Loving the Wolf Prince: Springlake Pines Pack

By Tamika Brown

Nakira Williams has been different her entire life. She's heard the whispers of witch, but never gave those claims credence until she turned eighteen and the visions started. Everything changed. She'd met her mate and learned about the shifters in the town she's lived in her whole life—where there were even whispers that she was a witch. Other than the cursed visions, she'd no real magical powers. Plus, magic didn't exist. But learning about shifters and being someone's mate, has triggered a different vision. No longer did she see her newfound mate dying, but one that affected his pack. War was coming. A war aimed at wiping out the Springlake Pines Pack once and for all.

Devin James is next in line for Alpha of the Springlake Pines Pack, but he's confident he won't have to take up that mantle until years from now. He's found his mate, Nakira, at a young age and has been living out his dream of being a college football star. For the last three years, she's told him war is coming to the Springlake Pines Pack. That he's going to die if they can't stop it, without knowing when or who. But Devin's wolf is a beast and will do whatever he can not to let that happen and it starts with claiming his mate.
Until now. Nakira's new vision prompts the Wolf Prince to finally come home. His wolf is a monster that after years of keeping chained, must be unleashed if they are to survive.

Only together can he and Nakira defeat what's coming to exterminate the Springlake Pines Pack.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tamika Brown
• Release date: Jun 17, 2024
• ISBN: 9798227383839

Tamika Brown

I'm from a small town, but we have big dreams. I was born in the 70's but am truly the epitome of an 80's baby! My parents instilled in me to work hard; you can go as far as you want to with a good education. My parents ingrained this in me and because of that, I strive to be the best in whatever I do. I am an educator, but first and foremost, I am a wife and a mother of three. I take pride in what my children and husband have accomplished and strive to be a positive role model and inspiration to my children to be the best and that hard work pays off.I am an avid reader and naturally my love for reading spilled out into writing.Then came the challenge from my students to write a short story when we were studying pirates in North Carolina history. I took up the challenge and discovered that I could write!!! Whenever I get the chance, I put pen to paper and let all of the characters and plots that tumble around in my head come on out!!

Book preview

Chapter One

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Three years ago

Nakira Williams was almost free. Two more days and she would be done with high school. Done with this Podunk town and done with these Podunk people.

As an only child, she never understood social norms or made friends. Nakira liked people; she really did. They just didn’t like her. They believed something was wrong with her. Her parents tried to shield her from all the scrutiny, but as she got older, Nakira paid more attention to the way people shied away from her. She heard their whispers but never understood. Witches didn’t exist, and just because someone was different didn’t mean they were crazy like she heard them say.

Witch.

Crazy.

Weird.

It didn’t make her want to go out in public or try to make friends, that was for sure. She associated with a few people. They were not friends but texted one another now and then. Her parents dismissed the whispers about her, instilling in her she was a black queen, descended from royalty, intelligent, and could be anything she wanted to be. She could do anything she wanted to do. Her black was beautiful, and she did have magic.

Black Girl Magic.

Anything that imparted confidence, high self-esteem, and positive body image, her parents tried to instill in her. But they had to, right? It was what parents were supposed to do.

For so long, she’d been self-conscious about her very dark skin and ice-blue eyes. An odd combination, she could admit, and she was the only one on both sides of her family with them. Her parents constantly assured her she was beautiful and unique. All their encouragement Nakira slowly absorbed, and she started to believe her parents. But nothing prepared her for the dreams that bombarded her while she slept.

They started a few days after her eighteenth birthday. At first, they were flashes. Things she passed off as déjà vu. She mentioned them to her mother, but her mother, Kenese, brushed it off as a coincidence. Telling her it must’ve been something she’d seen on television. But when the flashes turned into full-blown episodes—full visions, like a story with a beginning, middle, and ending—she started taking them seriously and remembered them as vividly as her favorite movie. They never happened when she was wide awake, going about her day, only when she was deep in sleep. When they started becoming true, it freaked her out. It was little things like, some dish in the house breaking or thumping a toe.

Nakira didn’t dare tell her parents that tidbit of information because even though they taught her not to take stock in what people thought about her. Nakira didn’t think she could take proving those people who thought she was crazy right. She wouldn’t give them anything else to talk about.

Nakira’s first full-length dreams involved the starting running back for the school football team—a rushing god, averaging a thousand yards per season since their sophomore year. He was also the point guard for the basketball team, averaging fifteen points, five rebounds and eight assists a game. Nakira didn’t know why she dreamed of Devin James. Everyone knew him. She knew of him. They were both seniors, but Nakira wasn’t in his circle of friends and never spoke to him. She was sure he didn’t even know she existed, yet she needed to warn him.

In her dream, Devin and some friends joked around after school on their way out of the school parking lot, headed to town. The driver of the car dropped his phone. The echo of it landing on the floor of the car rang out around her. The others in the car continued joking around and were engrossed in their own phones, none paying attention to the car heading toward them until it was too late.

Nakira stood frozen as the black Scion careened off the road, skirted a ditch, then hit a tree wider than the old oak sitting in the front yard of her grandmother’s house she climbed when she was younger. She was pulled toward the wreckage. She tried to help the boys then realized they couldn’t see or hear her. Miraculously, all of them climbed from the totaled vehicle one by one. Except one.

