An Unlucky Moon

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  That was how it had been ages ago, and Becca hoped that it would help the future of the Pack. After all, since she’d mated Hunter and become a leprechaun, she had a long future to look forward to.

  As for the leprechauns, well, like Jamie and the djinn, Becca didn’t think she’d be hanging out with that group any time soon. They’d sent a note with an emissary trying to say no hard feelings, but really?

  Not so much.

  Once the baby was born, and she was a little more settled, she was planning on figuring out a way to change things for the women in that realm, but she had a feeling it would be a long time coming. At least she’d have a goal and job now, something much different than opening a bar because it was the only thing she knew how to do.

  Oh she still might do that, but it wasn’t as though she had to decide now. She had tons of time to figure it all out. Right now, though, all she wanted to do was be with her mate, her baby, and her friends—new and old.

  Liam and Alec met them at the door to the chambers and hugged her. She loved that duo. They were like brothers and would totally be great uncles for her and Hunter’s baby.

  If the guys would ever figure out that they were totally in love with each other, it might even make things easier down the road.

  That, though, was another matter altogether.

  They walked into the room as a unified front, and she smiled as she saw Jace there. With that long blond hair and fantastic build, he was totally hot.

  Hunter growled, and she held back a chuckle.

  Jace might have been hot, but the only growly man for her was the wolf by her side.

  She leaned into her mate’s side, and he wrapped his arm around her as if proclaiming to the world whom she belonged to. Well, as long as he belonged to her as well, it was okay with her.

  The bear gave them a crooked grin. “Glad to see you guys handled this without me.” He sobered at his words.

  “I’m glad you didn’t have to make those decisions,” Hunter said. “Does that mean you’re done here?”

  Jace shrugged. “I’m done with your Pack unless you need me as a friend. I think, though, with that mate by your side, you’ll be fine.”

  “Are you leaving to go home, or wherever you come from, then?” Becca asked.

  The bear grinned. “No, I’ll be around for a long while.”

  With that cryptic comment, he changed the subject, and they discussed exactly what they would do with the Pack. All of Dorian’s followers would either be exiled or demoted in rank. They would have to prove to the Pack that they were loyal. The ones in the Pack who hadn’t taken sides were already showing their loyalty, and some had even bowed to her, declaring their protection and faith in her.

  It seemed they’d been just as afraid of Dorian as she had been and hadn’t wanted to get hurt. While Becca understood that and had hugged and smiled with the ones who were afraid, she’d never forget the ones who had stood by her side in the first place.

  She placed her hand on her stomach and smiled. She had a future growing in her womb and would do anything to protect it, had done anything to protect it.

  Hunter walked her home, their silence an easy one.

  As soon as they stepped into the house, he wrapped his arms around her. “I can’t wait to see you grow round with our child.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’ll be okay with me being as big as a house? You’re not a small man, you know. This baby could be huge.”

  Hunter knelt before her, lifted her shirt, and kissed her belly.

  If she hadn’t loved him with all her heart, right then, with that simple gesture, she’d have fallen harder.

  She tangled her hand in his hair as he rested his head on her belly. “You know, I’d never been truly lucky before. I always tripped over things, ran into walls, had a shitty childhood. Then I found Dante, and I thought that maybe my luck had changed.”

  Hunter growled softly.

  “I was wrong though. You made me lucky, Hunter. You made me see that I can be anything I want to be and have a future.”

  Hunter stood and helped her stand with him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled. “I thought when I came back from hell, I’d have nothing. I thought I’d become the darkness that had threatened to consume me. You showed me the light, Becca. You saved me.”

  “You saved me first.”

  She cupped his face and kissed him, putting all her hopes and dreams into it.

  Oh yes, she was lucky indeed.

  The End

  A Note from Carrie Ann

  Thank you so much for reading An Unlucky Moon! I’m so happy that you fell into the Dante’s Circle world and found Hunter and Becca. 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, or like my Facebook page. I also have a Facebook Fan Club where we have trivia, chats, and other goodies. You guys are the reason I get to do what I do and I thank you.

  Also, coming next in the Dante’s Circle world is His Choice. This is a novella about Fawkes, the young demon you met in Her Warriors’ Three Wishes, and Leslie, the submissive wolf you met in An Unlucky Moon. You’ll be able to find this in the paranormal anthology Ever After. That’s a brand new anthology with five new novellas that haven never been released before. In 2014, I will also be releasing Dante, Nadie, and Jace’s book, Tangled Innocence. I’ve been enamored with the dragon since Dust of My Wings and I know a lot of my readers have felt the same.

