by Lowe, Anna
Rebel Wolf
Aloha Shifters: Pearls of Desire
by
Anna Lowe
Book 4
Rebel Wolf
Copyright © 2018 by Anna Lowe
[email protected]
Editing by Lisa A. Hollett
Proofreading by Donna Hokanson
Cover art by Kim Killion
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons is purely coincidental.
Many thanks to the members of my amazing Plot Wizards group for all their support and ideas, and a huge thank you to star beta readers Renee, Jen, Linda, Colleen, Beth, and Cindy! You truly outdid yourself this time!
Other books in this series
Aloha Shifters - Pearls of Desire
Rebel Dragon (Book 1)
Rebel Bear (Book 2)
Rebel Lion (Book 3)
Rebel Wolf (Book 4)
Rebel Alpha (Book 5)
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Desert Wolf: Friend or Foe (Book 1.1 in the Twin Moon Ranch series)
Off the Charts (the prequel to the Serendipity Adventure series)
Perfection (the prequel to the Blue Moon Saloon series)
Contents
Other books in this series
Rebel Wolf
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Epilogue
Sneak Peek
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Rebel Wolf
Sophie Wilkins — bookworm and smoothie chef extraordinaire — has moved to Maui for a reminder of all the beauty and love in the world. And love is what she gets from the shy, retiring, and utterly gorgeous man she meets. Chase is everything her lonely heart has ever yearned for. He’s mysterious too, with a raw, animal intensity that appeals to a wild side she never knew she had.
Chase Hoving is a wolf shifter born and bred in the wild — a secret he must protect at all costs. After a decade in an elite Special Forces unit, he’s tempted to turn his back on the human world and return to that quieter, simpler life. Then destiny brings him Sophie, who fills his soul with hope and light.
But danger lurks everywhere, from the private estate Chase protects, to the wilds of his homeland, and even in the seaside park where Sophie works. Worse, evil forces from Sophie’s past are ruthlessly hunting her down. Has Chase learned enough about human ways to win over his destined mate — and protect her from a terrible fate?
Chapter One
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* * *
“So, you and Sophie have a date, huh?” Dell asked.
Chase drove down the coastal highway, sticking to the speed limit of forty-five, ignoring Dell and his shit-eating grin.
Yes, he and Sophie had a date, and he was counting down the hours, minutes, and seconds. The thing was, it would be easier to shift into wolf form and show the way he felt than to put it into words. He’d wag his tail furiously, then turn a couple of circles in sheer glee. After that, he’d roll over a few times and bounce around like a drunken kangaroo.
But he was in human form, and that complicated things. Humans liked talking. Which was weird, because they didn’t always mean what they said. Of course, Dell was a friend and a fellow shifter. But Dell had the gift of gab, while Chase, well…not so much.
Mate, his wolf side murmured, daydreaming again.
“Yep,” he murmured absently.
Chase grinned as he drove. He loved Sophie’s honest smile and the way it always brightened when she spotted him. Her thick chestnut hair, braided in a different style each day. Her wary doe eyes that seemed to shine and sparkle just for him. Deep, forest-green eyes that reminded him of the woods back home.
He heaved a love-sick sigh, checked the clock on the dashboard, and updated his countdown once more. Eight hours, thirty-two minutes, and fifty seconds until the most important moment of his life.
“What are you guys planning to do?” Dell asked.
Chase scratched his ear — one of the simple pleasures of being in human form, because he didn’t have to sit on his ass and try to reach it with his rear paw. Then he shrugged. The details of his date didn’t matter as long as he got to be with Sophie. She’d said something about going for a walk. Or was it a drive to Nakalele Blowhole? Either way, it was bound to be great.
Except for the fact that ever since that morning, he’d been shadowed by a feeling of foreboding. The feeling of danger creeping in. He sniffed the air. Was that the real thing or a false alarm? Having grown up entirely among wolves, he was often confused by the human world. And ever since he and his brothers had retired from Special Forces and settled down on Maui, they’d struggled to balance a sense of peace with the need to remain vigilant. The world was full of ruthless enemies who could strike anywhere, anytime.
Was today one of those days? Chase sniffed the salt air, trying to decide.
“Are you taking Sophie to lunch?” Dell asked. “Oh, I know. You can bring her to the Lucky Devil.” The lion shifter cackled at his own joke.
“No way,” Chase growled. He might not know much about the human world, but he knew not to bring the woman he loved to his workplace on their first date.
Eight hours, thirty-one minutes… his wolf murmured.
“I brought Anjali there before we got together.” Dell flashed one of those I’m so in love grins. “Oh, oh. Did I tell you what Quinn — best baby in the world — did this morning? It was the cutest thing. We’re waking up, Anjali and me, and Quinn was lying on my chest…”
Normally, Chase wouldn’t have tuned out, but his mind kept drifting back to Sophie. From the moment they’d met, he’d known she was his destiny. One look, one sniff, and his fate was sealed.
