Table of Contents
Blurb
Dedication
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
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
Epilogue 2
About the Author
By Kathy Lyons
Visit Dreamspinner Press
Copyright
Were-Geeks Save Lake Wacka Wacka
By Kathy Lyons
Were-Geeks Save the World, Book Two
Paramedic and firefighter Bruce Collier became a werewolf to protect his family—and hopefully make amends for the way he treated his younger brother. His bitterness nearly turned him into the monster he thought his brother was… until he met Mr. Happy.
Werewolf Laddin Holt—aka Mr. Happy—likes things organized as he makes them go boom. He’s Wulf, Inc.’s explosive expert and the only one calming the turmoil inside Bruce.
At least until they’re drawn into a conflict between two factions of fairies living around Lake Wacka Wacka. Bruce wants to take them out, Laddin has other ideas, and neither of them sees the real threat lurking behind the scenes—or how their love could be the answer to everybody’s problems
Sometimes it feels like stories are created through magic. There’s a strange alchemy in words that generate laughter, paint pictures, and make me feel so much that I’m crying as the words flow through my fingertips. I’d like to claim the experience as my own, but it’s not. Without the dedication and support of every person at Dreamspinner, I wouldn’t have attempted this series, much less seen it to fruition. Every time another person touched the manuscript, the story got better.
My gratitude overflows. Thank you, Elizabeth, Lynn, Brenda, Gin, Amelia, Anne, Julianne, Katie, Polly, Camiele, Mara, Ariel, and all the others who have toiled so hard to make me look good. Thank you for your vision that gave me the opportunity. Thank you for staying true when so many try to tear you down. Thank you.
Signed with love,
Kathy
Chapter 1
THE DAY LADDIN GOT RECRUITED
(Eight weeks before Lake Wacka Wacka becomes a problem)
“YOU WANT me to put wallpaper on the teahouse wall,” Laddin Holt said. Though he didn’t phrase it as a question, his tone all but screamed, Are you serious?
Bing Wen Hao nodded. The man was producer and lead actor for the Red Wolf: Origin movie. He was also a stickler for detail and Laddin’s boss. “China invented wallpaper. This room would have a textile-type wallpaper.”
“But the wall is only seen when it gets blown up. It’s on screen for ten seconds at most.”
Bing Wen Hao merely looked at him, his face an impassive mask. But Laddin had been working shoulder to shoulder with the guy for two months now. He could read Bing’s opinion in the smallest shift of his chin, and on this point, Bing was being irrationally stubborn.
“It will take me hours,” Laddin said, still hoping to reach some sane part in his boss’s brain. “I have a dozen other things to do today.”
No-go. Bing was overwhelmed with anxiety because some Chinese bigwig was coming this afternoon. And when the boss got anxious, everybody suffered.
“Details matter,” Bing stressed.
Laddin knew that. He was the king of details, which was why he’d gotten the job of assistant director on this indie kung fu movie. It was quite a step up from being the explosives guy on five failed action shows. He was in charge of everything that wasn’t acting or camera placement. That meant the entire set design was his department, and he refused to fail now just because his boss was being irrational.
“Perhaps we could try different lighting—” he suggested, but Bing wasn’t going to let that pass.
“If you cannot do it, perhaps someone else will be able to.”
Laddin ground his teeth. Those words—or versions of it—had plagued him his entire life. His right hand was deformed, with his middle and fourth finger never growing beyond infant size. The docs had never given a good explanation of why. They suspected a growth plate break or a congenital birth defect. Didn’t change that his hand looked deformed. At first he’d hated himself for his handicap. But thanks to his mother, he realized it didn’t limit his ability to do anything he wanted to do. And yet, other people always questioned his capabilities.
“I can have it done by noon,” he snapped. “But you hired me to tell you when something doesn’t make sense. This doesn’t make sense. Not for ten seconds of screen time.”
He waited in silence as Bing stared at him. His boss’s expression was blank, but there was a whole lot of something going on inside his head. It was excruciating, standing there waiting, but patience was one of Laddin’s strengths, and eventually he was rewarded.
“You are correct,” Bing finally said. “Continue with your assigned tasks.”
Score one for the underling with nerves of steel. And then, to show Bing he wasn’t an asshole, Laddin offered a compromise. “I can roll a faint design onto the wall that will make it look like faded wallpaper. Shouldn’t take more than a half hour.”
Bing gave him a nod—his version of “thank you”—and then moved off to do his own work.
Though Laddin was annoyed by the man’s obsessive attention to a detail, he couldn’t fault Bing’s work ethic. The guy lived on the set night and day, working to make this movie as spectacular as possible on a very tiny budget.
And that meant Laddin had to start painting ASAP. He’d just grabbed the roller brush when his morning call from his grandmother came through.
“Hello, Grandmama. I’m still alive.”
“Oh, you poor baby. It still hasn’t happened.”
He chuckled because really, what else could he do? “Most grandmothers would be happy that their only grandchild is still around.”
“You’re not going to die, Laddin. How many times do I have to tell you that?” Her voice settled into her performance tone. Grandmama was a psychic by profession, and sometimes—most times—she needed to put on a show. “The day we realized your hand was different, I had a vision. The great Angel Charoum whispered to me that in your twenty-eighth year, you would transform into something magic—”
“I’m really busy right now.
