Clawed & Cornered: A Viking Werewolf Paranormal Romance (Children of Fenrir Book 1)

  CLAWED & CORNERED

  By

  Heather McCorkle

  Copyright © 2020 Heather McCorkle

  Edited by Yelena Casale

  Cover Design by Mibl Art.

  All stock photos licensed appropriately.

  Published in the United States by City Owl Press.

  www.cityowlpress.com

  For information on subsidiary rights, please contact the publisher at [email protected]

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior consent and permission of the publisher.

  For all the great loves that almost were.

  PRAISE FOR HEATHER McCORKLE

  “Kickass women, Icelandic warriors, and plenty of action!” – Kait Ballinger, Bestselling Author of The Execution Underground Series

  “The characters have lots of depth to them and are strong, sexy and fun. A fabulous story line full of magic and danger that I was pulled into from the first page. I can't wait to read more of this series. I loved it.” – Petula Winmill, Book Reviewer

  “Holy werewolves, Batman! What did I just read!! A winning combination of romance and heat, action, and drama, not to mention plenty of Norse lore and mythology to make a paranormal lover combust! This story was unique and quite different from the shifter stories we’ve come to know and love. Ms. McCorkle did a marvelous job with weaving her story and I am so looking forward to what’s coming next.” – Katrina Berry, Book Reviewer

  “Excellent book!! Not your average shifter book. I really like the Norse bent to the storyline. Couldn't put it down and anxiously awaiting book 2 of the series.” – Susan Hall, Book Reviewer

  “What a great story this is! One of the best things about it is that I can't think of a book to compare it too. The reason why I love that, is because the story is just so unique. Which is why I kept turning the page! Loved it!” – Ali Cross, USA Today Bestselling Author of Young Adult Fantasy

  “There's trouble in the Dragon Empire, the kind that could start a war between dragons and the races of people…For those who love fantasy, dragons and a sweet love story, this book is definitely a must read for you!” – Geeky Book Gal

  “Channeler's Choice is definitely my choice for a fantastic story. Heather McCorkle turns the heat up in her second novel of the Channeler series…McCorkle is an outstanding storyteller, and she totally blew me away again.” – I Heart YA Books

  Children of Fenrir

  Recommended Reading Order

  Clawed & Cornered

  Bitten & Beholden

  Tempered & Turned

  (coming soon from City Owl Press)

  Bared & Betrayed

  (coming soon from City Owl Press)

  Contents

  Want More City Owl Press Books?

  Keep Reading the Children of Fenrir Series!

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Sneak Peek of Bitten & Beholden

  Keep Reading the Children of Fenrir Series!

  Want More City Owl Press Books?

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  About the Publisher

  Additional Titles

  Want More City Owl Press Books?

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  Read book two, BITTEN & BEHOLDEN, a full-length novel, available now, and find more from Heather McCorkle at

  www.heathermccorkle.com

  As the chaos of Loki covers the earth again, will the Seeker awaken to save us all?

  When Sonja Michaelson’s hot date turns into something from a horror movie, she wakes up with a chunk taken out of her neck, and her body going through strange changes. Her attacker has disappeared, leaving her a mysterious note to meet him in Montana.

  With her senses tipping over into the freaky, she is left with no choice but to go after him.

  Instead of her attacker, she finds Tyler Viðarrson, an alluring man who claims he’s been sent to teach her how to survive the transition into her new life. Ty informs her that she’s been bitten into a line of werewolves that trace their lineage back to an ancient pack of Icelandic Vikings.

  Now, several packs are fighting for her to join them.

  If she doesn’t learn to control her wolf by the full moon, she could lose what’s left of her sanity. But with such a tempting teacher, she fears her sanity may be the least of her worries.

  Sonja soon discovers there is a larger and more sinister plan at work. She is not the only one who has been changed against her will, and whoever is changing the others, wants her for what she can awaken–an ancient power that may endanger the entire world.

  Disclaimer: Previously published as Once Bitten, now with new material.

  BUY NOW!

  Chapter One

  Sonya

  I have a monumental taste for bad men. No, I don’t mean I have monumentally bad taste in men, though that’s true as well. No matter how one looks at it, that’s why I was drawn to Raul’s fine leather-clad body when he walked through the door of my bar. Tall, dark, and dangerous looking, he was everything I desired and nothing I needed. His eyes locked onto mine and held them like an industrial strength magnet. As he wove his way through the tables of people, I tensed, preparing a moment too late to call out when he stepped in the path of a couple of guys playing darts. Not that he would have heard me over the Friday night din of bad country music and drunks.

