by Dawn Kirby
“And they believed him?”
“Not really, but when your whole life’s been turned upside down you tend to believe anything”
“How did May manage to keep you two alive?” After hearing the man’s history I couldn’t imagine him giving up a chance to take out anybody at anytime.
“When my mother and grandfather were killed she went straight to Donovan,” he said quickly. “She offered her services as his guard during the day in return for our safety.”
“Why would a vampire need protection?”
“Even vampires have enemies,” he shrugged. “They struggle for power just like everybody else. He saw the benefit of having Granny and Kale – when he came of age – as protection and agreed to take us in.”
“Turns out he got more.”
“Dane owed Donovan a lot of money on a business deal that went bad. He agreed to clear it if he let us live. One of Dane’s requests was for Kale to join the pack if and directly after he went through his first change.” He lowered his head and squeezed my hand tightly. “It never crossed his mind that one of us might inherit his secret.”
He raised his head and looked at me. I repeated his last sentence in my head. He’d dropped a huge clue in my lap with one word. After I finally processed what he meant, I was shocked.
“You said ‘inherit’,” I whispered.
“I did,” he said solemnly.
“He’s your dad?” I asked. I was stunned.
“Dane is my father, that’s all,” he said flatly. “I am nothing like him.”
“I know exactly who you are, remember?”
That wonderful dark blue haze finally enveloped him again. I knew then that I’d heard the one thing that bothered him the most. I was sure he thought I’d judge him for sharing the same DNA as Dane, but I couldn’t. I already knew what kind of man Raine was. Once he knew I accepted it, everything was okay again.
“Does Donovan at least know that part?” I asked him.
“He does, but the pack doesn’t.”
“Why did he want y’all dead in the first place?”
“You said on the way over here he’d already killed two wives.” He looked at me with shimmering gray eyes. “You were right, my mother was his first. After she refused to tell him where we were, he shot my granddad. When she still refused, he shot her. Granny’s sure he wanted us dead because Mom wanted us to live so badly. Kale and I both thought he wanted to control us, mold us in his image, but my opinion changed after I turned sixteen.”
“What happened?” I asked. I put my hand in his, offering what little comfort I could.
“That’s when I shifted for the first time. My mother was a full-blooded werewolf. Both her parents were, too. The only way I could inherit the shifting trait was through Dane,” he explained. “As soon as the dust settled after my shift from werewolf to animal, Granny asked Kale if he’d ever seen Dane as a werewolf. Of course he had. By then he’d been running with the pack for years. When Kale told her how Dane’s form differed from the rest of the packs’, she knew what he was. David thought it was best to keep it between the four of us. Donovan had already done enough to keep us safe. We couldn’t burden him with more.”
“How is his different?” I asked curiously. “Isn’t a werewolf pretty much the same as a regular wolf?”
“A werewolf is bigger and stronger. Imagine a timber wolf on a massive dose of steroids,” he said. His stormy smell grew stronger. “Kale said Dane looks like every other wolf he’s seen in any zoo; a little too short, a lot too skinny and not much muscle tone to speak of. He also told Granny that Dane doesn’t run in front of the pack. Mark leads while he takes up the back. That tells me he is neither as strong nor as fast as he should be.”
“As long as he doesn’t know you can change one way or the other you’re safe right?”
“In theory,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “If Dane finds out I’m a werewolf, he’ll probably punish me for not coming forward sooner. If he finds out I’m a shifter we’re all dead.”
“Why everybody? Kale and May aren’t shifters. If the rest of the pack doesn’t know you and Kale are his sons it shouldn’t matter.”
“Dane knows Kale won’t hesitate to tell the entire pack his secret if something happens to me. To keep that from happening he’d have to take out me and anyone else who knows the truth.” He squeezed my hand tightly. “That includes David and now you.”
“Maybe Judith won’t say anything.” I said hopefully.
“And maybe all this is a bad dream,” he whispered.