  Before that comes out though, I have my next Redwood Pack book, Hidden Destiny, coming out. It’s time for North and Lexi to get a story, and let me tell you, I’m enjoying myself writing this one. There will also be another after the HEA novella featuring Jasper and Willow called A Beta’s Haven coming out right beforeTangled Innocence.

  So yes, lots of goodies coming your way soon!

  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

  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

  Coming Soon:

  Redwood Pack

  Hidden Destiny

  A Beta’s Haven

  Dante’s Circle:

  Ever After Anthology

  Tangled Innocence

  Did you enjoy this selection? Why not try another romance from Fated Desires?

  From USA
Today Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan’s Holiday Montana Series

  Dreams of Ivory

  Chapter 1

  "Maybe if he got laid, he wouldn't be such an ass."

  Jackson Cooper gritted his teeth as the words floated into the grocery store aisle. He gripped the handle on his cart then took a deep breath. He had two choices: either confront the woman who’d spoken or walk past her and act like the ass he knew he was.

  The latter seemed like the best choice since he really didn’t give two cents about an opinion from a woman he’d turned down.

  Twice.

  He put the box of pasta on the bottom of his cart and moved down the aisle, passing Jessica Turnip’s—the woman who’d spoken—and Claudia Sanders’ wide-eyed looks.

  “Oh, J-Jackson…” Jessica stuttered, her too-painted cheeks blushing, her heavily shadowed-eyes wide with mocking and just a bit of fear. “It’s good to see you. Um...I wasn’t talking about you…no…it was…”

  Her voice trailed off as she clutched her throat—as if he’d strangle her for her comments.

  Really? They’d been talking about another Jackson Cooper who happened to be a dentist?

  The two gossips had been talking about how the single male pool had almost completely dried up in Holiday, Montana with the sudden marriages of the Cooper brothers. Well, at least four of the five brothers. It’d be a cold day in hell if he ever took that plunge. When they’d come to his name in the short list of available men, Claudia had giggled while Jessica had sighed.

  Apparently they wanted him, and he wanted nothing to do with them.

  Hence why they thought he was an ass.

  Well, he was an ass, but he had good reasons—he didn’t particularly like people.

  He just didn’t care about being nice for the sake of making people feel better about their own jealousy and insecurities.

  Instead of saying what was really on his mind though, he merely raised a cool brow then turned his back to them, walking toward the check-out lines. He heard their mumbled voices as he left, but he didn’t bother trying to figure out what they were saying. Either they were commenting on his ass or the fact that he was an ass.

  Most likely both.

  Hell, he missed having his brothers free to be able to take the brunt of the female population, but now they’d all married within a short time of each other. Matt and Jordan had married first, soon after they’d gotten back together. Then Justin, Tyler, and Brayden had married the loves of their lives in a triple ceremony on the Cooper property.

  Though the whole town had tried to come, Jackson and the women were having none of that. No, everyone had wanted a small ceremony with only family and close friends. Even Jackson’s cousins had come into town, his cousin Caleb bringing his two girls to be flower girls along with Lacy, Brayden’s new daughter. Brayden’s two new sons, Cameron and Aiden, had been ring bearers while Jackson had stood awkwardly to the side acting like best man and maid of honor.

  Apparently that had been the women’s wishes, so he’d done it, but he’d be damned if he let anyone other than his family mention the fact. It was either that, or let the women bring in another woman to take the job and match make.

  Hell no.

  Everyone had wanted the ceremony to be fast yet peaceful, so they had done just that back in March. Brayden and Allison had been dating for little more than two weeks before they got married, but really; they’d been circling around each other for ten years, so it hadn’t seemed fast for any of them. Tyler and Abigail had been the same way with their fast courtship. The two had known each other for years and were perfect for each other. Seeing how Tyler was a cupid, it only made sense his brother would know his own mind.

  Well, that was as long as Tyler didn’t have a curse on him, but that was a whole other story.

  Justin and Rina had known each other the shortest amount of time, but it didn’t seem to bother them that they were now shackled to each other.

  As long as they left Jackson’s personal life alone, he’d stay on the sidelines and watch the happy newlyweds gush and smile at each other for eternity. Yet, it was the odd gleams in their eyes when they looked at him that made him worry. They were either filled with pity that he was alone or were calculating how to make him join their wedded bliss.

  Again, not for him.

  Ever.

  He’d made it to the checkout line when his phone rang. With a sigh, he checked the screen and answered Matt’s call.

  “Yes?” he asked, his voice clipped. Not that he was angry with Matt, but if his brother was calling now, it was probably for an errand Jackson wasn’t in the particular mood to do.

