Böcker av Cecilia Lane

A single wolf shifter. A surprise baby. Enemies who want to make his little girl an orphan, and his old lady a widow.Five minutes ago it was just Jensen, a cheap drink, and the start of a brawl with members of a rival motorcycle gang intent on murdering him. He's happy to let them try-until a former one night stand, Noelle, walks into the bar and pins him with a look of death, revealing they have a daughter.A little girl with eyes like his, peering at him from behind her mother's legs.Five minutes ago he was a single wolf shifter. Now he has to sober up, alpha up, and protect the woman and child who are now a weapon his enemies can use to run him out of town.It's hard enough being a single mom, but a single mom to a growing wolf?Her child's father is back, an alpha wolf shifter with a bad boy edge. All she needs is for him to teach their daughter how to control her shifter nature. He's nothing Noelle should want in a man-but everything she craves.Only she didn't know throwing down the gauntlet in a local bar would mean becoming the targets of the local motorcycle gang. Didn't know their sizzling chemistry would morph into something deeper, something worth fighting for.Jensen's dog days are over. If he can't shield his mate and daughter from the heat, they'll all burn.Whiskey and Wolves is a steamy paranormal romance, Book 1 in the Shifters and Sins series. This standalone with a HEA is for readers who love their heroes gritty and their heroines willing to step up to the line for life, family, and love.

Joss Warren packs her bags to head off to the unforgiving wilds of Montana where she's got a job as the new chef of Black Claw Ranch. Secretly, she hopes to heal her broken heart and learn more about her people. She's heard about the good folks of Bearden, Montana. They are kind and generous, so people say. But her first run-in with a growly cowboy has her wondering if that's just a tall tale.City-girl Joss has never met a man as rugged as Hunter Shaw.Tall, tatted, and Montana-tough, Hunter made his name riding bulls on the rodeo circuit. Nowadays, the handsome cowboy wrangles cows and tourists at the Bear Claw Ranch. Hunter is as wild and untamed as the Montana lands.Joss is sure his sultry gaze promises wicked pleasure. But Hunter hides a dangerous side and Joss can't risk her fragile heart.Hunter, a bear shifter, understands horses and hard work. Not women. He's had his heart broken and stomped on one too many times. But there's something about the pesky, smart-mouthed red-head that wakens his bear. She's wary though. The gorgeous, curvy girl is afraid.Of him.And maybe for good reason. If he were a gentleman, he'd give his skittish girl some room. And maybe he is a gentleman, but now's not the time to find out. When traffickers stalk his pretty little mate, his animal ditches all good manners.His snarling bear is ready to mate, ready for cubs and family. He vows to hunt down any threat to keep his female safe...Spurred Fate, book 2 in the Black Claw Ranch series, is a steamy bear and badger shifter paranormal romance for readers who love fated mates, plucky heroines, and tortured cowboy heroes who cherish the women they love.Grab now because you love the story of two fated mates determined to find their places in the world-and with each other.

Take one protective, growly shifter.Add his fated mate, a sassy woman who awakens his bear.Stir in a marriage of convenience, a remote cabin in the woods and let simmer...Everly Mather's very terrible, no-good day is fixing to get a whole lot worse. To start off, her alpha announces he wants to mate with her, to produce an heir. When she gives him an emphatic nope, her guardians take her for a drive and abandon her on the side of a desolate road.The long hike home is punishment for her defiance.Her bad day takes another down turn when a big, hulking bear shifter stops for a friendly game of twenty questions. He seems to think she needs rescuing. He's all kind of mad and snarling on account of her pride dumping her in the middle of nowhere.He refuses to mind his own business.And refuses to go away.When she insists she's just fine without his help, thank you very much, Mr. Growly McBossy tosses her into his truck, and hauls her out to his cabin in the woods. If her jaguar pride cast her aside they don't deserve a fine little thing like her. He announces his plans to keep her.Period.Just a little neighborly protective custody...Everyone thinks bear shifter Sawyer Strickland is gentlemanly...Yeah, that all goes right out the window the moment he finds the pretty little blonde on the deserted road. Everly's lovely hazel eyes and sweet curves awaken his bear along with a whole lot of protective instincts. She doesn't want his help?Too bad.She's getting it anyway. There's no way he'll leave a vulnerable, albeit sassy, woman out in the middle of nowhere.Especially when said female is his mate.Instead of returning her to her people, he carries her off to his cabin. His hospitality doesn't exactly win her over. Even after a few days, circling each other in tight quarters, she's still a tad miffed over the whole deal.After a little time, she'll come around. He's sure.But what comes around instead is her pride alpha, spouting all sorts of nonsense about mating with Everly. Not happening. Sawyer's ready to give the big cat shifter a beat down. He's furious that Everly was left behind by her pride members. Also, she belongs to him. There's that too. Just when things are about to get interesting, Everly surprises both men.She claims she's already married. To Sawyer.Sawyer knows he can protect his woman with a marriage of convenience.Even if his possessive bear demands to claim his sweet, fiery mate. Step into the world of Shifting Destinies, where the men and women you meet might just be a little more than human. Their towns are protected by magic, and their hearts are open and ready for love. But watch your step - more than darkness lurks in the shadows.

