by V. A. Dold
It all started with Isaac’s fear that his sons would go through their long lives as shifters without experiencing the incredible love enjoyed between mates. Without children to love and cherish. Which would in turn mean no grandchildren for him. That was not allowed to happen, he wanted grandchildren, dang it.
It hadn’t taken long for Emma, a powerful voodoo priestess, to learn the name of the first destined mate. Luperca, the Wolf Goddess told her that their oldest son Cade would meet his mate Anna at the Crescent City Brewhouse. She would be there for lunch on the specific date and time. It was a rather simple matter to trick Cade into being there at the same time.
Isaac arranged for Cade to meet him for lunch at the Crescent City Brewhouse and then called and cancelled at the last minute. That left Cade free to have a long, leisurely lunch with Anna. The love affair and happy ending took off from there.
Sure, there was a bump or two in the road, but what great love hasn’t had them. Harassing ex-husbands, dangerous crime bosses, and suspicious adult children have nothing on a Le Beau. Just look at Romeo and Juliet or Hermoine and Ron as examples of famous love affairs. Well, maybe not Hermoine and Ron. But you get the picture. Isaac and Emma were thrilled with the results and the boy never knew what hit him.
Then a few months later, the Goddess disclosed the next name. She had decided Simon had suffered more than necessary and gave them Rose’s name as his mate. She was conveniently Anna’s best friend in Colorado and it was easy enough to get her to come for a visit. That was happy ever after number two.
Isaac was over the moon, and best yet, Anna announced she was pregnant with his first grandchild.
It wasn’t long and they were given the next name. They couldn’t believe how quickly the Goddess was disclosing them. Not that they were complaining. They now knew that Stefan would meet his mate El at a charity ball that Simon was hosting. Stefan and El’s courtship was a hard and very rocky one, but in the end it all worked out and now they were happily mated and married.
When a couple months later the Goddess told Emma their step-grandson Thomas would be mated to their niece Julia, they were both surprised and overjoyed. Thomas may be a grandson by Anna’s and Cade’s marriage, but he was theirs through and through. In their minds, he was as much Le Beau as any other family member. And Julia was one of Isaac and Emma’s favorite relatives. It couldn’t have worked out better.
While Thomas and Julia were dealing with his good for nothing father and her bat-shit crazy mother, Lucas returned home from traveling the world. The timing couldn’t have been better. The Goddess had just told Emma that Lucas would meet his mate at a ranch he was about to purchase in Texas. Bam! Another son happily mated.
After that, Isaac and Emma were sure one of the other boys would be given their mate, but the Goddess had other plans and gave Emma the name of Richie Major’s mate. Richie was a very good friend of the family, and Anna’s best friend in New Orleans long before she met Cade. Not to mention their adopted son, Seth Le Beau’s best friend in the world.
When they thought about it, it only made sense that they would help him meet his mate. Now Richie and Piper are happily mated and living in the Garden District.
Seth had only recently returned home after a century and a half of service to the Wolf Goddess as one of her elite rogue hunters. He’d shown up while Richie was busy winning Piper over as his mate.
Isaac and Emma only had him home for a week or so when Emma had another visit from the Goddess.
“Blessed be, my daughter,” Luperca greeted her in her soft, peaceful voice.
“Blessed be, Mother. I would like to thank you again for your continued blessings of my family and our friends.”
“You are more than welcome. It pleases me to see my children happily mated and starting families of their own. That is in fact, why I am here.”
Emma became alarmed. “Has something happened?”
“No, my daughter. Everything has gone as planned.” Luperca laughed softly. “I have another name for you.”
“You do?” Emma asked excitedly.
“Yes. Seth, your adopted son has done a great service for me and as such has suffered. He has closed himself off from all human and shifter contact and I fear for his personal safety. He needs his mate to complete and heal his ragged heart and soul. Killing rogues, a few who had been his friends and family over such a long period although necessary has taken a terrible toll on him. The least I can do is assist him in finding his mate. I am only sorry he didn’t find her sooner,” the goddess said sadly.
“What would you like me to do? How may I be of service?” she asked in rapid succession.
“Seth is destined to meet his mate Sara Adams in Minnesota. A rogue went on a killing spree June tenth and killed Sara’s brother. She’s a murder investigator with the Richfield police department, but as a family member of the victim, she has been denied access to the investigation. She’s a tenacious woman and has taken it upon herself to find the killer on her own. Seth must go to Richfield and help her take down the rogue before she gets herself killed. If she dies, all hope to save Seth will be lost.”
“So if I am understanding you correctly, you would like Isaac and me to get Seth to go to Minnesota after the rogue. Other than getting him to Richfield is there anything we should do?”
“In order for him to meet her, he must agree to work with her to kill the rogue. He has never worked with a partner and definitely never a human. It won’t be easy. He will want to hunt the rogue on his own and return home.”
Emma thought about that for a bit. “I think I know how we can force him to take her as a partner in this. Leave it to Isaac and myself, we will get it done one way or the other.”
