Bastien along with Carly and Dimitri hand in hand with his mate, Charity, moved closer as though to join the conversation. They had been standing at the other end of the wide, wraparound porch watching the beautiful sunset as well.
“The pack is family and Jake is like a father figure.” Bastien pulled his mate under his shoulder and kissed her temple.
“I don’t think I would have put it quite that way,” Jake said with a chuckle. “But I suppose it’s as good of an analogy as any.” He turned to Kendra. “I lead our people as well as care for you all and see to your safety.”
“Like Cam?”
“Yes. Just like Cam and you as well. Where would you be if I hadn’t directed Galen and his team to extract you from that madman’s clutches? Where would Cam be?”
“Well, Cam would probably be just as fine as he is now, because he wouldn’t have rescued me and needed rescuing himself.”
“Don’t kid yourself,” Dimitri said with a snort. “Cam and Randy are two stubborn SOBs and would have gone to your rescue without Jake’s orders had they discovered that Dr. Thornton held you there against your will.”
“But why would they have put themselves in so much danger for someone they didn’t even know?” She turned to Galen. “Why did you?”
“I did it, because I wanted you from the first moment I saw you crescent kick one of your abductors in the head.” Galen grinned and kissed the tip of her nose.
“Why in the world would that be an attraction?”
“It turned him on,” Dimitri answered with a chuckle. “You should have seen him. I think he knew right then that you were his mate.”
“Really?” She turned wide eyes on Galen. “Did you really think that?”
“I didn’t know what to think. All I knew was that I wanted you more than I have ever wanted any woman before.”
“Oh.” Her cheeks blazed when their companions all exchanged a knowing smile. Turning to Jake, she asked, “Why did you want to hire me?”
“Because, I have been searching for you for a long, long time. I had hoped to bring you here before I mentioned our familial connection.”
“Our familial connection?” What was he talking about? She didn’t know of anything that would connect her with these people.
“Yes. We are family.” He led his very pregnant wife over to the swing, helped her sit and pressed a kiss to her forehead before turning back to her. “Your grandmother was my mother’s older half-sister.”
“Half-sister?” My mother never said anything about having an aunt.”
“Your mother wouldn’t have mentioned it since she didn’t know her aunt existed. Your great-grandmother left your great-grandfather when her true mate found her, she had no choice. Your great-grandfather raised their child, your grandmother, on his own. He was a very bitter man and never mentioned the woman who had abandoned him and their daughter. It was assumed by others that she had died in childbirth.
“So, what does that make us?”
“Family.” Jake smiled. “It doesn’t matter how distant. If we can bring our family together, we will.” He leaned against the railing and crossed his arms. “Extended family is a very important thing to us wolves, second only to mates and children.”
“I thought the pack was important.”
“The pack and family, those two words are interchangeable to us. Why do you think we sent out a team to rescue Cam so soon after his capture? He’s not blood, but as a member of the pack, he’s family.”
“How is Cam, by the way?” Galen asked, his expression troubled.
“He’s recovering.” Jake shook his head with a chuckle. “Though I can see already that the little martinet of a white bunny is going to turn things upside down around here. She’s already insisting that we don’t run down small prey while in our wolf forms on the off chance it’s another shifter.”
“Change is good. Though, I refuse to live on rabbit food. As long as she leaves me alone about my steaks, chicken, bacon and ham, my wolf will be good with leaving the rabbit snacks alone.” Bastien grinned when his mate pinched his side.
“I’m glad Cam is okay. When do you think I can see him? I want to thank him for his part in my rescue.”
“It’ll take a bit for him to finish recuperating, but once he does, you can see him, providing his protector doesn’t take issue with it.”
Kendra nodded. She could see Randy stopping everyone from tiring out his brother during his recuperation.
“Well,” she said as she looked up at Galen. She still couldn’t believe he was her mate. She’d almost never dared to dream that she would ever have a husband or the chance to have a child once she’d turned thirty-three.
The distant sound of a baby’s cry drifted down from one of the open second floor windows.
“I’d better go see what little Bastien needs and give Harper a break,” Charity said as she slid out from beneath the shelter of her husband’s arm. “Harper wanted some babysitting practice, since she’s going to be a big sister soon. And who am I to turn down the offer of an apprentice babysitter?” she asked with a grin. “I’ll be right back providing it’s a diaper change he wants and not another feeding.”
She disappeared through the door and Kendra waited for the familiar sensation of envy to hit her, but it never came.
Her heart swelled when she realized that she might never again feel the heartbreaking sensation of thinking she would never have a child of her own.
Dr. Thornton had been right when he said that he was giving her a gift, but it wasn’t the serum he’d given her that had been the gift. Tilting her head, she looked up at her husband-to-be and thanked God that things had worked out the way they had.
“I would give almost anything to know what’s going on in that beautiful head of yours.” Galen reached up and smoothed back a lock of her hair with a smile. The world fell away as she stared into his silver eyes. “Care to share?” He raised a perfect brow and she smiled.