He's determined to tear down the walls around his mate's heart, before an enemy rips out his soul.DashRuthless fighter, aimless drifter. Falling in love means getting ripped in pieces when everything goes to hell.Lion shifter Dash can't fight the mating fever forever-or deny his insatiable need for the only woman who soothes his inner roar and makes him purr like a kitten.But another male is sniffing around his woman. It's time for Dash to prove he's the deadliest hunter in the pride.No rival will take what is his.He'll prove to Colette that he's here to claim, here to stay.ColetteMen are trouble. Mates are worse. Colette avoids anything more serious than a one-night stand like the plague.But for once in her life she needs help. A vow never to out a shifter to humans is going to cost her everything. Especially when the person she's protecting is giving off stalker vibes.The only person in her corner is also the only man who tempts her to break her own rules. The man who wants more than her body.She'll have to trust that a mate bond won't chew her up and spit her out. Dash is the last defense against not just her enemies, but a lifetime of emptiness.Savage Chase, Lion Hearts Book 3, is a steamy lion shifter romance. This paranormal with bite is for readers who love friends to lovers, women in peril, and growly protective males who purr for only one woman.Grab now to satisfy your craving for savage on the outside, gooey on the inside alphas. Betcha can't read just one.

Blood on the claws. Love on the run. Like crazy father, like darkness bound son.Lion shifter Lindley denied his power and fled his dysfunctional pride to save his life. After a decade trying to escape the hell in his soul, he runs into the woman he loved and abandoned.Runs, literally... as in with his truck.His instinct is to chase her away, but if he doesn't save his fated mate, he'll be forever lost to encroaching madness.Kyla is on the run. Her best friend was just sold to the highest bidder, and she's up next. But fate flings her into the path of the man she loved-and who left her to suffer.He's not the boy Kyla remembers, but the man stakes a savage claim.Lindley must put aside fear of his inner darkness and forge his aggression into a deadly weapon. Kyla must blossom from an awkward cub into a graceful lioness, and learn to raise her roar and her claws. If either of them falters, the consequence is not just broken hearts, but broken lives.Savage Claim, Lion Hearts Book 2, is a steamy paranormal lion shifter romance. For readers who crave a fractured but honorable hero, a woman in peril, and a second chance for fated mates to find love.Grab now because you love a gritty battle for the heart with broken but protective alpha males.

Darkness rises and darkness comes.With it, the House of Conri falls.Brokenhearted, non-shifter Rory Conri returns home to the Wolfden enclave. There's only one thing she knows will help take her mind off of her ex: the annual Summer Solstice Ball. But those plans are shattered when her parents, the Wolf King and his Consort, forbid her from attending. Their refusal stems from the fear of her curse-a ruinous birthright that prophesized the downfall of the Conri line the day Rory takes a mate.Determined, Rory sneaks into the ball anyway. There's no reason for them to worry. Conris only mate wolves, and no one would ever want a non-shifter without a wolf inside. But when a tall and ripped masked stranger claims that she's his mate, Rory questions the life of solitude that her parents have thrust upon her.Adrien Bloodwing hates suits and masks, and he especially hates balls. Forced to attend by his dragon clan leader, Adrien dreads every second he's at the Summer Solstice Ball until the fleeting scent of his mate catches his attention. He is immediately drawn in by her sultry curves and shocked when she tells him about some silly curse she carries. It's a lie. At least he believed it was before she practically dropped dead in his arms after an innocent kiss.With Rory whisked away, Adrien is determined to save and protect his mate while also clearing his name of murder. But things only darken as the pair begin to unravel the lies of Rory's past. Together, the two will have to face an evil that has haunted her entire life or forever be torn apart. Step into the world of Shifting Destinies, where the men and women you meet might just be a little more than human. Their towns are protected by magic, and their hearts are open and ready for love. But watch your step - more than darkness lurks in the shadows.