  The idiots either didn’t see him or didn’t care because the portly one drew his dart back and let it fly. TD&D snatched it right out of the air like something from a movie, his gaze shooting toward the players. One moment he held the dart in his hand, the next his arm was down by his side. I didn’t even realize what he had done until I heard the sharp metal ‘thunk’ resonate into wood. The sound drew my gaze to the bright red and blue plastic feathers thrust up between two of the player’s fingers where his hand rested on the bar. The man snatched his hand against his side and took a step back.

  “Damn, man, watch what the fuck you’re doing!” The second player said.

  TD&D grinned, exposing perfect white teeth with canines that were just a little longer than normal. “I was,” he said in a voice that rumbled as if bordering on the edge of a growl.

  Absently mopping up the remnants of glass rings on the bar top, I watched as TD&D sauntered in my direction. Not all men can pull off a saunter. This guy not only did it with class, but he also made it look smoking hot. The tight black designer jeans accentuating the promising bulge of his crotch didn’t hurt matters, nor did the black nylon motorcycle jacket. I caught a flash of some sort of patch on the back of his jacket, but couldn’t tell what it was fro
m my angle. Before he could catch me staring at his goods and get the wrong impression, I forced my eyes upward. The black shirt hugging his fit body shone like silk, the gold buttons matching the brilliant flecks in his brown eyes. Designer cowboy boots that cost more than a day’s pay with tips peeked out from his jeans. I shook my head and turned my attention back to cleaning.

  Sure, it had been over a year since I’d gotten laid, but most good looking guys didn’t affect me this strongly. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw that I wouldn’t be able to avoid him much longer. He was walking straight up to the bar, and the only empty stool was right in front of me. The moment I decided to find something else to do anywhere but there, I looked up and he was suddenly settling onto the stool. How the hell he had moved that fast through a crowded bar, I had no idea. Unless of course I was stalling subconsciously. Otherworldly brown eyes with gold shooting out from the pupil like rays of an eclipsed sun snagged a hold of mine. I tried to look away but those brilliant eyes would not let me. Something haunted hid in them.

  “Hello,” he said through a disarming smile, those eyes never leaving mine.

  The lack of pickup line or wandering gaze left me at a loss for words. It took me several moments just to muster up a “Hello,” in return.

  “I would love a glass of your top shelf Syrah, please,” he said.

  One of my brows lifted of its own accord. Wine snob; didn’t see that coming. Figured. “Coming right up.”

  It took a lot to surprise me as a bartender, and it threw me completely off my game. On my way to the wine fridge at the end of the bar, I regained as much of my cool professional mask as I could. I grabbed our best Syrah from the fridge’s red wine section, popped the cork, and poured a generous glass before returning the bottle. The entire time I felt TD&D’s gaze on me and I didn’t mind one bit. Though he oozed danger, something about him also felt very refined and proper. It was a strange and intriguing combination.

  “Kinda busy for a weeknight,” he commented over the din of conversation and music pouring from the bar’s sound system. He had a nice voice, just deep enough to vibrate along one’s skin, but smooth like he’d never smoked.

  I nodded. “This place is always hopping.”

  He gave me a cover guy smile as his eyes flicked across me. “It’s clear why.”

  Not exactly a cheap pick up line, but it was close, too close. I cast my gaze skyward and started to make my way down the bar.

  The deep, little laugh that came from him managed to sound confident and contrite at the same time. “I meant it as an observation and compliment, not the cheap pick up line it sounded like.”

  I cast a half-smile his way. “It was creepishly cliche,” I agreed.

  He returned my smile and the air in the room suddenly seemed clearer, more inviting. It wasn’t the perfect teeth with canines just a touch too long, or the rakishly handsome appearance they gave him. The effect came from a deep charisma very few people possessed, the kind of thing that made you want to be around someone without being able to put a finger on why.

  “You hungry, Top Shelf?” I asked. I cringed inwardly and prepared myself for the pickup line that set me up for. What had I been thinking, phrasing it like that? But then, I hadn’t, that was the thing. This guy threw me off my game in a big way.

  As his gaze moved over my low-cut shirt and back up, his lips pulled into a smirk. “Yes, thank you. I would love a burger—as rare as your cook is allowed to leave it, and fries.”

  Since his eyes had taken a brief trip up my body, I allowed mine to do the same to him. “Cheat day for you?” Clearly he hit the gym, a lot, and that usually meant health nut as well. Guys like that tended to be a bit too judgmental about how a woman looked for my taste. I polished a glass while I waited for his answer, hoping I was wrong.

  He shrugged one shoulder. “No need for cheat days with a balanced diet.” The answer rang too close to health nut for my liking.

  I tilted my head toward the opening between the bar and the overhead liquor cabinet and hollered the order back to Joe in the kitchen.

  “Coming right up, gorgeous,” he called back.

