Wild Streak (Alaska Wild Nights Book 6)

by Tiffinie Helmer

  Wild Streak

  (Alaska Wild Nights Book 6)

  Tiffinie Helmer

  Copyright © 2018 by Tiffinie Helmer

  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.

  Edited by Adam McLain of amclain.com

  Cover design by Kelli Ann Morgan of Inspire Creative Designs

  Created with Vellum

  For Kelli Zimmerman for coming up with the title for Wild Streak and for being such a great and loyal friend. I feel so blessed to have you in my life. Love you!

  Acknowledgments

  Once again, my Facebook Street Team, Tiff’s Wild Readers, knocked it out of the park. Thank you for your continuing support and creative suggestions for my fictional town of Heartbreak, Alaska.

  Special mention goes to the following: GiGi Hall Rivera and Laramie Ann for coming up with the bullying nickname, Mangy Morgue (you guys work great together) and Kathy Evans for her suggestions of Roadkill and Crypt Keeper, which I also had to work in. And finally Charles Allen for coming up with Forever Friends Vet Clinic.

  You guys ROCK!

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Also by Tiffinie Helmer

  Prologue

  “We have to do something about Dare,” Ryder Wilde—Dare’s identical twin— said, cradling his beer at the Pump House.

  He’d called an emergency meeting after hours so their plotting wouldn’t be overheard. In attendance were several of his best buddies: Avery Dawson, owner of the pub and engaged to his sister Cat. And then Ash Blue, fiancé to his oldest sister Sorene. Gideon Rasmussen, the town doc, engaged to his second oldest sister, Kennadee. Alaska State Trooper Trip Hunter, his first brother-in-law since Trip married his baby sister, Zoe, at the beginning of summer. And his Grammy award-winning songwriter brother, Brey, who sat there casually strumming his guitar after closing down the Pump House singing his heart-wrenching ballads to the enthusiastic audience.

  This meeting wouldn’t be complete without his father, Jack Wilde, who started matchmaking his offspring months ago with an ultimate goal of getting grandchildren. With the amount of his success—five of his seven children engaged or married—there wasn’t anything stopping him now, and Ryder was counting on his wily ways with the Dare issue.

  Ryder also had a plan in the works for matchmaking their dad. After all, turnabout was fair play. Though he did appreciate whatever strings his dad had pulled in helping him maneuver the love of his life, Gabriella Waterman, into agreeing to marry him. Now if he could just get Gabriella to set a date. If it had been up to him, they would have already taken care of it with the Heartbreak’s Justice of the Peace, whom residences had nicknamed Amore the Merrier.

  “Dare is driving everyone crazy,” Brey said. “He offered to help me write my next song. A poet he is not. Seriously, he thought writing a ballad about his dogs would be a hit.”

  “Something needs to be done, which is why I called you here,” Ryder agreed. “He’s been over at the Forget-Me-Not Inn every night this week. Gabriella is going to start charging him for a room.” Ryder had moved in with Gabriella, and they were living at the inn they were both renovating, leaving Dare to ramble around in the old barn he and Ryder had shared.

  “Cut the kid a break,” his dad said. “Dare’s never been alone. He had you as a womb mate, and then you both shared a bedroom, and now the converted barn. Of course, he’s at loose ends.”

  “He needs a woman,” Ash said. “When he’s not showing up at the inn, he’s at our place. I haven’t been alone with Sorene in weeks. Something needs to change.”

  “Agreed,” Avery said. “He’s taken it upon himself to find Cat and me a home. I can’t see one more property and it’s not like I don’t have my dad to find us a place.” His dad owned Dawson Realty and Development.

  “Listen to this,” Trip said. “He’s interjecting his ideas for the nursery. Zoe’s about to kill him and me by proxy. Those pregnancy hormones are nothing to laugh at. I never know what kind of wife I’m coming home to these days.”

  “But a baby,” Jack said, sighing. “It’s worth everything, even the mood swings, which as I remember well, are legendary.” He gazed off into the distance, and Ryder knew he was stuck in the past, a bittersweet smile painting his face. He’d lost his wife, Ryder’s mother, too soon and still mourned her. Which was why Ryder was taking it upon himself to find someone for his dad. He was still a good-looking man with a lot to offer a woman. Getting him to move on would be the biggest hurdle.

  “You guys think you have it bad,” Gideon said. “He’s offered to act as nurse when Kennadee is off fighting fires. He flirts with all the patients and no work gets done.”

  “So, we’re agreed something needs to be done,” Ryder said. “Any ideas of women we can hook him up with?”

  Gideon sat back in his chair, and Ash rubbed the back of his neck, shaking his head. Trip and Avery wouldn’t meet his eye, and Brey concentrated on the chords of his guitar.

  His dad looked over them all and huffed. “Seriously, you guys have no clue who we could hook Dare up with?”

  “Well, he does have a bit of a reputation,” Ryder admitted. Dare was known for being a player, and the town of Heartbreak wasn’t that big. “We might have to fly someone in.”

