But Faith would live to be angry.
That’s all that mattered.
“Unlike some of us,” Amara continued, “I don’t need to hear about your mates and their butts. Considering I have a feeling you guys are all gonna go home and show off how much you love those butts, I think we can stop the conversation here.”
Nadie met Jace’s gaze then started giggling like a lunatic.
“You are really obsessed with butts, aren’t you, Amara?” Eliana asked, batting her eyelashes as she leaned into Jamie. “Is it because you aren’t getting to see any butts of your own?”
“Shut it, Eliana.”
“That was too close to home,” Becca added in and then squealed, as Hunter must have done something under the table that Nadie wasn’t sure she wanted to know about.
It had been almost entirely too long since most of them had been back to Dante’s Circle to drink—those who weren’t breastfeeding that was—and hang out with their mates. It wasn’t the same without Faith, and it never would be. She wasn’t ready to give up hope on her friend, and Levi had told them that once Faith’s body was ready to wake up she would.
It didn’t make it any easier to move on. Faith was one of her best friends and, frankly, one of the closest among the other women in the room. When Faith had moved in front of her…
Nadie shook her head, swallowing hard.
Faith would heal. Levi had made sure of that.
Though Nadie didn’t want to think about how Faith would feel once she woke up and found out just exactly how she’d been saved.
There might not be any coming back from that.
For any of them.
Nadie looked around the bar at the friends who were still with her, sighing that they weren’t all together, but at least they were trying to be strong for a woman they all loved. Even the women with babies and new lives had come that night.
All of the new babies were currently in Hunter’s den being fawned over by Fawkes and Leslie. Apparently, the new couple wanted to “practice” to see if they were ready to jump head first into demon pups. Or whatever they turned into since Nadie wasn’t sure which of the two had the most dominant DNA. In Lily and Shade’s case, it had been the angelic DNA of course that held true. Baby Kelly was an adorable little angel that would one day have wings of her own—the same with Ambrose, Balin, and Jamie’s little Samantha. Hunter and Becca’s daughter, Hazel, was a little wolf pup and already had the Pack wrapped around her little finger.
Nadie sighed and looked up at Jace.
“What is it?” he asked, pulling her closer.
“Just thinking about babies and how cute little dragons and bears are gonna be rolling around our house.”
Oh crap. Maybe she was a little drunk.
After all, she hadn’t even told the men she loved them, and now she was talking about babies. Sure, they were mated, living together, working together, and had fought for their right to be together, but she might have been moving too fast.
“Dear gods, can you imagine little Dantes crawling around and learning to use their fire?” Jace’s eyes went wide, but he didn’t look panicked. No, he looked as though he couldn’t wait for it.
“We’ll teach them how to use that, just like you’ll teach them how to use their claws,” Dante said as he came up and sat beside them, his dancing jig apparently over.
Nadie sat back and stared at her two men. They never spoke about how they felt. Sure, they cared for her, taught her how to fight for herself, and discussed the future—come on, five hundred years was a freaking long time. But, at some point, the words and promises for someone who had been human her whole life would be nice.
“I love you,” she said. “Both of you.”
She blinked again as both of her men smiled widely at her. She looked over her shoulder, aware that she probably shouldn’t have said that for the first time in the middle of a bar in front of the people who were her family, but not her mates.
However, no one seemed to be paying attention, their focus on their own mates or friends.
She looked back, and Jace and Dante were still smiling.
“I love you both, too,” Jace said. “Though I think I’ve said it before.”
“You both know I love you, but it’s still nice to hear,” Dante put in.
Nadie slapped their arms. “Come on! This was supposed to be romantic and cherished for our memories for all time!”
Dante kissed her. Hard. “I’ve looked into your face and known your heart since the moment you knew what I was, what I could turn into. I’ve loved you from the start, Nadie Morgan. I might not say it, but it will shown in all of my actions, my thoughts, and my hopes.”
Well then.
“Okay, so maybe I’m an idiot,” Nadie mumbled.
Jace kissed her temple. “But you’re our idiot.”
“Hey!”
“Aww, I love watching you three,” Lily said from her perch on Shade’s lap. “You guys are so adorable.”
Nadie waved off her friend and sighed into her mates.
She’d never forget the bear that had given his life for her, never forget the smile on Torrent’s face as he fought with pride.
The bears hadn’t blamed her for his death as the blame lay on Stacia. Now, Nadie spent her days in the bear realm, teaching cubs and watching the future Torrents and Jaces learn to growl and claw with the best of them. She did it in his honor and knew that Jace loved her all the more for it.
Things had changed so much since the night she’d decided to give it all up. Instead of walking away alone, she’d given up the fear of the unknown and had fallen head over heels in love with a dragon and a bear. She’d found the power within and learned that not only could she fight for her life and the ones she loved but she was fucking good at it.
The innocence she’d fought to hold for so long had tangled into something beautiful, something seductive, powerful, and loved.
