Loved by a Werewolf
Loved by a Werewolf
Marisa Chenery
Book five in the Big City Pack series.
At her cousin’s wedding, Sierra is stuck on drunk-brother patrol. When he slips out of the reception with a married woman, Sierra must go in pursuit. But her efforts are in vain and she finds herself on a hiking trail along the edge of the property. She’s not alone, however. A wolf is staring her down as if she’ll be his next meal. Damning her brother to the pits of hell won’t get her out of this one.
Cale knew he’d found his mate the moment he caught Sierra’s scent while in wolf form. Things don’t start off well, however, when she throws a rock at him. Not to be deterred, Cale disappears into the forest, where he shifts to man. No rocks go flying when he approaches her this time, and soon the two of them can’t keep their hands off each other. But Cale has a furry secret. One Sierra must accept—because living nine hundred years without her has been enough for this werewolf.
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
www.ellorascave.com
Loved by a Werewolf
ISBN 9781419938177
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Loved by a Werewolf Copyright © 2011 Marisa Chenery
Edited by Grace Bradley
Cover design by Fiona Jayde
Photography: Ienetstan/Shutterstock.com; Jim Kruger/istockphoto.com
Electronic book publication December 2011
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LOVED BY A WEREWOLF
Marisa Chenery
Chapter One
Sierra sat on the bride’s side of the room as she watched her cousin, Yvonne, exchange vows with her groom. The wedding was at Hatley Castle, which was situated in Hatley Park National Historic Site in Victoria, British Columbia. The Edwardian castle had been built in 1908 and was a beautiful setting for the ceremony. And it was totally Yvonne’s style with the exquisite gardens surrounding it. Even seeing the glacier-capped Olympic Mountains in the distance on the way in just added to the location.
After the ceremony ended, the new husband and wife departed with the rest of the bridal party to have pictures taken. That left the hundred guests they’d invited to find their way into the large room where the reception would be held.
As Sierra followed the crowd, her mother, who walked beside her, asked, “Wasn’t Yvonne stunning?”
“Yes, she was.”
“And she looked so happy.”
“She did.” Sierra steeled herself for what was surely to come next.
Her mother sighed dramatically. “I doubt I’ll live long enough to see you walk down the aisle, let alone see grandchildren from you.”
Sierra barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes. “Mom, I’m only twenty-nine. I’m not over the hill yet. Nowadays, not everyone gets married at twenty-three and pops out two kids by their second anniversary like you did. And at fifty-five, that hardly makes you that old. Why aren’t you bugging Trevor about his not being married? He’s a year older than me.”
Her mother waved away what she said with a flick of her hand. “Leave Trevor out of this. It’s different with men. He doesn’t have a biological clock ticking like you.”
“Mother,” Sierra said sharply when she noticed a few heads had turned their way. Her mom hadn’t been all that quiet while she’d talked. Finally reaching the room for the reception, Sierra said, “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. And speaking of Trevor, where the hell is he?”
As they worked their way around the large, open-concept room to the table they were to sit at, her mom did a quick search with her gaze. “Oh, there he is. He’s at the bar.”
Of course he was. Where else would he be? With an open bar for the entire reception, Trevor wouldn’t be able to stay away. It also meant Sierra would have to watch his dumb ass to make sure he didn’t do anything embarrassing. Trevor and alcohol did not mix. When her brother drank, he always ended up shitfaced drunk and did the most idiotic things.
With her father gone—he’d passed away two years before from cancer—that left Sierra to take her brother in hand when he got out of control. Her mother wouldn’t do it. For some screwed-up reason, her mom turned a blind eye on his antics. It was almost as if she never saw his faults, or if she did, she didn’t want to accept them. But when it came to Sierra, her mom nitpicked everything she thought her daughter was lacking in. Double standards much?
After the wedding party arrived, the meal was served. That also meant the bar was closed until it was over. Trevor finally came to their table and sat on their mother’s other side. He put down the mixed drink he carried before he snatched the open bottle of wine and filled his glass.
Sierra leaned forward to look around her mother at her brother. “Take it easy on the alcohol, Trevor.”
He gave her a scowl. “Lighten up, would you? I’m fine. Unlike you, I’m going to enjoy myself.”
She settled back in her chair and didn’t even bother responding. She’d just be wasting her breath anyway. But he was right about her not being able to enjoy herself. Because of him, Sierra would feel as if she were babysitting his ass the entire night. Kind of hard to have a good time when she was on idiot watch.