Humans struggled to identify the person they were meant to spend forever with, and half the time, they got it wrong. But wolf shifters knew from the bottom of their hearts to the deepest reaches of their souls. They absolutely, positively knew in a way no human ever could.
The problem was, he’d met Sophie months ago, and he still hadn’t figured out how to explain it all to her. Humans didn’t understand about mates, and since he wasn’t exactly a poet with words… Chase’s brothers and Dell had been egging him on, encouraging him to take the next step with Sophie. The thing was, none of them realized how tenuous his hold on his human side was. Being around Sophie drove his wolf wild, and he was afraid he’d go too far, too fast.
“Then Quinn rolls over and says ba-ba. Ba-ba — isn’t that cute? So I said Ka-quinn and she said ba-ba and Anjali said…”
Dell rambled through another of his I love my mate and baby so much stories. Not that Chase could blame the guy. Hell, if he had a mate and a child…
He cleared his throat and concentrated on the road. That dream would never come true if he didn’t win over Sophie first. He couldn’t win over Sophie if he didn’t impress her on their date. And he’d never impress her if he stayed this jittery. Damn it, what was making him feel so off-balance?
He sniffed the air again, then interrupted Dell with a curt, “You feel that?”
Dell looked around. “Feel what?”
“It’s like something is wrong. Something out of place.”
Dell sniffed around then shook his head. “Life couldn’t be better, man. You’re just nervous about your date. Don’t worry. It’ll be great.”
Chase was nervous, but that didn’t account for the feeling of impending doom.
Dell smacked him on the shoulder. “Calm down, wolf.”
Chase frowned. That was the crux of the matter. Most shifters were dominated by their human sides, but he’d grown up in the wild as the son of a full-blooded she-wolf. He hadn’t joined his brothers in the human world until he was a teen. Even after all these years, it still overwhelmed him at times.
“Anyway, then Quinn did the most incredible thing,” Dell went on. “She kissed me and said Da-da. Not ba-ba — Da-da! Isn’t that amazing?”
“Amazing,” Chase mumbled as he slowed the battered pickup, getting ready to park on the outskirts of town.
As far as human settlements went, Lahaina was pretty nice. Not too big, not too loud. It got crowded with tourists at times, but mostly people were relaxed and friendly. Not like some places he’d been.
The best thing about Lahaina, though, was the fact that he’d met Sophie there, and that he could count on seeing her nearly every day. She ran the smoothie truck in a seaside park, and when he had walked by one day, months ago…
His chest heated as he relived the moment. It had been as if gravity had suddenly tripled, because he could barely move except to turn his head. Even before he spotted Sophie, he’d fallen in love, just from the vibes she gave off. She was a ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds, filling him with everything he yearned for. Hope. Interest. A newfound lust for life.
“Hey, quit daydreaming,” Dell admonished when the car started to drift off the road. “I’ve got a mate and child to get home to, you know.”
Chase snapped his attention back to the road. “Sorry.”
Not sorry, his wolf griped. Not for thinking about my mate.
Within seconds, his thoughts wandered back to Sophie. It had gotten to the point that he felt more settled in town than at home, simply because Sophie was there. Not only did he get to see her, but he got to talk to her too. They’d even danced once, and his soul still soared when he thought back on that. He’d gotten to shut his eyes, hold her close, and sniff her heavenly scent. So maybe for their date, they ought to try dancing again.
Or walking, his inner wolf said. Or howling to the moon. That would be nice.
He sighed. Howling to the moon was out. But walking would be fine.
Except for that unsettled feeling that grew worse and worse.
They parked and started walking the ten blocks to their brunch shift at the Lucky Devil, the seaside restaurant where Chase ran security while Dell tended bar. Chase glanced left and right. On the face of it, everything looked normal in town. Shopkeepers emerged from the frontier-style buildings on either side of the road and set out colorful signs. A Hawaiian flag fluttered from a rooftop in wavy red, white, and blue stripes. The streets were wet and tidy, having just been sprayed down and cleaned. The usual morning routine, in other words.
“What’s the rush, man?” Dell asked.
Chase frowned. His walk was a near jog, and he couldn’t say why. Only that instinct told him to get moving — and fast.
Dell laughed, continuing his easy stroll while Chase rushed ahead. “Oh, right. You want to get a smoothie before work. A smoothie and a look at your girl. I know how it is, man.”
Chase broke into a jog, leaving Dell behind. How could Dell know how it felt? Ever since Dell had met Anjali, he’d gotten to spend hours with his destined mate. He got to start and finish every day by gazing into her eyes. Chase only got to spend a little time with Sophie once or twice a day. Seeing Sophie was heaven, but saying goodbye was hell. The only reason he’d been able to hold out for so long was the fact that he could sense her nearby while he was at work.
