Fate, Love & Loyalty: (A Havenwood Falls Novella)

by E. J. Fechenda

  Reeve resolved to shut Damian out, and ate in complete silence. Right before he locked her up in her room that night, she broke down and asked him one question. “Is your entire den on board with this plan of yours?”

  He grinned, a display of strong, sharp teeth. “Not everyone knows of the plan, and I’ve been challenged a few times, but I’m still here and the challengers . . . well, they’re dead.”

  On that chilling note, he closed the door. The sound of the lock being engaged seemed to echo in Reeve’s ears, putting her inner cat on full alert.

  She didn’t sleep that night. Instead she perched on the windowsill, staring at the stars and getting her bearings. The window faced west, and a faint glow in the distance told Reeve there was some sort of city, town, hell, even an airport or something nearby that emitted a lot of light. She hoped it was Denver, but even if it wasn’t, that glow was a beacon in the darkness. If she could get out of the house, she’d make a break for it, because she was light on her paws and had always been one of the fastest runners in the den. She mentally reviewed the layout of the house over and over again, trying to recall the smallest of details that might mean a way out of captivity. Then finally it dawned on her how she could escape. She couldn’t be handcuffed, though. The cuffs prevented her from shifting.

  The sky was beginning to lighten by the time Reese formulated her plan. With her mind at ease, she crawled into bed and fell asleep. This time when she woke up, Damian wasn’t in bed with her, and she didn’t hear any movement on the second floor. A tray of breakfast food was on the floor by the bed. Knowing she needed the energy to shift, she ate everything. Not too long after that, she heard someone coming up the stairs. Based on the heaviness of the tread, she could tell it was a man. Crouching down by the floor, she pressed her nose near the gap underneath the door and inhaled. She recognized the scent and smiled, since she had factored Scott into her plan. She quickly stood up and quietly moved to stand behind the door.

  Just as she planned, it swung open, and when Scott didn’t see her, he stepped farther into the room and made the mistake of not looking behind the door first. He had the handcuffs in one hand, which left him at yet another disadvantage. It only took her seconds to shift, and Reeve didn’t even wait for all four paws to hit the ground before she pounced. He turned toward her, and she bowled him over onto his back. In one fluid motion, she locked her jaws over his throat, and hot blood burst into her mouth as she ripped his throat out. His heart stuttered once before it grew silent forever.

  She didn’t linger, but bounded down the hall, practically leaping down the stairs with one jump. She slid a little bit on the hardwood floor when she landed and struggled to gain traction, but it didn’t matter. Her presence was still undetected. She darted down the short hallway and into the dining room, where the exit had been behind her back the entire time she was eating dinner. French doors led out to a patio. These doors didn’t have bars covering the panes of glass, which shattered and rained down in a million glittering pieces when she smashed through them. The backyard was empty, but Reeve heard voices shouting behind her. They spurred her cat into action. With the lingering taste of copper on her tongue from Scott’s blood, she disappeared into the woods and kept running.

  Havenwood Falls

  “That’s how I escaped, and once I did, I ran in the direction of the hazy glow and found my way to the outskirts of Denver, not far from the warehouse. Not surprisingly, my car was gone from the parking lot. I didn’t want to risk going into Denver and seeing my friends. I mean, that’s the first place Damian would look for me, right?”

  Patrick murmured in agreement, but didn’t say anything. She coax him back into bed, hoping to calm him down. He rejoined her and wrapped his arms around her, but he was so tense, she might as well have been in the arms of a marble statue. She tilted her head to look at him and noticed his eyes glowing. The human pupils were replaced by catlike slits. Reeve could feel his anger as if it was her own. She was still not used to the bond, so it was a little overwhelming.

  “Hey, I’m okay. I’m here. I stayed in the woods and in my cat form until I reached Havenwood Falls. I arrived at my parents’ back door late Thursday night. They were surprised to see me standing naked on the deck, and they had a lot of questions, but I was too exhausted to answer them.”

  “Does your dad know about this Damian guy?” Patrick asked, his cat eyes boring into Reeve’s.

  “No. My dad was in a meeting when I woke up, and my mom was gone, so I headed right down to Coffee Haven to see Aster.”

