Hello Readers!

Hope you had a great weekend! You might remember Zack, which Fel and I released back in December. Now it’s finally Chris and Jaime’s turn to take the spotlight in the tenth book in our Pecan Pines series.

When wolf shifter Chris is offered his first real mission as an enforcer trainee, he jumps at the chance to prove he belongs in the Pecan Pines Pack. After growing up isolated and packless in the mountains, he’ll do anything to protect the community that finally feels like home. But Chris never expected his assignment to involve going undercover at the annual regional dog show… or posing as someone’s mate.

Especially not Jaime.

Stoic, guarded, and impossible to read, Jaime is the last wolf Chris expects to be partnered with. Chris has tried to be friendly. Okay, maybe even flirt, but Jaime meets him with nothing but cool professionalism. Until their cover requires them to act like a devoted couple… and something in Chris’s wolf stirs with a pull he can’t deny.

If you haven't pre-ordered yet, you can check it out here.

As we get closer to release day on February 26, I wanted to share a little sneak peek with you~

Chapter One

Chris

I must’ve worn a groove into the hardwood floor outside Cooper’s office by now. I kept tapping my foot and wondered if that betrayed my nervousness. I tried stopping it twice, but the jitter crawled right back into my muscles and took over again. I’d been imagining this moment since Cooper first hinted that he would be opening applications for the enforcer trainee slots. 

Two senior wolves had retired recently. Their departure had left an unexpected gap. A gap I wanted desperately to fill. Dean, another wolf, had already filled one slot. I wanted the other one desperately. Today, Cooper had called me in personally. A good sign? A bad sign? Or just Cooper being Cooper, the kind of alpha who looked you straight in the eye and told you what he expected?

My wolf was no help at all. He paced under my skin, restless, heart thumping against my ribs like he already knew something big was coming. Before my family moved to Pecan Pines, before we were welcomed here, we’d lived packless. 

We stayed in an isolated mountain cabin so far from civilization you couldn’t walk out and find a simple grocery without hiking a full day. 

I’d grown up knowing silence, knowing survival, knowing the sound of nothing but wind and trees and my parents’ hushed voices when they worried food wouldn’t last through winter. Being part of a pack still felt unreal sometimes. It was loud, warm, crowded, overwhelming and wonderful. I’d never trade this for that lonely mountain ever again. The doorknob rattled. My entire body went rigid.

“Chris,” Cooper called. “Come in.”

My stomach plummeted and soared at the same time. I pushed the door open and stepped inside, already straightening my posture and trying my absolute hardest to project confidence and capability. Except…

I froze. Cooper wasn’t alone. Two people occupied the chairs in front of his desk, leaving no seat for me unless I dragged one from the wall. That felt too awkward, so I stayed standing. I clasped my hands behind my back and gave the two people a respectful nod.

One of them turned toward me and I was hit by a wave of prey-scent so sharp my wolf’s ears perked. He smelled like the woods in spring, like soft fur and timidity and something gentle and earthy. A deer shifter. A nervous one, too. 

He sat rigidly in the chair, wringing his hands, brown eyes darting between me and Cooper as though he expected something to leap out at him any second. His sandy-brown hair flopped over his forehead, and he kept trying to tuck it behind his ear, only for it to fall forward again.

“This is the young man I told you about, Peter,” Cooper said. “Chris. One of our most promising trainees.”

Heat crawled up the back of my neck. I hoped it didn’t reach my face.

“This,” Cooper continued, gesturing to the anxious deer shifter, “is Peter Hill. Peter this is Christian, he goes by Chris.”

Peter gave me a small, nervous wave.

I returned it. “Nice to meet you.”

“

And of course,” Cooper shifted his attention to the second person in the room. “You probably know Jaime.”

I had been trying very, very hard not to look directly at him, but now Cooper practically forced my hand. So I finally met Jaime’s eyes and instantly wished I hadn’t. Not because he was scary or unwelcoming, or any logical reason. But because I felt something like a quiet but undeniable jolt run through me.

Jaime Hale was ridiculously good-looking. Unfairly so. Even sitting, he radiated this calm, controlled strength, like he could snap his fingers and the world would fall into line. His skin was sun-kissed, warm brown with golden undertones, like he spent a lot of time outdoors. 

His dark hair was cropped neat on the sides and slightly longer on top, a little tousled, a little too easy to picture my fingers running through it. Not that I would ever dare. His eyes, though were a rich, deep storm-gray that didn’t betray a single emotion. Not one. They were unreadable. Closed off and cold.

