Lost Girl (Wolf Girl Series Book 2)

by Leia Stone

  As I stepped out of the room, I couldn’t help but remark that this went way better than I could have hoped. I had mad love and respect for my future father-in-law now and understood that humans were just flawed creatures, all trying to make our way through heartache and trauma. But I wanted to have a real relationship, and real people argued and aired out their grievances. I wanted to be able to go to my father-in-law with things when they bothered me and not be shut out. He’d listened to me and we’d come to an agreement, and damn that felt good. I left the hotel in high spirits.

  “He’s soft on you,” Eugene commented as I skipped back to the car.

  “Hah. That was soft? He reamed me at first,” I told him.

  Eugene chuckled. “He always wanted a daughter, you know. After the death of Sawyer’s twin… they tried again and again and again but… to no avail.” I stopped in my tracks, frowning.

  The curse. It only let you have two children, and when Sawyer’s twin brother died… they weren’t allowed to have any more. No wonder he hated the Paladins. It took his chance at being able to have a daughter.

  “That’s really sad,” I said.

  “That’s life,” he retorted.

  No truer words were spoken.

  I stepped into the little private room that the hotel had set up for family so that we could all enter the main ballroom together. We were a bit early, but Sawyer was already inside because he’d texted me as much on my new phone, which he’d had delivered to my hair salon.

  After unwrapping it, I’d promptly taken a selfie and posted it on my Insta.

  “I need a doctor!” Sawyer clutched his heart in mock agony as I walked into the room in my new dress, hair spun up in a cascade of glossy curls. “I’m marrying the most beautiful girl in the world and I can’t breathe.”

  I grinned. “You’re a charmer, you know that?”

  He straightened, pulling his hand away from his chest, and pulled me into his arms, my body pressed flat against him. “You bring it out of me.”

  Sage made a mock retching noise behind us and I spun around to flip her off, only to catch Walsh totally checking out her ass. His eyes snapped up to mine when he caught me looking, cheeks going red, and I grinned.

  When I spun back around, Sawyer released me and pulled two boxes from a nearby table, handing them to me. “Engagement gift.”

  My eyes widened. Shit, was that a thing? “I… didn’t get you anything.”

  He waved me off. “You’re my gift. You even wore a bow.” He fingered the bow under the bust of my dress.

  I grinned and then tore into the first present. I hated surprises but I loved presents. Who didn’t? When my gaze landed on the pair of white Converse sneakers encrusted with thousands of tiny rhinestones, I squealed.

  “Oh my God, you are so not wearing those.” Sage peeked over my shoulder and Sawyer flicked the top of her head, lightly pushing her back.

  I laughed as she flipped him off, and then I kicked off my flip-flops and slipped on the little thin socks he’d provided and the shoes.

  “They’re my most cherished possession,” I told him, and looked up to see him grinning, dimple and chin butt on full display.

  “Second gift now.” He cleared his throat, suddenly looking nervous. He met Sage’s gaze and she nodded, walking to the other side of the room with Walsh to give us privacy.

  My stomach churned with excitement, ripping off the wrapping paper. I pulled away the lid of the box.

  When my eyes fell on the pair of metal cuffs, my heart sank into my stomach.

  “No.” Not again. He wouldn’t…

  Panic seized me, and Sawyer grasped the sides of my face lightly. “This isn’t what you think. Well, it is, but these are cuffs you can take on and off at will. No magic or fey blade needed, and they do not shock you. They only shut off your magic and hide your scent.”

  I released the breath I’d been holding. “How?” I stroked the cuff, inhaling and smelling the magic on them.

  “I commissioned them months ago, before the witches turned on us. Now if you want to hide your powers, you can, and if you need your wolf, you just slip them off. Like jewelry.”

  They were metal inside, but black leather outside with braided detailing, fashionable.

  Tears filled my eyes. The gift was so thoughtful. After everything we’d been through together, and everything I’d been through… he gave me a choice, a choice in my life and how I wanted to live it.

  “Thank you.” A tear slipped down my cheek.

  “Stop crying! Make-up,” Sage piped up from the corner of the room and I laughed.