She was Nadie Morgan.
Succubus.
Mate.
Fighter.
Lighting-struck.
There was no going back, only going forward. And as she leaned into the dragon, then the bear she called her own, she knew she’d be okay.
After all, she had everything to fight for.
The End
Next up in the Dante’s Circle Series:
Faith finds her path in FIERCE ENCHANTMENT
A Note from Carrie Ann
Thank you so much for reading Tangled Innocence. Dante, Nade, and Jace’s story was a long time coming and I hope you enjoyed it. I do hope if you liked this story, that you would please leave a review. Not only does a review spread the word to other readers, they let us authors know if you’d like to see more stories like this from us. I love hearing from readers and talking to them when I can. If you want to make sure you know what’s coming next from me, you can sign up for my newsletter at www.CarrieAnnRyan.com; follow me on twitter at @CarrieAnnRyan https://twitter.com/CarrieAnnRyan , or like my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/CarrieAnnRyanAuthor). I also have a Facebook Fan Club (https://www.facebook.com/groups/CarrieAnnRyanFanClub/) where we have trivia, chats, and other goodies. You guys are the reason I get to do what I do and I thank you.
What’s coming next in the Dante’s Circle world? In 2015 I hope to get Faith’s story, Fierce Enchantment, out and in your hands. I also plan on writing Liam and Alec (and their secret third shh!). It all depends on timing and other series goodies. But don’t worry, I won’t leave you hanging for too long. I get many questions about this series and yes, I will be writing about Amara and Eliana as well. I’m not saying goodbye any time soon!
If you are just starting the Dante’s Circle series with this book, welcome! You can go back and read Dust of My Wings, Her Warriors’ Three Wishes, and An Unlucky Moon. Each of those is found on its own or in a special Dante’s Circle Bundle. Also, the novella, His Choice, set in this world is found not only in the Ever After Anthology, but you can find it on its own in Ma
y!
If you’re looking for more Carrie Ann Ryan books, you can check out my Redwood Pack, Holiday Montana, and Montgomery Ink series. I have many more releases coming this year and in the next. To make sure you know when they come out, sign up for my monthly newsletter and release list. http://bit.ly/18aFEqP
Thank you again for reading and I do hope to see you again.
Carrie Ann
About this Author
USA Today Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan never thought she’d be a writer. Not really. No, she loved math and science and even went on to graduate school in chemistry. Yes, she read as a kid and devoured teen fiction and Harry Potter, but it wasn’t until someone handed her a romance book in her late teens that she realized that there was something out there just for her. When another author suggested she use the voices in her head for good and not evil, The Redwood Pack and all her other stories were born.
Carrie Ann is a bestselling author of over twenty novels and novellas and has so much more on her mind (and on her spreadsheets *grins*) that she isn’t planning on giving up her dream anytime soon.
www.CarrieAnnRyan.com
Also from this Author
Now Available:
Redwood Pack Series
An Alpha’s Path
A Taste for a Mate
Trinity Bound
A Night Away
Enforcer’s Redemption
Blurred Expectations
Forgiveness
Shattered Emotions
Hidden Destiny
A Beta’s Haven
Montgomery Ink Series
Ink Inspired
Ink Reunited
Holiday, Montana Series
Charmed Spirits
Santa’s Executive
Finding Abigail
Her Lucky Love
Dreams of Ivory
Dante’s Circle Series
Dust of My Wings
Her Warriors’ Three Wishes
An Unlucky Moon
His Choice (In the Ever After Anthology)
Coming Soon:
Redwood Pack
Fighting Fate
Loving the Omega
The Dark Fates Anthology
Dante’s Circle
Fierce Enchantment
Montgomery Ink
Delicate Ink
Did you enjoy this selection?
Why not try another romance from Fated Desires?
From USA Today Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan’s Redwood Pack Series
Hidden Destiny
Chapter One
Her wolf wanted to eat him up—one tasty morsel at a time.
Lexi Anderson sighed.
No, that wouldn’t be happening.
It didn’t matter that she wanted to lick the man at the party with many generous swipes of her tongue because it just wouldn’t happen.
It didn’t matter that she wanted to bury her hands in his hair while he pumped himself into her, their sweat-slicked bodies sliding against one another as they came together hard.
It still wouldn’t be happening.
She took a deep breath, the outside air filling her lungs and cooling her down—at least somewhat. As she tried to relax, she took in her surroundings, needing something far greater than her to function. The trees stood around them, tall, ancient, almost comforting. The sun warmed her skin in the cooling air, though just from looking at the man across from her, she was heated plenty already.
She took another breath, holding it in for as long as she could. The scent of forest and the coming rain would never be enough for her.
Lexi would never know the feeling of the land beneath her four paws, the brush of wind in her fur, nor the release of home and center when the moon’s pull finally took her wolf.
No, she would never have any of that, yet she should have been used to it by now.
