Tala Ridge Alpha Preview
My next series is the Tala Ridge Shifter series, which will be about Terrell Pace and his Colorado pack. Terrell is just about to turn thirteen-years-old when the first book starts, but his forced shifting during the vampire attack in
Wolf's Enemy forced his body into early puberty.
Terrell is learning how to deal with Dusty Mercer, the Regent assigned to him by Nate Rollins, as well as learning how to be alpha to a small pack, and more.
But rogue werewolves may be more than he can handle.
Like the rest of my books, the books of the Tala Ridge Shifter series will be clean and appropriate for teens and adults.
If you read this in my newsletter, you may notice a few slight changes.
The cover image for the book is preliminary and may change if needed.
Chapter 1
La Veta County Sheriff Cole Jameson absently picked up
his coffee cup and sipped. Cold. Making a face, he set it down, the ceramic cup
thumping on his ancient wooden desktop. Glancing at the door to the front
office, he called, “Mitch, that new pot ready?”
Deputy Mitch Vaine leaned into the sheriff’s office and
grinned. The deputy’s straight, even teeth, boyish good looks, and meticulously
combed hair paid homage to his last name. “Almost, Boss!”
Cole shook his head when Mitch disappeared back into
the front office and sighed before turning back to the patrol logs he needed to
review and sign off on. Since he escorted Micah Bird to the Tala Ridge Ranch
for a CPS complaint, he’d found keeping his mind on his duties difficult at
best.
Werewolves! In his county! And they’d been there for
years. Even before the town was founded in 1886.
He heard the front door open and shut but left it to
his deputies to see what whoever it was wanted. “Jameson! Where’s Jameson?”
He winced at the fury in Commander Terrence Bird’s
roar, stood, and walked to the office door. Deputy Lincoln Stiles’ large form
blocked Bird’s path to the office. “Sir, you need to calm down.”
“I want to see Jameson, right now!”
Tucking his thumbs in his holster belt, Cole tilted his
head and narrowed his gaze at his former CO. Dressed in fatigues, combat boots,
and a heavy jacket and black cap dusted with snow, all the SEAL commander needed
to be combat-ready were his weapons.
Realizing the commander knew he and Micah were dating,
Cole sighed. “Commander.”
Bird’s sharp eyes speared him. If looks could kill, the
sheriff would be a pile of broken bones and goo. Refusing to be cowed by the
man’s obvious anger, he jerked his head toward his office. Cole sighed. “Why
don’t we take this somewhere more private?”
Lips pressed tight, shoulders bunched, Bird slapped
aside the short gate separating the front office desks from the waiting area
and walked past Deputy Stiles, brushing the man’s shoulder. Cole raised an
eyebrow. There weren’t many men as big as Commander Bird, but Stiles matched
him inch for inch. The dispatcher and the
rest of Cole’s deputies watched wide-eyed. His former CO stopped a foot in
front of Jameson, hands on his hips. Cole met his gaze, then jerked his head
toward his office door.
“Have a seat, Commander. I’ll get us some coffee.”
Wordless, Bird shoved past him and walked to the
visitor’s chair. Now that the commander wasn’t staring at him, Cole took a
quiet, deep breath, then blew it out. He glanced at Vaine. “Coffee ready, yet?”
“No, Sir. It’ll be another five minutes or so.”
Cole nodded. “Bring us two cups, black, when it’s done.
Otherwise, y’all get busy.”
Ignoring the scamper to find something to do, he turned
his back on his deputies, took another deep breath, and blew it out. Closing
the door behind him, he walked to his desk and sat. “Morning, Commander.”
Bird leaned forward, askew elbows resting on the arms
of his old-fashioned wooden chair. “What the blazes do you think you’re doing,
Jameson?”
“You spoke with Micah?”
“Nah, Mom told me. Said you’ve been keeping company with
Micah since before Christmas.”
“Yeah, well, that’s true.” Jameson fixed Bird in a
level stare. “I won’t hurt her, Sir. I’m serious about our relationship.”
Bird tensed. “If you’re just . . ..”
“I’m not.” Cole opened his top desk drawer and pulled
out a small box. “If she’ll have me, I plan to marry her.”
