Free The Reluctant Wolf: A Paranormal Romance (Werewolves and Shifters) by Susan G. Charles Page A

leave. It was starting to snow a little harder outside – and snow, as a general rule in Georgia, was just not a normal thing. Plus, most people did not know the right way to drive in it down here so she made it her mission to get home as fast and as safely as she could before it got any worse.
    Just as she put her gloved hand on the handle of the missions front door, it swung open and knocked her backwards a few steps, bringing a tall man into the room, followed by a strong burst of icy wind and a whirl of snowflakes.
    “Sorry,” he absently muttered to her while pushing the front door closed, “didn’t see you standing back there.” He was wearing an old flannel button down over a t-shirt, well worn jeans and a pair of brown work boots. He was sporting a five day old growth of beard and had wavy brown hair, mussed from the wintry, windy weather outside.
    Bailey looked him up and down, a little taken aback by the near collision and a little pissed off at his rudeness and cavalier attitude about nearly knocking her down. Then, taking in his broad shoulders and the muscular physique that was visible through his clothes, she smiled at him as soon as he muttered his pitiful attempt at an apology. When her eyes found his again she blushed at him catching her staring at his physique. She loved a scruffy man.
    The man then held out his hand to her. “I’m Morgan,” he said, as he introduced himself.
    “Bailey”, she said as she shook his oversized, outstretched hand.
    He began to take off his weathered army jacket and leather gloves as he continued his conversation with her. “It’s a shame you’re on your way out now. I would have offered to walk you home or to your car if I wasn’t already late for my shift tonight.”
    “Oh, I’ll be around later,” she said to him shyly as she walked out the door.

Chapter 2
    Bailey and Morgan finally got the opportunity to work together a couple of days later, talking to the homeless people in the shelter, helping out with food distribution throughout the day and finally, doing blanket runs. The pair got along well, really well. It was as if they had known each other for years. By the end of the day they knew they were well on their way to forming a special and long lasting friendship.
    A few weeks later everyone at the mission knew that they were officially dating. The pair was inseparable – wherever you saw one of them, you knew the other was close by. Morgan was everything Bailey could have wanted in a man; he was sweet, caring, considerate, manly and thought of others before himself. He took good care of her, and made her feel comfortable enough to share her life, her art, and her passion for helping others with him. Months went by for the pair, and they only grew closer. Bailey had never known happiness and comfort quite like this.
    One night, several months after they started living together, Bailey awoke from a turbulent nights sleep upon hearing an eerie howl somewhere outside that pierced the night air like a sharp knife on bread. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing up when she awoke. She lay there silently listening – a few seconds of silence came and went, and then another howl followed, sounding even closer to her house this time.
    She quietly got up and walked carefully to her nearest window, chills running up and down her spine as a third howl could now be heard, but way too close for comfort. She slowly peeked through the curtains, and then she saw a figure! On the grass in her front yard stood a weird looking, hairy, large figure – for some reason she instantly thought werewolf! His large red eyes glowed in the night and the moonlight reflecting off the sharp teeth lined up in his half open mouth made him look that much more fearsome.
    Suddenly she realized that she couldn’t scream! She had no voice at all. Fear gripped her by the throat. Still, fear compelled her to move too. She grabbed her cell from atop the night stand and ran down the