“I was just thinking that I should send that demented doctor a thank you card. If it weren’t for him, we might never have met, and I would have spent the rest of my life wishing for a true love that would never come.
Kendra glanced at the others and noticed that her powers, while still present, seemed to have muted a bit. She could still see auras, but the odd x-ray vision had grown more subtle. Maybe she was learning how to control it better.
She shivered a little and Galen drew her tight against his side, his hand brushing up and down her arm, warming her from the inside out.
“Let’s go inside. It’s getting chilly out here. Besides, we have some plans to make.” Galen most likely referred to their wedding, which was only a week away.
“Yes, we do.” She smiled up at him, her heart swelling with the knowledge that even if they had no children of their own, their lives would be filled with the miracle of love, laughter, and family.
THE END?
Not on your life. There are more exciting Shifters of Wolf Lake books in the works and more related shifter stories already on their way.
Keep reading for a sneak peek of The Golden Dragon, book 1 of the Dragon Bound series.
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About the Author
If you’re reading this, I hope it means you’ve just enjoyed reading one of my books. Always a romantic, I started weaving little romantic fantasies for my friends at the tender age of fifteen.
After complaining to my husband that my favorite authors didn’t write fast enough, he asked a fateful question. “Why don’t you write one of your own while you’re waiting?”
Once I started, he couldn’t stop me. I write in the morning, most of the day, and I write at night when I should be relaxing. I’ve even been known to write in my sleep. Sometimes it even makes sense!
I grew up in Southwest Florida, where I met and married the love of my life and started my very own happily ever after.
My husband was in the Navy for twenty year
s, so if you wonder where I have gotten some of my ideas, I blame him. I suggest you do the same. He’s always saying he has wide shoulders. Let’s load them up, shall we?
Currently, I live in Michigan, seven miles from the nearest town. I love living in the country. It gives me the peace and bits of nature I need to continue to write these stories for you. It also shows me a lot of natural beauty that I try to share with you in my books.
While my titles might be dedicated to certain individuals who have touched my life in differing ways, please remember, every one of them is written for you.
My most recent dream is to continue what I do—to share more stories with anyone willing to read them. My new goal is to be able to pursue both my writing and my husband, fulltime. Do you think he’ll run?
Where to find Tianna:
Amazon Author Page
Twitter
www.tiannaxander.com
Facebook
Tianna’s books:
Shifters of Wolf Lake
Craving Eden
Embracing Carly
Protecting Ally
Mating Kendra
Zolon Warriors Series
Bewitching Birgit # 1
Seducing Sela #2
Charming Charly #3
Tempting Tabitha #4
Wooing Wynter #5
Dragon Bound Series
The Golden Dragon #1
The Ice Dragon #2
The Golden Dragon sneak peek
Dragon Bound Book 1
By
Tianna Xander
The Golden Dragon ~ Dragon Bound Book #1
Chapter One
“MOST WITCHES HAVE CONSTRUCTIVE powers. They can manifest useful things like money, the power to do some good in this world, or even a tuna sandwich,” April said as she popped the lid back on a plastic container half-full of dried cedar. “Not me,” she said with a snort. “So far, the only thing I’ve been able to manifest is a patch of toadstools and poisoned oak.”
She glanced at the other members of her coven and turned the corners of her mouth down. All twelve of her adopted sisters looked on with understanding. If anyone could appreciate her predicament, it was her sisters. None of them had much better luck using magic than she did. If she didn’t know better, she’d think they were all cursed or something.
April did know better. First of all, their parents had given them all charms to ward off any curses or dark magic. Secondly, any first-level witch would be able to tell if they were under a spell. She and all her sisters were twelfth level witches, though one would never guess with the mishaps they all seemed to have while casting.
“I know exactly what you mean.” Tansy stood and stepped forward, her scorched cape still smoldering from her last attempt to cast a spell to manifest some pancakes. Smoke rose in wispy curls around her singed red hair.
She shook the smoke from her cloak with a disgusted sigh. The scent of burning pancakes wafted up and filled the air. A few of the girls covered their noses while April barely suppressed a gag.
“What’s wrong with us?” Tansy spread her arms out as if to encompass them all. “None of us has been able to manifest anything like Mother and Father could. Hell, we can’t even call forth breakfast. What makes us think we can do anything of importance?” She bowed her head and lowered her voice almost to a whisper. It was almost as though what she was about to say were somehow sacrilegious. “Do you think it’s because we’re all adopted and not their blood kin?”
With a scowl, April shook her head and crossed her arms. “Being adopted has nothing to do with it.” She made her voice sound strong and firm, even though she wasn’t sure of anything herself. “It can’t be that.” Seeing her sisters looking so dejected over their failures, she decided what her next words would be, true or not.
