I’m not sure if today’s blog is a Tuesday Treat or a Tuesday Tease… Have I mentioned that Iffy is a b…witch? She’s trying to hurry me through COWGIRL’S SWEETHEART, totally ignoring FAERIE FREE (or FEUD), and longing to revisit both the Wolves and Sade and the gang.
Those of you who follow my Author’s Page on Facebook know that I participate in a flash fiction writing exercise prompted by Siobhan Muir on her blog. Called Thursday Threads, she offers up a writing prompt, participants slap down 250 words using the prompt somewhere in the exercise and post it. She has a guest judge, just for fun. I’ve won a couple of times and place as an honorable mention often. More than a few of those prompts have ended up in my stories.
So, do you think Iffy would help me out and gear those words toward the current WIP? Oh hell no! 
The past few weeks, she’s been pushing me toward Wolves and Penumbra. So…here’s the current plan because my personal publishing schedule is whacked. Once I get FAERIE FREE (June 1st deadline) and COWGIRL’S SWEETHEART (April 21st proposal and July 17th final deadlines) submitted, I have plans for one more Wolf novella–BLUE MOON, which is Antoine’s and DJ’s story. DJ is the Deputy US Marshal who’s appeared in some books, and Antoine is Izzy “feral” uncle. I’ll follow that with the crossover novella with the working title of MOON SHOT, which introduces the guys of the Hard Target series. My NATO SpecOps team has a few secrets of their own and I think fans of the Wolves will like them. Anyway, that’s the plan. In the meantime, I thought I’d toss a tease out here for those of you who want a Wolf fix. This scene may or may not make it into BLUE MOON–and I’ve edited it so it’s a bit more than 250 words now. 😉
****
DJ threaded frustrated fingers through her short hair. Her boss’ order had sounded so simple sitting in his Las Vegas office.
Go get the man.
Only the man was a freaking ghost. After the debacle in New Orleans, she was lucky to still have her badge. Deputy US Marshal. She was a manhunter, right? Right. Her job was to track and arrest fugitives from the law.
Go get the man. So much easier said than done. Especially after crashing her car and stumbling around lost in the bayous for hours. Something growled nearby. She froze. Did alligators growl?
Crouched in the cypress knees, Antoine filled his lungs with the woman’s scent. He’d followed her as she wandered lost. Her scent seemed familiar so he trailed her, keeping a cautious eye on her activities. This was his bayou. He didn’t like strangers, especially when they were so close to his pack.
Another scent intruded. Sweat, sour and full of testosterone. She was being hunted by someone else. The thought pissed him off. Royally. She was his woman.
He stilled. His woman? Snarling, his wolf ranged just beneath his skin. Yes, his wolf agreed. She belonged to them. Antoine would kill any man who touched her. His prey tensed, wary, sensing she was being hunted. He sniffed the air. Three intruders—but human. In a boat. He smiled. Laissez les bons temps rouler.
Slipping into the water, he submerged, coming up behind the boat like a wily ol’ gator. Surging up, he grabbed a man, hauled him into the water, and broke his neck. The others quickly followed.
DJ stood frozen on the bank, all sense of self-preservation deserting her as she watched the scene unfold out on the water. A few moments later, ripples appeared, and then a head. A man rose from the turgid water and stalked toward her.
“You should be more careful.”
She’d hit system overload. Her eyes rolled back in her head but he caught her before she hit mud.
“I will take care of you, chère.”
Oh, hell. She was caught in a real-life “Deliverance.”
****
Okay, I’m off to work. On cowgirls and cowboys, not Wolves. Not today. Iffy will just have to go play with herself. 😉
So what are y’all playing with today?
I originally saved this back in November of last year. I do that. Sometimes, one of the Universe’s emails pops up, I want to keep it but I’m not ready to use it, so I tuck it back as a draft.
