Yanis Mazur, and forty-two year old security specialist Bree Graves. Approximately fifteen years earlier life imploded for our story line couple, and Yanis pushed our heroine out of his life. Working side by side meant up close and personal through all of theoir personal and professional ups and downs but Yanis never stopped loving the woman that had stolen his heart. A recent assignment found our heroine in the direct line of fire-an abduction and a case of mistaken identity left Bree recovering at the home of the man who continued to control her heart. As the team at PASS begins to investigate the who, how and why, bodies are discovered, and a connection to local law enforcement, the Mob, and members of the government begin to reveal a long list of secrets and sins throughout the years. What ensues is the rebuilding romance and relationship between Bree and Yanis, and the potential fall-out as Bree’s would be attacker returns to finish the job.

Yanis Mazur screwed up fifteen years earlier, pushing the only woman he would ever love out of his life but working together meant working with the woman that has stolen his heart, watching from the sidelines as she fell in love and married someone else. Bree Graves never stopped loving our story line hero but her heart was destroyed the day Yanis walked out of her life. Secrets long buried would come to the surface forcing Yanis to look long and hard at what happened and why. When the team at PASS find themselves in the direct line of fire, Yanis has to separate himself from the woman he loves, leaving a vulnerable Bree to protect the people he left behind.

The relationship between Bree and Yanis is one of second chances: a rekindling romance that was destroyed by secrets and lies, grief and guilt. Bree knew Yanis had always been the man who controlled her heart but her secrets could very well destroy the possibility of a happily ever after. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including many we have met in previous story lines: Jake and Rosie (Hit and Run #1); Dimis and Willa (Life and Limb #2); Hilary and Radar (Lock and Load 3); Kai, Shep and receptionist Lena; Yanis and Dimis’ parents Anna and Max; several local law enforcement, FBI; winery owner Joe Flynn, and mobsters Angelo Sarrazin, and Guiseppe Albero,

LOST AND FOUD is story of family, friendships, betrayal and love. A story of obsession, power, secrets and lies; a tale of second chances and forgiveness. The character driven premise is fast paced, engaging and captivating; the characters are feisty, energetic, and animated; the romance is provocative and intimate.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book three LOCK AND LOAD

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.

Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills in their lives.

Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, and Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!

Facebook: http://bit.ly/FreyaFacebook
Twitter: http://bit.ly/FreyaTwitter
Instagram: http://bit.ly/FreyaInstagram
Web: http://bit.ly/FreyaWeb
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/FreyaGoodreads
Newsletter: https://www.subscribepage.com/Freya_Newsletter
Bookbub: http://bit.ly/FreyaBookBub

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Reputation (Mason Family 2) by Adriana Locke-Review Tour

Reputation (Mason Family 2) by Adriana Locke-Review Tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 5, 2021

Add to Goodreads: https://geni.us/Ccy4

Coy Mason is a jerk.

If there is one truth that Bellamy Davenport knows, it’s that. Hands-down. (Well, that and the fact that she didn’t mean to hurt him. Physically. Coy can’t be hurt emotionally because he doesn’t have a heart.)

Coy is not just the small-town, literal boy-next-door. He’s a heartbreaking, womanizing, mischief-making (and delicious) man and was all of those things well before he became a hot-shot country music sensation.

He’s a dream standing in her doorway with no shirt, messy hair, and a ‘Do you wanna?’ grin. But he’s also a nightmare for her heart and she knows it.

Their enemies-to-lovers relationship always ends the same way—heavy on the enemies, light on the lovers.

So why is she still standing there?

•••••••

REVIEW:The Mason family has always been one of my most favorite series by Adriana Locke. Her family stories have a way of burrowing in and becoming family. The stories are happy, whole and oh so saucy. This is the second book in the Mason Family series and can be read as a standalone, but it is recommended to read the series in order.

Coy and Bellamy are friends and from the same hometown, but when Coy gets his music deal that all changes. Coy is what I think many guys would be if they hit it big, cocky and full of themselves. Like the world is at their feet. Bellamy is a down to earth, small town girl that wants the simple life. Reading this I got major small-town Jessica Prince vibes for sure.