  “And then you met me.”

  “And then I met you . . . and we’ve been in bed ever since,” Reeve said with a mischievous grin, and wiggled against Patrick, getting the desired reaction.

  He grinned back, and his eyes returned to normal as he rolled over so he was on top of Reeve and her legs were wrapped around his hips.

  Patrick was about ready to enter her when a loud boom shook the walls. He practically flew off her, almost as if he was levitating, and he shifted midair before landing in a crouch on the floor, positioning himself between the door and the bed, ready to protect his mate.

  “Oh, shit!” Reeve shouted when the bedroom door crashed open and she saw Damian standing in the doorway.

  The crazy fucker had actually followed her to her hometown, onto her territory.

  She watched with dread as Damian shifted, and Patrick went on the attack. The snarling, clawing mass of fur moved out of the bedroom and into the hallway. Patrick immediately dominated and forced Damian back toward the broken front door. Reeve couldn’t believe it, because Damian was clearly one of the largest cats she had ever seen, but Patrick was faster and delivering more swipes. His claws dug deep into Damian’s side, and blood immediately welled up, but Damian didn’t even flinch.

  The fight moved into the living room, escalating with each assault. Blood sprayed onto walls, and bloody paw prints covered the floor. Patrick moved in for another swipe, but Damian pivoted at the last minute, pouncing onto Patrick’s back. Teeth and claws sunk in deep, and when Patrick yelped, Reeve’s heart almost stopped beating. The instinct to protect her mate took over, and she dropped the bed sheet she had wrapped around her body to shift. The moment she was completely transformed, she launched at Damian, tackling him from the side and dislodging his grip from Patrick. She hit him with such force that they rolled out of the hole where the front door used to be, and down two stairs onto the front walkway.

  Damian growled and hissed as they circled each other on the small lawn. Reeve kept crouched low, her gaze unwavering until movement behind Damian caught her attention. Patrick stalked down the small set of stairs to join the fray. She noticed he favored his right rear leg, which was shredded, the exposed muscle and tissue red and raw against his sandy brown fur. That momentary distraction gave Damian a window, and he seized the opportunity, knocking Reeve over and pinning her on her back. He was much heavier and more solid than her brother Braden, whom she used to spar with, and she knew she was outmatched, but she wasn’t going to give up.

  Damian snapped his jaws near her face, trying to access her throat, but she evaded him. Using her hind legs, she scratched at his soft underbelly, and when he wavered, this provided the encouragement she needed. Lodging her legs under him, she pushed with all of her strength and succeeded in shoving him off while deepening the wounds on his stomach.

  Patrick leaped over Reeve, where she was still lying prone on the ground, and went on the attack again. At this point, they had drawn a crowd. Patrick’s neighbors in the surrounding apartments stepped out onto their front steps, a gathering of werewolves, witches, fae, and humans. Reeve heard sirens in the distance, and she knew the sheriff and a containment team had been dispatched. A sharp crack followed by a loud yelp sent Patrick to the ground. Shattered bone stuck out through the wound on his previously injured leg. Damian moved in for the kill.

  Chapter 5

  Aster snatched up the phone and called her dad. He answered imm
ediately.

  “Aster, what is it? I’m in the middle of something.” He sounded breathless, which was highly unusual. Her dad was more in shape than someone half his age.

  “Dad, I think I screwed up and put Reeve in danger.” He paused on the other end and grew eerily quiet.

  “What did you do?” he asked.

  Aster hesitated and glanced over at Willow, who was standing behind the counter listening. She nodded in encouragement, so Aster took a deep breath before spilling the story out. He didn’t even wait for her to finish, but he got the gist.

  “Damn it, Aster. She’s your sister, not your enemy. If you only knew what she sacrificed for you.”

  Aster pictured her dad pinching the bridge of his nose, something he always did when he was agitated with her. “You need to stay put at the shop. There’s no need for you getting in the middle. I’ve heard whispers about this guy and he’s not playing with a full deck.”

  “Okay, but I want to help, Dad. I didn’t know this guy was such bad news.”

  “Just stay there. At least I know you’re safe and won’t have to worry about you, too.” He hung up the phone.

