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THE HUNT

Heroes Rising #4

Brotherhood Protectors

Well, I’ve teased you for a week. Now it’s time for the final reveal.

Two days ago I did SUPERNOVA

Today it’s time for

THE HUNT

She’s desperate…

Lacey Cooper, a wildlife photographer, is desperate to find her sister, camping in the Crazies with her fiancé. She’s been out of touch for a week and no one seems unduly disturbed. “It happens in the Crazies all the time,“ people keep telling her. In the past ten years more than a dozen campers have been reported missing. But they could be anywhere. The Crazies stretch more than dix hundred miles. And only Alex Rossi is now willing to listen to her.

He’s lost his direction  in life until… 

When Brantford ’’Wolf“ Makalski and his SEAL Team’s dog, Bailey, are both medically discharged after a mission gone wrong, he’s not quite sure what they’ll do with themselves. Checking out an offer from former SEAL and now Sheriff Alex Rossi might provide some answers. When he find Lacey unconascious in her car at the side of the road, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the arm, and no clue who shot her. Before he can blink Wolf is on Alex’s stafff assigned as Lacey’s protector and their is an all out search for Heather and her fiancé. They could be anywhere but Rossi has an idea.

What they find in their search is worse than they expected…

And it’s more bizarre than anything Lacey could have imagined. Can they rescue them from hell? Can Wolf protect Lacey while they also battle unexpected feelings for each other.

Excerpt:

“We’re almost there, buddy.”

Wolf reached across the console and ruffled Bailey’s fur. The dog had been an excellent traveler. The trip from Wisconsin had taken more than two days, driving at a normal pace. He hadn’t wanted to hurry. For one thing, even though he’d agreed to come here and talk to Zane Halstead and his sheriff, he needed the time to get his shit together. From isolation to people was a big step. For another, he made regular stops for Bailey to get out and stretch his legs and take care of business. While he felt a thread of excitement at meeting these guys, it was tough pulling himself out of the zone of isolation where he had been comfortable for so long.

But he’d decided a fresh start needed something new. He had used some of his medical pension from the SEALs to treat himself to a brand-new pickup, fully tricked out. He hadn’t done anything for himself for so long, he felt weird. Almost guilty. He kept telling himself he wasn’t trying to impress anyone. But he also didn’t want them to think he had turned into a useless bum. And it was for himself, too. Maybe if he stopped feeling sorry for himself, he could get back some self-respect.

He had just crested a small rise and followed a curve in the road when something on the right snagged his eyes and blinded him for a minute.

“What the fuck?”

He slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the shoulder until he got his bearings. He closed his eyes for a moment to clear his vison then opened them only to catch another burst through the lodgepole pines. There. What was it? He pulled the truck forward on the shoulder and put it in park.

“Hold on, buddy,” he told Bailey. “I gotta check this out.”

He made sure no cars were coming as he climbed out of his pickup and trudged toward the thicket of trees. When he saw what was there he blinked.

Holy fucking shit!

An SUV had somehow missed the turn and crashed into the trees. Wolf made his way carefully to where the vehicle’s nose was kissing a thick tree trunk. The driver, a woman, was slumped over the wheel, nose into the airbag. He needed to check her for injuries, but when he tried the driver’s side door, it was locked. Of course it was. Nobody drove around in this age of carjackings with their doors unlocked.

He looked around on the ground and smiled when he found some loose rocks lying there. Rocks, not little stones, thank the lord. Big enough for what he needed. He picked one up and, positioning himself so hopefully the glass would shatter away from the driver, he smashed the rock into the rear window. Because of his shoulder he had to use both hands, but he got it on the second try. The woman did not move at the sound, which was not a good sign.

Yanking his shirt up to cover his hand, he brushed away shards of glass so he could reach around and press the button to unlock her door. Finally, with his uninjured arm, he managed to drag the door open enough to check her…and discovered yet another problem. Blood streaked the woman’s left arm and was still welling from what he knew was a bullet hole. And maybe with the bullet still in it.

What the fuck?

He stared at her for a long moment as something inside him turned over, some emotion he hadn’t felt in a very long time. Since the disaster that left him with his injuries, he had not been able to connect emotionally with anyone, never mind a woman. But with this unknown woman, something inside him clicked open and feelings began to spill out.

What the hell?

Women hadn’t played a role in his life since the medics dragged him out of the blown mission with part of his body in shreds. Not even a twitch in his cock. He’d begun to think he’d never want to have sex again, especially the meaningless kind that was his habit. Not even a dream that he could wake from and take his dick and his good right hand into the shower to take the edge off. So why, in this disastrous circumstance, did something about this woman reach deep inside him? How weird was that? He’d better pull up that famous SEAL self-control.

Her face, what he could see of it around the big now-crooked sunglasses and the curtain of rich auburn hair that had fallen forward, was so damn pale it scared him. She also had a bump on her forehead that he touched gently. He noticed how soft her skin was as he righted the sunglasses and brushed the hair back. He wanted to…

Forget what he wanted. This was a badly injured woman, and he could just shove his response to her in cold storage where it belonged. Where reactions like that had been for too fucking long, as a matter of fact. Maybe that was his problem.

But Jesus!

Pushing everything else away, he touched the tip of two fingers to her carotid artery, relieved to feel a pulse. He pulled a thankfully clean handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around the wound that was oozing blood.

What the hell was she doing out here, and who could have shot her? And why?

Okay, asshole, enough of that.

Right now, she needed medical attention, and he needed help getting her loose from the car. She was also partially blocked by the exploded airbag. Although he managed to push some of the fabric aside, he sure couldn’t do it all himself. Damn fucking shoulder. Maybe this was a sign that the opportunity here in Montana was one he should accept. He’d already decided she needed protection, and he wanted to be the one to provide it.

Well, he’d better get his ass in gear and get this woman some help. He’d sure love to know, though, what someone like her had done to deserve being shot like this in the middle of nowhere.