Helping his brother escape the zoo, Rainy discovers more than just an array of animals.
Rainy scouts the zoo, planning a mission to rescue his brother, who’d been sold by poachers while in wolf form. He gets a whiff of the most intoxicating scent, the man Travis Carlyle, his mate. But he quickly finds out that before he can claim the handsome veterinarian, Rainy has to convince Travis that he’s worth coming out of the closet for.
Travis leads a quiet, discreet life, avoiding any situation that could possibly out him to his family. After so many years alone, Travis finds the love, affection, and acceptance Rainy offers him too hard to resist. But just when he decides Rainy might be worth the persecution of revealing his sexuality, he discovers Rainy has been keeping secrets, a lot of secrets: Werewolves, Shifters, Mates? When he watches a shift with his own eyes, Travis is forced to accept the truth.
Too bad not everyone wants Travis to know the wolves’ secrets, tossing him into a feud between shifters. When Travis’s father tries to come between them, can Rainy convince Travis to choose a dangerous, love-filled life with him instead of the comfortable, quiet existence he’s led with his family?
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Werewolf at the Zoo
Copyright © 2011 Charlie Richards
ISBN: 978-1-55487-875-8
Cover art by Martine Jardin
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
Published by eXtasy Books
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Smashwords Edition
Werewolf at the Zoo
Wolves of Stone Ridge One
By
Charlie Richards
Dedication
Thanks to my sister, Lisa, for taking a chance and being my guinea pig. Your insight is invaluable.
Chapter One
Rainy leaned against the fence and grinned. “Well, that’s quite the mess ye’ve gotten yerself into there, bro.” He couldn’t suppress the chuckle when the dark brown eyes on the other side of the fence narrowed, and he heard a low growl. “Keep yer fur on, I’ll have ye out soon enough. Then ye can tell me what the hell happened to land ye in the zoo.”
This time the growl was unmistakable, followed by his brother launching at the fence and snapping at Rainy.
“You really shouldn’t get that close to the fences. And what did you do to piss him off? You shouldn’t be teasing the animals.”
Rainy turned to see a slender woman in brown slacks and a gray button-down shirt. The shirt had the zoo’s logo emblazoned on it. Her blonde hair was twisted into a bun at the nape of her neck, her full lips scowled, matching the hostile glint of her blue eyes and the hands resting on her hips.
Out of the corner of his eye, Rainy noted his brother ease back from the fence and stare avidly at the woman. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to aggravate him.” He grinned and shrugged. “Guess he liked the smell of the jerky I was eating. I promise I didn’t give him any though.” Rainy glanced over his shoulder at his brother. “Since I have plans for tonight, I’ll be on me way.” Giving her a wink, he moved past her. “Thanks for yer concern.”
He heard muttering as he strode away from the pen. He’d discovered what he needed to know anyway, the kind of lock on the cage holding the werewolf. When Rainy had heard his brother had landed in the zoo in wolf form, he’d laughed his head off. Cliff had been missing for two days before they’d figured out what happened to him, or where he was anyway. Only Cliff could give him some idea of how he’d ended up there. He chuckled. What would humans think if they knew there was a werewolf at the zoo?
An appealing, musky scent hit Rainy’s senses and he paused. His gums began to tingle, and he had to concentrate to keep his canines from dropping. Taking several deep breaths, he glanced around. “What the hell?” he hissed.
Rainy’s gaze swept the area, trying to find the source of the delicious scent. A glance over his shoulder had him focusing on a slender young man who stood talking to the woman he’d just left. The man’s shoulder-length blond hair was pulled into a short ponytail that brushed against his collar. He stood at medium height and muscle definition outlined the arm that held a black satchel. He wore the same outfit as the woman, with a white lab style coat over the gray button down shirt.
He and the woman headed into a building several feet away. When the man paused at the top of the stairs and glanced over his shoulder at him, Rainy’s breath stuck in his throat. The man had the deepest blue eyes he’d ever seen. His cock, already half hard from the man’s delicious, musky scent, filled the rest of the way and pressed against the seam of his suddenly too tight jeans. He took a step toward the man, but when the stranger’s eyes widened in surprise, Rainy forced his body to pause. His inner wolf wanted to whimper at the flash of panic in the man’s eyes before he slipped into the building and pulled the door closed behind him.