  Sawyer leaned down to brush his lips against mine. “I just want you to be safe on your own terms.”

  I growled, throatily. “That’s the sexiest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  He then moved to my ear. “Tonight I’m going to rip this five thousand dollar dress off of you before we even reach the kitchen,” he whispered.

  A warmth pulsed inside of me as a smirk pulled at my lips. “Promise?” I whispered back, and he moaned, low and seductive.

  “Parents incoming,” Sage warned, and we both broke apart smiling. The doors opened and my mom and dad entered wearing the loveliest clothes I’d ever seen them in.

  “Holy crap.” My jaw unhinged at the sight of my mother in a deep blue dress, and then my father in a black suit and blue tie.

  My mom did a full spin and my dad catcall-whistled her.

  I gave them a hug, and we’d made small talk for a few moments when Sawyer’s dad and mom entered the room. True to his word, the alpha had delivered thousands of pounds of dry food and extra blankets to the meeting space I told him about, and Astra was on hand with Arrow and a bunch of others to receive the shipment. Sawyer texted me a picture to show me while I was getting my hair done. They’d loaded the stuff into wheelbarrows and carts pulled by donkeys, while some just carried huge sacks of rice on their backs.

  Curt cleared his throat, and the intensity of the moment my mom and him would see each other was palpable. Sawyer’s mom had a tight smile, clearly uncomfortable while his dad was just completely void of emotion, his face a blank slate.

  “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Calloway, glad to have you here,” Curt said and shook my father’s hand. He might have included my mother in that greeting, but didn’t even look at her. I knew now that it was because it would hurt too much, not that he was being rude.

  “Thank you, sir. Glad to be here and very happy for the children.” My dad looked at Sawyer with his arm wrapped around me.

  Sawyer’s mom came over and gave us each a cheek kiss, stopping to admire my hair. “It’s a miracle,” she said with a wink and I grinned. I was starting to get used to their personalities. Sawyer’s mom cared about appearances and things looking pretty and I could respect that. She was also a bit of a joker.

  “Thank you for inviting me, Curt.” My mom’s voice was small, apologetic.

  Me. Not us. She was, in her own way, trying to make amends.

  He finally looked at her then, and my heart broke when I saw the regret in his eyes. He didn’t say anything, he just cleared his throat and nodded once.

  “Shall we?” He gestured to the small door that led to the open ballroom beyond. We nodded, slipping our arms into the crook of our dates’ elbows.

  My poor mom. Poor Curt. Hopefully, time would heal the wounds between them. Eugene spoke into his cufflink with some CIA type move and opened the door.

  The roar of the crowd was deafening, and pulled me from my thoughts about my mom and Curt. I could hear the party guests before I saw them, which made nerves shoot up my spine. How many were there? Would they all be staring at me? Could any of them smell the Paladin on me? Maybe I should have slid on the cuffs rather than leave them in the box back there in the room.

  Before I could obsess about it too much, Sawyer pulled me out into the crowd, which had parted, and I threw a smile on my face.

  ‘Holy shit, they’re all here for us,’ I told Sawyer using
our mental link, scanning the giant crowd.

  He chuckled.

  ‘It’s weird,’ I told him.

  ‘It’s normal. You just don’t like being the center of attention,’ he said.

  True. ‘I need a t-shirt for that. Don’t look at me, act cool. I’m only here for the food.’

  Sawyer chuckled again and I scanned the faces of everyone here. I recognized exactly five people. Two teachers and two students and—

  ‘Why the fuck is Meredith’s mom here!’ I shouted so loud in Sawyer’s head that he winced.

  Darth Vader’s mom was aptly wearing a blood-red dress, glaring at me from near the champagne fountain.

  Sawyer looked confused as to why I would ask that and then he nodded. ‘Oh, Meredith confessed to the whole thing. The necklace with the love spell in it, hiring the guy to drink the potion and look like me. It was all Meredith.’

  I stopped walking and turned to stare at him. ‘No, I saw Meredith’s face when that guy turned back into his normal self. She looked shocked. Maybe the necklace was from her, but not the guy and not the vampire ambush.’

