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"It's a predator eat predator world for
the Were-Hunters. Danger haunts any given day. There is no one to trust. No one
to love. Not if they want to live..."
An orphan with no clan that will claim him, Wren Tigarian grew to adulthood
under the close scrutiny and mistrust of those around him. A forbidden blend of
two animals--snow leopard and white tiger--Wren has never listened to anyone
when there was something he wanted. Now he wants Marguerite.
Marguerite D'Aubert Goudeau is the daughter of a prominent U.S. Senator who
hates the socialite life she's forced to live. Like her mother before her, she
has strong Cajun roots that her father doesn't understand. Still, she has no
choice but to try and conform to a world where she feels like an outsider. But
the world of rich and powerful humans is never to meet the world of the
Were-Hunters who exist side by side with them, unseen, unknown, undetected. To
break this law is to call down a wrath of the highest order.
In order to have Marguerite, Wren must fight not just the humans who will never
accept his animal nature, but the Were-Hunters who want him dead for endangering
their world. It's a race against time and magic without boundary that could cost
Marguerite and Wren not just their lives, but their very souls... |
Unleash the Night spent
a combined total of 39 weeks on
bestseller lists, reaching a high of #3
on Publisher's Weekly. It also appeared
in the top 5 of the NYT, USA Today and
#7 on the Washington Post and LA Times.
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Wren made his first
appearance in Night Embrace and
Sherri was beguiled by him. She was
in the middle of writing Xander and
Brynna's story when Wren appeared
and wouldn't let her rest until
she'd written his story. |
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Guestbook
Factoid: Sherri designed the original
Unleash the Night cover.
Some fans have said that Nicolette is very
different in this book than she's been in
the past. The key thing to remember is that
Nicolette is first and foremost a bear, and
just like any animal there are those she
likes and those she doesn't. She has been
cold from the beginning such as in the case
of throwing Vane out. But in Vane's case,
she liked him. In the case of Wren, she
hates him. He isn't right in their world and
like any animal, she attacks him. It's just
the nature of hte beast.
Click here for
Correct Reading Order
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UK/Aus/NZ/
South Africa |
Large Print Edition |
Original US |
More countries coming as
we get the books in |
Excerpt
“Oh my goodness!” Whitney exclaimed the instant they entered the
famed Sanctuary biker bar.
Marguerite’s own eyes widened as she looked around the dark, grungy
place that did appear to need a good and thorough cleaning. People were
dressed in anything from biker leathers to t-shirts and jeans. The
tables and chairs were a hodgepodge of rough design that didn’t even
match. The stage area was liberally painted black with odd splashes of
gray, red and white, and the billiard tables looked as if they’d
survived many a bar fight in their day.
There was even straw spread out across the floor that reminded her of a
barn.
The bar area to her right was occupied by rough-looking men drinking
beers and yelling at each other. She could see a wooden stairway before
them that led to an upstairs area, but she had no idea what was up
there. Trouble came to her mind. A person could probably find a lot of
trouble up there.
This place was definitely rustic.
But what held her attention most was the high concentration of handsome
men working in the bar. They were everywhere. The bartenders, the
waiters, the bouncers... She’d never seen anything like this.
Elise leaned over to whisper in her ear. “I think I might have just died
and been sent to heaven. Have you ever seen so many gorgeous men in your
life?”
It was all Marguerite could do to shake her head. It really was
unbelievable. She was stunned that the news media hadn’t caught wind of
this and sent in a team to investigate what was in the water to make so
many hot men in one place.
Even Whitney was gaping and ogling.
“What kind of music is that?” Blaine said, twisting his lips into a
sneer as a new song started over the stereo that was piped through the
length and breadth of the bar.
“I think it’s called metal,” Todd shouted over the loud guitar solo.
“I call it painful myself,” Whitney said. “Did Nick really hang out
here?”
Marguerite nodded. Nick had loved this place. He’d spent hours telling
her about it and the odd people who called this place home. “He said
they had the best andouille sausage in the world.”
