by Bru Baker
DINNER had gone off without a hitch, at least where Nick was concerned. There had been several actual fights over pie, and Drew’s young cousin had knocked the table full of turkeys over, but they’d dusted them off and everything had been fine.
Nick was surprised to see just how well Drew and his mother integrated into the Pack. They were treated just like any other Pack member, though whoever was near them would often clue them in on directions from afar that they couldn’t hear or gossip about why another group was laughing.
He was watching Drew play a game of flag football with his brothers and cousins and nursing a beer when Kenny joined him on the porch.
“There’s a guy here in town who tattoos Weres. He puts a little bit of aconite in the ink. Not enough to hurt you, just enough to keep your body from pushing the ink out. When you’re ready, I’ll book you an appointment myself. Consider it a wedding gift.”
Nick gaped at him. “How—”
Kenny slapped him on the shoulder and laughed. “Son, you’re about as transparent as moonlight when you look at that kid. If you aren’t planning to propose soon then I’ll eat my hat. And I don’t even wear hats.”
Huh. He’d been working up to getting Kenny’s blessing, and it seemed he already had it.
“Is it difficult?” he blurted out. “Being mated to a human? I love Drew more than anything, and he feels like my mate, but I don’t know. What if I’m wrong?”
Kenny sat on the porch step and patted the spot next to him. Nick dropped down, his instincts not even considering refusing.
“See? Your mate’s father says sit, and you sit. That’s how you know.” His smile was kind, and it made something in Nick settle. It felt like being around Drew, only to a lesser degree. “There aren’t any guarantees. I’ve been mated to a wolf and a human, and the human is the one who stuck. We’re creatures of instinct, but we have to follow our hearts too. And when your heart and your instincts are telling you the same thing? Son, you’d better jump on it.”
He held out his wrist, flexing it so Nick could see his tattoo. It covered scar tissue of a previous bite. The mating he’d broken.
“I rushed into mating Lissa because my parents pushed for it. I liked her just fine. We got on well. She gave me three beautiful sons, which I’m grateful for. But even though we went through the mating ceremony and took the bites, I never truly felt like she was mine. And when our youngest was three, she told me she’d fallen for a Were in a different Pack. I could have refused to break the mating, but how could I stand in the way of her being happy when I knew I couldn’t give her that? So we broke the mating, and she renounced ties to the Pack, including our sons. Pack law is brutal, and I don’t always agree with it.”
Nick couldn’t imagine walking away from a child. She really must have been desperately unhappy.
“And two years later I met Christa at a gas station, of all places. She was pumping gas and chasing after Drew, who must have been about three at the time, and the hose came out and sprayed everywhere. By the time I got over there and turned it off, her pants were soaked. And even through that, I could still smell her. And she smelled like home and comfort and Pack. And I knew I was getting a second chance.”
Kenny patted his knee and stood up. “Our private joke is she’s my blue-moon mate. And she was. Not only because she’s my second mate, but because it was a blue moon that night. I was rushing to try to get back to the Pack before moonrise, but I ended up spending it trying to keep a cranky three-year-old busy while his mom tried to scrub the smell of gasoline off herself in a gas-station bathroom.”
Nick felt too light-headed to stand with Kenny. “Are you serious? You met on the blue moon?”
“Sounds too cheesy to be true, but it is. It’s supposed to be good—”
“Luck,” Nick finished for him, feeling dazed. “I know. Drew and I met under a blue moon too.”
Kenny’s laugh drew people over, including Drew, who offered Nick a hand and pulled him to his feet.
“Everything okay?” he asked, nuzzling into Nick’s neck briefly in greeting.
Nick returned the gesture, humming happily against Drew’s neck. He pushed a hand into his pocket and brushed his fingers over the leather cuff he planned to give Drew before tonight’s Pack bonfire. “Couldn’t be better.”
BRU BAKER got her first taste of life as a writer at the tender age of four, when she started publishing a weekly newspaper for her family. What they called nosiness she called a nose for news, and no one was surprised when she ended up with degrees in journalism and political science and started a career in journalism.
Bru spend more than a decade writing for newspapers before making the jump to fiction. She now works in reference and readers’ advisory in a Midwestern library, though she still finds it hard to believe someone’s willing to pay her to talk about books all day. Most evenings you can find her curled up with a book or her laptop. Whether it’s creating her own characters or getting caught up in someone else’s, there’s no denying that Bru is happiest when she’s engrossed in a story. She and her husband have two children, which means a lot of her books get written from the sidelines of various sports practices.
Website: www.bru-baker.com
Blog: www.bru-baker.blogspot.com
Twitter: @bru_baker
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bru.baker79
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/6608093.Bru_Baker
Email: [email protected]
By Bru Baker
DREAMSPUN BEYOND
CAMP H.O.W.L.
#7 – Camp H.O.W.L.
#22 – Under a Blue Moon
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Now Available
Camp H.O.W.L.
A Camp H.O.W.L. Novel
Moonmates exist, but getting together is going to be a beast….
When Adrian Rothschild skipped his “werewolf puberty,” he assumed he was, somehow, human. But he was wrong, and he’s about to go through his Turn with a country between him and his Pack—scared, alone, and eight years late.
Dr. Tate Lewis’s werewolf supremacist father made his Turn miserable, and now Tate works for Camp H.O.W.L. to ease the transition for young werewolves. He isn’t expecting to offer guidance to a grown man—or find his moonmate in Adrian. Tate doesn’t even believe in the legendary bond; after all, his polygamist father claimed five. But it’s clear Adrian needs him, and if Tate can let his guard down, he might discover he needs Adrian too.
A moonmate is a wolf’s missing piece, and Tate is missing a lot of pieces. But is Adrian up to the challenge?
Available at
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Coming in July 2018
Dreamspun Beyond #23
The Night Owl and the Insomniac by j. leigh bailey
Long nights lead to intrigue… and infatuation.
Chronically ill with a mysterious condition, Yusuf “Joey” Franke escapes his smothering family and doctors by moving halfway across the country to enroll in Cody College. Not long after arriving on campus, some of his symptoms disappear, only to be replaced by debilitating insomnia. Joey spends his nights wandering the halls of his dormitory and hanging out with gregarious and affable Owen, who works the night shift.
When he suddenly shifts from a sick college kid to a massive Asiatic lion, Joey discovers another side to Cody College—it’s a haven for shifters like himself… and like Owen, a part-time great horned owl. And being a shifter is hereditary, which means his parents have some explaining to do.
When Joey and Owen investigate, they discover more than they bargained for—a family deception, a dangerous enemy with international connections, and a love that might be too new to survive the backlash.
Dreamspun Beyond #24
Soul Bond by JS Harker
Stealing his heart.
As a thief and a warlock, Noah survives by using his wit and charm to prey on the privileged. His dangerous crimina
l boss wants an enchanted dagger belonging to a family of wealthy mages, including their pampered—but handsome—son, Ben. Failing to complete the job will be hazardous to Noah’s survival.
Noah bumps into Ben at a lavish party, and as soon as they meet, the connection’s undeniable, and it goes much further than ordinary attraction. Their bond reaches into their souls, entwining and changing their magic.
Which Noah thinks he can use to get to the dagger. After all, he isn’t sure this soul bond Ben seems so obsessed with is even real.
He also doesn’t count on being caught red-handed…. Or falling in love.
Coming Soon to
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Don’t Miss Dreamspun Beyond!
Love Always Finds a Way
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Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Under a Blue Moon
© 2018 Bru Baker.
Cover Art
© 2018 Aaron Anderson.
[email protected]
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64080-696-2
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64108-098-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018931592
Digital published June 2018
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America