“If being adopted made any difference, why bother to train us at all? Besides, we can work magic. Mortals can’t. If we were mortals, we wouldn’t even be able to heat water with our wands. All of us have done that a time or two.” April did it nearly every time her bathwater got cold. She shook her head. “No, we must have the ability to control magic, just like they did. We are doing something wrong. I’m sure of it.”
What that something was, was beyond her comprehension, but she would find out what it was if it was the last thing she ever did. If not for herself, she would do it for her sisters and brothers, wherever her brothers were.
April hadn’t seen any of her brothers since the unfortunate accident that stole their parents from them. She avoided looking at Rose, the little sister who might have been indirectly responsible for that horrific event.
As usual, Rose sat by herself, her head bowed, her brown hair blocking any view of her face or gorgeous sea-blue eyes. If only she could think of something that would give her little sister her confidence back.
“Look at Iris.” April waved toward one of her younger sisters whose thick hair escaped her bun with abandon. Thick locks of red waves fell over her shoulders and down her back. The poor girl couldn’t keep her hair under control no matter how many pins or hair ties she used to keep it in place. “She managed to manifest fresh eggs this morning.”
Iris grimaced. “Yeah. Four dozen eggs. All of them were raw, broken and covering the cheese, ham and English muffins that were supposed to be Eggs Benedict. As a success story, it’s rather lacking. We should have just used the microwave and made ham and cheese sandwiches.” She leaned back in her seat, her head resting against the wall behind her.
“Well, you were closer than I was.” April scowled at her sister’s lack of enthusiasm. “At least you didn’t conjure up a bunch of toadstools instead of mushrooms to go in the omelets we decided to make out of all those eggs. I could have killed us all.” But they knew that. Every one of them had raided her pantry after her mistake. Now it was as empty as her refrigerator.
April paced back and forth in front of her sisters, her wand in her hand. As she passed, each of her sisters flinched when the tip of her wand pointed at them in turn. “Stop flinching, or I’ll turn all of you into Goddess knows what!”
She hated that they didn’t trust each other with their wands.
As upset as she was about their reactions and this morning’s debacle with the eggs and toadstools, she might lose her temper and do something unforgivable—what, she had no idea.
Man, it sucked not having control over her powers. Their parents had always made working magic spells look so easy.
April glanced around at all her sister’s dejected faces and took comfort in the fact that at least, in this, she wasn’t alone.
She mixed the cedar shavings in with the dried sage on the paper they used to make their smudge sticks, then twisted it into a thick stick and lit it. Smoke rose as the comforting scent of burning sage and cedar filled the room.
Their parents had taught them always to cleanse the room before and after they tried to manifest things. It not only cleansed the place of their mistakes and the inevitable negativity that followed their failures, but the scent also helped to relax and ground them.
“Since this session was an obvious bust...again, we should head home to rest, and practice until we all meet again next month.” She nodded when Daisy raised her hand. “Yes, Daisy?”
“Do we have to practice? Can’t we just hang up our capes and shove our wands in a box in the back of our underwear drawers and call it good?”
“Is that really what you want?” April heaved a sigh and cast a glance around the room at her sisters’ unhappy expressions, then shook her head. “If that’s what you want to do.” She shrugged. “Who am I to stop you?”
“You’re the oldest,” Marigold spoke up as she popped a baby carrot in her mouth.
“Where did you get that?” April narrowed her eyes at the baggie full of carrots her sister held. They had cleaned out her pantry and refrigerator after the toadstool-egg incident. If there were carrots left in her fridge, she would have called dibs on them before any of her sisters got their
grubby paws on them, that was for sure.
Marigold gave a careless, one-shoulder shrug. “I cast a spell for some pears and got carrots instead. I figured I wouldn’t complain since they weren’t poisonous.” She popped another carrot into her mouth and offered a handful to Daisy, who wisely shook her head and waved them away.
“That’s it! If any of you make another wisecrack about those damned toadstools, I’m going to scream.” April stamped her foot, glared at her sisters, and raised a brow. “Does anyone else have any smart-aleck remarks?” She wouldn’t have put it past Ivy to say something smart, but when she opened her mouth, Marigold elbowed the brunette in the side and told her to keep her mouth shut. Smart girl.
“If that’s all you have to say, I say everyone should go home, get some rest, then practice by themselves as usual until next month.”
They used to meet weekly, but the disappointment was too much to bear. By the time they finally got over the frustration of another failure, it was time to fail all over again.
The group had changed to monthly meetings to save their sanity, not to mention their homes.
And that will give me some time to drive out into the country and become one with nature again. With any luck, that will help end at least some of my problems. She waved her hand, and everyone ducked when they realized she still brandished her wand.
“For crying out loud! Will you guys stop it?”
Chapter Two
DRAKE DELFAVARO SURVEYED the deserted alley, his hands resting on his hips. He didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.
It was an alley with a few dumpsters and empty crates lying everywhere. Water dripped from one of the eaves as water left from the rain earlier trickled from the roof. Other than that, it was as silent as it was vacant.
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