Howling Mad: A paranormal wolf shifter romance (Badlands Book 2) by Rebekah Blue

motorcycles. If anyone tried to intercept the convoy before it got where it was going, they’d have a fight on their hands. Naomi had spoken to a couple of the Road Wolves when they’d roared up to the carnival grounds, and despite their tough swagger and leather-and-grease fashion sense, they were a bunch of really sweet guys. Misfits, sure, and a bit gruff and growly, but sweet. Despite the name, there were all kind of shifters in the group, not just wolves, and even a couple of humans. Apparently species wasn’t as important as the brotherhood.
    As they approached the Dynamic Earth Rehabilitation Center, the Road Wolves peeled away one by one, leaving the wagon to drive the last few miles alone – at least to the casual observer. Naomi knew that some of the Wolves were grouped at rest stops, keeping in touch with trucker buddies by CB and monitoring the radio channels used by the police and emergency services. Others ran in the woods beside the road, keeping pace in their animal forms. Nothing and nobody was going to prevent Byron from returning to the Zoo.
    When they got there, though… Brute force wasn’t going to help. If their plan was going to work, they needed the element of surprise.
    As the last of the Road Wolves peeled away, Felix flipped open a sleek silver cell phone. He hit a sequence of numbers, and when his call went through, he said, “Felix. The job’s done. Yeah, the girl too.” He snapped the phone shut.
    “That’s it?” Naomi was surprised. She’d been half expecting code words, or some kind of exchange of random-sounding phrases, like Russian spies in old movies. It seemed like there should have been more drama.
    “That’s it,” Felix confirmed. “It’s not a very chatty job. What were you expecting?”
    “Oh, I don’t know. Don’t you have to send proof or something?”
    Felix gave a brief shout of laughter. “Like a severed ear, maybe? I could slice a few bits off the Big Bad Wolf here, if you like. Who knows? The lopsided look might suit him.”
    Byron bristled. “Watch yourself, pussy cat,” he growled, with the emphasis right where it would be the most insulting.
    “Guys,” said Naomi, “this is bad enough without you fighting. We’ve got to hold it together if this is going to work.”
    “Are you certain about the timing?” Byron asked. “You’re sure he’ll hold a press conference right away? I mean, he’s just been told…” He trailed off. Dr. Atkins had just been told his daughter had been killed in cold blood, on his orders.
    “I’m sure,” she said mournfully. “My father’s the ultimate PR machine. A death would only stop him from spinning the situation to Dynamic Earth’s advantage if it was his.”
    They parked a little way from the gates, and made their way into the grounds easily enough. The facility housed dangerous criminals, semi-feral shifters, and those whose paranormal powers made them too dangerous to be allowed to go free. The security guards weren’t worried about people getting in – especially since the word had gone out on the grapevine that Byron and Naomi were dead.
    Naomi crept close to the window of the family room and saw her father preparing for the press conference. He looked relatively calm and unruffled as he bent his head in quiet conversation with Professor Stanhope. If anything the scientist looked more distressed – like her father, the stress of his work had been affecting him lately, and his hours had been getting longer and longer, but today he looked as if he hadn’t slept at all. She felt a little pang of pain in her heart at the idea that, of the two of them, he might be more distressed about her supposed death.
    Dr. Atkins checked his watch and spoke briefly to the gathered journalists, who made last-minute checks of their cameras and microphones.
    It was now or never.
    “Ladies and gentlemen,” her father began, “thank you for coming. This is an extraordinary situation, and I know the public is anxious for