Adriana Locke has always been able to draw out real emotions from her characters and Reputation is no less true. Coy and Bellamy have funny banter, quirky moments that make them even more endearing and the best support from family that any book could have. As always with Locke’s book, the family in the book is truly family, the ones who always have your back and the ones that will do anything to help. I can’t wait to see what comes next in the Mason family series.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sarah

 

USA Today bestselling author Adriana Locke lives and breathes books. After years of slightly obsessive relationships with the flawed bad boys dreamed up by other authors, she decided to create her own. She is the author of Tumble, the first novel in her Dogwood Lane series; the Exception series; the Gibson Brothers series; and the Landry Family series.

She resides in the Midwest with her husband, her sons, two dogs, two cats, and a bird. She spends a large amount of time playing with her kids, drinking coffee, and cooking. You can find her outside if the weather’s nice, and there’s always a piece of candy in her pocket. Besides cinnamon gummy bears, boxing, and random quotes, her next favorite thing is chatting with readers. She’d love to hear from you! Look for her at www.adrianalocke.com.

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ELI’S TRIUMPH (Reapers MC 6.7 ) by Joanna Wylde-Review & Excerpt tour

ELI’S TRIUMPH (Reapers MC 6.7 / 1001 Dark Nights) by Joanna Wylde-Review Tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

Release Date: May 7, 2019

Peaches Taylor spent the last seven years slinging drinks and dodging drunks at the Starkwood Saloon. Some might call it a dead end job, but to her it was an investment—another six months, and she’d have enough money to buy the place.

Life would’ve been perfect if Eli hadn’t come home.

Eli King is ready to settle down. He stood by his brothers when they needed him, paying the price for their freedom with his own. Now it’s time to claim his reward—the Starkwood Saloon. He’s got the cash to buy the bar, the skills to run it, and just one person standing between him and his dream: Peaches Taylor.

She’s been driving him crazy since they were kids, and not in the good way. When she was six, she shoved a spider down his pants. When he was ten, he locked her in a closet overnight. Then she hot-wired his car at seventeen, and things got ugly…

They’re adults now, and the Starkwood isn’t a toy to fight over—it’s the hill they’ll die on. No prisoners. No compromises. No mercy.

Peaches Taylor and Eli King are going to war.

••••••••••••

REVIEW: ELI’S TRIUMPH is instalment 6.7 in Joanna Wylde’s contemporary, adult REAPERS MC romance series, and the latest instalment in the multi-authored 1001 Dark nights series. This is Reapers MC member Eli King, and bartender /waitress Peaches Taylor’s story line. ELI’S TRIUMPH can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Eli and Peaches) ELI’S TRIUMPH follows the acrimonious relationship between thirty-one year old Eli King, and Peaches Taylor. Having grown up as embattled step-siblings, of a sort, Peaches and Eli’s relationship continues to broil close to exploding. An early release from jail for a crime he did not commit finds Eli in line to take over and purchase the Starkwood Bar from his uncle Gus, a bar frequented by the Reapers MC. The only problem-Peaches has her own eyes set on ownership of the bar, ownership promised to her by the man she thought of a father and friend. What ensues is the caustic war of words and accusations between Peaches and Eli, and the potential fall-out when the truth is revealed forcing Peaches to back away, without a fight.

The relationship between Eli and Peaches is abrasive and heart breaking. Years of childish fights, and constant bickering hides a lifelong attraction between our leading couple, an attraction hindered by sins of the past, and fractured feelings. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The colorful secondary and supporting characters include Eli’s uncle Gus, the current owner of the Starkwood Bar; Peaches’ mother and her husband James, as well as several members of the Reapers MC.

ELI’S TRIUMPH is a fast paced, story of family, betrayal, forgiveness and love. The premise is engaging and captivating; the romance is seductive and hot; the characters are energetic and moving. ELI’S TRIUMPH is a welcome addition to the author’s REAPERS MC.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

NOTE: The excerpt is intended for mature readers 18+ due to strong language and content