Taking a deep breath, Bird visibly forced himself to
relax. He glanced at the midnight blue ring box, then raised his gaze to his
Navy friend. “Tell me.”
“I accompanied her to a CPS visitation before Christmas.
She was pretty shook up by everything that happened. Afterwards, we had a meal
and started talking. We had coffee the next day, and since then we’ve met for
coffee or a meal almost every day.” Cole shrugged. “I know it’s quick, but I love her, Terry.
I’ll never purposely do anything to hurt her.”
Bird sighed away some of his anger. “I wanted her to
find a safe guy, you know. Someone not likely to leave in the morning and die
before coming home. Not a soldier.” He glared at Cole. “And not a cop!”
“I know.” Cole fisted his coffee cup and stared at the
cold coffee. “I didn’t plan it, Terry, it just happened.”
“Because she got upset about that CPS visit? What
happened?”
Cole hesitated. The pack alpha had decided the command
to keep them secret placed on him years ago in Oregon was good enough. He could
talk about the local pack, but he wasn’t sure he should. Chewing the right
corner of his bottom lip, he glanced out the only window in his office. “You
know I can’t talk about that, Terry.”
“Yeah. That’s what Micah said. But she’s hiding
something from me, Cole. Something that scares her. What is it?”
Rubbing an itch above his left eye, Cole opened his
mouth, then snapped it shut when a sharp tap sounded on the door. “Sheriff? I
have your coffee.”
“Hold that thought.” Cole stood and walked to the door,
opened it, then took both cups from his deputy. “Shut the door, Vaine.”
With a nod, the deputy pulled the door shut. Cole
carried the coffee to the desk and set a cup in front of Micah’s brother. “Here
you go. Black and strong enough to float horseshoes, since Deputy Vaine made
it.”
The commander’s large hand lifted the cup. He
sipped, then nodded and winced. “I think you could walk on that.”
Cole grinned. “Boy’s talented when it comes to coffee.”
Bird snickered, then his face settled back into a tight
expression. “Just tell me if there’s something I need to be worried about,
Cole.”
The automatic denial refused to leave Cole’s lips. He
sighed and moved aside the first, cold cup of coffee to make room for the second hot one. “Terry, I can’t tell you anything, but I promise I’ll do
everything in my power to make sure she
stays safe.”
“Meaning there’s something to worry about.”
Cole studied Terry’s worried eyes. “You remember Nate
Rollins? Lieutenant-Colonel, Marines, Brighton’s Elite Unit?”
Bird blinked. “Sure. What about him?”
“He says everything is cool. He’ll keep everything
safe.”
“Marines are involved in one of Micah’s cases?”
“No.” Cole tried a different direction. “You ever meet
Captain Waylon Rickles?”
All expression left Terry’s face. “I did. What’s he
have to do with this?”
“You ever see him . . ..” Cole grimaced at the pain
erupting in his head. Pain warning him to stop talking. Aware of his former CO
tense consideration, Cole sighed. “Never mind.”
“You know.”
“What?”
“You know about Rickles.”
Cole’s gaze snapped to Terry. “Rickles is a . . ..” He
couldn’t force out the word.
Soundlessly, Bird mouthed, “Shifter.”
Face pale, Cole stood and swayed for a moment. Walking
to the door, he turned and glanced at Terry. “I’ll be right back.”
Closing the door behind him, he marched across the
outer office, ignoring Stiles’ heavy frown and the questioning looks from his
officers. Stepping out on the sidewalk, he pulled the door shut, then walked to
the alley. With shaking fingers, he pressed the Tala Ridge Ranch button on his
cell.
“Tala Ridge Ranch, Dusty speaking.”
“This is Sheriff Jameson. I need to see Nate and Terrell right
away.”
Question: Does the red text on the cover need to change? Maybe white?
More soon!
Other News
The pre-order for
Wolf's Victory is up until February 15, which is when the book goes live!
I'm working on the new series every day. I've built my preliminary character charts for the series. It will change over time, but it helps not to have to stop and figure out a character's name when they first appear in the books. Closer to the publish date for Tala Ridge Alpha, I'll post a copy of the character chart here.
Hopefully, your February is going great. Do you have plans for Valentine's Day?
Take care.
Later,
