by Liza Street
Babe, please. Rethink this. You’re unprotected out there. Why not go on an Exchange?
Nina closed her eyes. She hated disappointing her big sister. Two years older than Nina, Laura had recently found her own HEA with fellow pride member Dristan Rhees.
Brother to Fraze Rhees…another mistake Nina had made in the past couple of weeks. She’d hooked up with him, trying to forget Rafe. Fraze hadn’t minded—he didn’t seem ready to settle down with anyone, anyway, so that was fine with Nina. But it wasn’t…right. Not right for her, anyway. She wanted to find her HEA, not use other guys to dull her heartache.
Nina’s phone chirped again.
Laura: We don’t know another pride in Montana. This is dangerous. Where are you going to stay?
Nina smirked. She wasn’t even in Montana anymore. Crossing the state line into Idaho had felt good, like she’d really left everything behind. At the same time, she was tired of living out of her truck.
She closed the text app and opened the app that would bring up her blog. Nina’s Romance Spectacular. She had numerous comments she’d need to deal with tonight. Lately she’d been thinking of hiring a part-time assistant to help with the everyday business stuff. Now, though, she couldn’t afford it because she was depending on all her income to keep her afloat while she traveled.
She pumped fuel into her gas-guzzling Chevy, which she’d named Phil. She imagined she could hear Phil burp his satisfaction when she replaced the cap.
It was time to stop running. She needed to catch her breath and make some decisions. She’d find herself a nice little hotel or campsite and park it for a few days. She’d have to make sure wherever she was, there was wifi, so maybe a campsite was out. But a little cabin or hotel near town, wifi, and solitude. It would be great.
As she walked toward the little convenience store to pay, though, a strange scent came to her nose on the breeze. She sniffed again, trying not to be too obvious. The old man behind the counter had been staring.
She sniffed once more. Something wild, something animal. Something shifter.
Bear.
Nina grinned to herself. Maybe this was what she needed—to hide out for a few days with some other shifters. If they had a place for her to stay, she’d pay rent and be around her own kind.
She marched into the convenience store. The scent of bear was stronger than ever.
As she picked out a candy bar and a bag of chips, she watched the old man’s nostrils flare. She stalked up to the counter, some dollar bills already in her hand.
“How’s it going?” she asked. Voice casual, innocent, as nonthreatening as possible.
His nostrils flared again. “That’ll be two fifty.”
She passed over the money. “How far is it to Idaho Falls?”
“Not far enough,” he grumbled. “Big city folk always passing through, disturbin’ the peace.”
“Wow, you’re grumpy,” she said. After looking around the service station to make sure they were alone, she leaned her elbows on the counter and said, “All right. Where’s the clan?”
He eyed her. “You don’t know what you’re getting into, kitty.”
“I know exactly what I’m getting into. I mean to stay for a few days. You can either tell me, or I’ll be hunting the clan down on my own. And I’m tired, mister.”
Against his will, it seemed, his mouth quirked up in a smile. “I’m tired, too. Tired of mouthy young things.”
She laughed. “Are you a rogue?”
His smile disappeared. “It suits me.”
“It would suit me, too.” But even as she said the words, she doubted them; it was as if she were trying out the statement.
He laughed, slapping his knee. “That’s a lie—you want a place to belong. We should all have a group of people to call our own, no matter how introverted our animals. Being a rogue can be dangerous, and it’s lonely to boot.” He sighed, spread his giant, wrinkled hands out on the counter, and seemed to make up his mind. “Fine, missy. The clan’s just down the highway a bit, then turn south on Osprey Road. Go for a ways and you’ll see a set of cabins in a little neighborhood. They call it the Ring of Fire. Don’t say who told you where to find them, though. I don’t need Jameson coming back here and beating my tail.”
She nodded. “Thanks. I’ll keep quiet.”
“And be careful. There’s at least a couple of bad apples in that barrel.”
*
Savage Heartache will be released in May! Click here to pre-order, or sign up for Liza’s Awesome Readers Group and never miss a release! Awesome Readers get Book 2 of The Sierra Pride, Fierce Heartbreaker, FREE, as well as an exclusive short story! Visit Liza’s free book page for details: https://lizastreet.wordpress.com/free-book/
Also by Liza Street
The Sierra Pride Series
Fierce Wanderer
Fierce Heartbreaker (free to newsletter subscribers)
Fierce Protector
Fierce Player
Fierce Dancer
Fierce Informer
Fierce Survivor
Fierce Lover
The Sierra Pride: The Complete Series (includes Books 1-8 and “Ava and Jude”)
The Corona Pride Series
Savage Yearning
Savage Loss
Savage Heartache (May 2017)
Savage Thirst (June 2017)
Savage Bliss (July 2017)
About Liza
Liza got her start in romance by sneak-reading her grandma’s paperbacks. Years later, she tried her own hand as a ghostwriter of romance and it wasn’t long before she started writing her own series. Now she divides her time between freelance editing, ghostwriting, and mountain lion shifters with fierce and savage hearts.
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Acknowledgments
Tons of gratitude to Tori Knightwood, Sibyl Eisley, and Rusty Harts for your big help on this one! And many, many thanks to my advance reviewer team. You guys make my heart happy!
Copyright
Savage Loss, Book 2 of the Corona Pride
by Liza Street
Copyright 2017 Liza Street. All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental or used fictitiously.
Table of Contents
Savage Loss
Description
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Preview of Savage Heartache
Also by Liza Street
About Liza
Acknowledgments
Copyright