The Goddess’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “I believe you will. I leave this in your capable hands. Blessed be, daughter, and good luck.”
“Thank you. I’m sure we will need a little luck this time. Blessed be, Mother.”
Emma watched her fade from view, chewing her lip worriedly. How are we going to pull this one off?
She needed Isaac and fast. The last time she’d seen him, he was heading for his study, hopefully he was still there. “Isaac!” she called and she hustled down the hall.
“I’m in the study, cher,” he called back.
She plopped down into an overstuffed chair next to him huffing and puffing from her exertion. When he opened his mouth, she held up one finger to silence his questions while she caught her breath.
“We have a problem,” she finally panted out.
“What kind of problem?” he asked, leaning forward, concern etched into his features.
“The Goddess gave me another name and this one is not going to be easy.”
“Who?”
“Seth.”
“Holy cow,” he breathed out and sat back in his chair. “I didn’t see that one coming, not that he doesn’t deserve his mate like all the other boys. But as a hunter, I assumed he’d never have a mate. It’s extremely rare for the elite to settle down. Of course, I didn’t expect him to turn up on our doorstep talking about quitting the hunters either.”
“I was rather shocked myself. And here’s the kicker, we have to convince Seth to allow his mate to partner with him in a rogue hunt.”
“Shit. That’s never going to happen,” Isaac growled.
“I’m pretty worried as well, but I might have an idea. It’s going to require a lot of steadfast parental tough love to pull it off though,” she said sadly.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, leaning forward again and taking her hand.
“We could make it a condition of him coming home and living on the plantation. It’s going to break my heart to force him to do something he is dead set against in order to come back home, but I can’t think of any other way,” she said with a tear rolling down her cheek.
Isaac scrubbed his palms up and down his face, racking his brain for other options. He had nothing. “I think that might be the only way. I’m going to
have to put some thought into how we’ll present it to him. I don’t want to drive him away and screw the whole thing up.”
“I already thought about it and I think the only way we can do that is to tell him the Goddess requested him specifically for this last hunt and she added the requirement that he must work with the human. She specifically wants him to help her avenge her family, not just take out the rogue. We could tell him the Goddess has a plan for her and has tasked him with keeping her alive.”
“That just might work. We’ll emphasize the Goddess made it a requirement in order to force his compliance. Seth would never go against the Goddess’s wishes.”
He grinned, his eyes twinkling with excitement again. “He’s gone to help Richie protect his mate at the cabin, when he returns we will inform him he is heading to Minnesota.”
K.I.S.S Series
Book 1 LUCAS
Le Beau Series
Book 1 CADE
Book 2 SIMON
Book 3 STEFAN
Book 4 THOMAS
Book 5 LUCAS
Book 6 RICHIE
And don’t miss their follow up HEA’s
CADE & ANNA
SIMON & ROSE (coming soon)
STEFAN & EL (coming soon)
CADE
Anna James is single again, finally. In her opinion, men are self-centered and will never love her for who she is, a beautiful, plus-sized woman. All except the fantasy man that she meets in her dreams every night for last five years.
She just never expected her fantasy to be a real live alpha shifter...
Cade Le Beau isn't what he seems. He’s a billionaire wolf. A Shifter. He laments his missed chance six months ago to meet his fantasy woman in the flesh. Just as his second chance presents itself, his fantasy woman, his mate, is threatened by the local mob boss and her ex-husband. Now, he has forty-eight hours to deal with this threat once and for all or chance losing her again.
Is it Anna who’s in danger, or the humans who unwittingly threaten her?
The heat is on the moment they lay eyes on each other. Neither age, children, horrid ex-husbands nor mob bosses will stop this love affair.
SIMON
Four years of honorably serving his country has left Simon, Cade’s younger brother, damaged and trapped in wolf form. Little did he know the only person with the ability to heal him completely would be found at home. Literally. Now that he’s found her, he is desperate to claim her.
Rose is a beautiful, voluptuous woman with limited experience with men. Although she's confident, she still has reservations. Never having a family of her own, her fear of abandonment has her fleeing romantic relationships and doubting herself.
Travis is insane. A deadly loose cannon that a secret organization hired to destroy the Le Beau family by denying them their mates. Permanently.
Simon’s dream will be lost forever unless he is able to maintain human form.
Rose needs unconditional love and a mate to create the family she’s always wanted.
Travis’s all-consuming drive is to take Rose for himself.
Will Simon ever be whole again, able to claim his mate, giving Rose the love and family she so desperately craves? Or will Travis destroy them both?
STEFAN
El is a beautiful, successful, plus-sized woman suffering a debilitating humiliation that has left her hating all handsome, wealthy men exactly like Stefan Le Beau. Unfortunately for Le Beau, she’s known him since she was sixteen and was totally snubbed by him. To her, he’s a hound dog and a man-whore.
