Elanna doesn’t need a knight to save her. She needs a monster to destroy her.
Two years ago, Elanna Muir gave her only chance at love a farewell slap across the face. Now, she spends her days keeping her family’s seaside inn from falling apart and entertaining their ghosts—all forty-six of them. At night, she’s treasure-hunting for the heirloom that will break her family’s curse, giving the spirits their afterlives and a chance for Elanna to live in peace. But when her ex, a ruthless werewolf, returns with a marriage contract, it’s ‘I do’ or the inn is demolished.
Khyber Reed has always been what Elanna wanted but never needed, a fact he lived with until he became alpha and discovered the marriage contract tied to his new title. Now, Khyber must marry Elanna or lose his pack and his life.
Time and fate aren’t on the reluctant couple’s guest list, nor is the wedding crasher hungry for vengeance and blood. As secrets and passion blaze between Elanna and Khyber, they must learn from the past, or it’s bound to repeat…except this time the ‘death do us part’ will precede the ‘I do.’
Reader advisory: This book contains scenes of violence.
General Release Date: 13th February 2024
I fucking hate him. My body vibrated from my split ends down to my toes as I glared out through the frosted window at the truck idling in the vacant parking lot. I had known it was him from the second the engine had purred down the crushed-shell driveway. Felt it in my bones and soul. Sea fog tumbled around the vehicle, almost as if it missed the man and couldn’t wait to envelop and smother him. Maybe, just maybe, the tide would rise and sweep the truck into the ocean’s depths, sparing me the inevitable confrontation. It had been two years since Khyber Reed had broken my heart and…my bed.
“Are you going to invite him in?” Granny asked. “Or shoot him?”
“Choice number three. The shovel.” I balled my freezing hands into fists while the back of my neck prickled with her nearness. I glanced at her reflection in the window before returning my attention to the souped-up truck. “More painful. Slower. Then I can bury him.”
“That’s my girl.” Granny chuckled. “Maybe find out why he’s here first.”
“Money,” I answered. “Bet he wants to personally hand me an eviction notice.”
“Could be,” Granny muttered. “Summer wasn’t kind to us.”
I grimaced, then added, “Well, fall and winter didn’t play nice either.”
“The sea grows angrier each year. We are out of time.” Granny dropped her voice as if she feared the ocean was listening to us. “Maybe he’s here to sniff around for the treasure. His boss—”
“Smithson is not an employer. He is a creepy, lying, low-level werewolf.” I glanced over my shoulder at Granny in her summer house dress and crisp white apron. “That monster is the reason we’re broke. Stuck.”
Granny narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re not stuck…yet.”
“You know what I mean—” The truck turned off, and I swung my head back to the window. Khyber hopped out of the cab.
Granny slipped herself next to me to look out of the window. “I can’t see a damn thing.”
I rubbed the frost from the glass to give us a better view. At the moment, Khyber was occupying himself by talking on his phone while pinning his gaze to the sand dunes bordering our inn. My numb ears warmed. Fifteen years ago, we had taken each other’s V-cards behind those slopes. Since then, like the whales that made their seasonal migration to our shoreline, Khyber had returned to me every summer. For two months, we’d pass our days and nights fucking and fighting. Then fall would come around, and he’d return to his sleazeball alpha, Smithson. Over and over, our dysfunctional cycle played until that one June night…two years ago.
“Why does he keep that stupid beard and long hair?” A deep ridge appeared in the center of Granny’s brows. Usually, the tight rows of pink foam curlers pulled at her scalp in a fashion that left little ability for her forehead and eyebrows to display emotion. “He looks like a lumberjack. Not some big important…what is he again?”
“Beta,” I grumbled. “Smithson’s right hand. Nah. That’s too nice of a description. More like Captain Bootlicker.”
“Smithson always dresses sharp.” She cut her attention back to me. “You look awful.” Blunt and to the point, Granny called everyone and everything how she saw it. I’d been up all night studying maps of our property, and before fuck-wolf had shown up, I’d spent the morning battling with the generator. “Your skin’s all blotchy. Hair’s slicked back with sweat. Gotta nice film of soot covering you, too.”
“Someone has to keep this place running.” I jabbed my chin at Khyber. He had reached into the truck to retrieve a manila envelope. “I knew it.”
“Knew what?” Chrissy asked.
I about jumped out of my skin. My aunt had a way of sneaking up on me at the most inopportune moments. I looked over my shoulder at Chrissy doing a yoga series in the middle of the kitchen. Quite impressive since she wore skintight, stone-washed jeans and stiletto heels.
“Khyber is paying a visit,” Granny said.
“The bed breaker?” Chrissy paused in her downward dog. “But it’s February. He’s early.”
“He’s two years late.” Granny slapped her hands on her hips and jerked her chin in Chrissy’s direction. “Must you always stick your ass in the air?”
Chrissy popped up to stand. “It helps align my energy.”
“You’ve been doing yoga for decades, and you’re still a mess,” Granny said.
“Namaste to you, too, Ma.” Chrissy moved to the front door, then peered through the peek hole. “He’s different. Oh, Elanna, something’s off.”
“Everything’s off.” Unable to control the shivers racking my body, I grabbed my sweater off the back of the sofa, then shrugged it on.
“Better turn the heat up,” Granny said.
“The power’s shut off and the generator is busted.” I clenched my teeth to keep them from chattering out loud.
“Maybe Khyber can take you into town to buy a new one,” Chrissy said.
“With what money?” I asked.
They answered with a collective shrug.
“I don’t even want to be in the same state as him.” I looked between the two women, ensuring they had a crystal-clear understanding of my resentment for Khyber. “I’d never get in his truck.”
Chrissy hooked her lips into a grin. “Good thought. You might break the shocks with one of your makeup sessions.”
“There will be no makeup.” As I sighed through my nose, my breath froze in the air.
“You don’t want the pipes to freeze again,” Granny said.
“Or to catch a cold,” Chrissy added. She jerked straight. “Here he comes.”
“Go upstairs—” Before I finished my sentence, they had made their way to the staircase.
I tiptoe-raced to the kitchen. I’d be damned if Khyber caught me standing by the front door…waiting. I shoved myself into a chair at the empty table. Because normal people sit around a table by themselves with nothing better to do. “Shit.” I raced to the pantry, pulled out a cereal box then slammed it on the table just before Khyber knocked on the door.
“What?” I cringed at my question. Who says ‘what’? I blew a puff of frozen air at the water-stained ceiling. “I mean, I’m coming—” A blush burned up my cheeks. “I’m on my way.”
Outside, the porch floorboards creaked as Khyber shifted his weight.
I steeled my spine and reminded myself that the shovel sat against the wall. One swing and Khyber’s unannounced visit would be over. I took a deep breath and bottled up all feelings deep inside my ribcage. Wearing my pseudo-armor of indifference, I walked to the door.
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