He reached out with his mind, feeling for that bright, sunny spot that was Sophie. He couldn’t actually see her, and he couldn’t read her mind, but he could sense her, and that always felt good.
He closed his eyes for a second, then frowned. All he could pick up on was the desperate barking of her dogs.
Bad. Bad. Bad, they bayed in alarm.
His step faltered before he caught himself and rushed ahead. What was going on?
“Hey, man. Where’s the fire?” Dell called from behind.
Chase jolted from a run into an all-out sprint. The lush leaves of the town park fluttered like any other day, but the closer he got, the more he could feel the dogs’ panic.
Bad. Bad. Get away.
Chase hit his top gear and hurtled around the corner, then screeched to a stop. There was Sophie, over by a tree where the dogs were tied. There was the smoothie truck where she worked, a few steps away. All perfectly normal, right?
Then, BOOM! An explosion ripped through the air, and Sophie was thrown back. His Sophie, flung like a rag doll. An echo of a scene he’d seen far too many times in war zones, but one he’d never, ever imagined occurring in Maui.
“Sophie!” he yelled, rushing in.
Chapter Two
Sophie had started her morning shift at work by frowning at her phone. Of all the people to have received an out-of-the-blue message from, David Orren was the last person she expected — or wanted — to get in touch with.
Heya, Sophie. I’m visiting Maui. We really need to get together. So much to catch up on. All the good times.
She scowled. If their childhood had been such a good time, why was she working so hard to forget it? Including David, the boy next door who’d always had a way of taking things too far.
Her hands clawed the air in an echo of the time she’d had to escape his forced kiss. Then she punched her phone off, erasing his message. David might be interested in her, but she sure wasn’t interested in him.
She straightened her shoulders and reminded herself to smile. It was going to be a great day on Maui, and nothing was going to ruin that. She had a date with Chase Hoving, the man she’d been crushing on for months, and all of Maui seemed to be celebrating with her. The sun was glittering off the ocean, the palms were swaying gently, and the morning breeze was clear and fresh.
So why were her dogs so alarmed?
“Coco. Darcy. Boris — shh!” She snapped her fingers.
Every day, she brought the dogs to Lahaina with her, and normally, they were perfectly happy to lounge in the shade of a nearby tree while she worked at the Sunshine Smoothies truck. On a good day, she’d blend up to two hundred fruit smoothies, so there was plenty of prep to do.
But the dogs kept snarling and straining at the end of their leashes, and she had no choice but to leave the truck to calm them down. No one had ever objected to her dogs being in the seaside park, but if they kept up that racket, she’d have trouble, for sure.
“Coco!” she admonished. “Boris! Darcy! Calm down.”
But the dogs she’d rescued from a shelter didn’t so much as glance in her direction. They were all fixated on something — or someone — near the rear of the smoothie truck.
“I told you. It’s nothing,” she muttered.
The trio had been barking for a good five minutes — about the time she’d heard a scratch on the outside of the truck. Even now, as she double-checked, she couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. A sanitation crew was moving through the park as they did every morning, emptying trash cans and raking up the huge leaves of the breadfruit trees.
She shook her finger at the do
gs. “Enough already.”
Coco wagged her tail meekly. Darcy stopped growling but continued to bare his teeth at the imaginary danger — but that was par for the course with Darcy, who saw everyone as an enemy. Boris barked once more then looked at Sophie for approval.
“Would you guys be quiet?”
She tried to be stern, but it was hard. Coco, a mangy little brown mutt, had been neglected in the past, and it showed in her desperate desire to please. Darcy, the Jack Russell, was a born fighter in spite of his diminutive size. Boris was a sleek, meek greyhound who rarely let out so much as a yelp. So what was riling him up now?
Sophie turned around and froze. What was that shadow moving behind the smoothie truck? A stab of fear went through her before she caught herself. Damn it, she was not going to be paranoid. The world wasn’t the dark, danger-fraught place she’d been raised to fear. There was beauty and hope too. It was all a question of perspective. And she was determined to keep a positive outlook, no matter what it took.
“See? Everything is all right.” She petted the dogs, slowly settling them down. Boris and Coco wound around each other, vying for the best position near Sophie’s legs. Darcy, meanwhile, continued glaring into the distance with eyes that flashed with anger and hate.
“It’s okay, guys,” she said, smoothing down their bristling fur. “Now, listen. You have to be quiet, or I can’t bring you to work.”
Even Darcy sobered at that, and Coco stuck her tail between her legs. They might not have understood her words, but they couldn’t miss the warning in her voice.
“So calm down. It’s going to be a great day. A beautiful day. You want to know why?”
Coco wagged her tail and leaned closer.
“Well, first, we’re on Maui, so that makes it great,” Sophie explained. “Second, I have a date with Chase.”