Taking a deep breath, Rainy shook his head and cleared his senses. A moment later, he realized he still stood staring at the closed door and forced his body to turn away. “We’ll come back,” he promised the agitated inner wolf pacing inside him. Something about the man had stirred his beast. After dealing with the problem of his trapped brother, he’d take the time to figure out why.
* * * *
“Hey, sis.” Travis grinned when he saw Lisa frown at him. “Sorry, I’m late. Doc Martin needed an extra hand holding Sally down. She has a cut on her leg.”
Lisa rolled her eyes. “Who named the crocodile Sally?”
Travis chuckled. “An administrative assistant named Bernice, who worked here three years ago when the croc came in. I have no idea why the name stuck.”
Opening the door, he ushered Lisa in. A tingle worked its way up his spine, and he paused in the doorway to glance over his shoulder. His gaze swept the sidewalks between animal sanctuaries, but he saw nothing amiss. Then his eyes fixed on a man twenty paces away staring right at him. Sweeping his gaze over the man, he wanted to moan. Oh, look at that body! He had a heavily muscled frame without being bulky, dark hair, and deep green eyes that focused on him with an intensity that caused a second shiver to race down his spine. Dark blue jeans hugged toned thighs and a black t-shirt stretched tautly over ripped abs. God, what would it be like to trace those with my tongue?
Travis frowned, realizing the direction of his thoughts. “Shit.” His friend Roger had come out to his parents the second year of college. Roger’s family had disowned him, and Travis’s parents had supported their decision. He wasn’t allowed to be gay, unless he wanted to lose his family.
Rolling his shoulders, he shoved the disturbing thoughts away. Movement snapped his gaze back to the man, and Travis saw him take several steps toward him. He felt his eyes widen as panic flooded his system. Oh, hell, no. If the man came over, Travis knew he’d end up doing something stupid and out himself. Getting his feet moving, Travis shut the door behind him and found his sister staring at him. He took a deep breath to get his racing pulse under control and noticed the tight lines around Lisa’s jaw. “What’s eating you?”
She frowned. “Nothing. Just some jerk messing with the new wolf. God, some people are just so irritating.”
Thank God she hadn’t notice his own moment of distraction. “What happened?”
Travis watched her shrug. When her gaze landed on him and he lifted his brows, Lisa shook her head. “Not sure. When I walked up, the wolf had just launched itself at the fence. The guy thought it was funny.”
“Then what?”
For a second, Lisa looked confused. “Oh, nothing. When I questioned him, he made up some lame-ass story about the wolf liking the smell of his jerky and walked away.”
Huh, he’d never seen Lisa this upset about a patron bothering an animal before. Sure it was frustrating that some people didn’t respect the animals, but if they let it bother them, they’d be angry every day, all day. “Easy, sis. I’m sure the wolf is fine. It was sitting quietly near the fence when we walked away.” Knowing a change of subject was in order, he forced a smile. “So, what do you need from me?”
“We have two snakes that need to be checked. They didn’t eat the mice given to them last night.”
Travis groaned. “Awe, shit. You know I hate snakes. Why couldn’t you get Carl to check them? He doesn’t mind the disgusting creatures.”
He watched in surprise as Lisa shuddered. “Sorry, but Carl gives me the creeps. He keeps touching me. I’d rather not work with him.”
“Touching you?” Travis growled, following his sister down the backside of the cages. “What do you mean touching you?”
“All innocent stuff, ya know?” She waved her hand dismissively. “A hand on my arm or shoulder, that kind of stuff. But it still gives me the creeps.”
“Well, if anything happens, you let me know. I’ll take care of him.” Whoa! Where had that protective instinct come from?
Lisa’s snicker brought him back to the present. “What are you going to do, big brother? Quote the human resources policy on sexual harassment at him?”
“Wow, ouch.” So he was a geek. He had to be. If his parents found out he would prefer to date men instead of the occasional woman his scholarly look attracted, he’d be screwed. And not in the way he wanted.
“Sorry, Travis,” Lisa soothed. “It’s just, we both know you’re not much of a fighter.”
“No,” he admitted. “But I do have seniority. I’ve worked here almost seven years. I can pull some strings to get him reassigned.”
