Ever After

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  She looked at Travis. “Was he the wolf who chose to be with Lily? Was he Alpha Prime?”

  Cyrus choked, laughing so loud it startled her, and she jumped. “Did Travis tell you our folklore bullshit? No, Alpha Prime was not that wolf gifted with Lily. No one believes that bullshit anymore. We’re werewolves because we’re werewolves, and I don’t personally need a creation myth to get through my day.”

  Travis growled. “You’re such an asshole.”

  “Hey now, is that how you talk to family, cousin?”

  Lilliana’s hand found the she-wolf totem she wore around her neck. In all their dealings, Cyrus had never taken it from her. Who was this man who laughed at a mythological story but wanted a totem so badly he’d followed her home to get it? He’d not taken it when he’d had the chance?

  She shook her head. “So then, no. Not the original wolf. Who was the Alpha Prime?”

  “His name was Lucian. He ruled us all with an iron hand and a heart of gold. Someone chopped off his head before he could name a successor and everything went up in smoke.” Travis shook his head. “Some of us think that we don’t need a Prime. Cities can rule themselves and leave each other alone.”

  Cyrus nodded. “On that, Travis and I agree. You think I give a shit about full oon rights in Arizona? Let them work their own crap out. I fought and bled for Manhattan. Lucian was one thing. He earned his position. He cared about all of us. I’m not kowtowing to anyone, and I’m not giving up my city.”

  Lilliana tugged on Travis’ hand. “Come on. I want to go home.”

  “It burned, she-wolf.” His eyes moved over, sadness obvious in their blue depths.

  “As would I have had Cyrus not rescued me. Thank you for that.” She stared at Cyrus. “I think you should have this.” She unhooked the totem Travis had given her. “I’m safe now and I’m at peace for the first time in my life. I am finally who I have always been meant to be. I have my mate, and had I not been born a werewolf, I would have asked the moon to make me walk on four legs to be with him. This kept me safe. Now it should keep you that way.”

  Cyrus’ eyes met Travis’ over her head. “Is she for real?”

  “I’d suggest you take it. Those were some pretty powerful words she just spoke over you.”

  He took the necklace from her hand. “Thank you, Lilliana.”

  She nodded and would have turned, but he grabbed her arm. “You know you smell fantastic. Like hot sex. If you change your mind and want more than tattooed boy there can give you, you make your way up to Manhattan, and I’ll open my arms for you.”

  Lilliana groaned. “You know that’s not how this works. Thanks for the pseudo compliment just the same.”

  At least she thought that was how it worked. She’d only been at this for a couple of days.

  ****

  Travis held her hand in the bus. One of his pack members had rented one, and the whole pack traveled back to Philadelphia together. Nerves made her edgy, and she tapped her foot.

  “The moon isn’t quite gone yet. It’s still ninety-nine percent full,” he whispered in her ear. “Tomorrow will feel more normal.”

  “My mom used to tell me I was hormonal.” She shook her head. “I’m glad there’s another answer.”

  One of the female werewolves laughed in the back of the bus, and Lilliana felt heat rise in her cheeks. They were all listening to every word she said, and everyone had wanted to speak to her. The pack felt like family, and yet they were strangers, an odd combination that did nothing to set her at ease.

  “Can I ask you something?” If they had extra ears listening, then oh-frickin-well. She supposed as the Alpha’s mate she’d have to get used to it.

  “Anything. Always.” Travis leaned back in his seat. He seemed perfectly fine so he must be used to the strangeness of always being on stage, always being watched.

  “Who killed Lucian?” The question had troubled her for hours.

  “We don’t know. Some people thought it was me. We’d argued about how much I had to pay in service to him that month.”

  She shook her head. “It wasn’t you.” That was impossible.

  “Ah. Thanks?” He laughed. “Nothing like my mate thinking I’m not capable of killing if I had to.”

  Lilliana looked at him sideways. “For money? I don’t think so.”