A surprise baby. A second chance at love. Fated mates betrayed by their own.WyattWolf shifter Wyatt tried to do the right thing-protect and mate the girl he loved. Instead he was framed for murder and run out of town by Alanna's powerful tiger shifter father.Thirteen years later Wyatt returns, struggling to control his wolf while simmering in a dark emotional hell. A hell for which he'll make his enemy pay.But blind vengeance will have to wait. The mate he was forced to leave had his baby-a defiant boy now in danger from his own grandfather. And Wyatt will be damned if his son suffers the same fate as his old man.AlannaHe was dead. That was the lie told to Alanna years ago. A lie now storming into town, the torment in his eyes wild enough almost nothing was left of the boy she'd loved.She'll have to dig through the ashes and find a spark of the real man. A struggling single mom, she's determined to prevent their son from following his father's self-destructive path. And when word spreads Wyatt is back, she needs his protection from the dark fate decreed by her father.Wyatt must fight to stay sane long enough to save his mate, his son, and himself from a death sentence he now has a reason to escape.Keep your woman close and your enemy closer? Yeah, **ck that. This time he's keeping the woman plus child, and running the enemy out of town-and out of life.Tequila and Tigers, a gritty paranormal steamy romance, is the second in the Shifters and Sins series. For readers who enjoy second chance romance with an edge, a broody alpha hero who would rather be a villain, and the redemptive power of love and family.

The gorgeous cowboy has plans for her...Desperate to find her missing brother, Tansey Nichols journeys to Montana's Black Claw Ranch. She intends to question the owner, Ethan Ashford. Ethan's her last hope, but the tall, rugged bear shifter claims he doesn't know her brother. Never met him. Tansey's sure the smooth-talking cowboy knows more than he's letting on.Good thing she brought a gun.Ethan's sultry smile suggests he's imagining a hundred dirty things. He's amused by her gun, not at all concerned. If the handsome cowboy wants to pretend he can't recall seeing her brother, she'll fire off a round or two. A teensy bit of gunfire might jog his memory. He doesn't think she means business? Her brother's life is in danger.She'll show him business.The little whiskey-eyed spitfire pulls the trigger...Good thing she misses his boots by a country mile. Ethan had been having fun until that point, teasing her a little, trying to get to know her. But Tansey isn't interested in flirting. Most women think he's hot. Not this one. Tansey has questions and she demands answers.First off, her little, girly pistol has got to go. Her next shot might scuff his best boots. One quick move and she's his. The curvy girl is no match for his brute strength. Of course, she's mad as hell. He's got her wrapped up in a tight hold, keeping her prisoner. She'll need to stay put because he has a few questions of his own.Ethan's shifter instincts warn him Tansey's a terrible danger to the delicate balance he maintains with his shifter side. She squirms, fighting him hard. His bear stirs and snarls. Her lush curves and the honeyed scent of her silken skin confirm exactly what he suspects.This little spitfire is his mate.Then gunshots ring across the Montana range. Ethan knows Tansey's been set up.The danger to his feisty, fated mate is closing in...Wrangled Fate, book 1 in the Black Claw Ranch series, is a steamy bear shifter paranormal romance for readers who love fated mates, fiery heroines, and tortured cowboy heroes who cherish the women they love.Download now because you love an alpha hero and a mate who challenges him at every turn.

One night was all it took for Alex Carter to lose his humanity.And everything important in his life.Alex has been a dark disaster ever since he lost her. Tearing through life on a path of self-destruction, he is fueled by one thing-revenge. His maker stole everything from him the night he left him for dead, and Alex intends to return the favor even if it costs him his life.Wanting nothing more than to begin anew, Olivia West is thrilled to land her new position at Bearden as a geneticist studying shifters. Liv believes she's on the right path until she sees the face of the man who wrecked her for love forever-Alex Carter.When the pair are forced to reunite after six years of separation, neither is prepared for the pain and sparks that fly. Alex and Liv are driven into each other's arms as old passions burn hotter than ever. But when Alex's maker returns to Bearden with a hunger for blood, Alex is torn between slaying the demon of his past and protecting the only woman he has ever loved.With everything on the line, Alex must rise from his destructive past if he hopes to have a chance at redemption and save his one true mate.Wild Fate, book 4 in the Black Claw Ranch series, is a steamy bear shifter paranormal romance for readers who love fated mates, second chances, and tortured cowboy heroes who cherish the women they love.