Blaine scoffed. “Highly doubtful.”
Todd indicated a table to the back with a tilt of his head. “I think we
should sit and have a drink in memory of old Nick. You only live once,
you know?”
“Drink out of the glasses here and you probably won’t live through the
night,” Blaine said. He looked less than enthusiastic as they followed
Todd to the table and took a seat.
Marguerite shrugged her backpack off, then sat in the chair that Todd
was holding out for her. The place was very loud and yet she could see
Nick in here. There was something about it that reminded her of him.
Aside from the rather tacky decor which Nick had always preferred. She
often suspected that he dressed tacky just to nettle people.
To her it had been one of his more endearing traits. He was the only
person she’d ever known who truly hadn’t cared what other people thought
of him. Nick was Nick and if you didn’t like it, you could leave.
“Can I get you guys something?”
She looked up to see an extremely beautiful blonde woman around her own
age. She was wearing a pair of skin tight jeans and a small t-shirt with
the Sanctuary logo of a motorcycle parked on a hill that was silhouetted
by a full moon. Underneath the picture was the tag line, Sanctuary: Home
of the Howlers.
Blaine gave their waitress a hot once over that the woman wisely
ignored. “Yes, we’ll all have the Westvleteren 8.”
The waitress frowned at his choice of beer. “What was that?”
Blaine got that familiar smug look on his face and used his
do-I-have-to-talk-to-the-simple voice. “It’s a Belgian beer, sweetie.
Please tell me you’ve at least heard of it.”
The waitress gave him a peeved glare. “Boy, I was born in Brussels and
the last time I checked, this was my new homeland America, not my
birthplace. So you can either order an American made beer or I’ll bring
you water and you can sit there and act all superior until you puke,
okay?”
Blaine looked as if he were ready to choke her. “Does your manager know
that you talk to your customers like this?”
The waitress gave him a snide, indulgent smirk. “If you’d like to talk
to my mother who owns this bar, my overindulgent brother who manages it
or my father who delights in kicking everyone’s ass around about your
treatment by me, just let me know and I’ll be more than happy to go get
one of them for you. I know they’d just love to waste their time dealing
with you. They’re real understanding that way.”
Marguerite stifled a laugh. She didn’t know the woman, but she liked her
a lot. “I’ll have a Bud Lite, please.”
The waitress winked conspiratorially at her before she wrote it down on
her small pad.
“Here too,” Todd said.
Whitney and Elise joined in with their orders. Then they all looked at
Blaine and waited for his next nasty comment. “Bring mine unopened with
a napkin and an opener.”
The waitress cocked her head with a devilish gleam in her eyes. “What?
Afraid I’m going to spit in it, big boy?”
Todd laughed.
Before Blaine could respond, the blonde left them.
Marguerite’s smile faded as she suddenly felt something odd... The hair
on the back of her neck rose. It was like someone was watching her.
Intently.
Menacingly.
Turning her head, she scanned the crowd, looking for the source of her
discomfort. But there was nothing there. No one seemed to be paying any
attention to them at all.
There were several burly groups of bikers playing pool. Tons of tourists
and bikers milling about. There was even a group of seven men playing
poker in one corner. Waiters and the waitress walked back and forth to
the bar and tables delivering food and drinks while the two bartenders
went about their business.
No one was even remotely looking in her direction.
I must be imagining it.
At least that’s what she thought until she spotted a man in the corner
who appeared to be staring straight at her. Dressed in a baggy, untucked,
white button down shirt covered by a dirty white apron, and faded, dingy
black jeans that had seen much better days, he was a busboy who had
paused in cleaning off a table. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled
back to the middle of his forearms. His left arm held a bright, colorful
tattoo that she couldn’t make out at this distance.
She had no idea what he looked like since his thick dark blonde hair
obscured most of his face and fell over both of his eyes. The back of it
hung just past his shoulders. In fact, given his hairdo she couldn’t
really tell where he was looking, but every instinct in her body said it
was at her.
