The Wrong Way by Taylor Law
George Washington National Forest
THE BANG OF A GUNSHOT rang out, a loud interruption ricocheting through the soft musical
echoes of the forest. The flapping of wings followed, vibrating the air overhead with the caws of
a multitude of retreating birds before finally silence reigned. The hunter lowered the weapon and
let out the breath he’d held while taking the shot. He took in another lungful of frosty air through
his nose, closing his eyes as satisfaction filled him. Finally, some action.
He grinned and gave the adrenaline its head for a moment, reveling in the sensation as it
heated his blood, and then he moved. Flipping the rifle over his back, he scrambled down from
the God-forsaken tree stand and squirmed out of the safety harness. He’d been in the damn thing
for hours and was stiff as hell.
He really preferred guided hunts, but a few friends had thought good, old-fashioned buck
hunting in the Virginia woods would be something different for him and had snatched him up for
the weekend. All day Saturday, and all of Sunday, sitting fourteen feet up in a tree and for what?
His muscles had drawn up tight. His fingers and toes had gone numb, and he had not one antler
to show for his trouble.
Now he remembered why he’d stopped doing this.
As quietly as possible, he adjusted his weapon of choice. The rifle was his pride and joy,
way more firepower than he needed to shoot a buck in this region, but it was his go-to weapon,
and he’d figured that at least nothing would get away. If he hit the bugger, it would be a kill
shot—just as it should be. Nothing satisfied him as much as knowing that when he pulled the
trigger, the prey would be dead before they even hit the ground.
As the hunter waded through the dew-covered underbrush, the smell of dirt and plants filled
his nose. He breathed deep of the scent, the nip of the chilled air awaking his senses like nothing
else could. He pulled down his night-vision goggles from the top of his head and leveled them
over his eyes. Darkness had swallowed the woods, and with the new moon, it was going to be
black as pitch out soon.
He’d been just about ready to call the weekend a bust when he’d heard movement about fifty
yards from his station. While searching the direction with the scope, he’d seen something that
had confounded him. It looked like a dog but was almost the size of a small pony. It had to be a
wolf. He’d heard of coyotes in Virginia, but there hadn’t been reports of wolves for a hundred
years or more. Didn’t matter. He wasn’t leaving without a kill if he could help it, so he’d shot the
beast. Now, time had come to claim his prize.
Pulling his rifle level to his shoulder, he inched toward the rustling noise he heard, the
random branch smacking his limbs as he walked. When he stepped through the brush and into a
clearing, he saw the animal lying on its side, wiggling as it tried to stand. He’d hit it all right, in
the shoulder mere millimeters from the clean kill shot it should have been. He closed his eyes,
shook his head, and heaved a hard sigh as disappointment enveloped him. He was better than
that. The animal panted, its chest rising and falling quickly as it forced out short, shallow bursts
of air. The hunter removed the night-vision goggles, took aim, and moved closer until he was
looking down the weapon at the animal’s head, directing his next shot for the skull.
Only before he could pull the trigger, the wolf started to change.
Right before his eyes, the muzzle shrank, and fur started to rescind along the body— getting
shorter and thinner until it was completely gone. The hair rose on the back of his neck, and he
flinched as snapping and popping sounds emanated from the creature. The limbs elongated,
getting thicker, the shoulders wider.
He took a step backwards. His heart gave a kick and sped up as he tried to understand what
had happened. The rifle became heavy in his hands, so he lowered it while gawking at the thing
in front of him. “The. Fuck?”
Within a few moments, a naked man lay at his feet, and the wolf had vanished.
He swiftly raised his weapon again, taking aim. He didn’t know what the hell was
happening, but he damn sure wasn’t going to let that… whatever it was, attack him. The thing
moved to its side and clutched its bleeding shoulder. It didn’t seem as if it was going anywhere,
but he refused to take any chances. The gunshot wound still seeped blood through the thing’s
fingers, but it now looked much smaller than it should.
“Please…”The man’s wide amber eyes met his, filled with moisture and fear. “Please, don’t
hurt me.”
“What the hell are you?” the hunter whispered. No way was that thing in front of him
human.
“I’m a man.” It groaned and coughed a wet sound.
Right.
“No way. Tell me what you are!” He prepared to fire. Was this an alien invasion? Or were
all the tales about werewolves true? And if werewolves truly existed, what other creatures could
be out there right now? Without his consent, the hunter’s eyes quickly scanned the woods before
darting back to the sight before him.
“Please…”
“Are you a werewolf?” He lifted his booted foot and roughly shoved the underbelly of the
creature, turning it over onto its back. Damn, it really did look human. He would never have
known there was anything different about this fellow had he not watched the change himself.
“Are. You. A werewolf?”
“No.” The creature gasped. “Shifter. I… mmm… shifter.”
Holy crap! He’d heard of that before. Basically, the same thing as a werewolf, at least in his
mind. The thing wasn’t human, after all. In fact, it would be a service to humanity if he got rid of
- His heart kicked again but this time from excitement. A flush of warmth suffused his body,
chasing away the cold.
Out of all the animals he’d killed all over the world, he’d never shot himself a shifter. Shit,
he’d never even known such a thing really existed until now.
And just in time.