While they ate, every once in a while one of the guests would tap a wineglass with a piece of cutlery to start everyone else in the room doing it to get the bride and groom to kiss. And of course Trevor had to whistle and make catcalls each time, which became louder the more wine he drank. It reached the point where Sierra wanted to duck under the table and not come out.
Once the meal was finished, the speeches and toasts began. It took some time to get through them all, but at least her brother kept his mouth shut during them. After that part of the reception came to an end, the newly married couple moved to the middle of the room and danced the first dance.
As the night progressed, Sierra kept an eye on her brother. True to form, the drunker he got the more his IQ seemed to drop. And seeing him leave the reception with a woman who didn’t appear any steadier on her feet set warning bells off in Sierra’s head. Mostly because she knew said woman was married to a friend of Yvonne’s brother. And the husband was supposedly known for being the jealous type who went after any man who came on to his wife.
So far the husband hadn’t noticed his other half had left with Trevor. Sierra spotted him standing o
n the opposite side of the room with a few other men, talking. Not bothering to tell her mother where she was going, Sierra stood and went in search of her brother.
She walked through the room’s entrance and came to a stop as she looked for any sign of Trevor and the woman with him. She spotted him down the opposite end of the long hallway at the door to the castle. Without looking back, he opened it and went outside with his companion.
Cursing under her breath, Sierra went in pursuit. She didn’t hurry, not wanting to make a scene. By the time she’d made it through the front door, Trevor was nowhere in sight.
She grumbled to herself as she headed around to the back of the castle and the gardens. Sierra still didn’t catch sight of Trevor. Not that she expected him to be out in the open with the woman. Since it was early evening and still light out, Trevor would have gone somewhere less conspicuous.
Sierra had no idea how long she walked, wishing her brother to hell every time she stumbled or almost twisted her ankle. Her high heels weren’t exactly the right type of footwear to be traipsing outside in for any length of time.
When she reached one of the many hiking trails in the forest, she figured Trevor wouldn’t have come this far. Shit. She was going to string him up by his balls, if the woman’s husband didn’t get to him first. Sierra wished she didn’t give a crap what her dumbass brother got up to, but that wasn’t going to happen. When he was alive, their father had been the one to keep Trevor in line. After his passing, she’d figured her dad would have wanted her to step in and take his place. So she really did it for him, not her brother.
Deciding she’d have to backtrack, Sierra went to turn around. She stopped partway after spotting something on the trail. She automatically froze in place while her heart beat at a faster rate. A wolf stood not too far away, eyeing her up, and she had no idea how she was going to get out of this one.
* * * * *
On vacation in Victoria from Toronto, Cale had made it a point to come to Hatley Park, especially the forest, to do some running in his wolf form. With all the large trees around him—the park had some of the biggest and oldest in the province—he didn’t think he’d have to worry about mortals seeing him, even during the day.
Taking advantage of the good weather, he’d come to the forest that evening to do just that. After making sure no one was around, Cale had gone wolf and taken off into the dense trees. He gloried in the stretch of muscles as he jumped, dodged and worked his way through the bush. He wished there was a park like this close to downtown Toronto, but the closest was a couple of hours drive up north in Muskoka.
Coming near to where there was a hiking trail, and to Hatley Castle, he slowed his run to a walk as the wind blew in his face, bringing the nearby scents with it. One, that came from somewhere up ahead, slammed into him like a freight train. He lifted his head and breathed deeper as his mating urge threatened to take him over. Being in wolf form only heightened it until all he could think about was finding the owner of the scent and mating—claiming the woman as his own.
Cale took off in a fast run, following the delicious scent of his would-be mate. It didn’t take long before he found himself out of the trees and on a hiking trail. His nose unerringly led him straight to the one he sought.
A woman stood in the middle of the trail, turned away from him. She wore a pale-pink, silky dress that fell to just above her knees and hugged her curves in all the right places. On her feet were high-heeled shoes that matched the color of her outfit. They also showcased her toned legs. Long, dark-brown hair hung to the middle of her back. He itched to take on his human form and run his fingers through it to see if it was as soft as it looked.
She turned and spotted him. He held back a growl of need as intense arousal shot through his body. She was gorgeous, not supermodel beautiful like his kind was known for, but she was far from ugly. Cale clenched all his muscles to stop himself from going to her. From her scent, he knew she was mortal. And that being the case, he’d have to tread carefully. No matter how badly he wanted to do it, shifting to his human form in the middle of the trail in front of her would not be the way to go. It would more than likely scare the bejesus out of her.
His would-be mate waved a hand in his direction. “Shoo,” she said a bit shakily. “Go on. Get out of here.”