I’d earned this bar, paid for it with five long years in prison, holding my tongue and taking the punishment for a crime that wasn’t mine. Gus owed me for that alone. The fact that he’d get a cash payout was just a bonus at this point.
No reason for me to feel guilty. And that was the truth.
Still, I could see how much this sucked for Peaches. She’d put in time, too. Time and good faith. Riling her up was a blast, but I’d never wanted her hurt. Not for real. I cared about the girl. Cared about her a lot.
Too much.
Gus had been weak. I loved my uncle, but he’d f*cked this one up big time. She deserved better from him—and from me. I should be in there with them. Decision made, I reached for the door.
“Get out! Get the f*ck out of here, you lying bastard!”
The door burst open, and Gus stumbled out, walking backward. I caught his arm and steadied him as the slab slammed shut again. I heard the heavy bolt sliding shut, locking us out. My uncle looked at me, then sighed.
“Actually went better than I expected.”
“Glad I don’t have to deal with hiding a body.”
“Not yet,” he replied, then sighed again. “She’s not a happy camper. Probably should’ve warned her that our plans might change once you got out.”
“Why didn’t you? Would’ve been a lot easier on her.”
“Guess I didn’t want her turning on me,”my uncle admitted, surprising me with his honesty. “I knew she’d hate me for it. God, but I miss her mom. Saw her in town a couple weeks ago. It’s been twenty years, and Glory still won’t even look at me.”
Raw pain filled his eyes. I cleared my throat, uncomfortable. F*ck. I didn’t like this. Didn’t like my girl hurting, and didn’t like having to see my uncle like this.
Didn’t like knowing I was part of it.
A loud thump came from behind the door, breaking the moment. There was a crash, and then some kind of tearing noise. Shit.
Some women pouted when they got upset.
Others cried.
Peaches had always skipped that part, moving straight to revenge. Another crash. This one so hard that the door rattled. I pictured her all pissed off in there, those glorious t*ts of hers straining against the front of her low-cut black Starkwood Saloon shirt. My c*ck twitched. Christ, she was hot when she got angry.
Her cheeks would be flushed, and she’d run her fingers through that wild, dark hair of hers in frustration.
Total sex hair.

Joanna Wylde started her writing career in journalism, working in two daily newspapers as both a reporter and editor. Her career has included many different jobs, from managing a homeless shelter to running her own freelance writing business, where she took on projects ranging from fundraising to ghostwriting for academics. During 2012 she got her first Kindle reader as a gift and discovered the indie writing revolution taking place online. Not long afterward she started cutting back her client list to work on Reaper’s Property, her breakout book. It was published in January 2013, marking the beginning of a new career writing fiction.

Joanna lives in the mountains of northern Idaho with her family.

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Forever Wolf and The Legend of All Wolves Series 1-3 by Maria Vale-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway Tour

Forever Wolf and The Legend of All Wolves Series 1-3 by Marie Vale-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway  Tour

FOREVER WOLF
(The Legend of All Wolves #3)
by Maria Vale
Release Date: March 26, 2019
Genre: adult, contemporary, paranormal, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / Chapters Indigo /Apple / BAM / Indiebound

ABOUT THE BOOK: Born with one blue eye and one green, Eyulf was abandoned as an infant and has never understood why, or what he is…Varya is fiercely loyal to the Great North Pack, which took her in when she was a teenager. While out on patrol, Varya finds Eyulf wounded and starving and saves his life, at great risk to her own.

Legend says his eyes portend the end of the world…or perhaps, the beginning…

With old and new enemies threatening the Great North, Varya knows as soon as she sees his eyes that she must keep Eyulf hidden away from the superstitious wolves who would doom them both. Until the day they must fight to the death for the Pack’s survival, side by side and heart to heart…

The Legend of All Wolves Series:
The Last Wolf (Book 1)
A Wolf Apart (Book 2)
Forever Wolf (Book 3)

•••••••••••••

REVIEW:  I think you need to read, in order, the other books in the series, but saying that, I don’t think it detracts from a really good read.

It’s a very different read from the usual shifter books I’ve read. The wolves are human, but most live as a wolf, they think as wolves, their hierarchy is very different from what I’ve read.

Varya is very disconnected from the pack, everything she does is a duty, she is extremely loyal, and there is nothing she won’t do as a “shielder” (a guardian or enforcer) this isn’t her original pack, she moved to this group as a teenager, so is that why she doesn’t connect with anyone ?

Whilst on patrol, Varya finds an injured wolf, now by rights she should have killed it, or at least inform her pack, but there is something about this white wolf that calls to her, it’s stirred up emotions that Varya didn’t realise she had.

Eyulf is different from the other wolves, his eyes give him away, one is blue, the other is green, he carries a heavy prophecy on his shoulders, he could start the end of the world, but he could also save it.