  He frowned. ‘You think her mom actually sent the vampires to kidnap you?' He stopped, something coming over his face as if it just dawned on him. ‘She knew you were going to run after I chose her daughter, she knew where your dorm was, which is where the vampires took you from. She—’

  A shrill scream tore through the space and we both turned to the sound.

  Oh no.

  Over a hundred blurs of black-clothed figures dropped from the ceiling and into the room. The scent hit my nose then, like a shield had been lifted that once masked it and was now removed.

  Copper.

  Blood.

  Death.

  Vampire.

  Chaos erupted in the room as the entire security team at the perimeter of the building started to move to the center where the alpha was and surround him. Sawyer ripped his tuxedo jacket off and then his shirt started to split. I blinked and his giant gray wolf was now standing before me, hackles raised. I’d never seen him shift so quickly.

  ‘My mom!’ I looked around the room, trying to find my mom and dad. Everything was happening so fast. They had only just started shifting again, they weren’t fighters. I wasn’t sure they’d be able to protect themselves. I spotted them, and Sawyer and I moved as one. If I moved to the left, he moved with me. When I ran through a throng of screaming and scared partygoers, his fur was pressed into my leg.

  I reached my mom in record time, which happened to be behind the wall of security that had formed around Curt Hudson. They stood in front of us like sentinels while the vampires slowly worked their way to the back of the room where we were clustered. They tossed a few wolves out of the way but hadn’t engaged in full-on fighting yet.

  “Get behind me,” I told my parents.

  “Honey—”

  “Get behind me!” I growled again, my eyes going yellow as my wolf pounded my chest like a drum. She wanted to be free, she wanted to wipe the floor with these motherfuckers, but I was trying to keep her calm.

  Outing myself as not only a Paladin wolf, but also a split shifter, would put me in danger, right? But what if someone got hurt and I could prevent it?

  ‘Just stay human for now. Let’s see how this goes,’ Sawyer said, reading my emotions, and I sighed in relief to have another opinion.

  He was right. They hadn’t attacked yet, they might just be here to send a message. Although a hundred vampires sent to the alpha’s son’s engagement party was quite the message in and of itself.

  The lead vampire was one I recognized, a female who worked directly under the queen. I’d seen her that first night when they’d attacked Sawyer, Eugene, and I at his apartment, and then again when I was kidnapped. She was a bad-looking bitch with an upturned lip, and constantly wore a scowl.

  “The Queen has a message for you,” she said to Curt, who stood behind a barricade of guards as we stood just beyond them with the wall at our backs.

  She grinned. “An eye for an eye.”

  I frowned, trying to figure out what that meant, when Curt turned, panic in his gaze. He looked at Sawyer’s wolf and screamed.

  Everything happened in slow motion then. Curt started to run toward Sawyer’s gray wolf, as I slowly turned down to look at my man. When I saw the red laser sniper dot on his wolf’s chest, my whole body seized up. I moved to fall forward and throw myself in front of him, but it was too late. The sound of a high-powered rifle cut through the space, echoing off of all four walls with a sharp snap.

  Blood marred the floor and my legs went weak as I fell forward and caught the alpha.

  Curt lurched into my arms, blood dribbling out of his mouth as we both collapsed onto the floor.

  They shot the alpha…

  They’d been trying to kill Sawyer, but his dad… a sob formed in my throat. War broke out in the ballroom, the sounds of fighting and snarling and screams filled the hall, but all I could do was look into the deep blue eyes of my future father-in-law as he smiled up at me. A thin trail of blood exited his mouth and trickled down his cheek.

  “No!” Sawyer shifted to human form and collapsed beside me onto his knees. “Dad!”

  “Get a doctor!” Eugene yelled.

  A doctor couldn’t save this, nor could shifter healing. I knew by the amount of wet warmth pooling onto my thighs as his body lay draped over my lap that it was too late. He’d taken a bullet for his son, and for that I would be forever grateful.

  Sawyer’s mom’s shrill and horrific screams filled the ballroom as she fell to the floor at her husband’s side. He reached out to her, lungs gurgling with each shallow breath. “I… didn’t love you, at… first,” he admitted, and we all held our breath. “But I grew to love you… very… deeply, my sweet love.”

