by LC Taylor
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Coming Soon
About the Author
Woven
Book One
Mystic Valley Shifters
A Paranormal Shifter Romance
LC Taylor
Book One: Woven
Mystic Valley Shifters
Copyright © 2017 by L.C. Taylor
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The author holds exclusive rights to this work. Any duplication without authorization is strictly prohibited. No part of this book can be reproduced by any means, either electronic or mechanical. This includes, but is not limited to information storage and retrieval systems, without prior authorization from the writer. For information, please contact the author at: [email protected].
Cover designed using Canva.com
Edited by: Lisa Whrite – www.fiverr.com/lisa_whrite
Published in the United States of America
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For my husband – because no matter what, we always find the rainbow in the rain.
“Where there is love, there is Life.”
Gandhi
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Coming Soon
About the Author
“An invisible red thread connects all those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break.”
A Chinese Proverb, Author Unknown
Chapter 1
Shattered… My heart fractured into tiny shards as I stared at the dirt mound surrounded by the greenest of grasses. The blades moved ever so slightly, blowing in the soft breeze. Standing there, presumably enthralled by the freshly dug dirt covering my parent’s eternal resting place, I was lost to my surroundings. In the background, I could clearly hear the minister giving the eulogy I had prepared the night before. Present physically; it didn’t matter what he said, I was mentally numb to the people around me.
My mind was too busy replaying the last conversation I had with my mom. It was like an old fashion movie playing through my head. She wanted me to go out for ice cream with her and dad, for a family date night. I told her I was too old to go out with them, that I didn’t need to give the social elites more ammunition on me. Presently, the high school elitist gave me enough shit, and that was enough. I’d refused to be seen in public with them because my social status was more important than spending time with them.
And now they’re dead, and date nights would be me visiting their graves instead. No more hearing my mom’s sarcastic comments or my dad’s corny jokes. Nope. Just a headstone and bunch of memories under a fresh mound of dirt.
I’m not sure how long I stood there staring at the freshly moved dirt. Jolted back to reality when I felt my best friend’s hand on my shoulder, snapping me from the memory of my parents. “Dylan, are you ready?” Carly held my stare with a pained expression, seeing my sorrow reflected in her eyes.
Carly’s my oldest friend; we’re close like sisters. We became friends in the third grade when she moved in around the corner. She saved me from face planting on my bike in the mud. As a result, we remained inseparable. Carly’s a firecracker, she has no filter and says whatever she’s thinking. She doesn’t care who hears her, or whose feelings it may hurt. Incidentally, people are instantaneously drawn to her, like a moth to a flame – unlike me. I’ve always been ‘that girl,’ I go un-noticed avoiding the spotlight at all cost.
“Um, yeah... Sorry, I lost track and spaced out for a minute,” as I gazed into the distance, attempting to blink away the tears now falling down my cheeks.
“Dylan, I think you should come to my house later. My mom will make dinner, and after that, we can just chill watching movies. Maybe we could have a Legally Blonde marathon. Being around people is important during times like these. We should skip school tomorrow; it seems too soon for you to go back anyway.”
Nothing would take my mind off today. I buried my parents in the ground and left them there covered in earth. Being their only child, I didn’t need people, or at least that’s what my self-conscious whispered to me.
My mom had several miscarriages before getting pregnant. She’d all but given up hope on having a family when her miracle happened, me. They decided not to find out the sex of the baby; my mom believed it should be a surprise. My dad insisted I would be a boy – he was certain. That’s why I’m named Dylan. Hence, the shock when the doctor announced he was the proud daddy of a baby girl. Weighing in at just five pounds seven ounces, born with a head full of jet black hair and a set of lungs that could wake the neighboring town. My mom told me that the minute he held me, he was done for and melted like butter. I can still hear my mom telling me the story of how my dad fell to his knees crying to the heavens; he was overcome with so much joy, he almost fainted.
“Thanks, Carly. I wanna be alone. I want to sort out a bunch of stuff. And yes, I’m going to school tomorrow. I’ve got to, I’ve already missed so much, and I need some kinda normalcy… school will be good, it’ll help ground me, eventually. I need that right now,�
�� I felt a sense of foreboding for my future. They say loss can bring these feelings to the surface, a fragment of me taken against my will that left me doubtful of further happiness. My life was in shambles right now. I had – NO, I needed, to get back to some sort of normalcy, if that would ever be plausible again.