There are many characters from the previous books that we catch up with. And how Varya interacts with them all is very interesting. Most of the book is told from her POV (her point of view) and although not my favourite thing to read, it does give you an insight into Varya and her emotions (or lack of)

So what does the future have for Varya and Eyulf ? In fact, what does the future hold for the pack and the world?

Copy supplied by the publisher

? Reviewed by Julie B

_________________

The Last Wolf
The Legend of All Wolves #1
by Maria Vale
Release Date: February 6, 2018
Genre: adult, contemporary, paranormal, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK:  For three days out of thirty, when the moon is full and her law is iron, the Great North Pack must be wild….

If she returns to her Pack, the stranger will die.
But if she stays…
Silver Nilsdottir is at the bottom of her Pack’s social order, with little chance for a decent mate and a better life. Until the day a stranger stumbles into their territory, wounded and beaten, and Silver decides to risk everything on Tiberius Leveraux. But Tiberius isn’t all he seems, and in the fragile balance of the Pack and wild, he may tip the destiny of all wolves…

••••••••••••

REVIEW: At the start of trilogy a series.

This isn’t a typical shifter book, the author has gone for a different spin. These are wolves that change into humans, most don’t like to be humans for long. They aren’t comfortable in the human skin, nor the surroundings of being trapped in a human body, they prefer the hierarchy that the wolf pack brings them. To a wolf, it’s all about the pack, and feelings don’t usually come into it. So romance isn’t really high on their list of things that is important. They mate, not necessarily for love, it’s more of an alliance between packs or for the good of the pack.

Silver isn’t a typical wolf shifter, she has a disability, but it doesn’t stop her, in fact I think it’s made her more determined. She knows she won’t get a chance at getting a mate, the best she can hope for is being a “servant” to the alpha pair.
She is strong willed and will speak her mind when warranted.

She doesn’t really get noticed, but all that changes when she meets Tiberius…..

Tiberius beaten and wounded badly, stumbles into the Great North pack’s territory.

He spends most of his time in human form (living with an abusive parent, he suppresses that side of himself). But the pack of wolves won’t be as understanding as the single she wolf who found him. They don’t accept the wolves who live a human life.

As I said before, the romance isn’t a big thing in this book, it does focus on how they feel, and reading how Silver thinks and feels about Tiberius, it really gives us a different opinion.

It does make it hard to keep reading, but if you forget about the other shifter books you’ve read, and read it for what the book is trying to tell you, then it’s a really good read.

We start in the past, and how the Pack was created.

We learn about pack through Silver’s eyes, and the love she has for her pack. But we also learn that Silver wants a life and a mate of her own.

Copy supplied by the publisher

Reviewed by Julie B ?

_______________

A Wolf Apart
The Legend of All Wolves #2
by Maria Vale
Release Date: July 31, 2018
Genre: adult, contemporary, paranormal, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK:  Can a human truly make room in her heart for the Wild?

Thea Villalobos has long since given up trying to be what others expect of her. So in Elijah Sorensson she can see through the man of the world to a man who is passionate to the point of heartbreak. But something inside him is dying…

Elijah Sorensson has all kinds of outward success: bespoke suits, designer New York City apartment, women clamoring for his attention. Except Elijah despises the human life he’s forced to endure. He’s Alpha of his generation of the Great North Pack, and the wolf inside him will no longer be restrained…

••••••••

REVIEW: Elijah is a success in the human world, women, apartments and money. It’s all his, on a plate for him, but he hates the human world. It’s a facade he can’t continue for much longer, but he has to, his pack rely on him. But it’s killing him slowly.

We see this story through Elijah’s eyes. His loyalty and duty to the pack is evident in his sacrifice. He longs to be free, he longs for the pack life.

The levels in the pack hierarchy is very insightful. The stories are so different from what I’ve read before. These wolves live and breathe pack life. They shift into their “human skins” only when necessary.
The structure is different in these books. There are alphas for each age group(called an echelon), and they in turn answer to an alpha pair.

Thea is human, she doesn’t live like other people. She doesn’t suffer fools, she speaks her mind, so she is an ideal mate for Elijah, but wolves don’t mate humans, so if he takes her back to the pack, this could spell trouble for the couple. She makes him feel alive, as only being in his wolf form could bring him.

So, will they be allowed to stay together? Will Elijah sacrifice his happiness with Thea? Will he choose pack over his own happiness?