Lisa’s eyes widened. “You’d do that for me?”
Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he grinned. “Of course. You’re my baby sister.”
“You’re the best, Travis. I’d do anything for you too, ya know?”
“Sure, sis.” He turned away, heading along the cages. His heart thudded in his chest. Would she say that if she knew he would rather be fucked by a man instead of fucking a woman? Or would she feel the same as their parents? He couldn’t risk it. And what did it matter? He’d controlled his urges for years without anyone finding out. Damn sexy stranger! “Let’s see to these damn snakes and get out of here.”
Lisa laughed. Travis smiled.
It took him longer than anticipated to finish checking the snakes, mostly because he put off touching them as much as possible. He didn’t know why Lisa enjoyed working with them. When he left the reptile house, he glanced at his watch and saw that it was nearly six o’ clock.
“Do you want to grab a bite to eat at the café before it closes?”
“Sure,” he said, nodding. Nothing waited for him at home except an empty apartment and a few science fiction books. Travis followed his sister across the park and into the café attached to the gift shop. It closed in twenty minutes, but that would be enough time for them to get their food.
It was dark by the time they finished eating. The café had closed around them, and Donny and Casey, the cook and cashier, had sat and chatted with them for a bit. Travis glanced around the dark park, already missing the warm days of summer.
“It sure gets dark early anymore, doesn’t it?” Lisa murmured from next to him.
Travis nodded, staring out over the park. “Sure does, but I like the quiet of the night. There’s something to be said for listening to the animals settle in their pens.”
“Yup. Are you going to Mom and Dad’s tomorrow for supper?”
Nodding again, he grinned. “And have Mom on my ass for missing Thursday supper two weeks in a row? She still grouses about how I let these animals come before family.”
Lisa rested a hand on his arm, and he turned to look into her concerned eyes. “She’s just worried because you never bring anyone to supper with you, and the only reason you ever miss it is for work.”
Travis groaned. “Oh, God, Lis, don’t you start, too. I’m happy with my work.” At her hurt look, he bit back the rest of his classic rebuttal, mainly that he didn’t need anyone in his life. It was all a line of bull anyway. Instead, he said, “I’m sure that special someone is out there somewhere, I’m just not in any hurry to find them.”
Chapter Two
Rainy watched Cliff run a hand through his dark hair, so similar to his own. He knew the depths of his brother’s irritation by the deepening of his Irish lilt.
“I’m pretty sure it was poachers. I was out stretching me legs when I smelled blood. I found an injured deer in a clearing. The scent of the deer’s panic was pretty overwhelming, so I didn’t notice the men until too late. They tranked me, but since I’m a were, it didn’t knock me completely out. I couldn’t move, but I remember them tossing me in a cage and taking me somewhere with a number of other cages. I could smell other animals, but they kept me sedated so I couldn’t change or look around much. Finally, I ended up at the zoo.”
Rainy watched his brother rise and begin to pace, his movements jerky and agitated.
“We’ve got to find these assholes and put a stop to this.”
“Calm down, Cliff,” Declan said. The large African American, their alpha, rose and rested a hand on Cliff’s shoulder, squeezing in reassurance. “Since we had to put another wolf in yer place so it didn’t look like a theft, I’ve already put a call in to Detective Stryker. He’s going to look into how ye were purchased and try to track them that way.”
Rainy smiled. Detective Grady Stryker wasn’t a wolf, but since he was a loner by nature and a good man to have around in a sticky spot, Declan had granted him access to pack lands. The massive Bengal tiger stayed clear of most wolves, but Rainy had struck up a friendship with him when they’d bumped into each other at a gay bar in the nearby city. They’d even dated once before, quickly deciding they were better off as friends. “If anyone can dig up the truth, it’s Grady. He won’t let us down.”
Cliff nodded. “In the meantime, I’d like to go back to the zoo and see if I can learn anything by talking with the workers. If they’re getting animals from poachers, there’s gotta be someone smoothing the way from the inside.”
After the alpha nodded his consent, Cliff clasped hands with their father, Duncan. Rainy heard a murmured, “I’m glad ye’re safe,” before Duncan released Cliff and his brother headed out the door.
The memory of a sexy-as-sin blond with a ponytail had Rainy easing to his feet. “I think I’ll go with him.”