Cassie is headed to Crescent Hills, Texas to investigate reports of a werewolf sighting. What she doesn’t know is that finding a shifter is as easy as looking in the mirror.
The wolf within her – along with the desire to mate – will be awoken by the strange town, and when the sun goes down, she’ll be introduced to another world that exists under the light of the moon.
Royce likes to keep things simple. He doesn’t like complications, but that’s exactly what he gets when a sexy reporter arrives at his hotel. He knows more about her past than she does, and he knows the smart thing to do is keep his distance. Unfortunately, his wolf disagrees.
Unable to resist the new desires unleashed within her, Cassie will answer the call of the moon and Royce will introduce her to passions she has never felt before.
This is the first installment in TAKEN IN THE MOONLIGHT, an erotic paranormal romance trilogy. It contains strong language and is intended for mature readers. Future installments will include sexual situations with multiple partners.
EXCERPT:
Cassie listened to the voicemail on her phone for the third time.
“Cassandra Mitchell,” her mother said angrily over the speaker, “you stop ignoring my calls and pick up the damn phone. And you better be headed back home.”
No doubt about it. Mom was seriously ticked off with her. She even said ‘damn,’ which was major league cussing for her.
Cassie shook her head and stuck her phone back in her purse. She had called and left a message earlier for mom to say she’d be out of town for a few days on assignment for the news website she worked for. The news was not received well… to say the least.
It wasn’t a glamorous assignment; it was actually a little embarrassing, but embarrassment was part of everyday life when you worked for a site called Weird Wonders, the top website for fans of weird news.
Mom was less than thrilled when Cassie told her about her plan to become a writer, telling her she should go to college so she could get a real journalism job. But Cassie didn’t want to spend four years in school just to learn how to write. It was just writing; how hard could it be?
At least that was the thought until she kept getting turned down for job after job because she didn’t have a degree. She had just started thinking mom might be right when Weird News contacted her. She didn’t even ask about pay or benefits; just accepted the position as soon as the offer was made.
In the six months that she had been a Weird Writer – ugh! Stupid name – she had covered stories about a haunted house in the middle of nowhere, a haunted road out in the middle of nowhere, and Angus cattle being abducted by aliens… out in the middle of nowhere.
Now, she was headed to a little town to investigate werewolves… out in the middle of nowhere. Apparently, weird things never happened in major cities, or even in the suburbs.
No, the job wasn’t glamorous but she was being paid to write, and the pay actually wasn’t bad. No benefits, though.
Like her previous assignments, this job probably wouldn’t put her on the road to a Pulitzer but it would put money in the bank, and that was good enough for now. Except this time, mom’s reaction wasn’t good-natured acceptance. She had called and told Cassie to turn her car around immediately, saying she didn’t need to get involved with anything like this.
The second call was along the same lines, with her mother even going so far as to say she’d pay Cassie to not take the assignment, just come home and make up something for the article.
That last bit had turned the conversation into an argument. Weird News might be a joke to a lot of people but Cassie took her job seriously, and she didn’t want to hurt future job prospects by being a lousy reporter who made up everything. No. For her, writing tabloid-style articles was about addressing the topic in a way that left it open for readers to form their own opinions, without point-blank saying the outlandish events were complete fiction.
Also, the strange reaction made her curious. What did mom know that she didn’t? It was something she’d have to find out for herself because mom hung up on her when she asked that question during the second call.
Making sure nobody was behind her, Cassie stopped the car and looked at the city limit sign in front of her.
Crescent Hills, Texas. Population 2,721.
What was it about this town that freaked her mom out?
A chill ran down Cassie’s spine and her arms broke out in gooseflesh as she looked at the seemingly-innocent sign, a silent whisper in her mind telling her this was a bad idea. For just a second, she considered taking mom’s advice and turning around. Why not just make up something and to Hell with her journalistic integrity? It was a story about people turning into wolves, for Christ’s sake. It’s not like there were actually werewolves running around in Texas… or anywhere else for that matter.