Just like every single time we’d crossed paths in town or in the pack house. I’d tried talking to him before. I tried being friendly, being casual, once even daring to flirt. Nothing outlandish, just a smile and a compliment about how well he handled the amazing dogs he trained. 

But Jaime never responded with anything more than polite nods or curt acknowledgments. It was like trying to flirt with a concrete wall.

And yet my wolf perked up the second I looked at him. Alert and coiled. Aware. I tore my eyes away before I got caught staring too long.

Cooper leaned back in his chair, big hands folded in front of him. 

“All right. Let’s get started,” Cooper said.

Peter swallowed hard.

“As I told you earlier, Peter,” Cooper said, “our pack’s in the middle of a transition. We’re growing, we’re integrating more with human society, and we’re bridging old divides. The New Year’s Eve concert was a good step. But with growth comes problems.”

Cooper turned to me. “Peter here is one of the few shifters participating in the annual regional dog show this year. It’s usually a human-only event, but for the first time, shifter handlers are being invited. It was meant to be a sign of increasing trust between the communities.”

Something in Cooper’s tone made my stomach tighten. Peter wrung his hands harder. 

“My husband John and I were excited. Really excited. We love training our dogs,” Peter said.

“Past tense?” I asked quietly.

Peter’s throat bobbed. “Two of our friends, who are both shifters, were entering their dogs too. Then their dogs got sick. Really sick. Fast,” he explained.

I frowned. “Sick how?”

“Vomiting. Tremors. Disorientation,” Peter said. “The vet said it looked like poisoning.”

My wolf growled low under my skin, instinctive and angry.

“And because those handlers are shifters,” Cooper said, “Peter and John are scared they might be next. Or that this is part of something larger.”

I hesitated, then said, “Are we considering that this might be a targeted anti-shifter attack? Someone trying to stir up trouble?” 

Cooper nodded once, heavily. “We don’t know and that’s the problem.”

My heart thudded. This wasn’t just a simple assignment. This wasn’t just some trainee errand to keep me busy until the real enforcers needed coffee or someone had to do boundary sweeps. No this was serious. Monumental. Cooper was entrusting me with something that could affect the entire pack’s relationship with the humans in town. 

Something that could either strengthen years of progress or set everything on fire. And if I messed this up? The fragile trust the pack had built would shatter. Humans would pull away. Shifters would retreat. Fear would replace cooperation. I couldn’t afford that. Screwing up was not an option. 

Not when I’d months trying to prove that I belonged here. That I wasn’t just the mountain-born loner stray they’d taken in out of pity. That I could be reliable, steady, useful. Someone the pack could rely on. More importantly, someone the alpha could rely on.

So as the weight of this mission settled over me, tightening around my chest, I straightened my spine. Because if Cooper believed I could do this, then I had damn well better rise to the challenge.

“And that,” Cooper said, “is where you and Jaime come in.”

I blinked. “Me and Jaime?” I asked.

Jaime finally spoke. His voice was low, warm, and annoyingly smooth. “Me.”

I tried not to shiver. Cooper gestured between us. 

“Jaime might be new to Pecan Pines, but he’s an experienced animal behaviorist and trainer. One of the best I’ve seen. With all the changes happening in our pack, and with the need for stronger community ties, I’m considering building a K9 unit for the enforcers in the future,” Cooper said.

I looked at Jaime again. He didn’t preen at the praise. Didn’t even shift, he just nodded slightly, like he expected nothing less.

“Peter has decided he and John no longer feel safe entering the show,” Cooper continued. “But since they already registered, and since Jaime has dogs that are ready, they’ve agreed to let us send replacements instead.”

My mouth parted. “Alpha, are you saying…”

“Yes,” Cooper said. “I’m sending you and Jaime undercover to pose as Peter and John Hill.”

Peter nodded shyly. 

“We already talked about it. We just want everyone to be safe,” Peter said.

Undercover. As a couple. I felt the floor sway under me for a second. Jaime sat perfectly still, infuriatingly calm.

“I..” My voice cracked. I cleared my throat. “You want us to pretend to be married?”

“Partners,” Cooper corrected. “This show isn’t small, Chris. It’s regional. Media, vendors, judges, handlers from multiple towns. 

Something goes wrong there? It affects all of us. Humans and shifters alike.”

