Tears of the Wolf

November 06, 2020

Tears of the Wolf

Tears of the Wolf

Hotel LaBelle Book 4

by Sharon Buchbinder

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Chief of Tribal Police Jacob Graywolf serves and protects his community on the reservation. When an epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women hits home, he's relieved the FBI gets involved. But something about the woman agent has him running scared.

FBI Special Agent Zena Adalwolf is certain Jacob is her soul mate. Their connection at first sight is immediate and urgent—a bond that transcends their professional relationship. If only the clueless hunk would realize they belong together!

After more Native American women are killed, Zena and Jacob suspect they have a serial killer on their hands. To track down the unsub, they allow their inner wolves to come out and play. But with the ever-ticking clock going wild, will the killer find them first?

Prologue

Crow Reservation, Billings, Montana

Jacob Graywolf walked in the door at six on Friday evening. Jessie, the gray-chinned black Labrador mix, greeted him with a slow wave of her tail and slumped down at his feet. “How you doing, old girl?” He rubbed her head, and she gave him a doggy grin. “Biscuit?”

Her head jerked up, and her tail thumped. “Here you go.” He dug a treat out of the jar. “The way you like it.”

Setting a bouquet of flowers on the table, he placed his black-padded jacket on the hook and looped his Sam Browne over the next one. The belt with his holstered side-arm hadn’t bothered him all day. The moment he arrived home, however, it seemed as if the tools of his career—even the light-weight Kevlar vest— weighed a hundred pounds.

The tantalizing aroma of roasting turkey filled the kitchen, and his stomach growled in anticipation of a feast.

Rummaging under the sink to find a suitable vase, Jacob’s hand fell on the one he’d made for his mother in middle school using the class pottery wheel. Streaks of blue and red drizzled down the sides, cooked into perpetual tears by the kiln. Perfect. After he trimmed the ends of the stems and removed the greenery that would slide beneath the surface and hasten the decaying process, a thorn pricked his index finger and a rivulet of crimson sluiced into the water. With his dry hand, he pulled out a tissue and pressed it to the weeping wound. He placed the red roses in the center of the table set with three place settings, a braided loaf of challah, and two unlit white tapers. A whisper of a sound, and his mother entered the kitchen—wrapped in a colorful, geometric-patterned dress, her long, dark hair still damp.

“Jacob! You’re early. And you brought my favorite flowers.” She pecked him on the cheek, and the scent of eucalyptus washed over him reminding him of his asthma treatments as a child. “You must’ve gone all the way into Billings for them. Thank you.”

“No, Mom. I’m on time. And you’re welcome.” She smiled and waved a hand as if swatting a fly.

“That’s early in this house.”

“Only for you.” He glanced at his watch. “How long before dinner is ready? Do I have time to grab a quick shower?”

“Yes. I even left you some hot water.”

As he headed toward his wing of the house, she called after him. “I can’t wait to tell you about this new doctor at the clinic. What a jerk.”

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Sharon Buchbinder has been writing fiction since middle school and has the rejection slips to prove it. An RN, she provided health care delivery, became a researcher, association executive, and obtained a PhD in Public Health. She is the author of the Hotel LaBelle Series, the Jinni Hunter Series, and the Obsession Series. When not attempting to make students and colleagues laugh or writing, she can be found fishing, walking her dogs, herding cats, or breaking bread and laughing with family and friends in Baltimore, MD and Punta Gorda, FL.