Point taken.
We sat at the table silently for a long while. I enjoyed watching his fingers toy with mine, but found my eyes on the bloody towel more times than I could count. When I looked out the window I saw Judith standing by the big cottonwood tree in the front yard. Her face fixed on the front door.
Raine looked so tired. I looked at his arm and noticed the swelling had moved past his elbow. Lying down would probably do him some good, but the only functional bed was upstairs.
“It will be a while before Kale gets here, let’s go watch some TV?”
He smiled weakly and squeezed my hand. “Lead the way.”
Raine looked so much bigger in my house than he had in Donovan’s. Of course there was a lot less space to fill here. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sat it down on the coffee table. I sat down beside him and switched on the TV once he was settled in. He wrapped his good arm around me and quickly fell asleep.
I snuggled up against his warm body and flipped through the channels for the next hour. The TV wasn’t my focus. Everything else going on was. I wondered how long I’d be able to run from Michael. Judith seemed pretty sure it was only a matter of time before he found me. At least now I knew Raif was with Michael voluntarily. I planned on telling Donovan that the minute we got back.
Now Judith had another treasure to share. Hopefully she didn’t know what a shape shifter tasted like. If she did, would she take it to Raine’s daddy dearest or straight to Michael? Either way, Raine was in trouble. He had trusted me enough to tell me his biggest secret. There had to be a way out of it for him, I just had to find it. Especially now that I knew how he felt about me. I didn’t want to see him die, which according to him is exactly what would happen if Dane found out.
Raine’s phone rang, driving me out of my thoughts. I quietly moved off the couch, picked his cell up off the coffee table and went to the kitchen to answer it. Raine was sleeping soundly and I really didn’t want to wake him just yet. That could wait until Drew got here.
“I’ve got Drew, are you still at home?” Kale asked happily. I could hear Drew in the background cursing him like a sailor.
“We’re still here,” I told him quietly. “Please hurry, his arm is getting worse. Is Drew okay?”
“She’s great,” he answered chuckling. “I couldn’t get her to talk to me until I mentioned the words Leah Stone. Now I can’t get her to shut up.”
“Was anybody else there?” Honestly, I expected Judith to be in two places at once.
“Only Mark, but he went home to daddy after the two of them had a little lover’s quarrel,” he hollered. I heard him laugh and Drew said something not even a trucker would repeat, then there was a quick scuffle of fingers raking across the speaker.
“Leah honey, are you okay?” Drew asked. I could hear the anger and desperation in her voice.
“I’m fine,” I told her. “But I really need your help.”
“You’ve got it babe,” she said. “What do you need me to do?”
“Tell Kale to hurry. When you get close to the house, hide somewhere in the car.” I didn’t want Judith to tell Dane she’d been here, especially with Kale. “Have him honk and I’ll open the garage door.”
Simple enough, right? It was still dark out and I wasn’t about to step outside to see if I could still smell her. From the kitchen window, she was nowhere in sight. The garage was the only way I could get them inside the house safely
.
“Alright,” she said. “But when I get there I want to know what the hell is going on.”
“I promise,” I replied.
Chapter Thirteen
I checked on Raine before I hurried to the window to see if the revving motor coming up the road was Kale. His condition was getting worse. Sweat literally dripped off his face. His head was so warm it felt as though a fever may have set in. It was hard to tell since he stayed so warm anyway.
I looked out the kitchen window to see a Burnt orange Corvette pulling into the driveway. The man behind the wheel was definitely Kale. There was no mistaking his warm, confident smile. Drew was nowhere in sight. He looked around cautiously before he finally honked the horn.
I went to the garage door off the kitchen and flipped the switch on the wall to let them in. I was so thankful the door wasn’t manual. The thought that an electric one had been installed on purpose ran though my mind. The second his back bumper cleared the garage door slid shut. Neither car door opened until it had completely closed.