  She sobbed, clutching his hand and rocking back and forth. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I wished we could get Astra here, but there was no time… we were out of time.

  Curt then looked at his son. Sawyer’s mouth was turned into a frown, but his face was void of all emotion. He was stuck in shock, I could feel it through our bond, he couldn’t believe this was happening.

  “My son…” His chest rattled and Sawyer let out a strangled moan. “I’m… so proud of you.” Curt took in a deep wet breath. “You’ll make ten times the… alpha I was. Especially with Demi… at your…side.” He looked to me and I squeezed his other outstretched hand.

  His eyes grew glassy as they began to look around the room. I thought he might just be dying, but then his gaze snapped to my mother’s teary face.

  “Cora,” he whispered.

  My mom fell to her knees, squeezing into the space between me and Sawyer, and took Curt’s face in her hands. “I’m so sorry for how I treated you,” she told him, looking him right in the eyes. “I should have been honest from the start and never entered the mating year.”

  He nodded, pulling his hand from mine and stroking her pale cheek. “Forgiven.” He drew a long rattling breath then… and never exhaled. His chest just froze in place and Sawyer’s mom’s scream turned into a wolf’s howl halfway through as she shifted mid-yell.

  Holy fuck. He was dead. Sawyer’s dad… our alpha. Dead.

  “Sniper has been taken out. They’ve locked us in the room though.” Eugene’s voice came from above us and I realized he was talking to Sawyer. “What do we do, sir?”

  He was avoiding looking at Curt’s dead body, which now lay in my lap, cutting off the circulation to my legs.

  Sir. He just called Sawyer “sir” because he was now the alpha…

  Sawyer shook himself, taking one last look at his father. “How many guards do we have and how many of them are there?”

  “Thirty of us that are trained, eighty or so of the blood suckers. Two hundred guests made it in before the door got sealed. The rest are on the balcony having refreshments, I presume.”

  Sawyer rubbed his temples as the sound of screams filled the space. Our fucking weddin
g guests were being slaughtered alive.

  “Get the women and children and elderly in a corner and put twelve men to protect them. Send the rest with me to kill these blood suckers.”

  Anger surged inside of me so hot and fast that I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sit this one out. “No. Take all of the guards with you and I’ll protect the women and children,” I told Sawyer as I slid his father’s body off my legs and ripped the bottom half of my mermaid dress off in one jerking motion. The bloody fabric fell to the floor so that I was now wearing a minidress with my bedazzled Converse sneakers.

  “Demi, I—”

  “Sawyer, fuck hiding what I am. People are going to die!” I growled. And I was capable of catching bullets, yet I wasn’t able to for his father, something I had to live with for the rest of my life now. He knew how powerful I was, he knew I was an asset, he just needed to get over his urge to treat me like glass.

  “Alright,” Sawyer breathed. “But be safe.” Then he shook himself, shifting into a gray wolf in seconds.

  He looked up at me. ‘I can’t live without you too.’

  ‘I got this,’ I told him, my heart breaking for his loss as I finally released my wolf. It had never been so easy. She’d been waiting just at the surface.

  As the spectral wolf climbed out of my body, I heard a dozen gasps. My mother, my father, Mrs. Hudson, and anyone else who was looking at me. When my wolf solidified next to me, she looked up at me and I nodded once.

  “Demon,” someone from the crowd hissed.

  “Paladin,” another said.

  I ignored them both and started to grab women and young ones and herd them to the corner of the room where the alpha had died. My mom and dad dragged Curt’s body to the back of the corner of the room, where my dad laid his jacket over his face.

  “Women, children, and elderly, get to that corner of the room.” Eugene pointed to where I stood, and I felt electricity dance on my skin as the vampires moved toward the corner.

  Not on your fucking life, blood suckers.

  I needed to protect this corner so that all of our guards were freed up to help Sawyer. Something cold and hard slipped into my hand and I looked up to see Sage. Her face was tracked with tears, red hair pulled from its tight bun. Her uncle had just died, and I knew she was sad, but she looked pissed as all holy hell too.