Authors: Callie Hartwood
ALPHA’S EMBRACE
2
MY BILLIONAIRE WOLF
CALLIE HARTWOOD
Copyright© 2015 by Callie Hartwood at RomLiaisons Books.
All Rights Reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Property of Callie Hartwood at RomLiaisons Books 2015
Callie Hartwood at
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Lyanne walked out of Vancouver International airport quickly without hesitating to glance behind her, she didn’t know where James had gone after they disembarked their plane.
He hadn’t spoken again to Lyanne after his initial few menacing words of, “Hello pretty lady. I wanted to make sure you made it home safely without being at risk from wolves.” He’d fallen silent throughout the rest of the short flight home, but she could feel him staring at her in a menacing way. Lyanne didn’t know what to think.
Why had he really followed her? Was Darian aware of James’ behavior?
God, the wilderness folk were a strange lot, Lyanne thought to herself and then remembered Darian with fondness. The way he touched her, his gentle manner with the snow hare and arctic fox. He wasn’t as weird as his friends were, and he’d seemed particularly put out the day the trio had called at his remote cabin unexpectedly.
She missed Darian already, Lyanne had grown used to his relaxed company and at last she could be herself in a man’s presence and not pretend to be anything she wasn’t. She longed to be held tenderly by his strong arms once more, to fall asleep with her head resting lovingly against the hard, warm muscles of his chest.
Lyanne came back down to earth with an abrupt bump as she made it out of the airport and tried to catch a cab home, it was chaos, with tourists everywhere. She’d give anything to be back in Darian’s remote cabin now.
She was looking forward to seeing Maggie though she’d missed her flat mate, and of course, Maggie knew nothing about Lyanne’s vacation, as she couldn’t contact her, so she was in for a shock. Their flat wasn’t far from the airport, and she was soon back in their cozy home. The first thing she saw staring at her from the little table by the front door was a photo of her and Nathan, Lyanne took one look and burst into tears she collapsed in a sobbing heap by the table.
For all his faults Nathan didn’t deserve to be attacked by wolves, he should have been on the flight home with her, but if he had been then everything would have gone to plan and she would never have met Darian. Lyanne didn’t really believe in the whole fate and destiny thing but it almost felt as though something had pushed her and Darian together.
Lyanne was still sat in a heap on the floor when the front door started to open, “Ly, you’re home, what’s happened?”
Lyanne looked up at Maggie and started to splutter, “Na…Nath…wolves,” was all she managed before she couldn’t talk anymore due to her sobbing.
“Deep breaths, come on let’s get you up first and on to a comfortable seat. I’ve been so worried I expected you home ages ago, they were going to start searching for you this week girl,” Maggie said as she put an arm around Lyanne. Between them, they managed to get her to her feet and into the flat’s small lounge where Maggie deposited her friend on the couch and went to make a hot drink.
Minutes later Maggie handed Lyanne a steaming mug of coffee and sat down beside her, “Okay tell me everything, what happened to you?”
Lyanne composed herself taking a long sip of coffee and said, “We had a snowmobile accident up in the mountains.”
“Wait a minute, what were you doing in the mountains? I thought you guys were sticking to the actual ski resort.”
“We were until Nathan got one of his idiotic ideas. He wanted to ski down the Staircase tree run Maggie, he hired a snowmobile and everything,” Lyanne was pleased she could talk about all of this with Maggie as she needed to tell someone, to her it all seemed like a dream now, so this conversation made it real.
“Typical of Nathan, what happened?”
“He went too fast and we hit a stupid fucking tree root Mags, the snowmobile went out of control. I was thrown clear but hurt and Nathan rolled with the snowmobile, I sat alone and scared. Nathan came out of the darkness but so did the wolves Mags.
“Shit, Lyanne you must have been terrified,” Maggie said as she put a comforting arm around her friend.
“It was the most frightening time of my life Mags, Nathan tried to make a run for it.”
“He left you alone and tried to outrun wolves?”
“I told him he was a fool, but we had no signal and no way of getting help.”
Lyanne’s tears started to fall once again as she relived her ordeal.
“So where’s Nathan?”
“The fucking wolves got him Mags, I heard him screaming.”
“Poor bastard Lyanne. How come they didn’t get you?”
“I fainted and woke up in a cabin with a handsome stranger,” now that really did sound like a line from a fairytale to Lyanne.
“No shit, really? So that’s where you’ve been?”
“Pretty much yes. Darian looked after me.”
“Darian, that’s his name?”
“Mags, stop bloody interrupting will you else I’ll never finish,” Lyanne joked with her friend and felt so much better now she’d made it through the ‘Nathan’s demise’ chapter of her story.
Maggie’s eyes were wide with amazement, “Oh shit, I’ve just thought we’re going to have to inform Nathan’s folks.”
Lyanne hadn’t thought about that small detail, “Yes, yes I guess we are Mags. I only heard him scream I never saw him actually die.”
“Lyanne the wolves wouldn’t have given up on the chance of a meal, you know that.”
Her friend was right, she knew Nathan’s fate. Would the authorities search for his body to prove it though she wondered.
“We need no notify the police Lyanne, as at the moment they think they’re starting a search for you both this week. I’ll contact them soon,” Maggie said quietly. Then she returned the conversation to the most interesting part for her, “So this Darian, what happened?”
“Cold, Mags, cold. I’ve just told you that Nathan has probably been killed by wolves and you want to talk about Darian!”
“Oh come on Ly, what happened to Nathan was fucking awful but he’s gone there’s nothing we can do about that now. So yes, I want to hear all about this Darian, the guy who looked after my friend.”
Lyanne smiled and her face became animated as she said, “He lives on his own, and helps the injured animals. He’s kind, gentle, sweet and loving and so, so handsome.”
“Jeez he sounds perfect, why did you leave him behind?”
Lyanne thought about Maggie’s question, “He won’t leave his home and I had to come back Mags. What about the vet surgery? Have they called?”
“Your job’s safe don’t worry. Just call them and let them know you’re home.”
Maggie had been a good friend to Lyanne, she’d kept her life going for her while she’d been away, she’d worried for her and even notified the authorities.
“Are you going back then to Darian?”
There it was the ultimate million-dollar question.
“You know what Mags, yes I am as soon as I can. Life’s too short; he made me feel special, unique. I’d be stupid to ignore that,” her friend agreed, and later that night while she was lying in bed wide awake Lyanne knew she’d made the right decision.