A beat of a second passed before he slowly pulled away from me, the suffocating heat withdrawing with him as he straightened up. My eyes lifted to meet his as he released his hold on my knife, and I flicked my wrist, flipping it with ease so my hands closed around its smooth, still-warm handle. The room was silent. The ten other men seated on the couch didn't bother trying to hide the shock on their faces that a hunter had just agreed to a deal with their Alpha. I totally felt the same way, even if I was that dumb motherfucker. They seemed to be imagining what horrible, unthinkable threats he could have whispered into my ear to make me cave, but to think my resolve had dissolved with just four unexpected words from his mouth. Sometimes, I wondered if I even had a brain. "So," I said now, holding back a sigh as I looked up into those steely, unreadable eyes, "If I'm going to work with you, I'll need a name to call you by. Unless you prefer to be referred to as moody dick?" Silence followed my words. "What, don't you guys know Moby Dick?" I asked no one in particular, and ten pairs of eyes exchanged glances that further questioned my sanity. The last pair of eyes held mine steady. The ring of gold in them seemed to burn like a flickering candlelight against the night of the sea. "Heath," he said, and I could finally place his accent as the name curled and settled in my ears like a cat by the fireplace. I smiled. "Well, cool." I put my hand out between us, the one holding the knife, the silver-pointed tip facing him as I offered him a handshake. "Nice to meet you moody dick, I'm Alessandra."

"No, you have it wrong," she whispers in a voice light enough to mistake for empty wind; her hands frame either side of his clenching jaw, tightening until they stop trembling. "I am the wolf." * Seventeen year-old Dove Ramsay is doomed, or at least-- that's what every preacher in a thousand mile radius is cramming down every believer's throat. It's end of times, the days are numbered, and the only hope for any of humankind is salvation. The existence of werewolves has become a fact accepted globally, and the fear of them just as obvious. A rag-tag pack manages to pass through Dove's hometown of Thistle, bringing a trail of blood, dirty money, and a new way to pass time in a place where there's nothing to do but wait for another empty weekend. As everyone around the teenager warns her to stay away from the strange Alpha, Dove realizes he's something she's never been able to find in the lonely town. He's a temptation Dove refuses to resist.

❝All wolves are the same. Some are closer to a real monster, and others hide in sheep skin.❞ Lennox Armstrong is a twenty-six-year-old Alpha who controls one of the biggest packs in the Northern hemisphere. The one difference between him and every other werewolf? He's less human and more wolf. With his pack house located at the other side of a college campus, it's inevitable that he meets Schuyler Bradshaw: a quirky nineteen-year-old, past-help, obsessed-with-anything-and-everything-to-do-with-wolves girl who happens to be on a date with his Casanova-of-a-best-friend. Overcome by the drive to fulfill the inevitability of mating with the human girl or drive his more primal thoughts back down- betrayal, murder and something to dig your teeth in unfolds itself as Lennox is forced to learn if he's truly a monster that hides in sheep's skin. BOOK #1 of BLOODLINES trilogy *romance/suspense/mystery* TRAILER BY @Rosykun COVER BY @beingellie

Aspiring writer Norah Jacobs needs an escape. In the span of two weeks, her corrupt brother has been jailed for murder and his partner has been hovering on her doorstep, threatening to ruin what little peace she has left. Packing her car, Norah flees the city and goes off the grid, finding refuge in the small coastal town of Bellvale. However, Norah's newfound refuge lands her right in the middle of a power struggle between creatures she thought only existed in fairy tales, and she begins to see that no matter how hard you try to run from your troubles, they seem to have a way of catching up with you... Watty 2014 Winner Haven Copyright © Melissa Lucas 2013 All Rights Reserved. No part of this literary work may be reproduced or used without written consent from the author.