Carly let out a heavy sigh of frustration, piercing me with a disapproving expression, “well, if you need me or anything at all… Call me. Don’t try to be superwoman.”
“Thanks... I’m not sure how I’d survived without you these last few days,” I wiped the salty tears from my swollen eyes, inhaling the fresh summer air, “Admittedly, this has been harder than I ever fathomed. They were supposed to watch me graduate and now...,” drifting off again, trying to clamp down the sorrow that was wrapping itself around my heart like a blackened fog from the depths of hell.
Carly embraced me, above all, I sensed her pain and love as she spoke, “I know, I wish you’d let me help more, you can’t do this all by yourself. I mean, for fuck's sake! Your parents were ripped from you without warning. So, don’t pretend to be strong around me, or anyone else, for that matter.”
Unable to refrain, I cracked a smile at her candor, and I tried to stifle the giggle but failed. Carly’s never had a filter on her mouth. I’m not sure she even knows how to censor herself, regardless of the situation going on, Carly speaks her mind.
“I know, I know… I promise to call you if I need anything. Carly, I’ll see you tomorrow, promise...,” stepping from the safety of her hug, I headed towards my car.
As I turned on my car and pulled out, casting one last glance towards where my parents laid silently in the ground. It was surreal; I struggled to comprehend everything that happened. Five days ago, I watched them pull down our long winding driveway for ice cream. I never anticipated that I wouldn’t see them returning.
My soul felt shattered, the tattered remnants of memories drifting through my mind were all I had to hold on to. I thought nothing could ever repair the broken pieces of my mangled heart. I whispered a painful goodbye to the wind as I got in my car to leave the land of the dead.
People left their loved one’s here, then continued drifting by in life alone. At least, that’s what I felt I was doing. Drifting like a soulless vessel left to float through life empty without a sail.
Chapter 2
The drive home was ephemeral, although it felt unending. You could walk just about anywhere you wanted in this town. Mystic Valley had a tiny population, and everyone knew everyone here. My parents grew up in Mystic; they had lived in the city for a brief time before I was born. Once my mom found out she was pregnant, they decided it was time to leave the city and come back. Subsequently, my dad was offered a job as the Mystic Valley School headmaster, so they packed up their life in the city and moved back to this small town.
My mom believed this was the picture-perfect place to raise their baby, plus, her best friend was still here. My mom opened a small bookstore in town shortly after they arrived in Mystic. She and her best friend Tessa ran the shop together. Since Tessa and mom had no real family to speak of, they might as well have been sisters as close as they were. I can remember being a kid playing hide-and-seek between the book shelves while they worked, that’s where I found my affinity for reading. Now that mom was gone, it would be my duty to help Tessa with the store – the last thread I would have with my mother.
My parents had been frugal my whole life. As a result, it made them financially sound – or at least that is what their attorney told me. Reading their will was the worst thing, no, make that the second worst thing I’d dealt with. According to the last will and testament, my parents left me the house, the bookstore, and a large trust fund. Until that day, I had no clue how much money my parents had put away. In other words, I had enough money so I’d never need to work a day in my life – and I could still go to college…completely paid for. But that didn’t seal the gaping hole in my heart. Regrettably, nothing could do that; my heart was gone, buried in the ground where my mom and dad laid to rest.
I mindlessly navigated my car into the driveway leading to my house. Our house sat on the edge of Mystic Valley on five acres of land. Ironically, the property was nothing but lush forest. Granted, one side of the land collided with Flint Lake, while the other backed up to the town's park. There were infinite trails through the thicket. I spent hours exploring them with my dad. Being a daddy’s girl, we did everything together. Strangely enough, he always felt one with the forest, like he belonged out there.
.
The driveway was long, lined with tall pine trees that provided an allure of mystery for the house – which was ultimately well hidden from the main road, as it sat behind a massive thicket of trees. The driveway led to a two-story house on a basement. It was a big house, with what felt like an infinite number of rooms. With it being just me now, it was an enigma I didn’t belong in. Tessa offered to move in with me, and I told her I would think about – I had a tough time asking her to uproot her life to come and babysit me. And now, looking at the house as it sat whispering memories soon forgotten, I wish I’d told her yes.