There was something about him that seemed dark and dangerous.
Predatorial. Almost sinister.
She rubbed her neck nervously, wishing he would turn his attention back
to his job.
“Is something wrong?” Blaine asked.
“No,” she said quickly, offering him a smile. If she mentioned it, he
would no doubt make a scene and get the poor man fired from a job he
probably needed. “I’m fine.” But the feeling didn’t subside and there
was something so animalistic and fierce about it that she was definitely
unnerved.
###
Wren cocked his head as he watched the unknown woman who looked so out
of place that he wondered how she’d happened into their bar.
Sophistication and money bled from her every pore. She definitely wasn’t
their usual clientele.
He could also tell that she wasn’t comfortable under his close scrutiny.
But then no one was, it was why he seldom made eye contact with anyone.
He’d learned a long time ago that no person or beast could stand the
intensity of him for very long.
And yet he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her dark chestnut hair that
she had tied back into a ponytail held traces of auburn highlights– that
and her darker skin tone betrayed a Cajun heritage. She wore a delicate
pink sweater set and a long khaki skirt with matching pink Espadrilles.
Best of all, she had a lush, curvy body that beckoned a man to hold it
close and taste it.
She certainly wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, but there
was something about her that held his attention. Something about her
that seemed lost and hurt.
Sad.
In the wilds of Asia where he’d been born, such a creature as she would
have been killed and eaten by something stronger. Fiercer. Vulnerability
of any kind was an invitation for death. And yet he didn’t feel that
familiar swell of adrenaline that wanted him to attack the weak.
He felt an inexplicable desire to protect her.
More than that, he wanted to go over to her and offer comfort, but then
what did he know about comforting a human? He was a feral predator in
human form. All he knew was how to stalk and to kill.
How to fight.
He knew nothing of comfort. Nothing of women. Nothing of softness or
kindness. He was alone in the world by choice and he liked it that way.
Marvin, the resident monkey mascot of Sanctuary, came running up to him
with a new cloth for cleaning the tables. Wren took it from his hand as
he forced himself to go back to cleaning the table. Still, he felt the
unknown woman’s presence and before long, he found himself staring at
her again while she talked to her group of friends.
###
Marguerite took a sip of her beer while Elise and Whitney ogled the men
in the bar. She reached for a pretzel only to have Blaine slap her
hand.
He looked aghast at her. “Are you insane? Do you know how long that has
been out? How many grimy hands have been in it? For that matter, our
termagant waitress probably poisoned it just for spite.”
Marguerite rolled her eyes at his unreasonable paranoia. She glanced
back to the busboy who had moved closer now. He was working again, but
even so she sensed that she was his primary focus.
She frowned as she saw a tiny brown spider monkey run up his arm to rest
on his shoulder.
The busboy pulled a small carrot from his white apron’s pocket to hand
to the monkey who ate it while he returned to work. She bit back a smile
as she realized who this guy was. He must be Wren. Nick used to talk
about him from time to time. He’d told her that at first he’d thought
Wren was mute since he never, ever spoke to anyone. They’d known each
other for a full year before Wren had finally mumbled, “hi,” one day
when Nick had come in to visit his mother.
According to Nick, Wren was a complete loner who kept to himself and who
refused to participate in the world. The only reason she knew it was him
was that Nick would talk about the monkey... Wren’s only real friend,
who was prone to steal their billiard balls while the two of them played
in the back corner of the bar.
The monkey was named Marvin...
Blaine caught sight of her watching the busboy. He turned in his chair
to see Wren who had returned to staring at her. At least that’s what it
seemed like, but again, he kept his hair over his eyes so there was no
way to know for certain.
“Is he bothering you?”
“No,” Marguerite said quickly, afraid of what Blaine might do. In a
weird way, she felt almost flattered. Men didn’t normally notice her
unless they knew who her father was. It had been her mother who had
turned heads.
Never her.
“What are you looking at?” Todd snapped at the man.