She’d been a latent wolf—a wolf trapped within her body, unable to shift, but still part of her in a sense—for all fifty years of her life, and wishing for something different was only making things harder for her. Since latent wolves couldn’t shift into their wolf forms, they were forever bound to their human forms and cut off from the wolf part of their souls. They couldn’t even hear their other half’s thoughts. Oh, they could feel something, or at least feel the instincts and some of the urges that came with being a wolf, but they didn’t feel the same connection that others did.
It had been a miracle in itself that she’d survived into adulthood, as most latent wolves died from the added stress to their bodies because of their inability to shift.
She was one of the lucky ones.
If one could call it that.
There were more important things in her world than the fact she would never be able to shift into a wolf.
Namely, the little boy playing in the front yard of the Alpha’s home.
Parker, her eight-year-old son and love of her life, currently played in a pile of wolf babies. Well, only one baby was currently in wolf form, as the others were too young to change yet, but her Parker seemed to be in heaven.
Finn, the son of the Heir to the Redwood Pack, jumped on Parker’s stomach. Luckily the three-year-old had learned enough control in wolf form that he didn’t have his claws out. Wolf children didn’t shift until they were at least two or three years old when they would have at least a semblance of control over their little bodies.
Even though Lexi had grown up in the Talon Pack and knew that children play-fought in both forms, she still winced. It had been awhile since she’d been around other wolves for long periods of time, and she didn’t like the idea of her baby being hurt by Finn’s little claws.
It was, after all, only the third time the other little boy had shifted into this form. He had remarkable control though, considering his age. Lexi wasn’t sure if that had to do with the royal blood running through his veins, the fact that he would one day be the Heir and then eventually the Alpha, or that he was wise for his age. He’d already been through so much, almost being killed by the hands of their worst enemy. He’d been changed dramatically, even at a young age.
All of that together seemed to have made one strong little wolf.
The little fluff ball mock growled at Parker then rolled onto his back, leaving all four paws in the air. His cousins, Micah and Brie, who were both under two, gave up trying to tickle Parker and went to give Finn a belly rub.
Something oddly hollow echoed in Lexi’s chest at the sight.
These babies were part of a family. A family that, while they had opened their home to her, Parker, and her brother, Logan, wasn’t hers.
They would never be hers.
Not really.
She thought she had a family before with the Talons, and then that had been shattered. The Alpha had exiled her, cutting her off from the Pack because of something out of her control. Logan came with her because he was her brother. God, she hated that she’d caused him to be a lone wolf, shunned because of what had happened to her.
They spent over eight years on the run until finally coming into contact with the Redwoods. For some reason, they had opened their wards and let them into their Pack—blood bond and all.
She knew not everyone within the Pack was happy about it, but the Jamensons, the ruling family, wanted them.
Lexi still wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
A man, Patrick, yes, that was his name, walked past her and glared. Not so odd considering most wolves who didn’t really know her seemed to do that, but she didn’t know this man or what his problem was.
She raised a brow, and he looked down on her as though she were five-day-old dog poo.
Great.
He walked away, and she looked off in the distance. It seemed making friends with people other than the Jamensons was going to be a lost cause. In Patrick’s case, it didn’t seem as though she was missing anything.
“Still on the outside looking in?” Cailin Jamenson, the Alpha’s only daughter, asked as she walked up to Lex
i’s side.
Lexi gave the gorgeous woman a weak smile, feeling positively frumpy and old in her tattered jeans and shirt. It wasn’t as if Lexi had a closet full of clothes after being on the run for so long. In fact, most of what she was wearing and possessed was borrowed.
Damn, she’d have to change that soon. It didn’t sit well with her that she didn’t have much to her name. She left most of her belongings when she left the Talons and hadn’t been able to add to her wardrobe and personal things over time. That whole experience left Lexi feeling less than attractive.
Cailin, however, looked like God’s gift to man with her long blue-black hair flowing down her back and her piercing green eyes that seemed to see more than Lexi wanted. The woman would make fashion models feel inferior with her sharp cheekbones, curves like a goddess, painted-on jeans, and a tight tank that only emphasized the woman’s way-too-perky breasts.
Lexi had a decent body because of the healthy metabolism and genetics of being a wolf, but there must have been something special in the water the day Cailin Jamenson was conceived.
Logan didn’t stand a chance.
Lexi snorted at that thought, and Cailin raised her brow. It was plain to see that Logan and Cailin were potential mates. Because fate was a fickle bitch, each wolf had many—or sometimes not so many—potential mates that they could meet throughout their long lifetimes. Just because the mating urge rode hard and a connection could click into place at any moment didn’t mean that the two parties had to act on it.
From where Lexi stood, it seemed the lone Jamenson daughter wanted to be as far from Logan as possible.
There had to be a story there, but considering Lexi had even more secrets of her own, she wasn’t about to start prying.
Much.
“Lexi?”
She blinked as Cailin moved closer, her eyebrows lowered.
Tangled Innocence Page 21
