Coercion: Book One of Three: A BBW Serial Romance (Montana Dragons 1) (6 page)

Up close, some might consider the forest intimidating, the hulking trees, the encroaching darkness, but to her it represented freedom in the purest sense. Freedom from the phone, the smell of exhaust, the sounds of horns blaring, and most of all, people. The woods were awe-inspiring, sure, and maybe a little creepy as dusk began to settle. Nevertheless, once she found her way to the entrance point, she would be hiking every inch of it for the better part of the next week, and she couldn’t wait to get started. What better way to call attention to the plight of wolves in the area than to photograph them in their environment? The fact that she’d convinced her boss at the magazine to foot the bill was icing on the cake.

As she looked up and took in the beauty of the Montana sky, which somehow seemed bigger and bluer than any other sky, some of her tension drained away. This was supposed to be a working vacation, and she’d promised herself she would enjoy it.

She reluctantly tore her gaze from the glorious view and turned her focus to getting back on the road. She pored over the map, relieved to find where she’d missed a turn. Carole had only cost her about fifteen minutes or so, and it was a relief not to have to backtrack very far.

She pulled the top off the marker with her teeth, snapped it onto the back and carefully highlighted her route so she could see it easily while driving. Satisfied, she leaned back against the tree and sipped her coffee, soothed by the warmth and the scent of Irish cream wafting from the thermos.

Just as her lids began to drift closed for a minute of rest and meditation, she saw a flash of brown out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head sharply, her pulse kicking up a notch. City life was clearly making her soft. She was going to be photographing all sorts of wildlife over the next week and jumping at every little thing wasn’t going to cut it. She needed to get a grip.

As she stood to gather her belongings, she froze as another sound came from behind her. This time, there was no chance it was her imagination.

Her heart tripped and her mouth grew dry at the low, menacing growl. She didn’t dare move as her body trembled from the strain of remaining still, despite every instinct urging her to flee. The growl continued, accompanied by the sound of slow, deliberate movement and the crunching of leaves, growing louder by the second.

Staying still was no longer an option. Whatever was behind that sound was almost upon her and she refused to cower like a child. Straightening slowly and turning to face the beast, her blood ran cold. A large brown wolf crouched low, moving steadily closer, already less than fifteen yards away.

Wolves don’t attack humans
,
especially not a lone wolf
, she reminded herself. This particular individual had obviously not gotten the memo, though, because its amber gaze locked on her, ears flattening against its skull as it padded closer.

She gripped the highlighter tightly and cursed her bad luck that it wasn’t a pen or sharpened pencil that she might’ve used as a weapon. Now, the best she could hope for would be to strike the wolf in the eye with the open highlighter when it attacked. The worst? She’d die but at least the rest of the pack would know this particular wolf was important. A bubble of hysterical laughter rose to her lips and she smothered it with a hand. She was one second from flipping out, and that wouldn’t do at all. She needed to stay calm.

As the wolf slunk closer, she ran through her options. She could make a run for the car. It wasn’t far, and she might not be exactly svelte, but she was pretty fast. But even if she managed to get there, the time it took to open the door and get in would surely seal her doom. She had the thermos of coffee. While the liquid wasn’t hot enough to damage the thickly furred creature, the thermos itself was heavy and could be used as a bludgeon of sorts. Though the wolf seemed large, she might be able to wind up a good swing and disorient it enough to dash to the car.

Either way, she was out of time—the wolf was closing in. She reached down slowly to grab the thermos, afraid that any quick movement would escalate the situation. She realized her mistake instantly. Her bent form was at its smallest and off balance when the beast leapt upon her a second later. She slammed into the ground and the air whooshed from her lungs. The highlighter flew from her grasp, but she held on to the thermos. Doing her best to cover her neck and face with her free hand, she struggled for air. The wolf’s jaws closed around her side, puncturing her clothes and sinking into her flesh.

She let out an ear-piercing scream as she swung the thermos into the animal’s head. The wolf released her for a moment and glared at her malevolently. She raised her arm to deliver a second blow, but another low growl—this one behind her—stayed her hand.