Devin.

He didn’t move. The others moved away from the car. Two of them with cuts and bruises and the other one with a broken ankle. But when Devin’s friends realized he wasn’t with them, they called and screamed for him. They yelled. And their yells only got louder as they realized their friend wasn’t responding.

Nakira stood in terrified silence, wanting to help but knowing there was nothing she could do, as the boys tried to save their friend. She had that dream for a few nights, and it always had the same outcome. Devin wasn’t going to be saved.

They worked feverishly to get him out. The sound of breaking glass pierced her ears. A shrill voice screamed Devin’s name. And to her surprise, it was hers. That was new. Nakira had never screamed out in any of the other dreams—pleading to a kid she didn’t know to wake up.

Suddenly, Devin’s eyes popped open, trained on her with a glazed look. Like he was staring right into her soul but not seeing her in physical form.

Help me, he said so lightly she strained to hear him.

Nakira moved closer.

What did you say? She didn’t know why she tried to speak to him because it was just a dream.

His friends were hysterical, crying and still screaming his name.

The boy with the broken ankle crawled toward the car, trying to help. Then, Nakira heard sirens. Help was on the way.

Help me. Please, Devin pleaded with her again. This time she heard him clear as a bell. Then his eyes closed, and she jerked awake, drenched in sweat.

Nakira struggled with how to approach Devin. National Signing Day was this week, and he’d more than likely have enough on his mind. He didn’t need to hear that some crazy girl dreamed he had died. No way she’d approach him with that.

Her frustration increased as each day passed. She had the dream every single night. And each night, Devin called out, and Nakira couldn’t do anything as he pleaded for her help. She continuously awakened drenched in sweat, and it would take her hours to dispel her fear and fall asleep again.

Even more frustrating was the fact she didn’t know when the crash would happen, only that it was the end of the school day. She knew because the group of friends were leaving school. It was the only clue she had and the only thing at this point she had to go on.

Nakira retrieved her cell from her back pocket. Three minutes before the tardy bell rang. She hefted her backpack over her shoulder and headed to English. Just before she made it to the door, someone bumped into her, causing the notebook she carried in her arm to crash to the floor along with her phone.

Damn it! Watch where you’re going, she growled, kneeling to pick up her discarded property. She came face-to-face with Devin—the object of her dreams.

Nakira froze with her phone in hand.

Sorry about that, he said sheepishly, scooping up the notebook, then offering it to her. I wasn’t looking where I was going.

She stared, not able to say a word. And he stared at her. She’d never seen him this close before. Devin was as fine up close as he was from a distance. They both rose to their full height. Nakira had to slightly tip her head back to keep eye contact with him.

His locs were tied at the base of his neck and fell halfway down his back. His dark chocolate skin was smooth with the beginnings of a beard and mustache, indicating he was on the cusp of manhood. His eyes were what kept Nakira in place. They were hypnotic and light brown with long lashes that touched his cheeks every time he blinked. She was mesmerized. Someone clearing their throat brought her out of her trance.

Ummm, here you go. Sorry again, he apologized, shoving the notebook into her arms. Then he made his way quickly down the hallway. Nakira stared at him. As he made his way down the hall, he occasionally looked back over his shoulder to stare at her until he turned the corner and was out of sight. That was when it finally dawned on her she may have missed her opportunity to warn him.

Nakira stepped across the threshold into her classroom just as the bell sounded. She couldn’t believe the encounter with Devin took three minutes. It felt like hours passed and everything moved in slow motion.

She slid into her seat in the back of the room, melting into the background like usual. Hide-in-the-Shadows was her middle name.

Nakira was completely distracted during class. She couldn’t concentrate on the lines of King Lear or the lecture. Devin was now not only in her nightly dreams but her daydreams too. By the time she got her head back on straight, Ms. Lawson was giving the essay assignment she would fail because she hadn’t paid attention in class today. It was the end of the year, and she needed all the extra points she could get regarding grades. She was glad it was Friday, and in two minutes, she would be heading home. One day closer to freedom.

The end-of-day bell finally rang. Nakira felt like the day would never end. Filing out of the building, she headed to the student parking lot, walking as fast as she could without running, trying not to get caught in the car traffic. Nakira was one of the two hundred seniors bubbling with excitement for graduation at J. Howard High School but was probably the only one who wouldn’t miss a single thing about the place.

After retrieving her keys from her bookbag, then unlocking her doors, laughter rang out across the parking lot, catching her attention. She slung her bag into the back seat, but before she could see what was so hilarious, a sexy smirk caught her eye.

Nakira observed Devin’s smooth, confident gait and the easy way he interacted with his friends. Suddenly her dream came to the forefront, so clear and vivid. The missing pieces locked into place.

The accident is today!

Panic rose inside her, trying to escape her chest. She needed to stop him. Nakira slammed her door, bringing attention to herself from Devin and his friends.

Hold up. Hold up. I’ll be right back, she heard him say as he trotted in the direction of her Honda. Nakira’s eyebrows rose in shock when she realized he was coming her way.

She glanced over her shoulder to be sure he