Page 114 of Labor of Love

“I’d like to say that the hoops you jump through are fucking insane and out of control, but the truth is, it was very clear that every outrageous step they took to ensure we were who wesaid we were and that we had no tie to anyone intending the breedables harm is quite comforting,” Rhydian says.

“The wait gave us a lot of time to get to know Iri, though,” Hakan says. “Something thatwe’vestruggled not to make obvious.”

“Does this mean… you’re staying?” I ask.

Iri grins again.

“Yes,” Daunt says. “Forever.”

“We weren’t just missingourpack,” Iri says. “Their pack was incomplete, too.”

I close my eyes, trying not to let my emotions get the better of me.

“You did a good job finding our pack, my breeder,” Iri murmurs against my lips. “I can’t wait to make it all real and official and whatever. Forever is looking really good, don’t you think?”

My hand drops to his stomach, over where our growing little one is. More hands follow mine, and soon, we’re all touching Iri. Feeling the new life we created grow.

There aren’t enough words to express what I’m feeling, so I don’t answer.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Crea lives in upstate New York with her dog and husband. She has been writing since grade school, when her second grade teacher had her class keep writing journals. She has a habit of creating secondary, and often time tertiary, characters that take over her stories. When she can’t fall asleep at night, she thinks up new scenes for her characters to act out. This, of course, is how most of her meant-to-be-thrown-away characters tend to end up front and center - and utterly swoon-worthy! Don’t ask her how many book boyfriends she has…

When not writing, Crea is an avid reader. Her TBR pile is several hundred books high (don’t even look at her kindle wish list or the unread books on her tablet). Sometimes, she enjoys crafting; sometimes, exploring nature; sometimes, traveling. Mostly, she enjoys putting her characters on paper and breathing life into them. Oh, and sleeping. Crea loves to sleep!

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BLURB

Trained to be a companion, an exiled Pixey finds himself wandering up a rain drenched road in need of rescuing.

Little did he know what fate had waiting at the end of the road, when a gargoyle turned out to be his rescuer.

OF RAIN AND ENCHANTED FORESTS

“Whoa, this place is huge! Does it have a name?” Laney asked as he stared at the sprawling manor they were rapidly approaching.

There were tall towers on both corners while the entire center of the house was a huge, circular spire taller than several of the younger trees nearby. The whole thing looked like it was made from a mix of stone, wood and blooming vines that helped keep it camouflaged and tightly held together.

“Most people simply refer to it asWildwood, though its official title ishome.”

“Huh? Wait, you live here?”

“Yup,” Marcus explained. “And now you do too.”

“That’s not a home, that’s castle,” Laney replied as he rolled the window down and stuck his head out to get a better look at something else that had caught his eye. “Why are all of those smaller houses in the trees?”

“Because Elden’s pixie relatives live up there,” Marcus explained, his hand firm when he gripped the back of Laney’s jeans and tugged until he was back in his seat. “He believes in keeping family close and protecting them at all costs, as do I. You shouldn’t lean out of a moving vehicle, especially not onunpaved roads. You never know what the wheels might keep up. I’d hate for something to hit you, and I doubt it would be very comfortable for you, either.”

A memory flashed through Laney’s head of that first hour after he’d been deposited in the busy hub of the downtown area of a strange city he hadn’t even known the name of. Trying to weave between the wildly speeding vehicles had nearly gotten him crunched. He’d almost ditched his backpack so he could shift and try to fly away. But with his wings bound beneath his clothing, it wouldn’t have been easy to conceal himself from the humans, even with the rain. Those honking vehicles had been louder than any flock of geese he’d accidentally disturbed, but the worse part had been when someone hollered and chucked something at him. He was just glad it had only hit his shoulder and bounced off. Whatever it was hadn’t hurt, but ithadscared the hell out of him.

“Do all of you drive?” Laney asked, shaking himself out of the memory to focus on the moment, and the gargoyle who’d rescued him.

Whether Marcus knew it or not, Laney had clocked what he was the moment he’d pulled up beside him. It was the only reason he’d gotten inside that SUV.

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