Alpha Wolf

When Dr. Melanie Harding comes to rural Maryland to open a veterinarian clinic, she has no intention of buying into the area's absurd werewolf legends. Until she rescues an ordinary dog shot with a silver bullet, and meets his sexy owner, Major Drew Connell.A founding member of the Alpha Force on a nearby military base, Drew has developed an elixir that helps werewolves control their shape-shifting abilities. Drew has always tried to keep his distance from the civilian population, but Melanie's sweet and gentle nature soon wears down his defenses. With the attacks on people and animals in the area mounting, can their fiery attraction withstand their toughest challenge?

Crack!Dr. Melanie Harding's hands jerked. Seated at her scuffed wooden desk, she nearly dropped the financial statement she'd been studying--the first month's figures for her new veterinary practice.Had that been a gunshot?From down the hall, dogs started barking--one shrill and high, the others gruff and deep. The outside noise had clearly disturbed some of the patients kept overnight for observation. It hadn't been her imagination.Not that she'd really thought so.She glanced across her compact office toward the far window. The sound had come from that direction.She couldn't see much outside from here. The moonlight, although bright, didn't do much to illuminate the yard or, beyond it, the thick woods bordering the town of Mary Glen.Sure, this wasn't Beverly Hills, where Melanie had come from, but it was still a civilized area, despite its somewhat remote location on Maryland's Eastern Shore. People didn't just go around hunting here at night--did they? Too dangerous to people, let alone any defenseless animals that might be their prey.Melanie stood, shoving her fists into the pockets of the white lab coat she still wore, resisting the urge to race out and yell at whoever was shooting. Not that she was likely to see who it was. And if the fool was still there, any movement she might make could turn her into a target.Besides, maybe it wasn't a hunter.Maybe it was something else. Something more sinister--like what had happened to her predecessor vet.Despite her uneasiness, she felt compelled to glance out there. See if she could figure out what was going on.Without being foolish, though. It was late, after ten o'clock, and except for her hospitalized patients she was alone here. She crossed to the open office door and flicked the switch on the beige wall beside it, turning off the overhead light. That way, she wouldn't be backlighted as she stood by the window.She edged toward the glass, stood cautiously sideways behind its frame, and looked out.The area behind her clinic was fenced in, a place where dogs could be let out for exercise and evacuation. The surface was concrete--not as comfortable on tender paws as grass, but easier to keep clean.The enclosure was empty now, illuminated by a gorgeous full moon that hung high in the black sky, its light obscuring any stars that might otherwise be visible.Beyond the yard was the dense amalgamation of poplars, oaks, dogwoods and other trees that composed the local woodlands--beautiful in daylight, especially now, in springtime, as some of them blossomed... but darkly ominous at night. Melanie could make out the swaying of branches in the light breeze--like arms waving her away--but little else in that direction.She stood still for a minute, scanning all she could see, but everything looked fine back there. Normal.Peaceful. As if there had never been any gunshot.Even the dogs down the hall had stopped barking.Sighing, Melanie shook her head. Her long, deep brown hair was caught up in a clip at the nape of her neck, as it always was when she worked. It had been a long, tiring day. But enjoyable. She'd stayed later than usual to check over a litter of puppies that were born today at their home--sweet, tiny Yorkies that their owner had brought in with the mama dog for reassurance that all was well. Melanie had sent them back home with smiles and instructions.Only then had she been able to get to the paperwork. She hadn't intended to remain this late. And now she had been interrupted.She wouldn't convince herself that the sound hadn't occurred, but she was unlikely to learn its source. Maybe it had been a car backfiring--did they still do that? It wasn't necessarily as menacing as she had first imagined. No need to call the police and have them think she was some nervous newcomer, a city girl who imagined scary urban-type incidents