  “All right. That I’ll take.”

  “No one knows who killed him?” That couldn’t be good. The firebombing, someone trying to frame Travis for hurting Cyrus’ pregnant females, and Lucian’s death? Someone was playing a dangerous game.

  No one would hurt Travis to win whatever this was. Not as long as she lived.

  ****

  Travis grinned, watching Lilliana across the room. She said something, and Beth, one of the Beta females, laughed. It was hard to make Beth laugh since her mate died, but Lilliana did it on a regular basis. In the six weeks since he’d brought her home to Philly, his whole world had lightened up.

  He stroked the new ink on his chest, a giant lily. The beautiful flower had been etched in right over his heart. He strode to the other side of his office. Before he could overthink it, he picked up the phone.

  Cyrus answered on one ring. “What?”

  “Meet me in Jersey tonight. I want to blood oath. You and me. No war. I’ll defend you; you defend me.”

  Cyrus sucked in his breath. “And?”

  “And nothing, man. I don’t want your money. I don’t want anything from you. You don’t want jack shit from me. Nothing but a promise not to bother each other and to protect each other. In blood.”

  Because that kind of oath called for blood. The safety of his people required no less. Lilliana’s life would be protected by an oath he couldn’t break.

  ****

  Cyrus held out his hand, and Travis took it. Together, they held on until their joined blood slid out of their hands onto the ground beneath their feet. Matilda, working in the diner right then, shouldn’t know what went on outside her restaurant, and yet in the way she always knew everything, he suspected she did.

  “I swear to you, Travis, that as your cousin and as Alpha of the Manhattan Pack, I will not attack you unless you attack me first. I swear to come to your aid if someone else attacks you.”

  Travis nodded. “You know we’re not really cousins except really, really distantly. Like our grandmothers were cousins.”

  “Are you going to swear it or not?”

  He grinned because he couldn’t help himself. “It would be a really dick move, wouldn’t it, if I brought you out here to swear, got you to do it, and then didn’t do it myself?”

  “I’m standing here bleeding.” Cyrus growled.

  “Squeamish? All right already. I get it. I swear not to attack you unless you attack me, and I swear to come to your defense if someone else attacks you. Cousin. I, Travis Michaels, the Alpha of Philadelphia make this vow to you.”

  They waited a beat and then separated their hands. Travis took a handkerchief out of his pant’s pocket and wiped away his blood. “This is how it starts, you know?”

  Cyrus nodded. “Look. I don’t intend to make this oath with a whole bunch of people. Okay? I’m not going to go around swearing blood oaths with people until I’m Alpha Prime. I have to assume you’re also going to limit who you do this with.”

  “Yeah.” This was why he’d hesitated, and he knew it was why Cyrus had too. They had a lot of assuming to do with each other.

  A lot of trust.

  He could let Cyrus in, or he could end up losing everything, and that was no longer an option.

  He wouldn’t break; he wouldn’t fail.

  Travis turned his back on Cyrus. A scent wafted through the air, and he knew immediately Lilliana was there. How had she known where he’d be?

  She leaned against a car he’d seen in one of his shops earlier that morning. Had she borrowed it?

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Well…” She grinned, the wind whipping her hair around her face. “I
t’s not every day my mate takes a blood oath. I thought perhaps you might like some company after. Besides, I hear this place has a great meatloaf.”

  He pulled her into her arms and sighed when her scent enveloped him. “You were worried I might go and have a real freak-out the whole way home. Beat myself up over it and generally assume I’d done the wrong thing bringing Cyrus this close to us.”

  “Yes.” She kissed him. How could she always be this soft? “You never did eat the meatloaf I brought you.”

  “Would you like to do that now? Go see Matilda and actually have a meal here?”

  “I would.” She smiled and he felt like the luckiest man on the planet. She made him stronger by loving him, she made him the Alpha he should be.

  The kind that would risk it all to keep his people safe. Lilliana completed him.