I knew all of that. Even though I hadn’t been officially part of the pack for very long, I’d watched Cooper pour himself into every bridge he built between humans and shifters. 

Every community event, every joint patrol, every public outreach. I’d seen him swallow pride when humans got skittish, and calm tempers when wolves got defensive. The man worked like peace itself depended on his shoulders, because most days, it did.

And I’d seen just how fragile that balance could be. One rumor. One incident. One misunderstanding. That’s all it ever took for old fears to flare up again. And this, dogs getting sick, maybe poisoned, right before a mixed human-shifter event, this could be the spark that undid everything he’d worked for.

Still. I risked a sideways glance at Jaime. He didn’t look thrilled. But then again, he didn’t look not thrilled either. That was the problem with him. Jaime never gave anything away. 

His expression was a mask carved from cool indifference. No twitch of his mouth. No lift of an eyebrow. No change in the steady, even rhythm of his breathing. He was unreadable and impenetrable, just like always. But my wolf reacted differently.

The second my gaze slid to him, my wolf slammed forward, ears pricked, tail high, muscles tight with interest. Like he knew something I didn’t. Like Jaime’s presence flipped some inner switch I didn’t remember installing. A deep, instinctive pull tightened in my chest, low and warm and unsettling. Not alarm. Not threat.

Recognition. I nearly stumbled. No. No way. I shoved the feeling down hard, forcing my wolf back behind the wall of logic and denial. This wasn’t the time. This wasn’t ever going to be the time. The mission came first. 

The pack came first. And even if I were delusional enough to entertain whatever my instincts were hinting at, Jaime didn’t like me. At all.

He barely tolerated me on the days he remembered I existed. So whatever that flicker in my chest was, whatever my wolf thought he sensed, it didn’t matter. It couldn’t matter. Not with everything at stake.

Cooper studied me, eyes sharp. “Is there a problem, Chris?” Cooper asked.

I straightened. “No, alpha. I’m just processing,” I answered quickly. 

“Then process fast.” Cooper’s voice softened. “Look, I’m not blind. I know this assignment is unusual, and potentially uncomfortable. But you’re a strong trainee. Smart. Dedicated. You’ve been showing promise since the day you stepped into this pack. And Jaime…” He glanced at the other wolf. “Jaime has the skills we need on the canine side.”

Skills, sure. But could we convince people we were a couple? Could we work together without strangling each other? Could I spend days next to him without my wolf reacting like someone had just dangled destiny in front of its nose?

“Chris.” Cooper’s tone sharpened.

I snapped to attention. “Yes, alpha?”

“If you can’t do this, tell me now. Early enough that I can find a replacement. No shame in backing out if you’re not ready,” Cooper said.

His words hit like a punch. Disappointment, sharp and bitter, rose before I could stop it.

This mission, this chance, might be exactly what I needed to prove myself. To earn my place. To make sure no one ever thought the mountain-boy-without-a-pack was weak or uncertain. I looked at Jaime again. His storm-gray eyes met mine. Steady and unblinking. Jaime was cool as cucumber.

But just for half a second, although it was barely there, I felt something flicker in the air between us. Recognition? Curiosity? A spark? Or maybe that was just me, wanting something I had no business wanting. 

Still, my wolf pressed forward. Insistent. Almost like he sensed something deeper. Something old and important. I drew a breath, let it steady me, and closed my hand into a fist at my side. I made up my mind. 

“I can do this,” I said. “I want to do this. I won’t let you down.”

Cooper’s mouth curved into a satisfied smile. “Good. Then pack your bags, gentlemen. You’re going undercover,” Cooper said.

“Guess we’re partners, then,” Jaime said.

The word scraped warm across my nerves. Partners. Pretend partners. Fake spouses for a mission. A cover story. And yet something in my wolf stirred like it had been waiting for those words all along. I ignored it. Mostly.

But as Cooper began outlining the mission details, I couldn’t shake the feeling that stepping into that dog show beside Jaime wasn’t going to be simple.\ Not professionally or personally, and definitely not in the way my wolf reacted whenever Jaime so much as breathed near me.

Something was waiting for us. Something dangerous. Something tangled up in human-shifter tensions. But something else too. Something I didn’t dare name yet. Something that felt suspiciously like fate.

Thank you for continuing to be part of this journey with us. Your support means the world to us. Enjoy the rest of your week!

With love,

Kara