Excerpt!
“Why are you lying to me? Lying to yourself?” Dominic beseeched, now his turn to interrupt. “I know you feel something between us because I feel it too.” He rushed forward, heedless of the consequences, and took her hand to press it to his chest. “You can’t tell me this is all one-sided. I knew the moment you walked into this store that you were special.” Erica rolled her eyes and slipped her hand out of his grasp. “Those lines are so old, Dominic. If you think saying all the right things is going to make me change my mind, you’re wrong.”
As if he had been physically slapped in the face, Dominic staggered. “Lines? Is that what you think this is? Like I’m just playing you?”
“Aren’t you?” she sneered. “Isn’t that what guys like you do? Say all those pretty things like ‘I read in my spare time’ and ‘It’s such a burden to be needed’ and all that bullshit. Then, when you have the girl, you dump her for the newest thing that comes along. You’re only interested because I’m something new in town, right? Someone new to win over.”
His mouth hung open. “Why would you—"
Then he stopped. He was going to ask why she would believe something so heinous, so stereotypical and cynical. Then he remembered what she had told him last night. She never grew up with a father, and if he could take a wild guess, he would have said that her mother planted those ideas in her head. No man could be trusted. A woman should rely on herself and no one else. Erica’s entire childhood would have been one jaded, dysfunctional mess, and this was the kind of baggage she carried into adulthood.
The mating bond was there and he knew everything out of her mouth was forced. She might have believed what she said, but her heart wasn’t in her accusations. Below the anger, below those hateful words, Erica really didn’t want this to end. The mating bond told him that much, otherwise, this thing between them would have unraveled already, wouldn’t it?
Too dumbfounded, he just stared into her beautiful face, the one that was on the verge of bursting into fresh tears. Her pride denied her the release. He would have loved for her to come apart in his hands, just so he could have the privilege of comforting her when she needed it most and put the pieces back together the right way.
“What can I do to make you believe me?”
Erica looked away, and he saw her throat work. “I don’t know if there is anything you could say.”
Just then, his pocket buzzed and chimed, and he was ready to smash the damned cellphone.
“Go ahead,” she said as she marched away. “Go play hero for someone else.”
An alpha with a storied legacy. An independent woman rebuilding after grief. Forbidden desire—for only one is human….
After her mother’s death, photographer Erica Barrett, buys a home she and her mother obsessed over during her childhood in the quaintly historical town of Tolstone. Her magnetic next door neighbor intrigues and disturbs her. The sensual pull feels otherworldly.
Wolf shifter Dominic Beaumont never wanted to be the prime alpha of the sanctuary city, Tolstone, but when his father dies, he’s forced to step up as pack leader and prime alpha over all the wolf packs sheltering in his town. Erica’s arrival is dangerous. The attraction is fierce and instant, but duty comes first.
When revelations about Erica’s past and parentage create chaos, and she questions everything she thought she knew about herself, Dominic is her strength. But as tension builds in the pack, and his leadership is challenged, love becomes a risk that could cost him his authority, his people, and everything he’s sworn to protect.
Perfect for readers craving illicit wolf-shifter romance filled with fate, secrets, rebellion and an alpha willing to risk everything for love.
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Author bio:
Sheritta Bitikofer writes paranormal romance with a particular fondness for wolf shifters and witches. Her stories are driven by one guiding belief: love inspires courage. Through fierce romances, unbreakable pack bonds, and the magic of covens and family, her characters fight for the lives—and loves—they deserve. Sheritta lives in northwest Florida, where she drinks far too much coffee and joyfully balances life as a wife and mother while crafting her next heartfelt paranormal love story.
When she's not writing her next novel or taking care of her daughter, Sheritta enjoys diving into the fascinating and complex history of the American Civil War. With a BA in American History from American Public University, her primary focus of study is the many human-interest stories that embody the spirit of the mid-nineteenth century.
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