  “You’re so whipped.” Cyrus walked by them to get to his car.

  “You’re just jealous.” Travis smiled not turning to the other man.

  Anyone would be. He had Lilliana. Hand in hand, he brought them into the diner. Meatloaf had never sounded so good.

  Coming Next in the Fallen Alpha World, Alpha’s Chosen, in 2014

  A Rebel’s Heart

  An Ashwood Falls Novella

  By Lia Davis

  Chapter One

  Sarah Matthews was tired. Life had become lonely and less exciting. Sure she had her kids, but they had their own lives, their own families. It just wasn’t the same, and considering she’d lost a part of her soul it had become an effort to just get out of bed some days. Her mate had died a little over five years ago in a car accident that, until today, she’d believed just that.

  An accident.

  A case of being in the wrong place and all that.

  However, today she received a package that made her wonder if her mate was indeed murdered. She opened the mailbox and frowned at the small box inside. Pulling it out, she studied it, suspicion twirling inside or mind. She put the thing to her ear and listened. She didn’t know what she’d expect to hear. A ticking from a bomb? Now she was being ridiculous. She rolled her eyes. “Ever so suspicious,” she muttered to herself.

  There was no return address, nor was there a receiving one. That was odd. It was like someone had placed it in the mailbox. She didn’t hear any vehicles stop or even slow down in front of her house last night or this morning except for the mailman a few minutes ago. With her supernatural hearing, she’d heard a car pull up. Even her puma would had sensed another shifter in the area. Yet her senses didn’t go off.

  Another mystery about the box in her hand.

  The only writing on the top of the box was her name, hand-written.

  Curiosity crept in, and after a quick sniff to make sure there weren’t any non-ticking explosives inside, she opened the box. Cold sensation went up her spine, and a hot fear burned her belly as she peered at the contents. Tears blurred her visions, and each heartbeat hurt as the wound that had slowly healed over the years was ripped back open. Inside the box was a gold wedding band with the words my love, my soul engraved on the inside. It was identical to Walt’s.

  The ring he’d said he lost while working.

  Underneath the ring was a slip of paper that read: You’re next.

  Unable to go back into the house she and Walt had bought together, lived in, raised Nevan, and filled with their love, she ran into the woods, seeking some kind of peace. The tears fell in fat drops, soaking her cheeks and making it even harder to breathe.

  She came to a stop at a large oak tree and dropped to her knees while she cradled the ring to her chest. The raw pain transformed into anger toward the sick bastards that could have done it. Whoever they were.

  She peered back at the note. The two ugly words blurred as a tear dropped on them. Did this mean that Walt had been killed? If so, why? What would be the point of killing her? She didn’t have any enemies that she knew of anyway. And Walt…he was the most gentle and caring male she knew.

  The sound of footsteps running in her direction made her stand and shove the note and ring into her pocket as her cat instantly went on alert. She scented the air and was relieved when she didn’t smell the acidy sweet smell of the Onyx Pack’s mutants. The half-animal, half-human creatures were not only gross; they were more powerful than she was.

  The scent she did pick up belonged to a human, but there was another scent she couldn’t place, though it seemed familiar. The pounding of shoes hitting the earth grew closer, and she ducked behind the tree, unsure of what the human was doing in this part of the Smoky Mountains.

  A human male ran past the tree, turned to look right at her as if he knew all along she was there, and pointed a gun right at her. Sarah gasped and fell to the ground a split second before he fired. Scrambling on hands and knees, she crawled around the tree and froze as another man barreled past her toward the human. The new man wasn’t a man, but a male puma shifter.

  And she knew him.

  Damian Palmer.

  No, not possible. Damian had been in the car with Walt at the time of the accident. He’d died right along with his best friend. She’d seen his body, damn it.

  She slowly moved so she could peek around the oak. The puma had the human pinned to the ground with one hand around his throat, trying to take the gun with the other. The human pulled a knife from his boot and, before Sarah could warn Damian, stuck him in the side. It gave the human enough leverage to knock the shifter off him.