Wren ignored him as he moved to the table beside theirs that was covered
with glasses and a plate of half-eaten nachos.
Marguerite could sense that he wanted to speak to her and she found
herself wondering what he looked like underneath all that blond hair.
There was an air of danger around him. One of powerful restraint and yet
she sensed that he didn’t want to attract anyone’s attention.
It was as if he wanted to blend in seamlessly with the background, but
was completely unable to do so.
A strange image of a sitting tiger in the zoo came to her mind. That’s
what he reminded her of. A large beast that was carefully watching those
around him, detached, and yet confident that it could take down anyone
who messed with him.
“What a freak,” Blaine said as he looked over to see Wren watching them.
“Hey buddy, why don’t you do something with those disgusting dreads?”
Blaine tossed a few dollars at him. “Why don’t you use that to get a
real haircut.”
Wren completely ignored him and the money.
The monkey started squealing as if protecting Wren. Without a word, Wren
patted the monkey’s head, then whispered something to it. The monkey
jumped off his shoulder and scampered toward the bar.
Wren set his pan of dishes aside.
Her heart pounded as she realized he was coming toward her now. Up
close, he was much larger than he’d appeared from a distance. For some
reason, he slumped down and appeared to be around six feet, but if he
were to straighten to his full height, she was sure he’d be around six
two or three.
There was an aura of supreme power that surrounded him. One of speed and
agility.
He was simply magnetic.
This close, she could finally see his eyes. They were a vibrant
turquoise blue that was so pale they were haunting in their color.
And in their mercilessness.
He indicated her empty glass with a tilt of his chin. “Are you finished,
my lady?” His voice was deep and resonant, mesmerizing. It sent a
thrilling chill down her spine.
She smiled at his polite title. “Yes,” she said, handing it toward him.
He wiped his hand off on his apron as if he didn’t want to offend or
dirty her before he reached for it.
At first she thought their hands might touch, but he moved his away as
if he were afraid of making such intimate contact. A strange
disappointment filled her.
Dropping his gaze, he took her glass, holding it as if it were precious
and moved away. He set it in the pan, then glanced back at her.
“Excuse me, Rasta-mon?” Todd said rudely. “You don’t need to be looking
at her, asshole. She’s way out of your league.”
He cut Todd a bored look that said he didn’t find him much of a threat.
“Wren?” the blond waitress said as she came up to him and confirmed his
identity for Marguerite. The waitress paused to give them a warning
glower before she softened her expression and looked back at Wren. “It’s
time for you to take a break, okay, sweetie?”
He nodded.
As he started away, Blaine pushed at the pan in his hands. “Yeah,
sweetie, hang out with your own kind in the gutter.”
Before she realized what Blaine was doing, he slung his drink in the
man’s face.
Wren let out a sound that was a strange hissing growl that didn’t seem
quite human. In a split second, he dropped the pan and lunged for
Blaine.
Out of nowhere a group of men appeared to pull him back. She staggered
to her feet and watched as the four much larger bouncers had to struggle
to hold onto Wren. They surrounded him so well that Marguerite couldn’t
even see him anymore as they formed a barrier as if to protect her
group.
The waitress was livid. “Get out!” she snarled at them. “All of you.”
“Why?” Blaine asked. “We’re paying customers.”
Another blond man came up, one who bore a striking resemblance to the
waitress. He must be the brother she had mentioned earlier who managed
the bar. “You better do what Aimee says, boy. We just saved your life,
but even we can’t hold him for too long. By the time his vision clears,
you better be long gone or we’re not responsible for what he does to
you.”
Blaine sneered at him. “He touches me and I’ll sue all of you.”
The man laughed menacingly. “Trust me, there won’t be enough of you left
to feed through a straw, never mind file a lawsuit, dweeb. Now get out
of my bar before I throw you out.”
“Come on, Blaine,” Todd said, pulling him toward the door. “We’ve been
here long enough.”
Whitney and Elise balked at having to leave, but like dutiful zombies
they got up and followed the men.
Marguerite stayed behind.
