by Dalia Wright
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Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.
Table of Contents
Luelle’s Mate (Shifters of the Bulgarian Bloodline) Book 4
The Preacher’s Daughter’s Secret
Saved by a Cowboy
In Love with a Preacher’s Daughter
Rescued by the Alpha Wolf
The Panther’s Lair
Once Upon a Mail Order Bride
A Vampire Love In Time
Abducted By the Alpha Alien
Nursing the Soldier
Rich Love
A New Love Baby Daddy Next Door
Crazy In Love With a Bad Boy
A Boss’s Forbidden Temptation
Not Just Another Soul Mate Book
Knocked Up by The Navy Shifter
The Highlander’s English Princess
Craving a Cowboy
Forbidden Love Affair
Summoned
A Secret Love in Paradise
Betrothed and in Love with a Commoner
The Duke’s Engagement
Secret Escape
To Love a Wounded Soldier
In Love with the Wrong Brother
Fate Takes a Turn
The Mistress of Black Grove Manor
Rescued from Royalty
The Pregnant Preacher’s Daughter
A Taboo Billionaire Love
Adopted by the Amish
The Superstar’s Lost Love
A Soldier’s Last Hope
Working for the Billionaire Shifter
The Bishop’s Daughter’s Romance
The Minister’s Daughter’s Secret Love
Therapy for the Navy Seal
In Love with the Duke’s Son
An Amish Double Life
God’s Plan for a Husband
Tempted by the Duke’s Son
Running Away for Love
A Taste of Freedom
Gifted a Baby
Hannah’s Miracle
Forced into Royalty
The Amish Nanny’s New Beloved
Annie’s Escape
Bella’s Return
Tia’s Mate (Shifters of the Bulgarian Bloodline) Book 1
Preview
Prologue:
It made Luelle sad, to learn of Arina's ruined childhood. A hardness existed in her face now, speaking of the memories that changed her life forever. It turned what should have been a happy reunion to one marred by shadows, for Luelle had her own demons to contend with. Right about the time it seemed Arina's family had been slaughtered by flesh hunters, with the twisted form of Ricten Spirova eternally imprinted upon her memory, Luelle suffered her own personal hell.
Her newly wed husband, Heigan, turned out to be sadistic, psychopathic, and evil. Trapped in a country where she could neither speak Russian or English, it left her a prisoner of the Koroslav family. Even having her mind creep near the wealth of horrors was enough to bring out cold sweat over her skin, to make her cry, retch and gnash her teeth sometimes in the night until she woke up, and remembered that chapter of her life was now over.
She'd been only twelve, and baffled to find out her husband had a child near her age. Now twenty-seven, semi-fluent in Russian and English, she made her escape, and brought down their wrath.
“Sometimes I think the world would be better if all the werewolves in it could just die,” Arina had said, when they both sat on the balcony of Springmoon Hotel, staring toward the gathering dusk. “You all are just awful to each other. The way you treat humans as cattle, somewhere I can understand that, if you're meant to be an apex predator. But abusing your kind when you think you're superior to everything else? Why? What's the point?”
“We are like humans in that regard,” Luelle had replied, her voice cold. “We are hideous to each other, or brilliant. I was raped by my husband, his son...” Luelle's voice trailed off for a moment, and the bile of hatred rose to her throat. Her teeth sharpened at the caustic memory. “But it wasn't all terrible over there. There were good werewolves, and good humans, which made the bad times bearable.”
Arina examined her old best friend for a while. She still had that penetrating stare, which made you think the weight of the world lay in her eyes. “Your family don't give a shit, do they?”
“Only Yanus.” The knowledge froze Luelle's heart. She had been treated like garbage, sold as a commodity to cement an alliance which crumbled apart around them, even as they spoke. Her mother and father refused to understand. To see.
Sunset dipped into the sleepy town, and the clash of water and pipes over the hot springs reached her sensitive ears. The wolf inside her was a savage beast, and Arina smelled good, edible. She smelled like prey. But, just as humans chose to eat vegetables, so a werewolf chose to not eat their lesser and weaker cousins.
Now a cross-country clan war boiled in session. Opportunists might deliver her to Koroslav hands in an attempt to quell the violence.
The very real possibility remained that the ancient families were outnumbered, and that their reign was over.
It didn't help that the ruling family prioritized Elinor as leader over her male counterpart. To the Russian clans, Luelle knew it meant an invitation, a sign that the old blood was succumbing to weakness.
Once this debacle ended, Luelle hoped she'd be on the other side of the conflict, across the Atlantic and in the wilderness of North Dakota.
Chapter One
The first casualties came within a week. Minor werewolf clans from isolated homesteads got picked off one by one, to deplete the potential reinforcements of the three noble families.
Luelle stood at the bedside of a small boy that Frey Radev tended to, daubing an icy towel over his feverish head. The boy in question simply stared at the ceiling, the absence of hope in his eyes. Elinor stepped in behind, drawing the attention of the two women.
