Fire of the Wolf [The Gray Pack] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

The Gray Pack

Fire of the Wolf

Introverted nurse Caroline Trainor’s apartment burns to the ground, and she is rescued by a sexy fireman. Waking up in the hospital, she finds the delicious fireman and his identical twin brother waiting for her.

Devin and Damon Gray claim that they are alpha leaders of a pack of werewolves, and that she is destined to be their mate. Her logical nature resists this unreal situation, but her body craves their every touch. Struggling with unresolved pain from her past and her need for her own identity, she has no desire to be their house wolf—until another wolf pack’s alpha threatens their lives and relationship with a challenge to the death.

Scared to lose the men she has grown to love like she lost her parents, she runs directly into the arms of the lethal alpha challenger, and the brothers must save her before they all wind up dead.

Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among siblings.

Genre:
Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves

Length:
62,692 words
 

The Gray Pack

Lori King

MENAGE AMOUR

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

IMPRINT: Ménage Amour

FIRE OF THE WOLF

E-book ISBN:
978-1-62241-045-3

First E-book Publication: August 2012

Cover design by Christine Kirchoff

All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

Dear Readers,

If you have purchased this copy of 
Fire of the Wolf
 by Lori King from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy

This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

This is Lori King’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. King’s right to earn a living from her work.

Amanda Hilton, Publisher

www.SirenPublishing.com

www.BookStrand.com

For my Mom who has read countless pieces that I have written over the years, and continued to encourage me to reach for my dreams.

For my Dad who has always been my rock of stability, and the hand that picks me up when I fall.

For my Sister who is my rough draft editor, best friend, and fellow romantic.

For my Brother who keeps me laughing, and reminds me that success isn’t always tangible.

For my Husband who is my knight in shining armor. You will always be my favorite hero.

And for my children who remind me that life is short, and you must grab it with both hands.

I hope to always Live, Laugh, and Love like today is my only chance.

Always~Lori

FIRE OF THE WOLF

The Gray Pack

LORI KING

Copyright © 2012

Sweat trickled down her brow and into her eyes as Caroline belly crawled down the hallway as fast as her burning lungs would allow. The acrid smell of smoke made her nose run, and stinging tears spilled down her cheeks. She couldn’t give up and go back. She knew that Molly and Tyler were in the apartment down the hall from hers, and she had to get to them, had to help them.

When the smoke alarm in her apartment went off just minutes ago, Caroline nearly jumped out of her skin. She couldn’t smell the smoke until she opened her apartment door, and found the hallway outside filled with a thick black fog of it. Her mind flashed immediately to a smiling Tyler, who had been playing in the hallway just a couple of hours ago with a baseball and glove, waiting for her to come home from work so that he could show her that he lost another tooth. She had laughed and hugged him while she walked him to his apartment door, and waved a quick hello to his mom, Molly. Molly had invited her into the apartment for dinner, but after a twelve-hour shift at the hospital, Caroline just craved quiet.

She had unloaded her work bag, purse, and jacket just inside her apartment door, then she stripped her clothes off for a hot shower, only stopping on the way to snag a bottle of wine and a glass from her tiny kitchen. After a steaming hot shower to scald away the tension in her muscles, and a full glass of wine, she slipped on her comfiest yoga pants and tank top. Then she had settled onto the couch to watch her favorite Thursday-night TV programs.

Roughly sixty minutes later as she crawled for all she was worth, all Caroline could think about was Tyler and Molly trapped in their apartment and scared, or worse. She could barely think with the screaming sound of the fire alarms in the apartment building’s hallway, but her gut told her that Molly wouldn’t have chanced the thick smoke, and would have directed Tyler to the windows of the apartment to scream for help instead. Caroline knew that they had to get out of this building as fast as possible. Having been built in the early 1960s, the building was barely livable, and wouldn’t survive a fire that produced this much heavy smoke. When the building came down, she was determined that she would be safely out with Molly and Tyler.

As she pushed open their apartment door, she gasped at the fresher air she found there, and heard Molly screaming for help to her left. She was able to get up to her knees and call back to them,

“Tyler? Molly? We have to get out of the building, come to the door, and I’ll help you out! Hurry!”

“I’m scared, Caro!” Tyler’s voice came out raspy, and his breathing was wheezy, but she was able to see him about ten feet from her, curled up on the floor with Molly’s arms around him.

“No, Caroline! The fire department will come and get us. We can’t take Tyler through the smoke. Shut the door to keep it out of here.” Molly was panicking.

Caroline groaned in frustration. She understood Molly’s fears. Tyler had asthma and had to take daily breathing treatments to keep from having dangerous asthma attacks. Smoke like this was especially dangerous for him, but Caroline knew she was right about this situation.

“Molly, the fire department won’t get here in time. Tyler, pull your flannel shirt off and tie it around your face like a cowboy’s bandana. That will help you keep the smoke out, and when we get outside we will get you some medicine. Molly, grab a towel or something to cover your face, now. We are leaving this building together, right now.”

Caroline began herding the two out the apartment door when she heard the first creak and groan of the ceiling. Her heart leapt into her chest, and she tensed all of her muscles, bracing for the impact that she was sure was coming, but the ceiling stayed above her, and the floor held beneath her, so she put her hand on Molly’s butt and gave her a firm push out the door of the apartment.

“Hurry up!” she screamed as loudly as her raw lungs could take.

They all began moving down the hallway, scooting along on their bellies, because the only breathable air was next to the floor. The smoke was much thicker now than it had been just moments ago, and for the first time, Caroline began to doubt her ability to get them all out of there alive. She could feel the rough fibers of the commercial-grade carpet rubbing her elbows and legs raw. There was heat now, but she still couldn’t see flames. Despite the high temperature, Caroline’s skin crawled with goose bumps at the thought of a death by fire. Another surge of energy burst through her, and she pulled up alongside her two charges, urging them to move faster. She could hear Tyler’s gasping breaths, and the fear that rolled off of Molly was almost tangible, but she wouldn’t give up.

They made it down the first half of the stairs to the landing, and the air became slightly less smoky. Caroline could see the late evening sunlight at the bottom of the second set of steps that filled the foyer of the building. She knew that help had to be just a few feet away outside the glass doors. Suddenly, she saw little Tyler collapse in front of her, and she realized that the smoke and his asthma attack had caused him to lose consciousness. She watched in horror as Molly stopped next to her son, coughing and choking on the poisonous smoke. She looked at Caroline and seemed unsure what she should do. Following her instincts, Caroline reached for Molly, and with a hard shove she pushed her down the last several steps, so that she wouldn’t have to decide. Somehow Caroline managed to lift Tyler’s body into her arms, and tumble the last few steps herself, holding him as close to her as she could.

She lay there with Tyler on top of her, staring bleary-eyed at the ceiling or what would have been the ceiling if she could have seen through the waves of dark smoke. Just as her world stopped spinning, she felt strong hands grasp Tyler, and pull him from her, while another set of hands held her under her arms, and quickly pulled her from the floor up against a huge muscular chest. Unbelievably, she could smell this man through his fireman’s suit, and through the smoke. Her heart flipped over and her head spun.

His arms gripped her tighter, and she smiled to herself, thinking,
Wow, isn’t he a fantasy waiting to happen
? And then she passed out.