“Margeaux?” Todd asked.
“Go on. I’ll catch up later.”
Blaine shook his head at her. “Don’t be stupid, Margeaux. Our kind
doesn’t belong here.”
She was so sick of the ‘our kind,’ ‘their kind’ mentality. She’d had
quite enough of that in her life and much to her entire family’s
chagrin, her thought was there were only two kinds of people in the
world. Those who were decent and those who were mean.
Personally, she was sick to death of those who were mean. “Shut up,
Blaine. Go home before I beat you.”
Blaine rolled his eyes before he headed for the door with Elise and
Whitney in tow.
“Are you sure you want to stay?” Todd asked.
“Yes. I’ll catch a cab home.”
He looked less than convinced, but he must have recognized her
determination to stay. “Okay. Be careful.”
She nodded, then waited for him to leave before she headed off in the
direction where she’d seen them take Wren. This whole fiasco had been
her fault. The least she could do was apologize for the fact that she
was dumb enough to hang out with assholes.
She found a small hallway that led to the restrooms and to an area
marked Private. Staff Only. At first she thought the men might have gone
into the private office area until she heard voices drifting out from
the men’s room.
“Don’t wet his face again, Colt, he’ll tear your arm off for it.”
Again she heard that fierce, animalistic growl and something that
sounded like someone being pushed back.
“I told you,” the masculine voice said again. “Stupid humans. That boy’s
lucky we didn’t let Wren have at him. You don’t pull a tiger’s tail
unless you want to get eaten.”
“What the hell were you doing talking to that girl anyway?” another
voice asked. “Jeez. Since when do you talk to anyone, Wren?”
She heard the growl again, followed by the sound of breaking glass.
“Fine,” the first voice said. “Have your tantrum. We’ll wait outside.”
The bathroom door opened to show her two men who were well over six feet
tall. One had short, black hair and the other had long black hair pulled
into a ponytail. They stopped between her and the door to eye her
warily.
“Is he all right?” she asked them.
The one with long hair gave her a strange look. “You ought to go on and
get out of here. You’ve caused enough trouble for one night.”
But oddly enough, she didn’t want to leave. “I...” She forgot her words
as the bathroom door opened to show her Wren again as he left the room
to enter the hallway too.
His shirt was wet, making parts of it cling to a very well muscled
chest. He had a towel draped over one shoulder and his head was down.
The gesture reminded her more of a predator that was watching the world
warily, waiting to pounce than someone who was bashful or shy.
He approached her slowly, methodically. Something about his movements
was reminiscent of a cat right before it brushed up against its owner to
nuzzle her or mark her as his.
He wiped at his face with the back of his hand before he cut a sinister
glare at the men.
“Leave,” he growled.
The one with long hair stiffened as if he hated the idea of being
ordered about.
“C’mon, Justin,” the short-haired man who must be Colt said in a
conciliatory tone. “Wren still needs time to cool down.”
Justin let out a low, sinister growl of his own, before he headed back
into the bar.
Colt passed a warning look to her, then headed off to the counter.
Marguerite swallowed as she approached Wren slowly. This close she could
tell that his baggy shirt covered a lean, hard body. His skin was a deep
tawny gold that was so inviting that it should be illegal.
There was something about him that appeared wild, feral. He even looked
like he’d slept in his clothes. It was obvious this man didn’t care what
anyone thought of him. He didn’t follow fashion or any rule of civility.
From what she’d overheard while they’d been in the bathroom, it didn’t
even appear he was moderately sociable at all.
In theory she should be repulsed by him and yet she wasn’t. All she
wanted to do was brush back the mop of blond hair and see if he was as
handsome as she suspected.
“I’m so sorry,” she said quietly. “I didn’t know Blaine was going to do
that to you.”
He didn’t speak. Instead he took a step toward her, so close now that
she could feel the heat from his body. He reached out toward her. He
paused his hand just before he made contact with her cheek and held it
there, hovering while those eerie blue eyes scorched her.