“Let me out!” Drew screamed at him. She smacked him a few times before the passenger door flew open. Seconds later it slammed shut with the same force. “You’re absolutely intolerable!”
“Next time, I’ll let Judith have you,” Kale chuckled. “I think you could probably take the bitch!” He shut his door and followed quickly behind her.
The overpowering blend of Kale’s minty fragrance and Drew’s citric scent filled the room. His amusement and her anger combined made staying in the same room with them unbearable. I stepped back in the kitchen to wait until their verbal sparring came to an end.
“Get out of my way, you big oaf,” she said, as they walked through the garage door. For the second time in two days she looked frazzled. The pretty green dress she had on was wrinkled and her hair looked like he had driven the whole way with the windows down. I smiled and gave her the biggest hug I could, whispering my thanks to her for being such a good friend. “Sweetie, next time you send Happy here to get me make sure he has a bigger car.”
Judging by the twinkle in Kale’s eye, he loved every minute of their ride together. Cramped or not. My guess, since Drew hadn’t fallen at his feet, she presented a challenge to him. The smile hadn’t left his face yet and the severe frown hadn’t left hers.
I grabbed her hand and led her into the dark living room, Kale on our heels. Raine continued to sleep as I gently unwrapped the towel from his arm so Drew could get a good look at his injuries. When I exposed the broken skin, Kale punched the wall so hard his fist went through it.
“Honey, I can’t see like you can,” she reminded me. “If you want me to see anything you’re gonna have to flip on the light.”
Luckily, Kale’s fist had just missed the light switch. He turned it on and promptly kicked the end of the couch. The brutal jolt woke Raine up. He looked up at us, looking down at him.
“Wow, did you have a fight with a tiger?” she asked.
“You could say that,” he told her, trying to sit up.
She stopped him and pushed his shoulders back on the couch. At that moment she went into full medical mode. “I need you to lie down and be still, big guy. Leah, grab a bowl of hot water and set it on the coffee table,” she ordered. “Is that kit I brought your Mom still around?”
“It’s in her bathroom under the sink,” I answered from the kitchen.
I filled the bowl hot water and returned to the living room while Drew went in search of the first aid kit. That kit had enough stuff in it to stock an ambulance. She and Mom had made sure of that.
“She did this?” Kale asked once Drew was out of earshot.
“Judith knows,” Raine said quietly. Kale stared blankly back at him. “She knows I’m different.”
“Shit, Raine. How in the hell did this happen?”
Their covert conversation was cut short when we heard Drew stumble out of my mom’s room. I had somehow forgotten about the mess in there.
“Sweetie, I’m not sure if you know this or not, but Mia’s room has been destroyed,” she said, looking over her shoulder.
“My room isn’t much better,” I confessed. “Drew this is Raine. Raine this is Drew.”
“Pleasure, big guy. This is not gonna be pleasant,” she warned him. “I’ve got to clean it out and then stitch it up. As long as you stay still we won’t have a problem.”
Kale looked down at her skeptically. Obviously, he didn’t take his little brother’s medical care lightly.
“Are you even qualified to do this?” he finally asked.
“Listen up, Happy. My mom’s an ER nurse, I’m in my second year in medical school and my dad is a klutz with power tools,” she said impatiently. “I think I can handle a few stitches.”
“Just checking,” he said, throwing his hands up.
I smiled when she rolled her eyes at him. I’ve never seen her like this before. She acted like he was bothering her, but the lack of a frustrated yellow haze made me think twice. He’d already shrugged it off and was in the kitchen getting a Coke out of the refrigerator.
“Do you mind?” he asked, holding up the can.
I shook my head and perched myself on the arm of the couch above Raine’s head. This way, if Drew needed anything I was right there to get it for her. If she didn’t, at least he’d know I was there.