  The human turned, and Sarah didn’t waste time to see what he would do. She just reacted and ran into his back, knocking him off balance. It also knocked her off balance, and she tumbled to the ground. She started to push herself up but froze at the sight of the human’s shadow falling over her.

  Shaking, she peered up and into the barrel of the gun.

  She braced herself, knowing this was it. Her only thought was of her kids and grandkids. It had been a few days since she’d talked to them. A tear fell down her cheek, and the human paused as if confused. Then Damian tackled him to the ground. They rolled on the ground, fists pounding into each other as they fought for control of the gun until a shot went off, echoing through the forest.

  Damian went limp, and the human pushed him off. Sarah stifled a cry and swallowed. She wanted to go to Damian, see if he was okay. He was a shifter, and as long as it wasn’t a shot to the heart, he’d live. Sarah hoped. Her heart broke all over again.

  Sorrow, anger, and adrenaline rushed through her, and she charged the human man. The surprise on his face told her he’d underestimated her. Ha! That was his mistake. Even submissive shifters were stronger than humans. She was no submissive; she was a maternal female. She protected those she cared about. Even though she was pissed as hell at Damian for making her believe he was dead for the last five years, she’d protect him any way she could.

  He had been her best friend once.

  But she’d deal with Damian later. Right now, she had a human to disarm.

  She hit him full force, and they fell to the ground. He punched out, catching her in side. Pain shot through her ribs, but it only fueled her anger and her inner puma’s rage even more. She growled and allowed her fangs to drop. The human paled, and she breathed in the fear rolling off him.

  With quick and efficient movements, she grabbed his head in both her hands and twisted. The man went limp under her.

  She rushed over to Damian and knelt down beside him. His breathing was labored, but he was awake. He met her gaze with hazel eyes, and something deep inside her stirred. Heat twirled in her abdomen and headed south. She shook off the strange reaction to the male she’d buried with her mate and offered a weak smile. “I don’t have to tell you how pissed I am at you.”

  He coughed then winced as if in pain. She peered down at his chest, and her heart stuttered a couple of beats. His shirt was soaked in blood. He lifted his hand and touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers. She grabbed his hand and squeezed.

  “I’m going to have to move you. I need
to get you back to the house so I can call a Healer.” He didn’t answered, and his eyes started to close. “Damian. Stay with me. Do you hear me?”

  She tapped his cheek, and he opened his eyes. “I’m —”

  He coughed again, and she shook her head and lifted him to a sitting position so she could get her shoulder under his arm. Damian was a good seven inches taller than she and weighed over two hundred pounds, most of it muscle. So she needed him conscious if they were to make it to her house. Even with her added strength from being a shifter, she wouldn’t be able to carry the male on her own.

  It took about twenty slow minutes to reach her cabin. Once inside, she directed him to the bedroom and helped him lie down. As soon as his head touched the pillow, he passed out. With a sigh and a heavy heart, she picked up her cell phone from the nightstand where she left it earlier and called Danica Welsh-Mathews, her daughter-in-law and the Ashwood Falls’ leopard Healer.

  ****

  Damian opened his eyes and cautiously looked around the room, not sure where the hell he was. The room held a warmth to it. The single window was covered with red and gold curtains. The walls were a soft cream color. The whole room reminded him of something. No, someone. Then memories of the fight with the rebel human and Sarah…

  Fuck.

  He’d come here to protect her. Instead he gotten his ass shot, and she’d ended up protecting him. Way to go, Damian.

  You’re such an ass.

  He sat up and sucked in a sharp breath as pain shot across his ribs. Peering down at his chest, he frowned and touched the red spot just below his heart. He let out a sigh and pushed to a stand, slower this time. He should consider himself lucky that Sarah had been there and the bullet hadn’t hit his heart. By the look of the healing wound, Sarah must had called a Healer, but from where?