Wren wanted to touch her so badly that he could taste it. He’d never
wanted anything more. But then he knew that he shouldn’t.
She was human.
And she was beautiful. Her hair appeared softer than down. Her skin
glowed with vital warmth. He would give anything for one tiny taste of
that skin to see if she were as delectable as she appeared.
But he couldn’t.
An animal like him could never touch something as fragile as her. It was
in his nature to destroy, never nurture. He let his hand fall away.
“Are you Nick’s friend he used to talk about?” she asked quietly.
He cocked his head at her unexpected question. “You knew Nick?”
She nodded. “I went to school with him. We used to study together. He
said that he had a friend here named Wren who always kicked his heiney
at pool. Was that you?”
Wren looked over at the pool tables and nodded as he remembered his
friend. Not that Nick had really known anything about him. But at least
Nick had tried to befriend him. It’d been a nice change of pace.
“It was me,” he whispered, not sure why he bothered when he seldom spoke
to anyone.
But he wanted to speak to her. He loved the soft, gentle lilt of her
voice. She appeared so tender. So feminine. A foreign, alien part of
himself actually wanted to cuddle with her.
He leaned forward ever so slightly so that he could discreetly inhale
the scent of her. Her skin was warm and sweet and held traces of talcum
powder and a spicy wood scent of lotion. It made him hard and aching.
He’d never kissed a woman, but for the first time he wanted to. Her
parted lips looked so inviting.
So delicious...
“Wren?”
He turned his head as he heard Nicolette Peltier’s voice behind him.
The older Frenchwoman approached them from the bar’s office. He could
sense that Nicolette wanted to reach out and pull him away from the
human, but like the others who made Sanctuary their home, Nicolette was
afraid of him. His kind was unpredictable. Deadly.
Everyone feared him. Except for the woman before him.
But then she had no idea that he was a tigard walking in the skin of a
human.
“I should go now,” he said to her, moving away.
The woman reached out and touched his arm. His groin jerked in response
as that touch branded him with heated desire. It was all he could do to
suppress the animal that wanted to take her for his own. Normally, he
gave into those urges.
Tonight he couldn’t. To do so could hurt her and that was the last thing
he wanted.
“I’m really sorry about what happened,” she said softly. “It was
inexcusable and I hope they didn’t get you into any trouble or hurt
you.”
He didn’t say anything as she glanced at Nicolette, then turned around
and left.
She was gone. It went through him like a knife.
“Come, Wren,” Nicolette said. “I think it best if you end your shift now
and retire for the night.”
Wren didn’t argue. He did need some time out of his human form,
especially given how volatile he felt right then. It was as if his body
was electrified. Elevated. He’d never felt anything like this in his
life.
Without another word, he headed for the kitchen which had a door that
led to the building next door where the animal-weres made their home.
Peltier House had long been a refuge for creatures like himself...
creatures who had been thrown out of their clans for all manner of
reasons. As Aimee so often said, they were all refugees and misfits.
Wren was more so than most. He’d never had an animal clan that he
belonged to. Neither tiger nor leopard would tolerate his mixed
presence. He was a mutant hybrid that should never have been allowed to
live.
Here lately he could tell even the bears weren’t fond of him either.
They damned sure didn’t trust him. It was subtle. They would gather up
their cubs whenever they climbed on him. Or they would do like tonight
and isolate him anytime they suspected that he might be getting angry.
That was why he’d valued Nick so much. Nick had treated him like he was
normal.
“What the hell?” Nick would say. “We’re all screwed up someway. At least
you bathe and I don’t have to fight you for chicks. In my book, that
makes you all right.”
Nick had held a unique view of the world.
Wren pulled his wet shirt off as he headed up the stairs. Marvin came
bounding up behind him. He’d only climbed halfway up when a bad feeling
went through him.
The woman...
She was in trouble.
Wren mentally willed a black t-shirt on his body as he sensed imminent
threat for her. Without a word to Marvin, he flashed himself out of the
building, onto the street.
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