Words from Day 20 of Writing - Lunar Wolves: The Unwanted

With the contract work completed twelve days ahead of schedule, I took a couple of days to work out which way was  up and what, of a multitude of publishing tasks I needed to do first...or next...or something...and then I eased back into the words.

Starting Words: 74,204

Finishing Words: 79,619

Words Written: 5,414

Other Words: 4,939

Other Project/Project Aspects Advanced: 1

Excerpt: In which Oliver looks set to complicate things:

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Considering the price on their heads, that was a miracle in and of itself. He could only hope that whatever Belle’s secrets were, they’d be enough to make the reward an unacceptable risk. He watched Belle think about it and breathed a sigh of relief when she scowled but didn’t argue.

Instead, she stepped up to Oliver and looked up at him.

“You need to get your neck down here,” she told him, and Oliver looked down at her, his lips curving into an insolent smile.

Rohim cleared his throat, but Oliver’s smile didn’t dim as he leaned down until Belle could fasten the collar in place.

“One day,” he promised her in a soft whisper, “it’ll be you in chains.”

Belle raised her hand to slap him, stopping the blow just short of his cheek.

“You’re just lucky I don’t have time to paint you all over again,” she snarled, jerking the collar tight and clipping the chain to it with a savage jerk.

Pulling a taser from a hidden pocket in her dress, she waved it under his nose.

“Or I’d be giving you a dose of this.”

Oliver’s grin got wider.

“One day, you won’t have that, either,” he told her, “and then we’ll talk.”

Belle’s blush grew deeper, but from the scent rising from her skin, Oliver’s words weren’t bothering her the way they looked like they were. Obviously, Rohim thought so, too.

“Enough!” he snapped. “We don’t have time for foreplay.”

Both Belle and Oliver turned and stared at him, their shocked expressions saying he was lucky they were short of time. After briefly meeting the broker’s eyes, Belle tucked her taser back into her skirt and pivoted abruptly to Lewis.

He didn’t wait to be asked, but stooped so she could fasten the collar.

“Good boy,” she told him, and he blushed, casting a nervous glance at his alpha.

Oliver’s lip curled, but it was into a small smile and not a snarl, and his eyes remained on Belle. With an internal sigh of relief, Lewis relaxed.

“Stay,” Belle ordered, dropping their chains and moving back to her gear.

“You’re done?” Rohim asked.

Belled nodded. “They’re as ready as they will be.”

Glancing back, she cast a critical eye over the two wolves.

“The disguise should buy them another twelve hours once Odyssey thinks to check the Imports section.

“Twelve?” Rohim looked alarmed.

“I was going to say twenty-four, but I didn’t want you to bank on that. Some days they put it together faster than on others.”

“That’s not promising,” Oliver noted.

Rohim smiled. “I’m not due to leave for another seventy-two hours. You know where to find me, if you need me.”

The look Oliver gave him said there wasn’t a hope in Hades he’d ever seek Rohim’s services, but the fact he didn’t say it, said the alpha wasn’t ruling out the possibility.

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Thanks must go to my cover artists, from left to right: Mihaela Voicu, Jake at JCaleb Design, and Moonchild Ljilja at Fantasy Book Design.