Beverly Rae - Howling for my Baby

Romeo and Juliet never had to worry about being skinned alive.

Sydney Skellers father is spitting bullets over her reluctance to join the family business as a shifter hunter. The last thing Daddy needs to know is whyshe yearns for a lover whos man enough for a relationship but animal enough to give her the wild ride of her dreams. After a treadmill mishap lands her in a tangled heap with Jason Cannon, she wonders if shes finally found her beast, er, man. One session in bed and one bite later, shes sure. Now if only she can keep her father from mounting Jasons head on a wall

Jason is all man on the surface, but wolf shifter down to the bone. Hes more than ready to stop playing the pack and find his one true mate, and Sydney of the luscious curves is the woman of his dreams. Finding out that she comes from a family sworn to eradicate his kind isnt a deal-breaker. But her outrageous plan for him to masquerade as the wolf in hunters clothing, right under her fathers very nose, could be asking more than he ever expected to give.

This book was previously published in ebook form only under the title Kissin in the Moonlight, and has been revised from its original release.

Warning: Readers, be aware of stranger side effects. These side effects may include but arent limited to the following: biting strangers, asking furry strangers to bite you, purposely falling off treadmills to collide with handsome strangers, enjoying hot sex with wild strangers, and baying at the moon to meet other moon-influenced strangers. If you notice any of these side effects, contact the author immediately. You may be the heroine of her next book!

eBooks are not transferable.

They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writers imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

577 Mulberry Street, Suite 1520

Macon GA 31201

Howling for My Baby

Copyright 2009 by Beverly Rae

ISBN: 978-1-60504-484-2

Edited by Deborah Nemeth

Cover by Angela Waters

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: April 2009

www.samhainpublishing.com

Howling for My Baby

Beverly Rae

Dedication

To my special animal of a husband,

who always supports me no matter how wild life gets.

Chapter One

I cant believe Im really going through with this.

Sydney steered her car down the tree-lined suburban street as shadows from the waning June sun cast shadows over the yards. This should be the right street. She glanced at her best friend, Charlotte Charlie Matland, who was sitting in the passengers seat. I hope this mediums a miracle worker. Finding me a good manforget about perfectwill be next to impossible.

You nailed that dead-on, girlfriend.

Syd groaned. Id love to nail something, but my love life dried up about eighteen months ago.

Youre preaching to the choir, Sister Sydney. Charlie laughed and tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

Yeah, right. Like you ever have problems catching a mate.

Charlie sent her a curious look. A mate?

Shit, shit, shit . You know what I mean. A man. Her nightly dreams of a werewolf with midnight-black fur and a white streak running along his head had grown more vivid since theyd started during puberty. When the wolf changed into a managloriously handsome, lick-me-and-make-me-come mantheyd taken on a whole new intensity, clarity and holy crud! sexuality. She often bolted awake in the middle of the night, trembling, not from fright, but shaken by desire and drenched in sweat. Her heart raced and she found it difficult to catch her breath even after the dark tempting eyes transforming into mesmerizing amber ones had dissipated from her mind.

Youre thinking about those dreams again, arent you? The ones with your shifter hottie?

Shifter hottie. Omigod, if she only knew the half of it. Syd tried to avert her facenot that shed ever had a chance of escaping her friends sharp eyes.

Wow. Charlie gave a low whistle. I dont even remember my dreams, while yours keep getting better and better.

Better? Syd frowned at her choice of words. Im not so sure. To me the dreams are like these extra twenty pounds Im hauling around. I dont want them, but no matter what I do, I cant get rid of them. And I do want to get rid of the dreams, right? The pounds? Of course. But the dreams? She bit her lip. No, she wasnt sure she wanted to make the dreams go away.

Youre biting your lip.

Shit. Why did she have to have that telltale habit? She leaned toward Charlie to see out the passenger side of the car. Is this the correct address? Can you see the house number?

Hang on and give me a sec. Charlie held the paper with the scribbled address closer to the cars dome light. This is frickin amazing. Were out in the middle of the suburbs, searching for some psychic because the resident nutcase at our gym says the medium told her whoor should I say what her new hubby would be. Can you say, dumb ass broads?

Hey, she may dress like a clown, but she swears this medium told her about her future husband. She met him after seeing this Madame Medusala person and shes been prancing around, lording her newly wedded money over everyone ever since. Shes happy and you cant argue with them facts, bucko.

Charlie pffed in exasperation. Ri-ight. These charlatans are always telling some poor woman about the tall, dark, handsome man in her future. For the right amount of green, of course. She sighed. Still, its not like we take any of this seriously. Suddenly, her friend twisted sideways to study her. Dont tell me you believe in all this hocus-pocus garbage. Her perusal grew in intensity. Omigod. You do. You believe in shifters and psychics and all this junk. Her mouth dropped open. Seriously. You do, dont you?

Maybe. Of course, I do . You cant grow up in my family and not believe . You have to believe in werewolves when your dads a hunter. A hunter who wants his only child to join the family business . But she didnt have the nerve to admit it in such finite terms to her friend. Not yet. Few humans aside from hunters knew about shifters, and she didnt want Charlie to go into deep denial or grow paranoid, afraid to venture outside.

Although Charlies skepticism usually bothered her, her friends disbelief could be right on track this time. At least about the validity of the psychic. Stillshe had to find out for herself. She pulled the car to the curb and stared at the small house.

Wow. Charlie gazed out the window. Wow.

Will you stop saying wow so much? How about being a supportive and silent friend? But Syd couldnt get the words out of her mouth. Did you look at the address? Get back on track, Charlie, before I chicken out.

Yeah. This is it. Charlie lifted an eyebrow at her. A medium lives here? No way.

The brightly lit, pristine house sat at the end of the quiet block surrounded by a freshly landscaped yard. Pink roses trailed along the white rail of the front porch and flowerboxes filled with petunias of various colors decorated lace-curtained windows. A blue birdhouse swayed in the breeze at the edge of the porch while a wind chime danced in the wind below it. Fanciful red ladybugs painted on the porch steps marched along the flooring to lead visitors to the front door.

Charlie followed Syds lead and got out of the car. Together they stood at the end of the driveway and studied the quaint cottage.