  “What did he say?” Willow asked. She had come out from behind the counter and sat down at the table with Aster.

  “He wants me to stay here.”

  Just then a sheriff’s patrol car screamed by the coffee shop, its blue lights flashing. A second patrol car followed right behind it. They headed in the direction of Patrick’s place.

  “Shit,” she said out loud and stood up quickly, almost knocking her chair over.

  “Wait!” Willow reached out and grabbed hold of Aster’s hand. “You need to stay here.”

  Aster reluctantly sat down again, but she was restless and literally sat on the edge of her seat, her gaze not wavering from the front picture window. Minutes ticked by slowly on the wall clock behind the counter. Her sensitive hearing attuned to the steady tick, tick, tick as time marched forward. Cell phones erupted all around her as notifications and ringtones went off. She caught snippets of whispered conversations about a fight up the street between mountain lions. That’s all she needed to hear. She stood up, this time knocking her chair over.

  “Aster!” Willow called after her, but she was out the door and running up the street before Harlow had the chance to cast another spell. She ran past the bookstore, and other businesses flashed by in a blur as she deftly dodged pedestrians who were in her way. An ambulance raced past, its sirens hurting her ears. Up ahead, she saw a collection of flashing lights. A patrol car was parked across Main Street, blocking traffic.

  Aster slipped through an opening in a hedge and ran across several lawns to reach the front of Patrick’s development, where all of the action seemed to be concentrated. She came to a sudden stop when she saw her brother, Braden, locked in a fight with the largest mountain lion she’d ever seen. She recognized her brother’s markings; the tops of his ears were tipped with black fur, and he had a unique diamond-shaped patch of white right above his nose. The rest of his fur was dark and matted with blood. Fresh wounds oozed from both sides of his body.

  Then Aster took in the rest of the scene unfolding in front of her. Patrick lay on the grass, off to the side like a discarded piece of trash. Reeve kneeled beside him, holding his hand as a medic treated his wounds. She wore a bathrobe that had been loosely cinched at her waist. Patrick had a surgical green sheet draped over the lower half of his body. Aster suspected they had both fought in their cat forms, leaving them naked as the day they were born when they shifted back.

  Braden, distracted by Aster’s appearance on the sidelines, turned his head to hiss at her, and Damian attacked. His jaws clamped down on Braden’s neck, and the ensuing snap was deafening. Braden went limp, and his eyes focused on some distant point before she saw the light fade.

  “No!” she shrieked, and her inner cat rose to the surface, ready and anxious to join the fight to avenge her brother’s death.

  Reeve’s cry joined hers when to their horror, their father stepped onto the bloodied lawn. His cat bore the scars of previous battles: a clipped ear, healed-over claw marks where scar tissue prevented fur from growing. He was battle-worn, but each scar told a story of survival. He was the alpha of their den for a reason.

  Sheriff’s deputies circled the fight to prevent anyone else from joining the fray. Sheriff Kasun had his tranquilizer gun trained on Damian, but he didn’t fire. This was an alpha versus alpha confrontation now, and the sheriff, alpha of the Havenwood Falls wolf pack, respected the significance. Aster’s heart pounded in her throat, and tears spilled freely as she moved her way through the gathering crowd to reach her fallen brother. People stepped aside to let her pass, clearing a path. Jordan, an EMT and one of Braden’s friends who had grown up in their family’s den, was trying his best to resuscitate, but Braden had shifted back to his human form, and his skin was already taking on a gray pallor. She sunk down to her knees on the other side of him and took her brother’s hand. This was her fault. She sent that monster to Reeve, she put her sister in danger, and Braden had paid the ultimate price defending their family. Braden’s hand was growing cold in hers, as if she was drawing all of the warmth out.

  “I’m sorry, Aster. He’s gone,” Jordan whispered the words she dreaded to hear.

  “No! No!” she cried out. Leaning forward, she crouched over her brother and placed her head on his chest. The sounds of the fight were drowned out as grief consumed her, yet a strange thrumming in her blood prevented her from disconnecting completely.