“Hey. Small update. Negotiations are falling a bit flat. Heigan Koroslav is acting like he won't talk to us until he gets you back,” Elinor said, jabbing a finger at Luelle, “but in the meanwhile, he's systematically eliminating Bulgarian born werewolves west of Sofia. Which, if you ask me, is just rude.”
The boy's eyes drooped, to focus on Elinor. Frey folded her arms, appearing like a hunk of rock, expression guarded. “Will it be worth trading in Luelle?”
Frey's casual drop irritated Luelle. Although she identified the woman as an eminently practical individual, being treated as an object sent her mind to dark places. Heat built up behind her eyes.
“I'm not sure. We can't have Luelle running off yet. Not until we know for certain. If the slaughter grows to unheard of proportions, Luelle, we might need you to bait them or, worst case scenario, trade.”
“You trade me, I'll kill myself,” Luelle said, her lips thinning. She meant every word. Her hands shook. “So it better only be as a last resort.”
“Noted,” Elinor said. Her apathy irritated Luelle as well. Of course, they had other, pressing matters to deal with, such as the potential annihilation of everything the Bulgarians stood for, and a slow usurpation of another clan who would return the mountain regions to their barbaric roots and probably introduce a mass extinction event of eastern European clans.
Still, it would be nice for a change to not be treate
d like dirt. Luelle fumed as she left the room, fully intending to sulk to her bedroom and huddle up into a ball of anger and frustration. Along the way, she bumped hard into Evo at the corner, who sought his sister out for some advice.
“Oh!” The werewolf said, apologetic as Luelle rubbed her shoulder and glared at him. Sapphire eyes met hers, and it was as if a spotlight now shone on Luelle, illuminating every facet of her body. The contrast of Evo's light eyes with his dark skin proved an endless source of fascination. In all her life, Luelle had never met a dark-skinned person in the flesh. They were few and far in Bulgaria, and in the snowy region of Siberia, dark skin gave those choosing to live in the chill-flecked country a huge disadvantage.
She kept wanting to touch his skin, to see how it felt and compared with hers. The puffy frizz of his hair made her think of wire-brushes. She could likely run her cheek along that, triggering a series of static shocks. She was pretty convinced that the experience would be glorious.
“Uh, am I distracting you right now? Because I can cover up,” Evo said, grinning with one eyebrow raised.
Luelle flushed, her thought-truck grinding to a squealing halt. Already, wisps of anger left her body, dissipating into the air. Damn him for being devilishly handsome, under a pinstripe shirt and snug fitting brown pants. “Sorry. I was actually gonna go and sulk in my hotel room.”
“Oh? Why?” Evo peered past her to see his sister and Elinor Spirova in the room with the boy, murmuring to one another. “Not to do with my sister? Because she can irritate people for sure.”
“Yup. And Elinor. They were discussing about whether it might be worth trading me if the invasion isn't beaten back. Told them I'd rather die.”
Evo's eyes darkened into an indeterminable expression. “I know it's why they want you around. I suppose they just rubbed it in your face.”
Something cracked in Luelle's mind. Fighting back unexpected, intrusive tears, Luelle managed, “Yeah. It's been the only reason why anyone wants me around. So I can be useful.”
Leaving Evo in a mix of shock and ill-concealed curiosity, Luelle whirled past him, bottom lip wobbling. What was wrong with her? The last thing anyone needed right now was some kind of emotional meltdown, for her to do something stupid or to snap every time someone even came close to sensitive subjects. She had survived. Not always gracefully, or kindly, but she had survived.
Everything's okay. Everything's fine. They won't sell me out. We won't lose. I'm not a victim.
Easy to convince herself otherwise. All she knew that whatever happened, death was preferable to being tossed into Heigan's liver-spotted arms, to the mercies of his leering pack. A shudder of revulsion rippled through. At least the son was dead, eviscerated by Evo Radev, her brother and the Forsythe couple. That chapter of her life now buried itself under mud.
However, everything about this current situation served to dig at her nerves. What was even the point of being a werewolf, proclaimed as one of the most powerful living creatures on the planet, if all that happened in her existence was a long period of being stuck behind bars?
I want to be free. That was the whole point. Not hiding my head in the shadows, or being held as a bargaining chip for these stupid family games. Why can't they just leave me alone, for once?
Small chance of that. The casualties were coming, and slowly filling up the spare hotel beds, from wounded youngsters to wizened old dogs, far past the prime of their feral blood, and left for nature to claim.
To boot, it looked like the Armanev family didn't plan to join in on Elinor's hastily sprung defenses – instead thinking it a great idea to side with the invaders.
Sure is a giant mess. Arina is right. Our kind are seriously fucked up.
Left to the corruption of her thoughts, Luelle stared at the ceiling, with the cracks in the wood from the constant dips in temperature over the years. Frost built up on the window, which gave her a view of a run-down street, with cars clogging up the pavement on either side, without the luxury of a residential car park to hold them.