  “Hey, bro, we need a favor,” Matt said, his voice a little harried.

  We.

  Ah yes, we. That either meant him and Jordan, or him and the rest of the Coopers. Jackson never knew anymore since they all congregated together far too often. Not that he didn’t love his brothers and new sisters-in-law. He just felt that being alone and at peace would be nice every once in a while.

  “Yes?” he said again, ignoring the looks of Jessica and Claudia as they passed him again.

  “We need peanut butter. A lot of peanut butter.”

  Jackson blinked. “Uh, don’t you already have some at home?”

  Matt let out a shaky laugh. “Yes, but it’s not the right brand and right now all four women are at the house picking wallpaper and craving peanut butter.”

  Jackson let out another sigh. “What kind?”

  “I knew you’d help. Thanks, Jacks. Okay, Jordan wants the extra crunchy kind. Rina wants smooth. Abby wants that New Age organic kind with honey inside, and Allison wants the kind with the jelly already added. You know those mini Coopers. They’re picky.”

  Jackson blinked again, almost at a loss for words as he ignored the mini Cooper reference, a term the girls loved and had begun calling their offspring. Having four women all entering the second trimester of their pregnancy at the same time was just about killing the brothers. How the hell had he become part of this? He wasn’t married to any of them, and yet now he was the peanut butter bearer.

  Hell.

  “Four…four types of peanut butter?” Jackson asked.

  “Yes. Four. I’m alone in the house with four pregnant women who all want peanut butter of their own choosing. For the love of God, help me.”

  The panic in his brother’s voice made Jackson smile. Matt had the pre-daddy jitters. In fact, all his brothers did.

  “Fine. I’ll get out of line and get your peanut butter, but there’s no way in hell I’m getting out of my car to drop them off. You’ll have to come out—sans women. I need to get to work since I took the morning off.”

  Matt laughed. “I still can’t believe you did that. I called your office first to see if you’d pick some up on your way home, and your receptionist was there doing paperwork and told me you’d be in late. I thought hell had frozen over.”

  Jackson gritted his teeth as he made his way to the peanut butter aisle. He still couldn’t believe there were so many types of it. He piled them into his cart and shook his head.

  “I had a cracked bicuspid emergency last night and didn’t get home until late. I decided I could take off the morning since my appointments were easily moved.”

  The perks of a small town was that he could afford to change things around if his loyal patients were on the books.

  The downside was that he was the only dentist in town—as well as the county. He never got a break unless he inconvenienced someone.

  “I’m not blaming you, Jacks, God no. It’s about time you take time for yourself.”

  Jackson rolled his eyes and made his way back to the checkout lines—this time four jars of peanut butter heavier. “I’m fine with the way things are, Matt.”

  “If you say so, Jacks. Okay, I’ll be on the lookout for your car and will run out to you so you can speed off before the women come out. I’ll make the excuse that you have to head to work. Which really isn’t
a lie since it’s your favorite thing to do.”

  Jackson grunted at his brother’s remark then hung up without saying goodbye. Matt would get the gist of it. He paid and made his way to his car, ignoring the looks of his townspeople. The Coopers were the most well known family in all of Holiday, so it wasn’t surprising he garnered a few looks.

  Plus he was a single man in a town full of single women.

  God, he needed a vacation away from Holiday.

  When he got to Matt and Jordan’s place, he parked near the curb but didn’t go to the driveway. He needed a quick escape in case one of the women saw him. Considering one was a witch, another a magical elf, and one more like a harpy, he wasn’t taking any chances. Not to mention that Allison was raising three children with another on the way and was as fierce as any momma bear.

  Yeah, he wasn’t too afraid to admit—to himself—that he’d steer clear of the new Coopers as long as possible.

  The front door opened, and Matt ran out, his hair standing on end as though he’d been running his hands through it throughout the day. Considering he’d been in the house alone with four pregnant women all day, Jackson couldn’t blame him.

  “Oh thank God,” Matt said as he took the bag from Jackson. “They’re all upstairs looking at more wallpaper for one of the guest rooms. Jordan is going crazy with finishing renovations on the house, but don’t tell her I said that.” His eyes widened as if he’d just noticed what he’d let slip.

  Jackson let out a deep chuckle. “Your words are safe with me. Is everyone off work today?”

  Matt raised a brow. “It’s Saturday, Jacks. They’re all off work and bugging me. Again, don’t tell them I said that. Brayden and Justin took the kids on a hike near your place, and Tyler is on duty today while he trains his new deputy, Hugh.”