She was already more than a little afraid of him. He could smell it in her scent. That left Cale with two choices. He could either approach her as a wolf, and hope she didn’t run from him, or he could go back into the trees, deep enough for her not to see him shift, then come back and hope she was still there. She soon made his decision for him.
She bent down, picked up a rock and hurled it at him. “Don’t come any closer.”
The projectile didn’t hit him, but it came close enough for Cale to realize she felt as if she had to defend herself. He dove into the bush on the opposite side of the trail he’d exited from. As he searched for a tree big enough to hide behind and shift, he heard her yell, “Not that way. That’s the direction I have to go.”
Well, at least she should stay where she is for a little while. Cale doubted she’d want to take the chance of meeting up with the wolf again. At last finding a suitable tree, he ducked behind it and drew on the spark of magic deep inside him to bring on the change to his human form.
The shift complete—dressed in dark-blue jeans and a black t-shirt—Cale circled around to the trail so he wouldn’t come out of the trees in the same place he’d gone into them as a wolf. Even though he wasn’t as agile in human form, he still could run faster than any mortal.
Cale broke out onto the hiking path a little farther down from where he’d first spotted his would-be mate. The sight of her made his cock harden while his mating urge rode his ass, demanding he take her. He reined it back as much as he could.
Walking closer, he saw her following him with her gaze. “Are you okay?” he asked. “I heard yelling.”
She slowly nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just saw a wolf on the trail.” She looked from Cale to the trees, then back to him again. “It took off though.”
He came to a stop once he was a few feet away from her. Her scent seemed to wrap around him, filling his head until he found it hard to think. His cock jerked inside his jeans when he looked into her blue eyes.
“Really? I didn’t see it,” he said.
“Maybe it heard you coming and ran from you. But thanks for coming to see if I was all right.”
Cale smiled. “It was no hardship, especially if it means I get to meet a pretty woman like you. I’m Cale.”
Her cheeks turned a becoming shade of pink. “Thanks. I’m Sierra.”
“Nice to meet you, Sierra.” He pointed toward her dress. “I take it you aren’t out here hiking.”
Sierra shook her head and chuckled. “How could you tell? No, I came from Hatley Castle where my cousin is having her wedding.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing out here? I’m not from around Victoria, but I do know it’s a bit of a walk from the castle to the hiking trails.”
She blew out a breath. “I was looking for my idiot brother. He left the reception with a woman. I’m trying to find them before her husband does, but I think I’ve gone too far.”
“Why don’t I help you find him? Or at least walk you back to the castle? It’s going to be dark pretty soon.”
Dusk was just starting to settle in. It gave Cale the perfect excuse to stay with Sierra a little longer. Being what she was to him, there was no way he could just let her walk away without arranging to see her again. At nine hundred years old, he’d waited a very long time to find her. Letting her slip between his fingers at this early stage was out of the question.
Sierra’s gaze drifted to his mouth and stayed there as her tongue came out to wet her lips. “Actually, I think I’ll take you up on both those offers. As you said, I’m not exactly dressed to be trudging around in the bush.”
Cale closed more of the distance between them, then followe
d Sierra as she left the trail and headed into the trees. While they walked, from time to time, he’d reach out to catch her elbow if she stumbled.
After the last time, she said, “Thanks. It was hard enough the first time, but now that it’s getting dark, I can’t see where to step.”
“How about we switch places?” he asked. “I have good night vision. You can follow in my footsteps and I can hold your hand to keep you steady. Just point me in the right direction. I’ve never been to the castle before.”
Sierra came to a standstill. “All right. If you keep going straight, we should end up in one of the gardens.” She shifted to the side for him to get in front of her, then placed her hand in his when he held it out. Once he got them walking again, she said, “So where are you from?”
Cale found it hard to focus on what she said as pounding arousal shot through his body all because he only held her hand. “Ah, I’m from Toronto.”
“Are you in Victoria for business or pleasure?”
He looked over his shoulder and gave her a smile. “Definitely for pleasure, especially now that I’ve met you.”
“That’s the second time you’ve given me a line. I don’t think I’ve had a man butter me up that fast, unless I was at a bar, that is.”
Cale turned his head to look forward and smiled, even though Sierra wouldn’t see it. “Well? Is it working?”
“I don’t know. I usually don’t fall for the one-liners.”
Right after Sierra finished saying that, she stumbled and would have fallen if Cale hadn’t held her hand. Deciding to make the most of the opportunity, he turned, scooped her up in his arms and continued walking. Her arms looped around his neck as she let out a cry of surprise. With her cradled against him, he had to resist the urge to hold her tighter. To bury his face in the crook of her neck and just breathe her scent.