Howl

2010
By Silke Juppenlatz
Publisher	Lyrical Press
Release Month	June 2011
Cover Art	Renee Rocco
ISBN	978-1-616502-86-7

• Author: Silke Juppenlatz
• Publisher: Lyrical Press
• Year: 2011
• Amazon US Listing: US Kindle Edition
• Amazon UK Listing: UK Kindle Edition
• Barnes & Noble Listing: TBA
• Publisher Info Page: Howl (PDF)

Book Description

Blurb

When life hands you wolves... Howl.

The alpha wolf in Zalin's pack is slowing going insane, which is tough enough to contend with, but the guy is gunning for the woman Zalin loves--the rancher's daughter who saved his hide. He's torn between taking off to avoid a confrontation with the Alpha, and sticking around to protect Lucia. Opening his heart to her is not an option-- he's had enough rejection to last a lifetime.

Lucia is fascinated by the "wolf" she saved--at the time unaware he was more than a canine. Zalin seems out to save her from his Alpha, but she wants more than protection from him. When spilled family secrets make her doubt everything she knows, she turns to Zalin for stability, only to learn he's planning to leave.

Will Zalin desert the one he loves when she needs him most, or will he howl a challenge on her behalf?

Excerpt

Lucia crunched her way across the frozen snow to the barn, huddling into her coat. Damn it was cold tonight. If she hadn’t known her cellphone needed charging, she would have stayed inside. And of all the days to leave her purse in the car, she’d had to pick one where frostbite was a real danger. It couldn’t be helped. She’d rather have icicles on her nose than risk being cut off without a phone.

A noise in the barn made her slow down. It sounded like something was in pain. Another sound came and she tiptoed to the door, finding it ajar. The barn should be empty. They only used it for her car and some equipment. Had something strayed inside? Whatever had sought shelter in there, it sounded like it was in agony.

Lucia stepped through the side door and switched on the light only to stagger back against the wall, a scream lodged in her throat.

A dark shape--what the hell was this?--writhed on the floor, covered in brown fur, stretching and contracting, clearly in complete agony. A head turned toward her, amber eyes wide with shock and pain, then another spasm hit...it...and it made a sound somewhere between a moan and a whimper.

It looked like her wolf...and it didn’t. She couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the animal. He didn’t even look like an animal. A leg stretched and she heard bones crack. The tail receded as if it had never been there. There were patches of bare skin next to thick fur and she could have sworn the skin looked human.

Which, of course, was utter nonsense.

The back bowed and twisted, she heard snapping, as if someone tightened the spine from the inside out.

Lucia stared, incapable of taking in the transformation before her. Her heart hammered in her throat and shock froze her limbs. At long last the sounds ended. In the place of the horrifying creature she’d first seen was a man, flat on the ground, naked and sweating. His damp hair clung to his skin where his head rested on one outstretched arm.

He uttered a moan and sat up, his back still turned toward her. He panted; his head bent forward, the scraggly mane of dark brown hair obscuring his face. A nasty mottled scar marred his right shoulder, the skin an angry pink where it had barely healed. Another scar, this one a long scratch and as pink as the other one, ran across the middle of his back. Finally he turned his head to look at her, deep worry in his gaze.

Even if she’d only seen his eyes, she’d recognize them anywhere.

Zalin.

Reviews

TBA