Scent of His Woman (Black Hills Wolves book 39)

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Smashwords Edition

Scent of His Woman

Copyright  2015 by Rebecca Royce

ISBN: 978-1-61333-953-4

Cover art by Fiona Jayde

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

Published by Decadent Publishing Company, LLC

Look for us online at:

www.decadentpublishing.com

Black Hills Wolves Stories/Decadent Recent Releases

Wolf’s Return

What a Wolf Wants

Black Hills Desperado

Wolf’s Song

Claiming His Mate

When Hell Freezes

Portrait of a Lone Wolf

Alpha in Disguise

A Wolf’s Promise

Reluctant Mate

Diamond Moon

Wolf on a Leash

Tempting the Wolf

Naming His Mate

A Wolf Awakens

The Wolf and the Butterfly

Infiltrating Her Pack

Omega’s Heart

Raven’s Claw

Claiming the She-Wolf

Worth Fighting For

Dangerous

Uncaged

Promiscuous Wolf

Disquieted Souls

A Cougar Among Wolves

Long Road Home

A Mate’s Healing Touch

Winter Solstice Run

Wolf’s Holiday

Winter Magic

Winter Secrets

Winter Ménage

Wolf in Winter Clothing

Murder in Los Lobos

Scent of Murder

Scent of the Hunt

Scent of his Woman

Scent of Madness

Also by Rebecca Royce

Another Chance

Bar Mate

Out of Place Mate

Mate by the Music

Unwanted Mate

Behind the Scenes

Believe in Me

Embraced

Rebirth

Return to the Sea

I’ll be Mated by Christmas

One Night With a Wolf

Paging Dr. Wolf

Forever

Love in One Night

February Lover

Wolf’s Holiday

Dear Readers,

For one year and thirty-five plus books with over twenty authors, we have journeyed with the Tao pack as they returned from the brink of destruction thanks to one mad Alpha thanks to the return of Drew Tao. Drew’s not the perfect Alpha, nor is he the perfect man, yet he remains committed to his pack and to making the Black Hills a fantastic place for them to live and thrive once more.

The four-book mini-series includes novels by Cara Carnes, Cam Cassidy, Rebecca Royce and Heather Long. Though each is designed to stand alone, they tell a cohesive tale that is enriched by reading them in order.

Book 1 – Scent of Murder

Book 2 – Scent of the Hunt

Book 3 – Scent of his Woman

Book 4 – Scent of Madness

We’ve seen changes in the pack, healing, and a rebirth hope and generosity of spirit. It is true that every journey faces a trial by fire, and this is the crucible, which will forever change the Black Hills Wolves. I invite you to join us as we rediscover what it means to be pack when murder comes to Los Lobos.

Heather Long

A Note From the Author

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for picking up Scent of His Woman. I hope you like it. Shoot me an email and let me know what you think.

Rebecca Royce

Dedication

To Heather Long for making this happen

Scent of His Woman

Magnolia Holden fled the Black Hills Wolves with her family during the reign of Magnum, terrified for her life and for that of her older sister Betty, who she had to leave behind. She has never wanted to go back to Los Lobos and face her terror of the enforcer, Ryker. Instead she lives happily in Sioux Falls helping her parents run their dress shop and dreaming of Clayton Davies, the human mystery writer who she loves but believes she can never have.

But there is murder happening in the Black Hills and when Betty’s mate, the Alpha Drew, lies at death’s door, Mags will have to return and face her worst nightmares over and over again.

Only this time she won’t be alone. Clayton loves Mags, and he is a man who knows how to look into the darkness and come out the other side. Together, they will help Ryker seek a killer who wants humans dead. If they can both live through the night...

Wolf’s Holiday

Black Hills Wolves

Murder in Los Lobos

By

Rebecca Royce

Chapter One

He watched the scene playing out before him. Frantic action at the Tao household—healers rushed in and out. Ryker stood by the door instructing the dominants.

Rain pounded on all of their heads.

He was the giver of death. The reason his so-called pack lived in fear. The end of the untruths. The ultimate power.

Not one of them suspected him or ever would.

He was more powerful than any of them. When he was done, the Tao pack would pay. The sins of the father had been visited on the son. He wasn’t done yet.

The Day of the Shooting….

Luanne Magnolia—Mags to her family and friends—Holden walked down the street toward the coffee shop, Perkulater, anticipation making her jumpy. Sioux Falls didn’t have many coffee shops and the truth was, Mags didn’t much care for caffeine. The substance made her wolf jumpy.

Clayton Davies wrote there sometimes—more and more regularly it seemed—and going in meant she got to gaze at him for a little while.

The street smelled of rain, and she would likely get wet on her walk back to her family’s dress store. She didn’t care a bit. Seeing Clay—the mate she would never get to claim—soothed the ache inside of her caused by living as a human when she was most certainly not one. Mags had felt dead inside for years until Clay bumped into her outside the shop.

Breathing the same air as he for a few minutes each day offered her a reason to wake in the morning.

If only he weren’t so very human. She turned the handle, letting herself inside the establishment. Humans loved the smell of brewing coffee. The way they inhaled the scent deeply as though it soothed them, the aroma of so many different types all at once, sent her senses into overdrive. She sucked down her discomfort. From previous experience, she knew the discomfort would pass.

Mags. Clay waited for her in his spot, the tall, brown chair in the corner of the room. Her heart skipped a beat, and she grinned, knowing she probably looked stupid. The human girls in the place were all so polished. Tall, dark, and handsome, Clay could speak to any of them.

Yet, he greeted her.

She maneuvered her way around the tables, all stuffed together tightly to accommodate as many customers as possible, until she reached him.

Hi. She held his eye contact for a moment before she had to look down. If he were a wolf shifter, he’d be a dominant to her very-omega self.

Clay motioned to the chair across from him. Will you sit?

I can. For a minute.

She took her seat and realized right away she’d not bothered to order any coffee. What was she supposed to fiddle with while her mate did amazingly frustrating things to her insides? Usually, she played with the plastic stopper and pretended to drink.

He closed his laptop computer with a click and then leaned forward to put weight on his laced fingers. He smelled like the woods. As a human, he really shouldn’t. Maybe it had to do with his living in a cabin so far outside of town. He only visited to get what he called a taste of civilization for his books.

Did you want to get coffee? He pointed toward the long line. Or is buying cups of it you don’t drink getting old?

Well, there it was. She hadn’t been fooling him. She shouldn’t be surprised. He was a mystery writer. He figured out motivations for a living, which meant he’d seen right through hers.

I don’t like the taste of coffee. Or burning my tongue. Or the faint smell of sour milk always present beneath everything in here.

He sniffed the air and then shook his head. I don’t pick that up.

No, he wouldn’t. I’ve always had a very sensitive nose.

Interesting.