  Her cat grew restless as if she paced underneath Aster’s skin, wanting to break free, her attention focused on something approaching. Aster’s sobs stilled as she concentrated on the presence drawing closer. She sniffed the air as the most tantalizing and alluring scent she had ever detected grew stronger. Her blood thrummed deep inside, and her heart beat faster. She heard footsteps coming up behind her, causing her to raise her head from her brother’s chest and look.

  A man stood not even five feet away. His eyes were a dark blue, like the color of the river when it reflected the sky on a clear day. He was tall and broad; his shirt barely contained the muscles straining beneath. His sandy blond hair stuck up in some areas, like he had just woken up. Her cat purred in appreciation and urged Aster to her feet. She felt inexplicably drawn to this stranger, and his nostrils flared as she approached, his eyes flashing amber briefly. Then he held his hand out to her. The moment they touched, a shock reverberated through her, like the earth shifted under her feet. Aster gasped and gripped the man’s hand tighter, and she realized she never wanted to let go. He was her anchor. She felt it in her soul, and her cat did, too.

  “Mate?” he asked, his eyebrows rising in shock.

  “I think so,” she said, breathless. “I’m Aster.”

  “Gage Barrows.” His deep voice sent shivers down her spine, and she moved closer. Gage responded by circling her in his strong arms. She nuzzled his chest, absorbing his scent and marking him with hers. He was her mate. At this confirmation, a deep sense of contentment and belonging settled something that she hadn’t realized needed settling. “What happened, Aster? I sense your pain.”

  The world came crashing back, her brief suspension from reality ending with his question. Shame washed over her again. Braden was dead and lying feet away, and she had already forgotten about him. Was she always so selfish?

  “Hey, talk to me,” Gage pleaded. He tilted her head up so she had to meet his eyes. She blinked fresh tears away and swallowed past the lump in her throat.

  “My brother is dead. That bastard killed him.” She pointed in the direction of the fight and sensed Gage tense.

  “Shit! That bastard is my alpha,” he growled and narrowed his eyes as he watched the bloody brawl.

  “Well, he’s fighting my father now, and he’s my alpha.” They both tensed and gripped each other’s hands tight.

  Aster noticed her father slowing down, and she cried out when Damian swiped at him,
causing her father to stumble backwards and lose his footing.

  “Not my father, too! This is my mess, and I need to fix it,” she told Gage and stepped away from her mate.

  Her cat whimpered at the separation. Aster ignored the urge to touch him and called her cat forward. Her muscles snapped and bones popped as she shifted into her cat form. The assault on her senses overwhelmed her at first. The metallic tang of blood that hung in the air was so much stronger, and the multiple heartbeats pulsing around her sounded like a circle of drums. Her mate’s scent dominated her senses, though, and she wanted to slink around his legs and rub against him, but then she heard her father grunt as he suffered another blow.

  Barreling past bystanders who cried out in surprise, she rushed the deputy who had his back to her, focused on the fight and not the threat creeping up behind him. She sprung, knocking him down, and ran past him into the fight. Damian had his back end to her, too, his focus on her father, who was uncharacteristically retreating and unable to put pressure on his front left leg. Aster charged and attempted to knock Damian over so his underbelly would be exposed, but her impact jarred her more than him, and she bounced off like a ball against a brick wall. Damian turned to face her and he grinned, revealing a mouth full of vicious teeth stained red with the blood of her family.

  Aster shook off the impact and crouched down, her claws digging into the soil for traction. She hissed at the monster in front of her, goading him. Let him spring first, and then she’d slice him open once he was in the air and his belly exposed. Damian’s grin faltered, and he hissed back. Could he read her mind? Then she noticed the crowd had quieted, reminding her of the eerie stillness before a storm erupts.

  Just then, another mountain lion entered the fight. She’d never seen this cat before, but she recognized his scent—her mate. Gage moved to stand between Aster and Damian, his backside to Aster so she knew he joined in her defense. His tail flicked with agitation, and his ears were flattened as if pinned to his head. He was equal in size to Damian and absolutely beautiful. His coat glistened in the sunlight, a healthy sheen over muscles that rippled with every movement. He had a reddish hue to his golden fur, darkest along his spine, almost like a ridgeback.