A second wolf.

With mounting horror she realized that any slim hope she’d had of escaping this nightmare alive had just evaporated. Holding off one of the enormous creatures had been a pipe dream, but fighting off a whole pack? Impossible.

Her thoughts derailed as she realized her initial attacker had ceased moving as well. It peeled back its lips, let out an answering growl, and slowly stepped off of her, moving toward the sound behind her.

Everything seemed to slow as Amalie rolled to her uninjured side. She barely made it to her knees when the excruciating pain of the bite finally registered through her haze of shock. She fell back onto her side with a cry and turned her head to see the brown wolf approaching the second, much larger animal.
A timber wolf
,
male.

Try as she might to formulate a plan, or move, or do…
something,
she could not take her eyes off the creature. He was magnificent. The largest wolf she’d ever seen, his coat a burnished bronze. He was so compelling that for a brief, surreal moment she cursed herself for not grabbing her camera when she got out of the car.

The timber wolf stopped growling and, as if he felt her watching him, moved his gaze to hers. She gasped. His eyes were a molten gold flecked with green, and exuded the warmest, most intelligent light. In her peripheral vision, she saw the smaller brown wolf move to take advantage of the timber’s distraction.

She screamed as it lunged, and the timber wolf feinted to the right. Amalie cringed as the smaller wolf closed its jaws onto his powerful neck muscles. He’d moved just in time, and was spared a killing bite to the jugular. He snarled in fury as he shook off his attacker and they began to fight in earnest, pawing and snapping at one another. The clack of teeth and their guttural snarls echoed through the trees.

Amalie shook her head to clear it and fought the darkness threatening to pull her under. She had to make a move. Struggling to her hands and knees, she tried to inch her way toward the car, all the while watching the battle. A scant few feet from the car, her vision began to blur. She looked down at her side where a trail of thick, bright red blood flowed steadily from the wound. A wave of nausea rolled over her and dots of light exploded behind her eyes. She stopped, the frosty breath puffing from her lips as she pressed a hand over her side to stem the bleeding. Just a little further. She turned her head to see if the battling wolves had noticed her progress, but they seemed oblivious.

Right as she was about to resume her painful crusade, the smaller wolf let out a high-pitched yelp. It seemed to finally recognize it was outmatched, breaking into a run toward the thickly-treed forest. She waited, breathless, hoping the massive timber wolf would pursue his foe. Instead, he turned his magnificent head in her direction and, panting from exertion, loped toward her. Heart pounding wildly in her chest, she tried to scuttle the last few feet to the car, but the last of her strength seeped away, leaving her on empty.

She lay on her stomach and closed her eyes, desperately praying that the blood loss would kill her before the timber wolf’s teeth tore into her flesh. Ironic that the very animals she had come here to save would kill her. As least she wouldn’t be around to hear Carole’s “I told you so.”

Warm breath caressed her cheek and she peeked through her lids one last time to look into the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. This time, however, they belonged to the face of a man.

Her head swam, the world went topsy-turvy and then, she knew no more.

G
et
the Montana Wolves box set
here
!

I
wanted
to take a moment here to thank my readers for coming on this journey with me! When I started writing Willa and Drake’s story, I had planned for it to be one of a series of novellas, the same as the Montana Wolves series. One couple, one book, but with an overarching world that tied the books and couples together.

I tried that with Willa and Drake, and they just wouldn’t have it! They wanted more than one tale, and room to grow. That said, I still wanted readers to get a great value for their money, so I decided to release their story as a three-part serial. And instead of 2.99 per book, I’ve cut the price to .99 to provide a a richer, longer story for right around that 2.99 price-point for all three books, while allowing me the creative license to follow the whims of these characters.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous about it at first, but was thrilled to find that my editors and early readers LOVED it (cliffhangers and all :o)

I truly hope do you too!

XOXO

-Chloe

C
opyright
© 2014 by Chloe Cole

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.