A wounded fox shifter hiding from her past.No one could call fox shifter Becca Holden fragile. She's been to hell and back and got the t-shirt, thank you very much. Years ago, she found herself pregnant with her mate's baby. When she miscarried, Nolan turned away, leaving her to grieve on her own. She left Bearden, vowing never to return.She's been alone ever since.Drifting from job to job, her life takes on a new level of misery and danger when she falls prey to hunters. Men who want to use her for their depraved version of fox-hunting. Becca manages to survive. Barely. She escapes her nightmare, but with nowhere left to go, she's forced to return to Bearden.Heartache isn't done with Becca just yet...A second chance with the mate he lost.If Nolan Byers could have one do-over, it would be Becca. He and Becca were too young when she got pregnant, and when she lost the baby, they drifted apart. Becca left town, taking Nolan's heart with her.Time hasn't healed this wound. If anything, the pain is worse. Ten long and lonely years pass until, one day, she returns to Bearden. Becca... his Becca. She's as beautiful as ever. The moment he sees her, he knows why he never wanted another woman. Because of Becca.His one. His only. His mate for life.Now he just needs to convince Becca to forgive him. But the feisty fox shifter wants nothing to do with him. He sees her around town and she either shuts him down, brushes him off, or flat-out ignores him.Her sass infuriates Nolan's bear. His self-control unravels a little more each time he sees his beautiful, aggravating and smart-mouthed little mate. When a fire burns through Becca's home, a fire that starts under suspicious circumstances, Nolan makes his move.Becca's in danger and his possessive and angry bear will no longer be denied.

A woman with a baby and a whole lot of trouble, a bad boy shifter trying to pull his life together, and enemies that will do anything to keep them apart.Maylee Henderson's got a busted car, a fussing baby, and an angry bear hot on her heels. She's at the end of her rope until she stumbles into Ellis's bar and learns that there's a difference between brute force and dominance. Ellis is clearly trouble, and he knows how to throw a punch, but his strength is a tool of protection, not fear, and he's nothing like the violent men in her old clan.Semi-reformed big bad wolf Ellis Hays has been burned before, but one look at Maylee has him pushing aside his own rules at the same time he's throwing the bear shifter chasing her out on his ass.Ellis isn't looking for a mate, but he's entranced by the curve of Maylee's hips and the challenge in her eyes. Problem is, she's got secrets of her own, and Ellis isn't sure he's ready to trust a stranger.A hunted woman can't have a mate, and Maylee is still convinced that mating isn't for her. It doesn't matter that Ellis makes her shiver with want and dream of a possible future she's seen fall to ruin too many times to count.When the past comes calling, Maylee will need to make a choice. Can she really ask her newfound pack to stand beside her against her family? Or is running again the only option to protect Ellis's pack... and herself?Bourbon and Bears is the third in the gritty Shifters and Sins series. Download now for a semi-reformed bad boy who will fight off his mate's enemies and change the baby's diapers, a couple who learn to trust despite vicious pasts, and discover that family is so much more than blood.

He can't save himself, but he'll save her...Rhys is a disaster: too violent for his old pride, and more accustomed to using his fists instead of his words. He's managed to carve out a place among the Crowley lions, but his temper still rides him hard. The only balm is Sage, a shattered woman with a core of fire. He wants to bring it out of her. Can he avoid getting burned?She's tired of living under her father's thumb...Sage narrowly escaped a forced mating, but she can't quite manage to pick up the pieces. Except when she's around Rhys. The rumbly lion makes her ache for something more. But good things don't last for Sage, and her father's demand she return to the man who bought her cuts her to her core.Can a broken woman find redemption in the arms of her disaster of a mate? Or will old wounds and enemies be too strong for even the toughest lions to overcome?Savage Exile, a steamy paranormal romance, is book five in the Lion Hearts series. For readers who love a broken alpha hero willing to gamble everything on a second chance with a woman learning to live on her own terms.Grab now for a gritty, intense romance wrapped in fangs and fur.