Stefan is a playboy to the extreme with one hard and fast rule: date a woman only once, take her to bed and be gone before morning. Until El.
Stefan’s dream of finding his mate comes true when he bids two hundred thousand dollars to win a date with El at Simon’s charity ball. Money well spent in his opinion.
Now, if she would only talk to him. Or look at him. Or touch him, or…like him.
Can Stefan convince El he's a reformed man?
Can El learn to trust a man who is the epitome of what she avoids and could shatter her heart?
It will require drastic, strategic measures from the entire family to make this mating happen.
THOMAS
Julia is happy with her place in the shifter community as the owner of the famous shifter bar, The Backwater. But the life she's created for herself isn't enough to satisfy her crazy-ass mother, Lucinda, who shops her and her sister, Krystal, around to the pure blood shifters like pieces of meat. Only a born shifter mate is good enough for her girls.
Thomas James has his hands full as the shifter king's head of security. He certainly wasn’t looking for a girlfriend during the first annual shifter gathering. He had the king and queen to protect, not skirts to chase.
A childhood of emotional and physical abuse by his birth father has left Thomas emotionally unavailable and uninterested in romantic relationships. His father Tim’s cruelty to his mother and brother molded him into an extremely protective person. No one messes with his loved ones without answering to him.
Even though Julia and Thomas are destined to be mates, the obstacles standing between them and their happily-ever-after seem insurmountable.
Lucinda insists Julia stay away from the filthy human.
Tim is trying to kill every one Thomas loves.
The mysterious Benevolent Sovereign, who is trying to overthrow the throne, has sent swampers to attack Thomas and destroy Julia’s livelihood.
With family like theirs, who needs enemies?
Will Julia and Thomas’s happiness be snuffed out before it has a chance to begin or will they forge through - obstacles be damned.
CADE & ANNA
When Dr. Marjorie schedules an ultrasound for Anna, Cade begins to go into paranoid meltdown. Something must be wrong! He’s sure of it.
Seeing his Daughter on the computer screen larger than life sets Cade onto a path of foolish, well-meaning choices. In a state of panic, he instigates a series of disastrous projects with the Help of Simon, Stefan, and Thomas.
The final disaster lands Cade and Anna stranded on the family’s island with Anna in labor and no help in sight.
LUCAS
Krystal Le Beau hides a secret few know about: she is a psychic matchmaker. Little does Lucas know she’s worked her magic and set him up to meet his destiny.
Lucas Le Beau’s dream has come true. He owns a ranch of his own and he’s moving in. He thought he had everything he wanted...until the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen knocks him flat on his back. Now he can't think of anything but making that sweet redhead his own. Lucas is one determined wolf! He's not giving up on Kensie no matter how stubborn she is.
Kensie Brown is visiting her sister Jojo, and so far, she's managed to flatten the owner of the dude ranch, make Jojo mad, and somehow fall for a damn cowboy, knowing she's leaving in a few days. What was she thinking?
Will Kensie trust Lucas to save her when her life is threatened, and she has no one else to turn to?
Will Lucas get to Kensie in time to stop the man who wants to expose her to the world and destroy her?
Mix one stubborn Yankee workaholic, a determined cowboy wolf shifter, and meddling family, stir well and you have the recipe for a wild Texas ride.
RICHIE
Four years ago, Richie met a group of Tulane freshmen when he saved one of them from a mugger.
Now the first of their menagerie is getting married.
Surprise of all surprises, Richie meets his mate, Piper, at the wedding in Missouri, of all places.
He didn’t expect her to be a bounty hunter or that her murderous prey had turned the tables and she was now the hunted.
Will Piper apprehend her bounty or will her bounty get to her first?
Can Richie save her from the death he foresaw in a premonition?
Injuries are mounting and time is running out.
SETH
Orphaned at birth, Seth is adopted and raised by the king and queen of the sh
ifters, Isaac and Emma Le Beau.
Circumstances and heartbreak propel him into the elite band of hunters. Shifters pledged to serve the Goddess as her right hand. Meting out justice to the shifters who go rogue.
Burned out and ready to retire, Seth seeks refuge at the plantation, but Isaac has one last hunt for him to complete.
Unable to deny his father the king, and the Wolf Goddess herself, will this assignment be his undoing or his salvation?
Sara Adams is a police detective, a damn good one, too.
Ten years ago when Sara’s older sister took a mate she learned all she wanted to know about shifters. Since then she’s stayed out of their world as much as possible.
That is about to come to an abrupt end. Sara’s brother, Grant has been killed by a rogue and Sara will be damned if the monster sees another day.
Can Seth survive one more kill?
Will Sara avenge her brother or die trying?
Is there a sliver of common ground for them to stand on in order to get the job done?
There is a dangerous bloody future ahead where only the strongest survive.
About the Authors
V.A. Dold & Tori Austin are the Amazon best selling authors of the Award-winning Le Beau Series and the K.I.S.S series.
Prior to becoming a full-time writer, she was a publicist for authors.