Zoe POVSliding out of the red vinyl booth with an enormous sigh, I rub a hand over my belly and groan. It's so swollen I can barely breathe. I drop the receipt back onto the table, along with a few notes from my pocket, and stretch. My aching muscles protest. They had been hoping they could finally give up for the evening and rest at last, but we still have to make it back home. “Earl, what are you trying to do to me?!” I moan while flashing him a big grin as he comes out of the kitchen to stand at the counter. He rests his large hands flat on the pale grey surface as he admires his handiwork. This man loves nothing more than to fill people to bursting. I was on my way back from a call out to assist with a foaling mare when the flashing lights of Earl’s diner called out to my rumbling stomach and lured me in. Dinner and two pieces of pie later, I’m thinking I would have been better off with the boring sandwich I had originally planned to inhale before falling into bed. I'm so full I

Blake POVEven though I know she’s not here, I can’t help scanning the aisles of the store as I enter, searching for her. My heart is pounding in my chest, and I can hear my blood rushing in my ears. Her smell is setting my body on fire. Every cell is tingling in anticipation of meeting her, and the hair is standing up on the back of my neck.I shake out my hands, trying to ease some of the tension firing through me. She’s not here, I repeat to myself, and if I don’t calm down, I’ll miss something that might tell me who or where she is. When I reach the counter, the kid still has his wide eyes fixed firmly on me and his fingers grip the counter tightly. If he has an alarm under there, I'd say he's about two seconds away from pressing it. I must be throwing out some angry alpha vibes to be making him so nervous so I try to reign in my emotions as best I can. Using one hand, I smooth down the front of my shirt, drawing his attention to the expensive suit I’m wearing and the watch on my

Blake POVNormally, I am a man of my word. Tonight, however, I leave Earl’s diner and drive straight to the vet practice that Zoe owns, fully intending to go back on the promise I just made. I won’t try to see her tonight. I want our first meeting to be special, but there is absolutely no way I can just drive back to the cabin without at least seeing where she lives. Zoe, my mate. I love how that sounds. It’s heaven to finally know her name. The woman who already owns me, heart, body, and soul.Grinning to myself, I whistle and drum my fingers on the steering wheel to some imaginary tune as I follow the winding road out of town. I am perfectly content, or in all honesty, excited, about the prospect of sleeping in my car tonight, once I can be close to her. Cooper, one of the Alphas under my command, once told me how he used to sleep in the woods outside his mate Hayley’s house when they first met, just to keep his wolf calm. That never made sense to me before, but it does now.Six mo

Zoe A gigantic, dark grey wolf is lying passed out on my clinic floor, injured. Just when I thought we were over the crazy part of this night. I’ve never seen a wolf up close before. The vet part of my brain is in awe. The rest of me is looking out the window at the full moon, putting two and two together, and making ten. I’d like to think there is a reasonable explanation, but for the life of me, I cannot think of anything that is going to explain this. Other than the obvious. Which is that the man I just kissed is a werewolf. An image of Blake lying in the same spot just seconds ago flashes into my mind, but I push that away. I need to focus. I can freak out and worry about my sanity later. The drugs pumping through his system mean he’s not dangerous, for now anyway. As I edge closer, trying to get a look at his hind leg, I can admire how magnificent he is. Thick grey fur covers his body. He’s in perfect condition. Except for the deep cut still oozing bright red blood out onto h

ZoeThe bed dips as someone pulls back the covers and climbs in beside me. I open one eye but slam it shut again when I see the sun streaming in through the window. The curtains are wide open. I was too tired or too lazy to close them when I fell into bed last night. It can't be morning already. I'm still exhausted.“Please tell me that was all a horrible dream,” I groan as I roll over to lie on my side facing my sister. She has her hands tucked under her cheek and her pose mirrors mine exactly. It reminds me of when we were teenagers, and we’d climb into each other’s beds late at night to gossip about school and boys.“I wish I could, sweetie,” she says sadly, stretching out a hand to brush the hair back from my face. “But it’s going to be ok.”I blow out a breath and screw my eyes shut, wanting to pretend for another minute that my clinic wasn't destroyed last night and I don’t have a whole mess to deal with today. The police arrested the two intruders last night, but the clinic is