Alpha lion who is all growl and bite?Defiant human with a broken heart?An enemy out to break them both?Running from a devastating betrayal, Hailey's wound is salted when car trouble strands her in the path of a snarly lion shifter with a chip on his shoulder the size of Pride Rock.She can't decide what's worse-his snarky, human hating attitude, or the fact that her judgement sucks and she is falling in love with the devil in sexy blue jeans. But refusing to trust will cost her more than her future happiness... it could cost her life.Alpha lion Trent has no one but his pride, a group of misfits holding onto control by a claw under his leadership. He doesn't need the complication of a stubborn, mouthy, human woman who looks him in the eye and sets off every instinct to claim.Especially since his uncle is threatening to solve Trent's Hailey problem with violence.For Trent isn't the only one who wants to see all humans kicked out of town and lions back at the top of the food chain. He's just the only one who is starting to change his mind......the only one who realizes that the love of a mate is worth fighting, dying, and forgiving for.Savage Pride, Lion Hearts Book 1, is a standalone lion shifter steamy romance. This paranormal with bite is for readers who love enemies to lovers, snarly lion heroes, and sassy not-quite-damsels in distress.Grab now because you crave an alpha too savage to love. . . unless he's your fated mate.

Her kidnapper will kill to keep her. So will her mate. She must decide-fight or flee.Overcoming her torture. . .Kidnapped and changed against her will, submissive Nora escapes to the small shifter town Bearden. There she rebuilds her courage and her shattered life.But the kidnapper's mark prevents her from mating Jesse, a sexy cowbear as kind as he is strong.A man who gives her the encouragement to slay her fears and take back her independence.When her past comes howling into town, she can plant her feet and fight or she can turn tail and run-saving everyone but herself.Guarding her from peril. . .Under Jesse's stoic calm, the ghost of a grim childhood rages. When he meets the reserved Nora, he recognizes in her a kindred pain-and the spark of an undiscovered strength.Strength they will need when a familiar enemy tracks her down and threatens not just her life, but their clan.Nora's instinct is to sacrifice herself to save the clan. Jesse's is to tear down the enemy's walls and salt the earth with their blood.Bucking Fate, book 5 in the Black Claw Ranch series, is a steamy werewolf bear shifter paranormal romance for readers who love fated mates, heroines in peril, and tortured cowboy heroes who cherish the women they love.

A woman who loathes shifters. A lion on the prowl for his mate. A threat of death brings them together, and may tear them apart.Lilah survived a shifter prison break, but the convicts escaped and now she's on the run.She doesn't want a bodyguard, especially not an intense, inscrutable shifter who looks at her like she's his last supper. Shifters are bad juju, and Seth's sexy intensity feels like some serious black magic. But the most dangerous escaped con wants Lilah dead. Enraged and at the end of her strength she flees-right into the jaws of the enemy's trap. There's no choice but to accept Seth's protection.Loner lion shifter Seth's own pride doesn't want him-and now his mate rejects him as well.Seth brings Lilah to Bearden to lie low. She might not want his help, but she has it and more-he knows Lilah is his mate. An entire life lived shiftless and in her presence suddenly his lion breaks free.But there's no time to explore the growing mate bond. A single fateful moment changes everything, vindicates Lilah's loathing, and sets them on a path that could lead to ruin.If Lilah doesn't overcome the horrible memories of her attack, and if Seth doesn't connect with his beast, then their fledgling bond will break . . . and the consequence is death.Savage Craving, a steamy paranormal romance, is book four in the Lion Hearts series. You're guaranteed a wild ride and a HEA. For readers who love alpha heroes and enemies-to-lovers fated mates romance.Grab now and snuggle up with a shifter bodyguard with bite.

A bear prowling the edge of danger.Gray Jennings has a problem. One that could get him put down by his alpha. It started when a rogue military commander laid siege to the town of Bearden and months later, Gray is still shifting in his sleep. His lack of control marks him as a hazard to both humans and other shifters.He's being watched.He knows the danger he poses.So when rich girl Meghan Wilcox comes to town, he vows to stay far away. The last thing Gray needs is a distraction. Even if Meghan's curves and fragile beauty bring out his protective nature.But the girl's got a secret and worse, her sweet scent stirs his angry bear.A girl hiding from her enemies.Meghan's on the run, hiding from a vengeful ex-fiance after she dumped him at the altar. He's humiliated and hunting for her, intent on payback. Out of sheer desperation she seeks safety in the small town of Bearden. Tucked away in a secret cabin, Meghan feels the glimmers of hope. Finally. But a new threat soon arrives in the shape of a terrifying shifter.A bear who has shifted in his sleep. Gray Jennings.Meghan gentles him and they form a tentative truce. A bond links her to the formidable shifter, but he's savage and unpredictable. Has she traded one danger for another?Meghan's past won't stay quiet. Just when her heart is on the edge of loving this untamed shifter, danger looms, threatening all she holds dear. The only one who can save her is the wild and feral bear.Gray Jennings... Step into the world of Shifting Destinies, where the men and women you meet might just be a little more than human. Their towns are protected by magic, and their hearts are open and ready for love. But watch your step - more than darkness lurks in the shadows.

