SILENCE OF THE WOLF by Terry Spear

SILENCE OF THE WOLF is Book thirteen in Terry Spear's Heart of the Wolf series. As a fan of Terry Spear and this series, I have been waiting for gray werewolf Tom Silver to have a story of his own for a long time. He is my favorite of the three Silver brothers.

This story takes place in Silver Town, Colorado. Silver Town is a unique environment and it's nice to re-visit it in this story. It's a town run by wolf shifters and they make up the majority of the population.

Elizabeth Wildwood is an interloper to this town. She has a lot to be anxious about: she is a red wolf/coyote shifter in a town full of gray wolf shifters, and she is trying to get evidence of her parents' possible murder. There were many sources of conflict in this story -- rogue wolves loose in Silver Town riling up the human farmers, shadowy figures trying to capture Elizabeth, and the mystery surrounding Elizabeth's parents' death. All these things kept up the level of excitement and made things interesting.

For me this is a book very much about family. Elizabeth is stunned and deeply touched by how much acceptance and friendship she finds among the gray wolf shifters. Acceptance is something that has always been in short supply for her. The only time she has felt love has been when her mother and father were alive. She was hidden or looked down on by both her mother and father's families for being both wolf and coyote. It's this bad experience with family that makes it difficult for her to trust that she can find happiness and attract and hold onto love. Of course this makes Tom the perfect guy for her since he's such a sweet and sexy combination.

SILENCE OF THE WOLF continues Terry Spear's tradition of writing strong female characters and sweet, sexy male characters. I really enjoyed this romance and I think Elizabeth and Tom are a great match. I love that they have a teasing, fun flirtation right from the beginning. As always with this author's books, the secondary characters are great as well and really add to the story. It's great to catch up with favorite characters from past books like Sam and Silva. I loved this romance and eagerly await the next book in this series as well as other books by Terry Spear!

Learn more about SILENCE OF THE WOLF

SUMMARY

A hunky werewolf and a beautiful stranger collide in this hot new paranormal shape-shifting romance Gray werewolf Tom Silver is determined to find the wolves who have been attacking local livestock. While tracking the pack through the Rockies, a blizzard forces him into a remote cabin where he hears a plane crash nearby. When he discovers the sole survivor is a beautiful female werewolf/ coyote shifter mix, bound as a prisoner, he knows it's his duty to hide her. Now, they are both at risk as a search ensues for the missing prisoner. Will Tom be able to protect this beautiful stranger while tracking down the wolves responsible for terrorizing the local livestock?

EXCERPT

Tom Silver stared at the woman. She was too a wolf. He took another deep breath of the cinnamon-filled air, of the woman’s sweet scent of red wolf… and something else. Coyote.

She was petite like a red wolf, but more than unusual because she wasn’t all wolf. He’d never met a wolf-coyote mix before. Never heard of a coyote shifter. Now he wondered if the coyotes he’d seen that dared encroach on their territory were shifters, not just plain old coyotes.

He immediately thought of the Native American legends of Coyote, the trickster god, full of mischief, a thief, wily, and sneaky. And a shape-shifter. Maybe that’s where the tales had come from, based in part on the truth, just as werewolf tales of old were.

The lady’s hair was a mass of shiny, dark red curls. Her eyes were a clear blue-green, her skin ivory except for a pale smattering of tiny red freckles barely visible across the bridge of her nose and cheeks. She was a busty little thing. The sweater was form-fitting—the style that showed off a woman’s curves. And she had them in abundance.

“This is Elizabeth Wildwood from Canyon, Texas. Elizabeth, meet Tom Silver.”

“Thank you for taking me to the resort,” Elizabeth said quickly, her expression wary, her heartbeat ratcheting up a couple of notches. She looked as astonished to learn he was a gray wolf as he was to learn what she was. She must not have known Silver Town was wolf-run.

He smelled a tangy scent on her that revealed her concern. If she worried that he intended to hit on her, she needn’t bother. A woman who lived much closer to home would have appealed more.

“Yes, um, let me wash my hands real quick.” Elizabeth leaped to her feet. Without waiting for him to move out of her way, she brushed past him to get to the kitchen sink. His gaze lingered on the formfitting black ski pants that revealed her shapely ass and legs. Fur-topped snow boots reached to her knees, and her aqua sweater zipped up to her chin.

The fact she was a shifter sure would be a wolf draw. At least he thought so, as pretty as she was. Bertha raised her brows at him, her smile fixed. Why hadn’t Darien filled him in? Tom had thought she might be a non-shifting human who had lupus garou roots, and that’s why Darien had said she was part wolf. From what Tom understood, wolves were just as attracted to those non-shifters as to full-blooded lupus garous. The eager males might not be put off by Elizabeth’s wolf-coyote heritage.

Elizabeth grabbed a parka off her chair, pulled it on, then snatched up a backpack, and he led her to the front door.

Having fun wasn’t what Tom intended. Ensuring the Woodcroft boys stayed out of trouble and that the she- wolf coyote didn’t get herself into a mess would be a job, not a fun excursion.

He held the door open for Elizabeth and tried not to take in her appearance again, but it was difficult not to— being the wolf that he was. She avoided looking at him, which made him believe she was a beta.

He shut the door of the B and B, escorted Elizabeth to his pickup truck, and opened the passenger-side door. She eyed the interior of his truck. “Bertha… well, she said…”

She finally let out her warm cinnamon-scented breath, misting when it mixed with the icy air, and turned to gaze up at him, her eyes so striking that it was as if he were looking into a crystal clear, blue-green lake. “Bertha said you could hang around to bring me back to the B and B later, but I’ll just take the shuttle.”

Without waiting for him to respond, she got into the vehicle. “Thanks,” Elizabeth said back sweetly.

Having fun wasn’t what Tom intended. Ensuring the Woodcroft boys stayed out of trouble and that the she- wolf coyote didn’t get herself into a mess would be a job, not a fun excursion.

He glanced back at Bertha and tilted his chin down to give her a disapproving look.

Bertha’s smile only broadened. Tom shook his head. He held the door open for Elizabeth and tried not to take in her appearance again, but it was difficult not to—being the wolf that he was. She avoided looking at him, which made him believe she was a beta.

He shut the door of the B and B, escorted Elizabeth to his pickup truck, and opened the passenger-side door.

“Yeah?” Tom wondered just what Bertha had said. Elizabeth cleared her throat.

“I’m fine with bringing you back here.” He shut the door, then hurried around to the driver’s side.

He didn’t know how he would manage to work ski patrol without thinking of this she-wolf up on the slopes by herself. He could imagine all the bachelor males in their pack hot-wolfing it down the slopes to get her attention, and all the injuries that could result.