Shadow Wolf
True Mates Generations Book 7
Alicia Montgomery
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 Alicia Montgomery
Edited by LaVerne Clark
Cover by Jacqueline Sweet
081720
All rights reserved.
About the Author
Alicia Montgomery has always dreamed of becoming a romance novel writer. She started writing down her stories in now long-forgotten diaries and notebooks, never thinking that her dream would come true. After taking the well-worn path to a stable career, she is now plunging into the world of self-publishing.
Also by Alicia Montgomery
The True Mates Series
Fated Mates
Blood Moon
Romancing the Alpha
Witch’s Mate
Taming the Beast
Tempted by the Wolf
The Lone Wolf Defenders Series
Killian’s Secret
Loving Quinn
All for Connor
The True Mates Standalone Novels
Holly Jolly Lycan Christmas
A Mate for Jackson: Bad Alpha Dads
True Mates Generations
A Twist of Fate
Claiming the Alpha
Alpha Ascending
A Witch in Time
Highland Wolf
Daughter of the Dragon
Shadow Wolf
A Touch of Magic
Heart of the Wolf
The Blackstone Mountain Series
The Blackstone Dragon Heir
The Blackstone Bad Dragon
The Blackstone Bear
The Blackstone Wolf
The Blackstone Lion
The Blackstone She-Wolf
The Blackstone She-Bear
The Blackstone She-Dragon
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
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Chapter One
The longer he stayed here, the more Marc Delacroix realized that Lycans were not meant for the dry desert heat, and certainly not those who grew up in the wet, humid bayous of Louisiana. His inner wolf grumbled unhappily as a hot breeze hit them in the face.
Yes, it’s uncomfortable, but would you rather be back there?
The wolf lay down and let out a defeated whine.
Yes, the deserts of Zhobghadi were too dry, the sun too bright, and the temperatures unbearable. But he would rather be here than stuck back in the hellhole he had called a home.
“If you think any louder, you’ll wake Caspar up.”
Delacroix blinked. “Apologies, Your Majesty.”
Queen Desiree of Zhobghadi, formerly Desiree Desmond Creed of the New York Lycan clan, smirked up at him as she lay her infant son in his stroller, pulling the hood down to protect him from the blazing sun. “No jokes today, Delacroix? Are you sure you’re not sick?”
The gentle teasing in her voice made the corners of his mouth turn up involuntarily. “I’m feeling just fine, mon petite.”
Normally, he wouldn’t dare call the queen and mate to a dragon king such a nickname, but they were alone as they went for their mid-morning stroll in the royal gardens. Non, he liked his hide unburnt. But after a year of guarding the new young royal, they had certainly become close, along with another Lycan from her former clan, Jacob Martin.
When Desiree Creed became queen of the tiny independent nation of Zhobghadi, her father, Sebastian Creed, had asked that Delacroix and Jacob accompany his daughter in order to watch over her and ease her transition into her new life. It was not only a great honor, but now, he had another powerful man ingratiated to him. While Delacroix was, technically, bound to the New York clan, he was allowed to go to Zhobghadi, with the caveat that he could be recalled anytime. That bargain he had struck with Nick Vrost was rock solid.
“Then you’re worried about going back to New York.”
And now the piper had come for payment. Two days ago, Vrost had sent the message that he was to return to America ASAP to join the Guardian Initiative, the special task force formed by the Alpha to fight their enemies.
“Me, worried?” He snorted to make his point. “I’ll miss this position. It’s practically a vacation.” Glancing over at the covered stroller, his thoughts turned to the young prince and heir, not even three months old. “Watching over His Highness is one of the cushiest jobs I’ve had.” Though the thoughts of his previous jobs tried to surface in his mind, he pushed them away. His wolf growled, but he managed to calm it down. “Now I’ll have to do real work,” he said with a forlorn sigh.
“And my female staff will miss your charming ways,” she replied in a wry tone. “Though I’ll be glad for the peace when you do leave. You know, you have every eligible woman in the palace sighing after you.”
“And I enjoy having them sigh after me.”
“Yet the only thing I hear are complaints about no one has yet to snag you.”
He wagged his eyebrows at her. “Ah, but with so many women, there is no need to choose just one, non?”
She raised a brow at him. “Did you choose any at all?”
“I don’t kiss and tell, mon petite.”
“From what I hear, you don’t kiss at all.”
The comment came from nowhere and hit its mark, catching him so off guard that he couldn’t stop from wincing. Yes, he certainly wasn’t lacking in attention from women, and he could have his pick of the beautiful women in the palace. Could being the operative word. “Any other employer would have complained that I would have been unprofessional if I went after every available female around.”
“I’m not just your employer, Delacroix.” Her expression turned serious. “I’d like to think I was your friend too.”
Though they—him, the queen, and Jacob—had never mentioned it out loud, there had been a friendship between them since the beginning that didn’t have to be said. “I’m lucky you count me as a friend, Majesty.”
She sighed. “And up goes that wall again.”
“Wall?”
Hand on her cocked hip, she stared at him. “You have this easygoing charm that most people fall for. Most think you shallow and that there’s nothing underneath that smile, especially with the way you flirt with anything in a skirt. But you can’t fool me. I’ve known you too long, Delacroix. And I know what I saw