Frustrated, Cassie leaned her head on the steering wheel. There was no such thing as werewolves, which meant there was nothing to be scared of. But mom was scared. Had she ever mentioned Crescent Hills before?
Cassie thought back through the years, realizing she really didn’t know much about her mother’s past. She would talk non-stop about things that had happened when Cassie was little but never mentioned anything about her life before parenthood.
Mom had mentioned once – just once, after Cassie had asked why she didn’t have a dad like other little girls – that her dad had been killed in some type of hunting accident, but that was it.
Cassie sat up, tightening her grip on the wheel. Screw it. If there were no werewolves, she’d do a few interviews, take a few pictures of the scenery, and enjoy staying in a hotel for a few days on the website’s dime. If there were werewolves... well, she’d cross that bridge when she got to it, not that there was any real danger of that scenario playing out, right?
Stomping on the gas, Cassie’s little Honda spun the tires and took off, zipping past the city limit sign before she had a chance to change her mind. Breathing easier now that the decision had been made, she looked around as she got her first look at Crescent Hills.
It looked like a typical small town. A few bars, a few mom-and-pop shops, the typical fast food places... and not a werewolf in sight. Luckily, there was also a hotel. Exactly one. The ‘vacancy’ sign was lit and the parking lot was empty. Getting a room later probably wouldn’t be difficult. Crescent Hills didn’t look to be what one might consider a vacation destination.
Cassie stopped at the little library she spotted on the main road. If any place would know what was going on around town, this was it. A little bell dinged over the door when she entered and the woman behind the counter offered a pleasant smile.
Cassie smiled back and approached her. “Hi, I’m a writer and I was wondering if you might be able to help with some information I need on the town.” Past experience had taught her that people were much friendlier to a curious writer than a nosy reporter.
The woman seemed surprised. “You’re writing about Crescent Hills?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Cassie said. “And I thought a little local information would help capture the feel of the town more accurately.”
“Well,” the woman said. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Are you looking for anything in particular?”
Cassie leaned on the counter. This might be easier than she thought. “Well, I’m mainly interested in something I heard recently. Supposedly, a couple of hunters saw a werewolf here last week. Did you hear anything…” She stopped. The friendly smile on the librarian’s face had disappeared as soon as Cassie had mentioned werewolf.
“I think you need to leave,” the woman said. She turned and walked to the other end of the counter, busying herself with some books on a cart.
“I’m sorry,” Cassie said. “I wasn’t trying to cause any trouble. I was just wondering if you had heard anything about that.”
The woman looked over at Cassie. “I don’t bother with nonsense gossip, and nobody else around here does, either, so you might as well leave.”
Cassie nodded, politely thanked the woman for her time, and went back to her car. She sat behind the wheel, staring at the library entrance for a few minutes. She had expected laughter, maybe a little snarky attitude for looking into a fairy tale. What she hadn’t expected was hostility. Maybe the woman simply had a bad day and wasn’t in the mood for what she perceived to be nonsense. Or maybe there was something going on. Something that needed to remain hidden.
A little more investigating revealed that several other people also had zero interest in talking about werewolves. Cashiers at two of the fast-food places and one at the convenience store/gas station made the woman at the library seem positively jolly. The guy at the gas station had even threatened to call the cops if she didn’t leave.
Glancing at a couple of the bars she passed, Cassie briefly considered stopping to see if anyone was willing to share anything over a beer or two, but decided against it. People around here were touchy enough without alcohol being added to the situation. No telling what might happen if she confronted someone who had just the right amount of liquid courage in them. Probably best to get situated and try again tomorrow.
She pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, looking at the single-story building with the chipped paint and the sign that read ‘OTEL,’ since the ‘H’ had apparently died a tragic death at some point in the past. Maybe the werewolves had killed it. The place didn’t look too bad but it didn’t look great, either.
While pondering the possible perks of sleeping in her car, a man stepped out of the office with a garbage bag clutched in his fist and walked towards the dumpster at the other end of the parking lot. Cassie watched him and forgot about any doubts she might have had about staying at this place. Was he the janitor? The owner? A guest just giving a helping hand? She didn’t care. If he was going to be around here, so was she.
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