Maverik's Ashes (Avaleigh's Boys #4)

Maverik’s broken. His entire world came crashing down around him without warning, stolen from him brutally in the night by the one female he entrusted his soul to. His Wolf is all he’s got left, both are bitter, wary, untrusting and dangerous. They hide behind a wall of snarky, biting humor erected to keep the rest of the world at bay as they try desperately to cling to survival each and every day. He’s managed to find shelter in a clan of shifters. They have given him the support he needs to nurse his wounds in his solitary, self-imposed emotional isolation. It’s barely an existence but it works for him, only now it’s getting harder. His clan is growing; they’re finding their Mates, their One. They‘re having babies, loving, laughing – living. And he’s not. He’s feeling more and more isolated. And the fact that he’s stumbled across another female that gives every indication that she’s his Mate is not helping. The last one almost destroyed him; there is no way in hell he will allow another female, any female, an opportunity to complete the job.
Valerie’s a Lion shifter. She’s independent, strong, loving and kind. She’s got more curves than a country backroad and gave up the struggle to be model perfect years ago. She’s learned to love who she is and knows exactly what she’s got to offer the right male. Her Lioness has dreamed all her life of finding the One male who’s meant for her, the one who will love her unconditionally and be proud to call her “Mine.” Unfortunately for her; the wild, tatted, mohawked and oh so sexy Wolf shifter who joins the local clan that frequents her brothers bar is the male that her Lioness decides is hers. And the bastard won’t even acknowledge her existence! His repeated rebuffs of her attempts to just have a conversation with him end in her blazing hatred for him. If he can’t see past the curves that adorn her body to the amazing female underneath, it’s his loss, not hers. Why then, is it his face she sees each time she closes her eyes at night, each time her new fiance’ kisses her?
Maverik’s had enough. The little Lioness calls to him in a way that he can no longer ignore. He wants her; forever. But before he can do anything about it, he’s got to deal with the ashes of his past. He’s got to go back, lay it all to rest and try to salvage some semblance of who he once was, of the honorable male that died that night. Maybe then he’ll be enough. Maybe then she’ll see him as the male he once was proud to be. Will he be able to man up, to make peace with his past before her hatred of him becomes so intense that she’ll never be able to see around it? He certainly hopes so, because without her, he’ll never survive.
This is the fourth book in the Avaleigh’s Boys series, about a group of shifters who make their home in the backwoods and bayous of South Louisiana. Their clan consists of a mix-matched group of shifters who depend on one another and are loyal to no end. These are their stories.
Warning: Intended for mature audiences. These stories contain hot bear, dragon, wolf and lion shifters. They like to cuss, fight and love their women. This book contains explicit love scenes, lots of use of the “F” word (among others), some violence, and possibly some abuse both real and inferred that may be disturbing for some readers. If you are offended by these subjects, please do not buy this book.
Rated '3/5 - Open door' for steam/spice/heat level.