She pulled out a pair of tweezers and began to pull the bits of skin and debris out of the wounds. I cringed a little when the scissors came out. I knew she had to cut the dead skin off, but still, I wasn’t used to first aid of any kind. Raine shut his eyes before she started cutting. I looked at his face, not seeing an ounce of pain registering on it.
“Alright, Leah, I’m here. What is going on? I know Mia’s gone, but I don’t think I got the truth from Logan.” She glanced up at me momentarily and smiled. “And just so you know, Mark and I are done for good.”
The Drew I knew was back. I smiled brightly at her lowered head. I knew now I could tell her everything without having to worry about anything getting back to Dane.
“Mom was murdered,” I blurted out. “David and I found her last night at the store.”
“I knew that horse’s ass was lying,” she said triumphantly. “Miserable son of a bitch. I knew Mia, of all people, wouldn’t be stupid enough to miss a gas leak. You would have smelled it the second it started.” She stopped talking to take a couple of deep breaths then looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry you had to find her, honey. That must have been awful for you.”
“Oh, it’s not over yet,” I warned her. “JD helped kill her.”
“Wow, I knew he had a temper, but I would have never pegged him for a killer. I hope his ass rots in jail.”
“It won’t,” Kale chimed in. “Leah found him dead in his car across the street.”
“If he killed your mom, who killed him?” she asked, a confused look on her face. “And why would he want Mia dead in the first place?”
“Mia was killed to get our attention,” Raine told her. His eyes were still closed.
“Did he do that to your Mom’s room to get your attention, too?” she asked.
“Deana made that mess,” I told her. “I’m not sure why though. We found her dead in the backyard before we had a chance to ask.”
She stopped working on his arm and looked up at me. “No offense babe, but people are dropping like flies around you.”
“None taken,” I assured her as she put her focus on Raine’s arm once again. “You know Mom’s accountant, David?”
“Don’t tell me he’s dead too,” she said sarcastically.
Kale tried not to spew Coke all over us. He eventually managed to swallow and waited for her reaction. Technically she was right about David’s being dead, sorta. But it wasn’t because he’d been close to me.
“David is my dad,” I told her.
“Ow!” Raine hollered jumping into an upright position. Her tweezers had slipped into one of the gashes too far.
“S
orry, big guy,” she said sweetly. “I can’t force you to lie back down, but I promise I can get you patched up faster that way.” After a moment’s contemplation he laid down and let her have his arm again. She turned the conversation to me. “Honey, your dad’s been gone all your life. Why would he be your mom’s accountant and stay away from you all this time?”
“Because they were trying to protect me.” I did my best to prepare myself, but I really wasn’t sure how she was going to react. “Drew, David’s a vampire. A real honest to goodness vampire.”
“You mind saying that again, sugar?” Drew asked. She stopped working on Raine’s arm altogether. “I could have sworn you said he’s a vampire.”
“I did.” Her mouth dropped open, rendering her speechless. For now anyway. “Think about it, Drew,” I said taking her hands in mine. “I can hear unbelievably well, see even better. You know how fast I can heel. You’ve seen it for yourself.”
“Do vampires move as quickly and as quietly as you do, too?” she asked me. I nodded. She shrugged her shoulder and crouched back over Raine’s arm. “You might as well hit me with the rest of it. I can tell there’s a lot more.”
I grinned at her knowing no matter what else I had to say she would be right there with me. I loved her for that. Kale stood, leaned against the wall, looking amazed. For a few seconds all he could do was stare at her, mouth gaping and eyes bugging.
“It doesn’t bother you that your best friend is part vampire,” Kale asked her. He was wearing the same lost expression on his face Raine had when I had found him waiting for me in the living room at Donovan’s house.
“I love her and I’m gonna stand by her no matter what,” she said looking at him. “I’m just sorry that people are getting killed because of it. I assume the myth about vampires not being able to reproduce is true?” I nodded my head.
“She was conceived during David’s change,” Kale volunteered. “As far as we know that’s never happened before.”