Tommy Conri has been burned by love, but that doesn't stop everyone in his life urging him to find a good woman and settle down. Though he's buried himself in excuses and his work at his diner, one woman has his inner wolf sitting up and taking notice every time her brown curls bounce past his window.Fox shifter Faith Holden owns the coffee shop across the street from her perfect man. While she's held a torch for Tommy since they were teens, they've never before been single at the same time. She's determined to muster the nerve to invite the scrumptious, reclusive wolf shifter to the town's annual Winter Wonderland Bash.The attraction between the rival diner owners becomes irresistible as they near the holiday festivities. But Faith's dreams of sleigh rides through the snow and mistletoe kisses are dashed when Tommy's ex slithers back into town. Can Tommy forget his past wounds before he ruins his chance to make Faith his mate? Step into the world of Shifting Destinies, where the men and women you meet might just be a little more than human. Their towns are protected by magic, and their hearts are open and ready for love. But watch your step - more than darkness lurks in the shadows.Previously published in the All He Wants for Christmas Holiday Bundle!

Small towns aren't for her, but he could be.Sloan Kent believes in justice, for all. Humans and shifters alike. But when she's assigned to a new, shifter-run, Supernatural Enforcement Agency squad, she's suddenly regretting being open minded. Small town drama runs wild in Bearden and she doesn't want any part of it. She's just there to do her job... until she meets Lorne Bennett, that is.Hard muscles ripple underneath his button-up, and that cowboy hat doesn't hide his piercing dark eyes. She knows better than to get involved with a bear, but the heart wants what it wants. Even when the heart wants a broody shifter she knows is bad news bears, literally.He likes his women feisty and wild.Her having a gun is just a bonus.Lorne Bennett doesn't let anyone tell him what to do. Not his family, not his current alpha, and especially not some spitfire little human who thinks she's going to uncover all his secrets. He has good reason to keep those buried, and he owes those on Black Claw Ranch a debt for protecting his past.But Sloan seems different, like she could be the one to put his heart back together after all these years. Being with her could be dangerous though, for both of them.When their worlds collide Lorne and Sloan have to decide if their love really can conquer all when they're confronted with the sins of the past. And if being mates can mend their broken hearts... or shatter them forever.Breaking Fate, book 3 in the Black Claw Ranch series, is a steamy bear shifter paranormal romance for readers who love fated mates, heroines in peril, and tortured cowboy heroes who cherish the women they love.Grab now because you love the story of two tough fated mates carving out a new future-together.

A Lioness in Peril.Three years ago, Mara watched helplessly as hunters killed her brother. The men promised not to harm others if she complied with their evil demands. Now, she's serving time in a cell beneath Bearden, trying to atone for the crimes they forced her to commit.Mara's penance brings her face to face with a fierce and rugged and heavily tatted bear shifter, Hudson Vaughn.He stirs all sorts of feelings inside her. Desire. Yearning. Need. But now is not the time for that foolishness. The hunters have returned. Their demands are even more sinister. They want shifter children, and they want her too.Mara intends to confront the hunters. Alone. But Hudson has a different plan...Together they'll attend a shifter auction, posing as handler and leashed pet. It's all just a fake act. A ploy. And her yanking his leash and taunting him is part of the act too. It's working fine. Right up until the end of the night when all pretense falls away, the lights dim and the growly bear-shifter crowds her into a corner and makes a promise...I don't need my bear to make you submit, kitty...Hudson Vaughn has a plan to set his mate free. First, he must convince Mara they're fated to be together. Then, he needs to convince her he'll protect her from every threat. Even the shifter-traffickers that murdered her brother.What starts as a plan to infiltrate the hunters' auction, becomes something so much more. Mara poses as his handler, but she seems to enjoy her role a little too much. The entire evening, she delights in snapping his leash and full-on flirting with him. None of that was part of the plan.Little tease.His mate has a wild side. A naughty side he never imagined, but one he likes very much. His bear snarls and snaps, hungering to make Mara his.Hudson must destroy the evil forces that stalk Mara, so he can finally claim his sassy, curvy fated mate...