Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance Heat Level: 3 Word Count: 17, 500 ISBN: 978-0-3695-1380-9 Editor: CA Clauson Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Quiet Mate by Jade Marshall

Heat Level 3
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SKU 978-0-3695-1380-9
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Katu Wolves, 11

She was exiled for what she is.
He chose her anyway.

Trinity has spent six months alone after her pack cast her out for a gift they feared. When she crosses into the Katu wolf territory, she never expects to find safety, much less her fated mate.

Grayson knows the moment he scents her that she belongs with him. But Trinity is hiding a dangerous secret, and as the Hunters close in on the Katu Wolves, the truth could cost her the home she just found.

When a trap threatens to slaughter the pack, silence is no longer an option.
Trust is tested. Blood is spilled.
And love must be stronger than fear.

 

Excerpt:

The entire compound smells like pine, clean cotton, and wolves who sleep without fear.

It shouldn’t matter. I’ve slept in worse places—caves slick with damp, abandoned cabins that whispered of rot, the open forest with only my knife and my wolf for company. I’ve learned how to curl around myself and pretend the world can’t reach me.

But this house has a room with a bed. A real one with a thick quilt. The walls are solid and the door stays closed. I sit on the edge of the mattress and wait for the other shoe to drop.

It doesn’t but the silence presses in, unfamiliar and heavy. Not the sharp, listening quiet of the wild. Not the screaming absence that follows when the dead finally leave me alone after weeks of company.

This is … peaceful. My wolf shifts uneasily under my skin, pacing in a slow circle. “Too easy,” she murmurs and I don’t disagree. It definitely seems too good to be true.

I set my backpack down carefully, like the floor might object. I unroll my spare clothes and line my boots beneath the bed out of habit. Every movement is controlled and deliberate, muscle memory from months of knowing I might have to flee with seconds’ notice.

When I straighten, the room is still exactly the same. No voices rise from the corners. No translucent figures lean against the walls with knowing smiles. No cold fingers brush my arms. The dead respect boundaries here and that thought alone sends a shiver down my spine.

I press my palm to my sternum, right over the mate bond humming quietly beneath my ribs. Grayson’s presence isn’t invasive. It doesn’t tug or demand. It just … exists. Like a steady star I can orient myself by if I choose.

I don’t know what the fuck to do with that.

A soft knock sounds at the door and I freeze. My fight or flight instincts kick in and I’m torn in both directions.

“Trinity?” Peyton’s voice, warm and gentle. “May I come in?”

I hesitate, then cross the room and open the door a crack. Peyton stands alone in the hallway, her posture relaxed, eyes kind but observant. She’s not armed or with a guard and that’s almost worse. She trusts me.

“Sure,” I say, stepping back.

She enters without scanning the corners. Without assessing threats. She looks at the bed, the window, the small dresser and smiles faintly.

“I remember my first night here,” she says. “I didn’t sleep. I kept waiting for someone to tell me it was a mistake.”

My chest tightens. “Did it feel like one?”

“No,” she says honestly. “It felt unreal.”

She sits on the edge of the bed, leaving me space. That seems to be the theme with this pack, they leave room to breathe, to choose.

“Caine told me you came alone,” she continues. “That takes courage.”

Or desperation. “I didn’t have a choice,” I say.

She nods, accepting that answer without probing. “It still counts. Most shifters who end up here didn’t have a choice, but they do once they get here.”

We sit in silence for a moment. Peyton studies me, not like a threat and not like a puzzle. But like I’m a person.

“You don’t have to stay,” she says finally. “But while you are here, you’re under our protection.”

Series:
/series-katu-wolves/

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