by Liza Street
“I love you, too,” she said, smiling. “Let’s do this.”
*
A Note from Liza
Thank you for reading Savage Yearning! One thing I’ve learned in this business is that reviews help authors a whole lot. If you loved Savage Yearning (and even if you didn’t!), an honest review would be an immense favor.
If reviews aren’t your thing, I thank you anyway for doing me the honor of reading my book.
For a preview of the next book in the Corona Pride series, Savage Loss, and information on how to snag my newsletter for release news and exclusive stories set in this world, turn the page!
Love,
Liza
Preview of Savage Loss
Book 2 in the Corona Pride series, Savage Loss, will be released in April 2017!
Chapter One
Brigitte held her phone carefully in her hands, like it was a baby bird. Or maybe a grenade.
She punched in a phone number she knew by heart. Marcellus didn’t answer, and she didn’t expect him to. He’d be annoyed that she was calling instead of texting, but she didn’t have to follow his rules anymore.
“Hi, Marcellus, it’s me,” she said to the voicemail recorder. “It’s been a year, but I’m sure you know that. I hope you’re well. I know you miss him as much as I do—maybe more, because you knew him longer. He was—” Her voice broke. She swallowed thickly, then continued. “He was a good man. I miss both of you.”
Before she could say any more, she ended the call.
There. She took a deep breath. She’d done it. Now she had to wait.
The view outside her office window looked uncertain. Sun glinting off a spring snow. Sunshine that would add just enough warmth to remind her how cold she was.
Marcellus had to get back to her—this wasn’t a day either of them should spend alone.
She looked at the clock on the wall. Ten minutes until the bell for school to start, and she liked walking the halls, greeting teachers and students. It helped her feel more in touch with the school as a community. But in order to do that, she had to hold herself together.
Her phone went into her pocket. Hovering at the doorway from her office, she took a deep breath and touched the rose pendant she wore around her neck. Her grandmother had given it to her when she turned thirteen. Nanny Mae would have told her to be strong. She would have said love conquered everything. She would have sent Brigitte into the corridor with a kiss and a love-blessing, her own brand of magic.
Magic. Brigitte wished she believed in it, because she could sure as hell use a little bit of it to get through the day.
Belnedge Elementary was a diverse school—one of the few in Montana. Brigitte had specifically wanted to find a school where children of all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds cooperated in a learning environment. She believed that if kids didn’t learn to work with different people from other backgrounds from a young age, it got only harder. As principal, she did her best to foster friendships and cooperation.
It wasn’t always easy, though, and Brigitte spent the hours speaking with parents, observing in classrooms, and putting the final touches on next week’s teacher workshop. During lunchtime, she got to walk around the cafeteria and talk with individual students, exchanging high fives and discussing school projects.
Now that they were into fifth period, she slumped at her desk, vision blurring at the calendar in front of her. Meetings and more meetings were coming up, to hammer out the final details of the workshop. Brigitte tapped the dates thoughtfully and jotted down notes.
Always, in the back of her mind, was her phone, silent in her pocket. She knew she needed to move on. Marcellus was a part of her past, and she needed a future. But she was respectable now—she’d left that past behind. Trying to find someone else, someone who could not only understand that past, but accept it? She didn’t think it was possible.
Immediately she felt guilty for wanting to move on.
But then her office phone rang, and she put on her cheerful-yet-stern principal voice to handle whatever opportunity or crisis had arisen.
Toward the end of sixth period, she walked down the hallway of the science wing. Hearing children shouting from inside Ms. Julep’s classroom, Brigitte let herself in.
Immediately a hush came over the students. Ms. Julep’s substitute, Mrs. Long, sent a frazzled and grateful look Brigitte’s way.
Brigitte said in a clear voice, “Someone will raise their hand. I will call on them and get an explanation for what is happening in here.”
Three nine-year-olds volunteered. Brigitte nodded at Anita. “Go ahead, Anita.”
She patiently listened while Anita, and then Johnny, and then Brian, recounted the fight that had begun over who would be the one to help Mrs. Long pack away the beakers.
“Now that we’re all calm,” Brigitte said, struggling to remember the exact wording in the conflict management workshop she’d taken last summer, “what do you think should happen next?”
“I think we should figure out a way to solve the problem,” Brian said, and Anita and Johnny nodded.
Brigitte smiled. “Then get to it. Remember, above all, that we’re in a community, a classroom community. We’re made up of individuals, but together we can solve anything. Let’s show Mrs. Long what a Belnedge classroom is made of, shall we?”
She gave an encouraging smile to Mrs. Long and stepped outside. Out of sight of the classroom, she leaned against the wall, felt the crinkle of the paper covering a bulletin board behind her. Conflict could be stressful, but she loved what it could teach—that was exactly the thing she needed to hone in on with the conflict resolution.
She risked a peek through the window on the door. Anita, Johnny, and Brian had formed a sort of line for carrying the beaker boxes to the cupboards at the back of the room. Brigitte sighed, feeling her heart expand in her chest. She loved this place—conflict was inevitable, sure, but there was a whole lot of love.
She walked the hall, her low, sensible heels clacking on the linoleum. Once inside her office again, she pulled her phone from her coat pocket.
Still nothing.
The final bell rang, and the corridor erupted with the sounds of little feet rushing to and fro, children laughing and chattering away.
Time to help monitor the parking lot and student pick-up area. Brigitte tucked her too-silent phone back into the pocket of her coat.
Marcellus hadn’t called.
Magic, once again, had failed her.
*
Savage Loss is coming out in April 2017! Join Liza’s Awesome Readers Group for news on her book releases, as well as exclusive content! Visit Liza’s free book page for details: https://lizastreet.wordpress.com/free-book/
Also by Liza Street
The Sierra Pride Series
Fierce Wanderer (free at most retailers)
Fierce Heartbreaker (free to newsletter subscribers—see Liza’s website)
Fierce Protector
Fierce Player
Fierce Dancer
Fierce Informer
Fierce Survivor
Fierce Lover
The Sierra Pride: The Complete Series (includes Books 1-8 and a bonus short story)
The Corona Pride Series
Savage Yearning
Savage Loss (April 2017)
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.
Website
Facebook
Acknowledgements
People often say that an author’s life is lonely, but I am blessed with friends! Many thanks to Tori Knightwood, Shawn Barnes, Rusty Harts, Honey Pleasantview, Alex,
Pat, Kary, and Helene for their unflagging support and encouragement, and for laughing about euphemisms for penis and vagina, and just generally being amazing people. And as always, thank you to J, who might not read all of my books but listens to me talk about them for days. For that and so much more, I love you.
Copyright
Savage Yearning, Book 1 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 YEARNING
Books by Liza Street
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
Epilogue
Preview of Savage Loss
Also by Liza Street
About Liza
Acknowledgements
Copyright