Joy to the Wolves (Red Wolf #1) - Terry Spear Page 0,2

here, I will move in with her and help her out.”

“I’m sure she’ll be grateful. If you ever need anything from me, you know where I’ll be.” At least for the next three years. She handed him her business card.

He accepted it and tucked it away.

“If you don’t mind me asking, who was the woman who was so angry?” Brooke suspected it was one of Gulliver’s disgruntled heirs. There were four of them, and instead of being grateful they had all received huge settlements, they were squabbling about the proceeds.

“Daisy Gulliver, Mr. Gulliver’s daughter. She believes she is owed more of the estate. You are lucky, in a way, that there were no other heirs, either for your parents’ or your great-aunt’s estates.”

“Well, I always wished I’d had a brother or sister, or both, but I understand what you mean.” Brooke ran her hand over one of the wolf sculptures. “I will treasure these always.”

“For us, that means for a very long time.” He handed her his business card, bowed his head to her, and then walked off to speak to a man at the register, who looked back at her and smiled.

Now it was time to pay for her new purchases, hope Mr. Lee was right about her making some money on the items in the “junk” boxes, and drive to Portland and her new life. Unfortunately, her car was filled to the roof with all the last-minute stuff she had to pack, so the boxes—and the statues—would have to be shipped. Brooke couldn’t wait to have the wolves in her garden. They were the bright spot in all this.

She just hoped Mr. Lee was wrong about her great-aunt dealing with bad sorts.

* * *

Before dawn at the Wilding Reindeer Ranch, located twenty minutes outside Portland, Oregon, Police Detective Josh Wilding was running as a red wolf with his brother, Maverick, who oversaw the reindeer ranch. They were glad to take a moment out of their busy day before they returned to the ranch house, shifted, dressed, and headed off to work.

Once they were home and dressed, Maverick fixed them cups of coffee. “Our pack leaders say the late Ms. Cerise must have left her estate to her great-niece, Brooke, who might be settling in at her great-aunt’s Victorian house soon. Having another single she-wolf living in the area is always great news.”

“Or she could be selling the place as soon as she can. She lives in Phoenix and might have no intention of moving here.” No way did Josh want to get involved with a she-wolf who wasn’t planning to stay in the territory.

“One of us needs to get over there and welcome her as soon as she arrives, even if she plans to sell the place. Maybe one of us can try to change her mind about leaving if she’s of a mind to do so. And do it before the other bachelor males in the pack meet her.”

“Why don’t you go see her?” Josh shook his head. “Antique shops are not my thing. Unless she has a break-in, I don’t see myself dropping in there anytime soon. We don’t even know if she’s coming here. She might just sell the place through a real estate agent.”

He certainly wasn’t going to run over to the shop to bother the she-wolf. Wouldn’t their pack leaders have known if she was going to settle here?

Since they hadn’t said anything to anyone, that probably meant it wasn’t happening.

Chapter 1

Two weeks later, Portland, Oregon

“What more could go wrong today?” Brooke Cerise asked herself as “Jingle Bells” started playing on her radio, reminding her that it was time to rise. Except it wasn’t the right time! It was an hour later than she always got up. She’d planned to wake even earlier this morning because she had a Christmas open house at her shop today.

At least her wolf statues had all arrived yesterday, and she couldn’t be happier with them greeting her in her courtyard every day. She’d decorated them in bows and Christmas lights to help showcase them. The boxes of trinkets from the Gulliver estate still hadn’t arrived. It could have taken some time to get everything boxed securely for shipment, and with the Christmas holiday package deliveries, the boxes must have been delayed. Brooke still hadn’t been able to find the list of treasures her great-aunt had mentioned in the note. She felt like just closing the shop with a sign on the door stating: In search of a