  TD&D’s eyes narrowed into a fierce look that made things low in my body tingle. “You should report his disrespectful ass to the owner,” he said through a literal growl.

  A laugh burst from me. “Wouldn’t do any good. That bastard’s even worse.”

  His muscles tensed like he was ready to rise from his stool. “Sounds like someone needs to be taught how to treat a lady.”

  I held a hand up. “Whoa, put your cape away. I don’t need anyone to rescue me.”

  He sat down fast. “Oh no, I…uh…sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.”

  I cocked my head at him and raised a brow, but refrained from responding. They never “meant it that way”.

  His face scrunched up into an adorable, beseeching look that had probably gotten him out of every disciplinary situation from birth to college. That magnetic golden gaze—the kind that leaves you a bit speechless because of the beauty behind it—tried to suck me in again. It was all the more powerful because he knew its effect, and I could see that in the depths of it.

  “I’m sorry, really. I have a feeling you can take care of yourself and then some, and I like that,” he said in a voice that slid over me smooth as silk, raising goosebumps. “Let me backtrack out of the worst start ever, with the most interesting person I’ve met ever, please.” He paused and let his smile work its magic on me. I couldn’t help it; I smiled back like a fool. I mean, Hel, he had said interesting, not beautiful. It impressed me. He went on. “I’m here on a bit of a walk-about. What do I absolutely need to visit in the area before going home?”

  I decided to see if he was just a gym rat, or if he actually put those muscles to good use. My mind tried to take that to dirty places, and succeeded. I leaned over the bar, getting close enough he’d be able to hear me over the increasing clamor of chatter. And hey, it got me a good whiff of his leather and pine scent, not that overpowering cologne, but authentic trees and outdoors. I played it cool with a coy smile. “Depends on whether or not you’re willing to get your designer boots dirty. If so, the Lupine Trail along Misery Ridge has a view that is well worth the hike.”

  The grin that split his tempting lips lit his eyes with a genuinely pleased shine that warmed my stomach and sent tingling fingers tracing down to make my vulva muscles tighten. “I would love to check that out.”

  Though I was bending over, offering a nice view down the v of my AC/DC t-shirt, his gaze never left mine. So the guy was more than pretty eyes, a Hollywood face, and designer clothes. Nice, really nice.

  His mouth opened, but a pushy customer interrupted him by hollering for me from down the bar. Smile turning apologetic, I whisked off the serve the needy. The place really was hopping for a weeknight. Every table was full and only two bar seats were left empty, both next to TD&D. They’d been occupied when he arrived, but the little stunt with the dart had apparently made the patrons want to be elsewhere. All except for the two I saw approaching out of my peripheral. The oversized black cowboy hat stuck out like a sore thumb, a thumb I dreaded seeing each night.

  Looking up slow and dramatic like, Stetson—as I’d come to think of him because of that ridiculous hat—met my gaze and winked one muddy brown eye at me. He swaggered his way to the bar in a gait that suggested his pants bordered on the painful side of being a bit too tight. The heels of working cowboy boots clicked an uneven rhythm that revealed his old bull riding injuries. I sneered at him in response to his coy look. Undeterred, he grinned and licked his lips, revealing a missing tooth behind his canines. The guy with him glared TD&D down as he strutted up to the empty stool on the right side of him. Damn, he was the one who’d thrown the dart. Things were about to get interesting.

  “Sonya, this guy bothering you?” Stetson asked.

  I rolled my eyes. “Duane, even if I were a tender princess, this guy wouldn’t bother me half as much as you do.”

>   Duane Stetson—my made-up surname for him, probably not his real one—rested both elbows on the bar and leaned as close as he could get to me. I took a step back to grab a bottle of Jack for a patron and put a bit more distance between Duane and myself.

  “Well, hot and bothered wasn’t what I meant,” Duane drawled, thickening his Idaho accent for effect as he licked his lips.

  Ugh. I didn’t even try to fight the grossed-out look that came over me. Ignoring it, Duane went on. “Why don’t you let me take you out to dinner after you get off?”

  Slinging together a Jack and Coke without taking my narrowed glare off him, I answered, “I’ve decided to swear off food.”

  Nodding like the idiot he was, Duane’s smile grew. “I respect a woman who knows when to diet, but girl, you are smoking. You don’t need to shed any pounds.”

  I gave him a tight-lipped smile. “And I respect a guy who doesn’t judge women by their bodies,” I said in a carefully controlled voice.

  Confusion clouded his eyes, which kind of made them the color of excrement. Or maybe that was just the cynicism he was raising in me. “Ah, come on. I meant it as a compliment. No need to go all feminist on me, Miss Ph.D.” With that, he turned his back on me and plopped onto the stool to TD&D’s left.