His life had become stagnant, boring. The satisfaction from the hunt and a clean kill didn’t
carry the power it once had. Not since his father had died. There was nothing new out there for
him. Nothing, except this.
Hunting was in his blood. His life consisted of his work—where he intended to change the
world— and his greatest pleasure, hunting. He was lucky enough to own his own pharmaceutical
company and lab so he had the ability to travel the globe, searching for the cure and his next big
kill. Alaska, Africa, India, South America, all over the U.S., you name it and he’d been there.
First, deer hunting, but that got old quickly. He’d moved up to moose… and on and on. He’d just
come back from his fifth African safari with a nice set of elephant tusks. Paid a pretty penny for
that shindig, too.
What was a little payoff money when it came to excitement? They were only animals
anyway.
When his friends talked him into this weekend, he’d wanted to say no. They’d guilted him
into it, though. Then those same friends had gone home earlier today, leaving him alone. They
were a bunch of weak pretenders who couldn’t stand the cold, and couldn’t stay still for ten
minutes without playing with cell phones. It was disgusting, really.
Everything had turned out better than he could have hoped for, though. He was the one
getting the special kill because of their folly.
This made his year. Heck, this was the happiest moment he could remember. No one he
knew had bagged a shifter before. He was the first—the greatest big game hunter in the world.
His father would have been so proud.
“Please…” The creature tried to sit up but fell back again.
“Don’t worry.” The hunter smirked. “I’ll make this quick.”
Title: Wrong Way
Series: The Shenandoah Pack, #2
Author: Taylor Law
Genre: Paranormal Romantic Suspense
Length: 174 pages
Publisher: Taylor Law (June 7th, 2016)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5Hearts
Blurb: Leading The Shenandoah pack consumes most of Thomas Collowell’s time. The Alpha’s job is never done. That had never been more true than when a killer targeting shifters strikes too close to home. He doesn’t have time to deal with a mate, especially a human.
There is nothing Camdon Williams wouldn’t do for his best friend, which is why he was the best man in Jessie’s joining ceremony. While in Skyline Village, he gets more than he bargained for, including a strange attraction to the Sheriff.
When Camdon and Thomas are forced to work together to stop the killer, Camdon’s eyes are opened to a world he wouldn’t have believed existed. They both learn that there is no such thing as perfect timing. Sometimes, it’s about taking a chance… before it’s too late.
ISBN: 9780996305617
Product Link(s): http://amzn.to/1VKd8HA
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/625709
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-wrongway-2052866-145.html
Reviewer: Portia
Review: For those of you that follow my reviews, you will know that Romantic Suspense is my favorite genre. And it doesn’t matter if it’s Contemporary, Paranormal or Sci-fi, I need to believe in the characters and be able to follow the plot. It doesn’t matter how hot the sex scenes are, if the characters are one-dimensional or the plot convoluted.
That being said…I LOVED THIS BOOK!!
Taylor Law has created a world that made me laugh, bite my lip and most importantly, BELIEVE.
The way the two main characters meet is priceless. Thomas is in the middle of a murder investigation, has issues with the Elders’ Council and if that is not enough, he must officiate a mating ceremony.
Enter a cute little red-headed human. His mate. He sooooo does not have time for this.
The romance between Camdon and Thomas is a nice slow burn. This is a huge plus for me. I hate characters that hop into bed willy nilly…Mate pull or not, I expect grown-ups to think before they leap. And yeah, I loved watching Thomas fight the mate-pull, while trying to fulfill his Alpha duties. This made for an intense sexual tension that neared to explode off the page.
I also love the Camdon is not a weak little human. His skills as a tracker help advance the investigation on several levels
The suspense unfolds in a realistic fashion that kept me reading well into the night. Several chapters are written from the killer’s POV. This is one of my favorite aspects of The Wrong Way. I love a bad guy who is more than just a bad guy. Loved learning his rationalizations for his sick behavior.
Now for my complaints. I wish that the secondary thread surrounding a secondary character had a more satisfying ending. While I appreciate Taylor leaving the door open for a future title in this series, I would like Thomas to have some sense of closure.
There is also the matter of Camdon’s backstory. Still a little sketchy on that one.
And the ending is by no means a traditional cliffhanger, but its damn close. The possibilities for the next Shenandoah Pack title are endless. Taylor introduced several secondary characters that could move easily into the main plot. My vote is for Justice…maybe. 😉
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *
Taylor Law is a northern born, southern girl, with a free spirit. Taylor has lived in the southern United States most of her life, along with her huge family. She started writing at a very young age; her first poem at six, her first song at seven, and stories followed directly after. She hasn’t stopped since.
She started with Barbie worlds that took over her room for days on end, standing on the kitchen table and singing randomness that eventually turned into songs, and making up endings to her favorite stories. It was no surprise to anyone when she started writing them all down. It was a surprise, however, when she turned to writing LGBTQ romance and fiction. Now, some of her family regularly read her books and ask for more.
Taylor has a Paralegal degree, but she also went to college for Music, Theatrical Arts, and Criminal Justice. She loves to learn new things. She also enjoys history, an eclectic array of music, puzzles, her friends and family, and laughing. Taylor would much rather read than watch television any day.
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