I guess your going to have to read the book to find out ?

Copy supplied by the publisher

Reviewed by Julie B ?

I focus on the still-pink circlet of scars around his leg, pulling the scar tissue gently apart with two fingers to see how elastic it is. Then I push down, softly at first, and gradually harder. If it starts to swell or bruise, the change will tear apart the underlying network of blood vessels.
He jerks.
“That’s a bad sign.” “What?”
“Well, it shouldn’t hurt that much.” “Doesn’t,” he says.
“This is not the time to hide what you’re feeling. If you change before you’re fully healed, you will tear yourself open again. I know what I’m doing.”
He leans forward, his arms draped between his legs. “I’m not sure you do.”
Ah. The towel that was barely adequate before is simply laughable now that it is also responsible for covering a thickly engorged cock.
I look up, up, up to his eyes. They’ve changed, darkened. They are no longer the pale blue of old ice and bright variegated green of forest depths, but the deep blue of late evening and the dark green of rain- drenched fir. His white hair loops forward and then falls over his shoulder. A sharp, green muskiness like rubbed coriander bothers my nose with something warm and dangerous.
I jump away, like a skittish fawn.
“I don’t think it’ll open up. Remember, your trigger is here.” I point without touching toward the place I’d found before. “It’s inside, not outside, so you need to tighten those muscles. But take your shirt off first.”
“Okay,” he says, pulling off his shirt. “Why?” “Because if by some miracle you get it right, I’ll have to cut you out of it, and we don’t have that many changes of clothes.”
Turning away, I smooth the T-shirt still warm from his body against my chest. Philadelphia Frostbite Regatta, it says. When I glance back, his eyes are closed and a tremor roils through the cut muscles. Parts of him around his pelvis that don’t look like they could tighten any more ripple.
Sitting down on a dry trunk, I stare at the lower slopes of Norþdæl, blanketed with wine and gray and dark gold, dotted with dark-green evergreens and occasional skeletal fingers of white birch.
“How are you doing over there?”
“Working on it.” He coughs a handful of fake coughs, trying, I suppose, to reproduce whatever caused that earlier change.
“Hey?” he says.
“Yes?”
“I’m going to be able to change back, right?”
“Of course. Once you learn what your trigger is, you’ll never forget it.”
“Like riding a bike.”
I scratch my ear. “It’s nothing like riding a bike. You’re changing into a wolf. Wolves don’t ride bikes.”
“It’s a… That’s not what I… Never mind.”
A squirrel squats on his hind legs, eyeing me from a distance. At this moment, from this angle, the daylight moon forms a curved crown above his head. “Except… you do know not to change before the Iron Moon, right?”
“Why?”
The squirrel’s whiskered nose twitches, worriedly. “Because the Iron Moon takes us as she finds us and makes us wilder. If she finds us in skin, she makes us wild. But if she finds us wild, she makes us æcewulfs. Real wolves. Forever wolves.”
“And you don’t change back?”
“That’s why they’re called forever wolves.”
He stares down at his feet, clenching and stretching his toes, as though confirming that for now at least, he still looks human. “Is it like when you’re a wolf, but you still know who you are? You still remember everything?”
“Nobody knows what they remember or don’t, but they’re definitely not the same. They’re not Pack any- more.” Over my shoulder, I see the panic on his face, his hand clinging to the little towel, like the last vestiges of his humanity.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let that happen to you,” I say. His eyes consider mine for a moment. I nod at him, and he starts again, pressing harder, moving, clenching, roiling, undulating.
The squirrel takes advantage of my distraction and bolts up a nearby tree. High up, he hangs, head down, legs splayed, and chitters at me for invading his territory.
“Varya!”
I leap at Eyulf’s strangled cry, just managing to catch him as he pitches forward, his feet narrowing, arch elongating, calf muscle tightening.
How did I forget to tell him to lie down?
I stagger to the ground, his body writhing in my arms. His green eye searches blindly, his grotesque mouth mangles a groan before going silent. The towel drops away from his narrowing hips and his clutching fingers. My hair falls forward over him.
Astille, wulf. Þu eart gesund mid me.
Hush, wolf, you are safe with me.
My hands run over his skin, like water.


 

A logophile and bibliovore and worrier about the world, Vale lives in New York with her husband, two sons and a long line of dead plants. No one will let her have a pet.

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