Lone Wolf

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 Retired Sheriff Dan Miller thought life was pretty good until he was attacked by a man bent on using him against the Wilde Wolf Pack. When he's made into a shifter to save his life, he discovers that the world he knew as a human was nothing compared to that of a wolf. He just can't seem to figure out how to shift.

Lion shifter Sean is running for his life. More importantly, he's running to save the lives of the two small children he has stolen from his alpha. When he stumbles across the Wilde Wolf Pack, he finds more than he ever expected. A pack, safety, and his mate. He's just afraid to trust it.

When the evil hunting him arrives at the gates of Belle Grove, Sean knows time has run out. Learning to trust those around him isn't easy when he's never had that before, but fighting for his mate and those in the pack just might be worth the battle to come.

Dan Miller lay in the dark corner of the kitchen and watched the spider travel down the silken strand of webbing. Before he reached the floor, the spider shifted into a pale, thin man with black hair. 

The man went over to the windowsill. He picked up and peeled a banana before dipping the fruit into a small bowl of sugar water. That action told Dan a lot about the man’s goodness as the spider shifter grimaced while finishing the snack Iren left him every night. He was obviously eating something he didn't like, but was making an effort not to hurt Iren’s feelings.

Next, the man went over to the window, crouched down, and removed a small portion of a loose floorboard. He reached into the hole and pulled out a cell phone. Dan watched as he swiped at the screen and listened. A moment later he began a whispered conversation. Of course, Dan only heard one side of the conversation, between pauses.

“Yes, Elder, it is an omega boy child.”

“Father and baby are well.”

“The guard, Kane, and the assistant chef fox are mated.”

“The fox’s brother as well as a lion, infant wolf, and a ferret child have arrived.”

“No, the snow leopard hasn’t. Only the fox’s little brother has pledged his loyalty and joined the pack.”

“The human wolf is still in animal form.”

“Okay.”

The man returned the phone to its hiding place and replaced the board before moving back to the far corner. The next moment a spider crawled up a new whisper thin string to the safety of its spider web.

Dan would have frowned in his wolf form if he could have. Why did the spider speak of him? He knew the guards and the alpha watched him. Did they think he was hiding in his wolf form? Dan tried every day to gain a human body. The failure was frustrating, but he wouldn’t quit. He needed to become human again. Why? He wasn’t sure.

He wasn’t sure about a lot of things, like how he had become a wolf. He was an old, widowed, retired sheriff. He remembered not having anything against shifters, but knew he wasn’t one, until now.

What had happened? He recalled excruciating betrayal that ripped out his heart, and then an overwhelming need to get to Macon. A group of faceless, laughing men surrounded him and agonizing pain slashed through his belly. After that, things went foggy except for him holding on to a bright light of golden warmth. 

Next, he woke up as a wolf.

Dan left the shadows of the kitchen and padded toward the upstairs bedroom. A gorgeous human that sparked Dan’s need to mark and possess occupied that room. The want tugging at his soul was becoming an addiction he had no interest in denying. The infant wolf and ferret child were also sleeping there. 

Dan didn’t understand the whys and whats of the situation. He just knew he wanted them close at all times. He needed them close. He couldn't breathe unless he knew where they were and if they were okay. He would protect them with his life. 

He also sensed that time was running out.

He quickly loped up the stairs. At the top, he sniffed and then glanced in each direction. The coast was clear. He couldn't sense anyone in the house who shouldn't be here. 

It was weird. He'd always relied on his instincts when he'd been sheriff, but this took things to a whole other level. The ability to smell scents on the shifting winds was amazing and confusing. He loved the ability, but he was often baffled by the things he smelled.

The man currently curled up in his bed was one that confused him the most. He smelled so good, like a fresh baked cinnamon roll. If he'd been in human form, he would have rubbed himself all over the man then licked him from head to toe.

Granted, he could still do that in his wolf form, but it wouldn't be as much fun.

Man, he shouldn't even be having thoughts like that. He was an old man, a widower. He had a grown son for goodness sake. He had no business lusting after that pretty young thing. He wasn't even gay. The very existence of his son and the twenty-six years he'd been married proved that.

Martha had been a good wife and Dan had loved her, even though he’d had to marry her right out of high school. Her death from a car accident ten years ago had been devastating.

The memory of the life he'd had with her and her death reminded Dan that he shouldn’t be thinking about the fantasies that roamed freely through his head, let alone considering them.

He was an old pervert. It was that simple. He was the type of man he used to arrest and he was sickened by it. Granted, the object of his lustful thoughts was of legal age, but there was such a gap in their ages, he'd probably get laughed at if his wayward thoughts ever became verbal.

If a wolf could have huffed, Dan would have huffed. Instead, he padded down the hallway to the room he now shared with the others. It wasn't much and still needed some work, but at least it was better than sleeping on the kitchen floor.

The door stood barely open. Just enough for him to nudge it the rest of the way. He stepped inside the room and quickly scanned the interior. The baby slept in a wooden box that had been converted to a crib by Bishop. It would do until they could find something else. The ferret shifter, in his ferret form, lay curled up with the baby.

It was the man standing by the window, looking out into the growing light of the new day, that held his attention. Dan walked over and sat down next to him. He would have smiled, if he could have, when the man's fingers started stroking the fur on top of his head. It was soothing in a way Dan never expected.