Wolf Moon (Harlequin Intrigue #1031)

Aileen McKenna got off the bus last, excitement and trepidation warring within her. She looked around at the small town of Wolf Creek, Wisconsin, the bright winter sun making its main street, barely two blocks long and lined with snow, glow with welcome. She knew she'd been here before--Dad and Skelly both told her so--but her memory of that vacation twenty-two years ago was hazy at best. Her gaze swept past the people and shops and the handful of homes to the dark forest beyond.A man with a furrowed brow and narrowed light-brown eyes stood on the porch of the combination convenience store and bus station, his arms crossed over his broad, hide-covered chest. Though his basic expression reminded her of a scowl, Aileen knew he wasn't angry at anything. She grinned and headed straight for Donovan Wilde, who circled her with strong arms and gave her a brotherly hug."It's good to see you, Donovan.""It's been a while.""As much your fault as mine.""When you move out here permanently," he said, "we'll fix that right off."Aileen didn't see her half brother as much as she would like. He'd been raised in the nearby town of Iron Lake, Wisconsin, while she'd grown up in Chicago. But he was a McKenna, even if he did go by his mother's last name, and that was a bond that couldn't be broken. She and Donovan and Skelly might have been born to three different mothers, but Congressman Raymond McKenna had seen to it that his children were not strangers to one another."How are Laurel and the baby?"Donovan's loopy grin transformed him from wolf man to husband and new father. "Both doing great. Laurel is a natural. And Willow is the most beautiful baby you've ever seen. Well, you haven't seen her.""But I will, and before Christmas,"Aileen assured him.Other members of the McKenna family would be joining them for the holiday in a few days, the first time ever a McKenna family Christmas would be held in Wisconsin. Donovan and Laurel didn't know what they were in for when siblings and cousins and kids would descend on them. The McKennas had rented out an entire B and B in Iron Lake to hold them for the three days they would all be here."I probably sound sappy about Willow, right?" Donovan asked."You sound like a proud dad, just as you should." She was aware at how thrilled her brother and sister-in-law were at finally starting a family. Laurel's first pregnancy had ended in a miscarriage, and it had been a while before Laurel had felt emotionally ready to try again."Trust that I'm looking forward to meeting my new niece as soon as I get settled in.""You could settle in with us. The invitation is still open."Aileen shook her head. "You need to spend time with Laurel and Willow, and I need not to be distracted by a beautiful baby, or I won't ever finish my thesis."The thesis was the final step in finishing her master's degree in wildlife ecology, a direction she'd been drawn back to after working as a massage therapist. She could thank Donovan--the original wolf man--for making her realize she needed to finish her graduate degree. Not that she wished to be a wolf biologist and be involved in research as he was. He was personally attached to the wolves under his care. He caught them and collared them and watched their progress as they expanded their territory over the years. Sometimes they strayed too close to civilization and got themselves killed.Her interest took a broader turn--management of the wolves in the wild. She'd started the program several years ago, but had thought she'd made a mistake and left it. She was a city girl, she'd told herself.Apparently not totally.It had just taken her some time to come to terms with the decision that would change her whole life."I promise I'll leave some time to spend with you all, though. I mean beyond the research."Though he no longer lived in a cabin deep in the woods with only a Franklin stove to heat it, hRosemoor, Patricia is the author of 'Wolf Moon (Harlequin Intrigue #1031)', published 2007 under ISBN 9780373692989 and ISBN 0373692986.