WolfStruck

When a mysterious wolf arrives at the wolf sanctuary, neither Ziri nor his Alphas are prepared for the series of events the wolf's arrival brings about, the divide his actions cause in the pack, or the decisions they will force Ziri to make when he meets his mate, Niko, a centuries-old dreamwalker from an Alaskan pack.

Niko is everything Ziri could have dreamed up in a mate. He's insanely hot, with black, moon-dust flecked eyes, a feral vibe, and the sinewy body of a warrior. But Ziri can tell from their first encounter he's holding something back, and as the two of them are drawn into a conflict that threatens to divide the Northwoods Pack, Ziri must decide if he is ready to risk his heart for his mate and step out from under his over-protective brother Aksil's shadow.

"Are you even listening to me, Ziri?" My best friend Jack's bright blue eyes narrowed in obvious annoyance as he peered at me from under the Drop Kick Murphys ballcap pulled low over his mop of ginger hair.

I nodded, wincing guiltily as we stepped onto the pine-needle covered path and headed into the shadowy forest toward my pack lodge. Jack had driven eight hours from his coven in Brooklyn to come to my pack dinner in the Northwoods of Maine, and I'd barely registered his presence since he'd arrived.

"Really?" The fading sun setting over the lake behind us glinted off the tiny silver hoops in Jack's ears as he cocked his head to the side. "So, what was I just talking about then?"

"Um..." I ran a hand over my short springy dark locs, wishing I was a mind reader instead of an empath. Jack was pissed at me for ignoring him, that was for sure. I didn't need empath intuition to pick up on that.

I searched his energy for a clue to whatever he'd been talking about, and when an underlying current of self-doubt and worry rippled through his annoyance, I knew what I'd missed.

"I'm sorry." I looped an arm around Jack's shoulders as we continued down the path. "You were talking about your witch apprenticeship rejections, and I was lost in my own thoughts."

"Your Alphas are running you into the ground." Jack shook his head. "You've been working nonstop at the wolf sanctuary for the last two years, and now that Finn's handed it over to you, it's even worse."

"I'm fine." I kicked at the pebbles and mini pinecones underfoot, lodging a stone in the bed of my purple suede Birkenstock.

My work at my pack's sanctuary was emotionally draining. I shared energy with wounded wolves, guided them back to themselves. But it was also rewarding, helping wolves overcome their trauma, lightening the weight on their soul. The real culprit robbing me of sleep these last two weeks was the mysterious amber wolf visiting me in my dreams every night. But since I had no idea why I was waking up restless, wrung out, and filled with a soul-deep yearning every morning, I was keeping that info to myself for now.

"When's the last time you went out, got laid?" Jack asked, sex, his answer to everything.

"A while." I ran my hand over the rough, moss-covered ridges of an ancient pine. "But I don't really care."

"You don't care?" Jack echoed with a look of horror, stopping short on the path. "You shouldn't even say shit like that, Zir. What if you jinx yourself and it becomes true?" He muttered something unintelligible, lifting the horseshoe-nail Celtic cross pendant hanging around his neck to his lips. Ó Ceallaigh witches were deeply superstitious.