The hum of a lonely motor sped past the hotel now, and Luelle suppressed the urge to morph, to feel the wolf crack her bones and tear up this flimsy excuse for a room, or shred the tattered, threadbare sheets that needed three layers to keep someone warm in the dead of winter.
“I want to be in America already,” she huffed to the empty room. Her lip jutted out like a petulant child's.
“If you want,” Evo said, sliding through the door as the hinges groaned, “certain things can be arranged.” He gave an incipient grin, blasting maximum charm her direction. Luelle stirred herself out of the negative funk to gape at him, half amused and half exasperated at the same time.
“I swear, both you and your sister are stalkers. She keeps approaching me as well out of the blue, quiet as a cat. And let me tell you, it's hard to sneak up on a werewolf.”
“Well, when you have wonderful parents like ours, you get to learn a few tricks.” He sauntered over to the bed and smiled down at her, eyes bright in interest. Having someone like Evo around made the days a little sunnier. He had that sort of gravitational pull about him, capable of absorbing all shards of negativity in a room. He held that kind of special quality in his winsome smiles, his easy, unrestrained manner.
It felt nice to have a man look at her as someone valuable and worthwhile speaking to, and not use her as a doll.
“What were your parents like, then?” Luelle waved her hand in the air, stretching her fingers to examine the blemishes. She needed something distracting, something to take her away from her decaying thoughts.
Evo crawled onto the bed next to her. He was three years younger. Luelle didn't know what to make with the information. Everyone she knew if they started dating always married someone older. Wiser.
What am I even thinking? I'm still married. This couldn't ever work out.
“Not bad parents if you're not a failure.” Evo fixed her with keen, earnest eyes. A gentle smile played about his lips. “But not good parents, either. My sister took the brunt of the rearing. She was kind of invisible to our mother and father, because of the shame of being born powerless to pure bloods. I was spoilt like a brat. She stopped me being spoilt.”
“Sounds like mine,” Luelle said, stomach twisting in unease. “Except you need to be a son, not a daughter. My three brothers were treated like kings. I've not seen the younger ones in almost fourteen years, so I have no idea how they've changed. My brother Yanus, though. He's stayed the same.”
Evo nodded, and held up his hand next to hers. He possessed a wider, larger palm and long, delicate fingers. The baby finger on the right side appeared crooked, as if broken one time, without the chance to heal straight. Her dark hair cascaded about her like a muddy river.
“He really cares about you. It's nice to see. We could do with a little more kindness in the world.”
“Yeah, well. Most of the time, I wish I hadn't been born like this at all. I wouldn't even mind being someone like Arina or Frey. Except Arina got her family ripped apart and she then turned into a cop, and Frey seems pretty hung up over the fact that her parents ignored her.” Luelle pinched her fingers together. “Just a little bit.”
Briefly, Evo's fingers brushed over Luelle's. It sent a delightful twang inside, stretching her nerves as taut as guitar strings. She hoped they might accidentally touch again. “My sis is the best. I hope your brother is as cool as you make him out to be, though. Because I'm pretty sure those two are doing things in bed together.”
At this, Luelle gave a little snort of amusement. She already knew, and wasn't sure what to make of the news, but they did act happy together. Unfortunately, it did look like Frey wanted to stay and work in Springmoon Hotel, and Yanus wanted to hop to America with Luelle and leave everything behind, which might put the brakes on their relationship. He was prepared to give up his entire legacy just so she could be safe and secure in a different place. Their mother and father had disowned him, made him scum unworthy of inheriting the estates
and their vassals.
They continued talking for a little while longer, sometimes delving into the past, other times contemplating the future.
“What do you see yourself doing, Evo? Would you continue working with your sister in this hotel? Is there anything for you in your family legacy? What do you expect?”
A sliver of something crept over his handsome face, leaving the air heavier, burdened. Luelle cursed herself inwardly – she didn't want to upset Evo or make him uncomfortable, not when he went out of his way to cheer her up. She didn't like being that kind of person, with the ability to suck out other people's happiness, like her husband did just by walking into a room. “To be honest, I haven't really thought about it. We started the hotel to get away from our mother. As for the family legacy, I don't think we have any, really. There were plans to make something of ourselves, but dad died. So that didn't happen.”
“Oh.” Luelle digested the information. “So the hotel is all you have?”
Evo nodded, eyes flickering around the small, minimalistic room. Something shone there, like pride. “We made it ours. I used to be complacent, lazy and spoilt. Being with Frey has helped me past most of those issues.”
“Most, you say.” Luelle smiled. She liked the way he talked about his sister, with the soft glow that infused his face and raised the muscles in his cheeks. She dearly wished someone would look at her in that way, and think about her with that wistful expression on their lips. Yanus cared, of course – but they had been away for so long. Their former connection had frayed in the process. They both needed to relearn their relationship, and come to terms with the new stage of their lives. If Luelle was completely honest to herself, she never expected Yanus to give up such a position. Their family had estates worth millions, strung along the Balkan mountains. Losing all that meant becoming poor, penniless, with only a nice surname to point to the path he once had.