The open front porch greeted me with silence as I parked the car. I inhaled deeply, holding it as though it would give me some hidden courage to walk up the steps. As I slid my key in, the lock seems to cry out in protest, knowing my parents would never unlock it again. I could feel the tears as they spilled down my cheeks onto the front of my dress, the hollowness of my chest reverberating the drops of my loneliness. I tossed my keys onto the entryway table clanking as they bounced across the wood table. Taking in the scene before me, I was overwhelmed by an onslaught of more memories, my emotions rocking the very core of my soul reminding me I was alone.
I closed my eyes, slowly breathing in and out, thinking about how in three weeks I would graduate high school, without my parents. And worse, my dad wouldn’t be the one to hand me my diploma. I shook myself from my sorrow and went upstairs, pausing long enough to lock the door and dim the lights. As I approached my parent’s room, my chest tightened. I hadn’t been in their room since I picked out clothes to send them off to their eternal home. I glanced, noticing the untouched bed and squeezing my eyes shut. I backed away from the painful memory, pulling the door closed. I rested my forehead on against the cold wood of the door and wordlessly said goodbye again to them. I couldn’t stomach packing their belongings - that would have to wait; maybe I could just leave the room as it was.
I ambled into my room and kicked off my heels. As I made it to the foot of my bed, I crumpled into a shattered heap crying. I cried for what seemed to be an eternity, until drifting off into a fitful slumber. Eventually, the nightmare would consume me again. It always started the same, and it was as though I had the starring role in my own personal horror film. Except when I woke, my loved ones were dead.
I was sitting at the kitchen table, texting Carly, catching marshmallows in my mouth. I should have been doing homework, but I couldn’t focus. I was home alone because I’d bailed on going out with my parents for ice cream.
Me: U going 2 Megan’s party?
Carly: Do goats scream?
Me: Ummm. I guess.
Carly: YES, R U?
A loud rapping at the front door, followed by the doorbell startled me from the focus I had on my phone…
Me: Hang on, someone’s at the door. I about peed my pants from them knocking…
Carly: OOOO. B Careful. Could B a Serial Killer! LOL
Me: HAR HAR…. SMARTASS…. BRB.
I walked to the front door, pausing when I noticed a police officer and another well-dressed man standing on the porch. Seeing that, anxiety plagued me as I unlocked the deadbolt and cracked the door. I left the slide chain engaged as I slowly opened the door.
“Um, can I help you?” looking suspiciously between the two men.
“Are you Dylan Aeddan?”
“Yes.”
“Are your parents, Garrett and Maggie Aeddan?”
“Y
es, but they aren’t here. They should be back soon, why?”
“Ma’am, can we come in and speak with you? I am Officer Barnes, and this is Detective Smith.”
“Has something happened? Was there a break in at my mom’s store?” my voice cracking from the fear settling in my chest.
“Ms. Aeddan, please,” the detective pleaded with me, “Just open the door, so we can speak with you inside.” His desperation was evident as he spoke. The officer rubbed his neck, fidgeting on the porch. Given he couldn’t stand still and was twitching, he was making me even more nervous.
“Ma’am, is there anyone else home with you?” He tried to peer through the crack of the door to see inside.
“No, my parents are out but are due back any time now. Do you want to wait on them?”
“Look, what’s wrong? Is Tessa ok, is she hurt, did something happen at the store?”
“Ms. Aeddan, please... We don’t want to do this through a door. Please let us in… we aren’t here to hurt you.” He was practically begging; I felt bad for being rude. I slid the chain lock off and opened the door, motioning them inside to sit in the living room.
My phone vibrated in my pocket… I had forgotten to text Carly back and tell her what was going on…
Carly: OMG are you dead?? HELLO!!
Me: Yep, texting you from the dead. LOL No, seriously, there are police officers here. I will text you when they leave after I find out why they are here. I think it’s something with mom’s store or Tessa.
I sent my mom a quick text message telling her there were police at the house and to hurry home.
Carly: WHY are there police at your house???
Me: No IDEA… I just let them in…text u L8TR
I looked up to the two men staring at me.
“Sorry, that was my best friend. She worried there was an ax murderer at the door,” I chuckled, “I texted my mom too, she should call me back in a second. She’s pretty quick about returning my text and calls.”
