Sexy Beast III. Morgan Hawke

      KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

       http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

      CONTENTS

      Chanku Journey

       Kate Douglas

      Kiss of the Dragon

       Lacy Danes

      Winter’s Kiss

       Morgan Hawke

      Chanku Journey

      Kate Douglas

      1

      Tia Mason stared, transfixed by the creamy white box covering her lap. After a long, silent moment, she slowly raised her head, glanced to her right, and caught her new packmate, Lisa Quinn, smiling at her. Tia took a deep breath. Let it out. Took another. With trembling hands, she slipped her fingers beneath the white satin ribbon and pushed it down the length of the box and over the end. She looked at Lisa once more, then stared at the box again.

      “What’s the matter? You act like you’re afraid it’ll bite.” Lisa’s teasing laughter was followed by a soft, supportive hand on Tia’s forearm. “Open it, hon. It’s okay.”

      Tia nodded as she slipped her fingers beneath the edges of the stiff cardboard lid and lifted it. A dusty hint of rose-scented sachet wafted into the air. Her first thought was how much the sweet perfume reminded her of her mother.

      Then she promptly burst into tears.

      She was so not ready for this. She forced the lid back on the box. The scent of the rose sachet lingered. “I can’t do it, Lisa. I really can’t do it.”

      “Can’t do what? Marry your bonded mate, the man you’ve been in love with since the first time you saw him? Wear your mother’s wedding gown? Say ‘I do’ in front of the people who love you? C’mon, hon. You should be happy, not sitting here in a puddle of tears. What’s the matter?”

      Tia tried to talk, couldn’t, and took the tissue Lisa shoved into her hand. She blew her nose and wiped her eyes. “I have panic attacks just thinking about the wedding. What does that tell you? Putting on my mother’s dress…” She brushed the top of the box with her fingers. “Having Dad walk me down the aisle. I mean, it all sounds perfectly normal, but everything’s going to change and it’s scaring the crap out of me.”

      Lisa snorted. Tia swung her head around and glared. “You’re not taking me very seriously, are you?”

      Holding up both hands, Lisa said, “Yes. Yes, I am, but it’s just so funny to hear you complaining about something normal. You’re a shapeshifter, for crying out loud. A fucking wolf, Tia, just like the rest of the pack. There’s not anything remotely normal about any of us.”

      Tia glared at Lisa and then realized she suddenly felt like giggling, not crying. With a dramatic sigh, she held out her hand for another tissue, which Lisa dropped into her palm. Tia wiped her eyes again, patted the top of the box for good measure, and settled back against the arm of the couch. “Okay,” she said, fighting the lingering urge to laugh hysterically, “panic attack averted. For now. I’ve got it under control. Dad may have to carry me down the aisle kicking and screaming, but…”

      “You’ll be fine. We’ll check out the dress later if you want. Concentrate on who’s coming.” Lisa poured a glass of wine and handed it to Tia, obviously prepared for some heavy-duty girl talk. “It’s more important, don’t you think, to focus on the people who love you, not on whether you’re going to make it down the aisle without tripping over your toes?”

      Tia laughed. “Gee, thanks. Now you’ve given me a whole new set of worries.” She sipped at the chilled Pinot Grigio and began to relax. Thank goodness for Lisa. Like her mate, Tinker, she was loving and warm and so wonderfully practical. Though she hadn’t known Lisa all that long, Tia felt unbelievably comfortable with her.

      Just as she felt comfortable with all the others who were coming here to celebrate. Every one of them, including the often mysterious Anton Cheval. Would she and Luc have the same kind of loving relationship as Keisha and Anton? Sometimes Tia found it hard to believe Luc loved her as much as he did, as much as she loved him.

      Then she’d remember their mating bond, the fact there were no secrets between them. Yes, he definitely loved her. In every way possible, at every opportunity.

      She glanced at Lisa and realized that, in their own way, all of her pack members loved her, and Tia loved every one of them. The bond of Chanku was more than mere membership in a particular pack; it was a blood link among all of them, a tie that could not be broken.

      She thought of Shannon, her longtime friend who was also coming west to be her maid of honor. They’d been like sisters growing up, long before either one of them suspected they were connected by more than friendship but also by their Chanku blood.

      Shannon was coming out from Maine with her mate, Jacob Trent, along with Lisa’s brother, Baylor. Tia took Lisa’s hand and squeezed her fingers. “I just thought of Bay and it reminded me, I got a call last night from Mik Fuentes. He said they’ve completed their assignment in Alabama in plenty of time to get here for the wedding, so not only will Baylor be here, you’ll finally get to see your sister Tala.”

      A huge smile spread across Lisa’s face. “I can’t wait to see Mary Ellen…er, Tala, and Bay. It’s been over ten years. I still can’t believe she’s bonded with two men.”

      Tia squeezed Lisa’s hand again. “Makes my bout of nerves look pretty dumb. You must be a basket case, waiting to reunite with your brother and sister.”

      Lisa nodded. “Excited, scared. Anxious…We were such a dysfunctional family.”

      Typical of Chanku, Tia thought. So confusing, to live as a human with the heart and mind of a wolf buried away, hidden deep in your soul. She was one of the lucky ones. She’d found the answers to all her questions in the love of one man, in the love of the pack.

      Like Lisa, she’d been given the gift of an amazing birthright. Lisa was right. What was she so nervous about? Tia leaned close and kissed Lisa on the lips. “You’re not dysfunctional anymore…and that brother of yours…wow! When Bay was here for those two months working while Luc got his resignation from the Secret Service all straightened out…” Tia fanned herself with her palm. “He is very, very hot.”

      “If you say so.” Lisa laughed.

      Lisa’s dry comment and burst of laughter wiped away all of Tia’s lingering nerves. For now. She slipped the lid off the box in her lap and gently shook her mother’s wedding dress out of the tissue. “I can’t imagine this will fit. Mom was such a tiny little thing.” She held it up, barely controlling the sudden sting of tears behind her eyes. If only Camille had lived to see this day.

      “Well, you’re skinny all around.