  “Naw, we don’t,” Jack said, slapping his hand on the table. “There are plenty of eligible women in town.”

  “Again, his reputation,” Avery pointed out. “He’s not known to stick around long. He’s been known to pick up a different woman here at the pub every weekend. Except for lately. He seems to have lost his desire for casual hookups.”

  “So, he has a reputation,” Jack said. “But he treats these women well, or I’d have heard about it and kicked his ass. There has to be some woman out there that will turn his head.”

  “Well…” Ryder started, and then wished he’d kept his mouth shut.

  “Who?” They all jumped on him, eyes turned his direction.

  “Gabriella is going to kill me,” he muttered. “Gabriella’s sister Morgan helps out a lot at the inn, and when she’s there, Dare can’t stop looking at her. But she’s young.”

  “She’s old enough,” Jack said. “Older than Zoe, and Wild Card is married with a baby on the way. Her dad, Luke, would be onboard. He’d be a big help.”

  “I don’t know,” Ryder said. “If Dare breaks her heart, Gabriella will be more than upset.” Why, oh why, had he opened his mouth?

  “Actually, Morgan and Dare have a lot in common,” Trip said. “They both love animals and the outdoors. She’s got a wild streak.

  “Does she now?” Jack said. “That makes her perfect for Dare. I nicknamed him Wild Streak for a reason.” Jack scratched his beard,
his eyes narrowing in thought. “I’ll contact her dad and see what we can do. Something has to be done about Dare. For his own sanity if not our own.”

  They all grunted in agreement.

  Chapter 1

  If he wasn’t careful, Morgan Waterman would be his next big mistake.

  Dare Wilde curbed his need to approach her. Boy, was it hard, in more ways than were physically comfortable. His current condition had to be unhealthy.

  Morgan, vet tech and all-around animal whisperer, paid him no mind as she meticulously examined his seven-dog sled team on the two-acre parcel of cleared land located behind the converted barn he lived in. The land butted up to miles and miles of wilderness trails—some of the most challenging trails Alaska could offer for training his high-energy, four-legged athletes. Technically, there were eight dogs to be medically checked, counting Eska, who he’d kept as a pet. She’d been the runt of the litter and was unable to keep up with the others. Currently, she acted more like Morgan’s assistant than one of her patients, happily cheering on the other dogs, and keeping them calm and reassured while Morgan went through the wellness checkups.

  With that curvy body of hers, filling out the snug jeans and wrist-length, form-fitting black knit top that covered her from neck to wrist, setting her fairy blue eyes off like LED lights, he should get a medal for not making a play. In theory, she was modestly covered, but with that body? She’d have to be wearing a burlap bag for him not to notice. Then there were her eyes…eyes that seemed to see into his very soul, privy to his deepest, darkest secrets every time she looked at him. Which wasn’t as often as he’d like.

  She was the sister to his twin brother’s intended, and therefore off limits—as Gabi had told him on more than one occasion.

  Damn it.

  “You just going to stand there and stare at me?” Morgan asked with a tilt of her head. Her waterfall of caramel-colored hair swayed around her and settled to rest just above her sweet backside. That hair seemed to flirt and wave at him every time she moved. She waited impatiently for him to say something, and then frowned when he didn’t—er, that is, when he couldn’t seem to form a response. “Dare, are you feeling all right? Do I need to call someone?”

  “Uh…no. Fine.” He cleared his throat and felt heat travel up his neck. He was never tongue-tied around women. Women were one of the things he did well. So why the hell did Morgan make him feel like a puberty-ridden, pimple-face twelve-year-old?

  She’d been sent out from the Furever Friends Vet Clinic to look over his dogs, in place of old man Doherty since she’d completed her vet assistance training recently and had taken over the home visits. Dare should have been prepared, hearing that old man Doherty had been sending her out for wellness checks as his bones tended to creak this time of year. Winter was breathing down their necks, and he couldn’t wait for enough snowfall to hook his dogs up and hit the trails.

  He knew from what Gabi had said that Morgan’s ultimate goal was to work for the Alaska Wildlife Refuge. She’d be good since she had a gentleness about her that instantly calmed animals, domestic and wild. He remembered in grade school when an injured eagle had been discovered on the playground and she’d instantly put it at ease until a refuge officer could get there to help.

  His dogs waited patiently for her touch, sitting on their haunches, tongues hanging out of their smiling faces, their black rimmed eyes bright and excited for their turn.

  He wanted a turn.

  “Want to give me a hand here, or are you just going to watch? I’ve never taken you for the voyeur type.” Her eyes twinkled, and he wondered briefly if she was intentionally messing with him. Every time she bent over to check one of the dog’s paws, she swayed that perfect backside his way.

  He didn’t dare get too close because he was afraid of what he might do. Most likely, lose all sense of propriety, toss her over his shoulder, and carry her up to his bed. A bed that had been empty too much of late.

