Little Wolf

Readers love the Being(s) in Love

series by
R. C
OOPER

Some Kind of Magic

“R. Cooper will leave you with a smile on your face as you immerse yourself in
Some Kind of Magic
, a tempting delicious tale.”

—Sensual Reads

“R. Cooper has created an amazingly rich world filled with magical creatures… If you enjoy magical beings, shifters and a good story read
Some Kind of Magic
.”

—Mrs. Condit & Friends Read Books

“
Some Kind of Magic
is some kind of charming… Vivid descriptions, wonderful characterizations, and terrific world building, it’s all here.”

—Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

A Boy and His Dragon

“
A Boy and His Dragon
was a surprisingly sweet romance.”

—Elisa - My Reviews and Ramblings

“This is one of the loveliest romances that I have read in a while… Highly recommended if you’re looking for a beautiful romance.”

—Reviews by Jessewave

A Beginner’s Guide to Wooing Your Mate

“
…sweet, charming… I loved the magic and the baked goods in the story; they added a whimsical touch and kept things light.
”

—Prism Book Alliance

“
As hilarious as it is sweet… If you’re looking for an entertaining read that doesn’t take itself too seriously… then you will probably enjoy this novel.
”

—Rainbow Book Reviews

By
R. C
OOPER

Animal Magnetism (Dreamspinner Anthology)

Let There Be Light

Medium, Sweet, Extra Shot of Geek

Play It Again, Charlie

A Wealth of Unsaid Words

Wicklow’s Odyssey

Winner Takes It All

B
EING
(
S
) I
N
L
OVE

Some Kind of Magic

A Boy and His Dragon

A Beginner’s Guide to Wooing Your Mate

Little Wolf

Published by
D
REAMSPINNER
P
RESS

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Published by

D
REAMSPINNER
P
RESS

5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886  USA

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Little Wolf

© 2015 R. Cooper.

Cover Art

© 2015 Paul Richmond.

http://www.paulrichmondstudio.com

Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/.

ISBN: 978-1-63216-975-4

Digital ISBN: 978-1-63216-976-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014922086

First Edition May 2015

Printed in the United States of America

This paper meets the requirements of

ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

To Plainapple, the fairy godmother to every Being.

This story was two-and-a-half years of struggle, and would never have come to be if not for the cheerleading of two people: Paulina and Lucy. How do you put up with me?

“Y
OU
CAN
say it, Valerie.” Blake’s pained whisper was barely audible even to Tim’s ears. “Carolyn, my mate, rejected me.” Blake twisted dramatically to face the door again. For a second, Tim thought he was going to howl the way he had when Carolyn’s evil twin had buried Carolyn alive and Blake nearly hadn’t been able to find her in time. But Blake only shut his eyes. “My mate rejected me. Carolyn is gone. There is nothing left for me. Don’t you understand?”

Tim looked at Nurse Valerie, who had been desperately in love with Blake for Blake’s entire story line on
Diedre’s Secret
.

“But Blake!” Valerie’s human voice cracked. “Can’t you just love me? I mean… us?” Valerie ducked her head and clung to the heavy amulet around her neck. “Everyone in Cedar Falls loves you. Can’t we be your pack? Can’t we help you heal?”

Tim hadn’t been expecting her confession of love, or for her to offer up the whole town as Blake’s pack. Generally Blake’s werewolf nature wasn’t mentioned on the show except for when they wanted to talk about his epic love for Carolyn.

Tim frowned at the TV on the wall across the café. Robin’s Egg, the café’s owner, kept the TV turned to the news with the volume down and the closed captioning on until it was time for
Diedre’s Secret
to start.
Diedre’s Secret
was as cheesy as any other soap opera, but the inclusion of a werewolf in the cast last year had been big news. In Wolf’s Paw, heavily populated by weres, Blake’s plotline was discussed as much as the weather.

The actor playing Blake was actually a werewolf, which was even more surprising than a werewolf character’s presence in mainstream human television. On the café’s small TV screen, Blake’s expression was sad, although not too sad, because he wasn’t that great of an actor. “It’s no good,” he told Valerie, already at the door. “There’s nothing for me now.”

Valerie’s gasp hinted at something Tim didn’t get, as if Blake was going to do more than just leave the town, as if he might be about to die. The camera zoomed in on poor Valerie’s face, and then a commercial came on.

Tim blinked a few times. Was Blake going to die because Carolyn, being under Witch Alicia’s spell, had pretended she didn’t want him? Tim turned to Carl, wanting to ask if that was true. Then he saved himself the embarrassment by remembering this was a soap opera where last week someone had survived emergency brain surgery in a stalled elevator.

That had been a confusing episode even with the captioning and Tim’s wolf hearing, which allowed him to hear the dialogue above the noise of lunchtime in the café.

Blake’s story line focused on his love for Carolyn. Tim strongly suspected all that mating stuff between Carolyn and Blake was made-up. Although sometimes it felt like it could be true, because even in Wolf’s Paw, talk of romance—and sex—seemed to dominate the conversation. Some of it had to do with the upcoming festivals, but the rest of it Tim was going to blame on the moon.

He looked up from the souvenir shot glass display to the window, where Robin’s Egg had hung up yet another poster advertising the Spring Thaw. The festival occurred close to the end of May, after the snow melted. It had been pushed back a few years ago to kick off the start of the town’s summer tourist season.

Tucked away in the mountains, Wolf’s Paw had tourists all year round—hikers, campers, and the like—but the summer season was different, or so Tim had been told. Everyone was hoping for an especially busy tourist season and dreading it at the same time. Tim should leave town before it became his problem too.

At the thought, Tim almost knocked over an oversized shot glass marked
Alpha Wolf
, and quickly closed the display case. He sighed in disappointment as
Diedre’s Secret
came back on and the episode went to other characters and their stories. Then he turned to consider Carl once again.

Tim cleared his throat, hoping for casual. “So, that was bullshit. Blake’s not going to die because he can’t be with his mate. Weres don’t die of broken hearts.” He pressed for more when Carl didn’t answer. “Right?”

Carl turned the page in the local newspaper he had to have read a dozen times by now. “You sure you’re a were?”