  He’d lost his need for casual hookups, and he couldn’t help but think it was his twin’s fault. Now that Ryder was in a committed relationship, Dare suddenly had a need for the same.

  It had always been like that with their freaky twin bond. What one found, the other wanted.

  He moved forward and picked up his prized lead dog Kenai. The black-and-white husky relaxed in his arms, helping Morgan to inspect his paws easier.

  Dare had raised his whole team from pups, and from the moment they were born, he’d carried them around in the crook of his arms like babies. They were his babies after all, and as a happy result of this action, his dogs still allowed him to cradle them in his arms. Though it took a lot more muscle now that they weighed upwards of seventy to eighty pounds.

  Eska, his black-brown-and-white husky with dual-colored eyes of brown and blue, pranced around them, not wanting to be left out. Even though she couldn’t compete with the others, he always put her in the sled to be pulled by them. She barked like a commander at the bow of a regatta, mushing them on.

  “Kenai passes along with the others,” Morgan said, dusting her hands off. “I have to say this about you, Dare, you have the healthiest sled dogs I’ve ever seen. Not only healthy physically, but mentally. They love you.”

  Her compliment caused something to heat in his chest and constrict his throat. “Thanks. The feeling’s mutual.”

  He took a lot of pride and care in his dogs, forgoing his own needs on the trail, going without food and bedding, in order to make sure they were fed and comfortable. They were his life, as connected to him as his family members. It had always been like that. Animals flocked to him. Growing up, every pet that entered the Wilde Clan had ended sleeping in his bed and following him around like a shadow. He had an affinity for animals, and it didn’t matter what kind—cats, dogs, birds, or the occasional injured wildlife that needed tending. It was an affinity that he couldn’t explain but cherished none the less. In this, Morgan and he were alike.

  He wondered how else they could mesh?

  Morgan packed up her supplies and bent down to pick up the heavy case, but he beat her to it. “Here, let me.”

  “Thanks.” She gifted him with a smile and another toss of the hair. “If you have a minute, I was wondering if I could run something by you.”

  “Uh…sure.”

  “Mind if we head inside? Now that I’m not working the chill is seeping in and I left my coat in the car.”

  Snow had been predicted to fall at some point this evening, and the dipping temperatures promised they’d get a few inches.

  He opened the door to the converted barn he used to share with Ryder and set down her case in his work room. He used the bottom level of the barn as a shop to build his custom sleds, sleds that were now selling very well. For the first time, he had a wait list of customers vying for his wares. He motioned for Morgan to precede him up the stairs into his apartment. Eska tailed them, and he gave her a quick rub ear rub.

  “I’ll make us some coffee, or do you drink tea?” He didn’t know what she liked to drink. Didn’t some women prefer tea? A few of his sisters did.

  Hell, he didn’t know if he had any tea.

  “You were my last appointment, so I’m now off for the day. Do you have anything stronger?” Morgan asked, taking a seat on the sectional couch. Eska curled up in her spot, close to the fireplace, heaving a heavy sigh and closing her eyes.

  “Uh…sure. What’s your poison?”

  “Have any scotch?”

  He’d sworn off scotch after the night Ryder had thought he’d lost Gabi. He’d helped Ryder down a bottle after they’d polished off first beer, then the whiskey. He swore that it was the scotch that had done him in, and not the combo of beer, whiskey, and scotch. He’d never been much of a fan of the stuff so it was the easiest one to blame for the killer hangover that plagued him after. “No scotch. How about whiskey or a beer?”

  “I’ll take the whiskey. No ice.”

  He lifted a brow but wisely didn’t say anything, pouring her a fin
ger, and then another when she motioned for more.

  Okay, what was up that whatever she needed to ask him required a few fingers of liquid courage?

  He handed her the drink and helped himself to a beer from the refrigerator. “So, what did you want to ask me?”

  “Well, two things actually.” Morgan gulped down a healthy portion of the whiskey. “First, could you introduce me to Lynx Maiski? He’s the stuff of legends when it comes to his work as a refuge officer, and I would love to train under him.”

  “Sure.” That didn’t require a shot of whiskey to ask. “What’s the second thing?”

  She swallowed the remaining whiskey, shuddering as the fiery liquid traveled down her throat, and held out her glass for a refill.

  Curious, he retrieved the bottle and refilled her glass, watching with a frown as she took another deep swallow.

  “What has you so nervous?” He took a seat opposite the couch and twisted off the cap to his beer.

  She gave a high-pitched laughed. “I’m not nervous.”

  He begged to differ. If he had brought the bottle of whiskey to the coffee table, he had a feeling she would have helped herself to more “courage.”

  “What’s on your mind, Morgan?”

  “You are.” She downed the rest of the whiskey and held her glass out for him to refill.

  He shook his head. “Out with it first.”

  “Okay.” She took a deep breath, set the glass down on the coffee table, and wiped her palms on her pants. “I have a problem that I hope you can help me get rid of.”