The air around them began to crackle with energy, and the witches, led by Michelle, changed their chant. Soon the medicine man appeared next to the shrine. “I can only help you once more,” he said, looking directly at Gabriel who got to his feet and walked over to stand in front of the shimmering figure.
He bowed his head, and said, “I only wish for her life to be spared.”
“Are you sure? You could be human again,” the medicine man said.
Gabriel shook his head. “I only wish for Bethany to live; that is all I need to be happy for the rest of my life,” he said.
“There is always a price to pay for magic; are you prepared to pay that price? If I heal her, she’ll never be able to shift again,” he said.
“I don’t care; I love her, and I can’t live without her,” Gabriel said.
“Are you sure that is what she’d want?” he asked.
Gabriel didn’t even pause, “Yes.”
The medicine man walked over to Bethany and touched her side with the staff he carried. He shook it over the wound, the shells and bells making a tinkling sound that seemed to fill the air around him, and then the wound began to close.
When Bethany woke a few minutes later and realized that she was in her human form again, she smiled up at Gabriel who was leaning over her. “I guess we’re back where we started,” she said.
“Not quite,” he said. “I’m in love with you now, and I wasn’t then.”
“I love you too, Gabriel,” she said, “and as long as we’re together, I’ll be happy.”
Epilogue
Gabriel watched as Bethany spread the blanket and set out the food, glad that they’d decided to come up to the shrine that night. It had been a long, cold winter and at times a difficult one as they learned how to live together under the less-than-normal circumstances.
But they’d had something special that united them besides the love they felt for one another, and it was resting snuggly under Bethany’s shirt. The medicine man had been wrong about only giving them one more gift of magic; the baby she was carrying proof enough of that.
Bethany was looking at the ground, an intense look on her face, so he walked over and asked, “Do you need a little help?”
“I’m afraid that if I sit down there, I’ll never be able to get up,” she said, rubbing her rounded belly.
“Don’t worry; I’ll help you,” Gabriel said, his eyes meeting her. “I’ll always be here to help you, Bethany, I love you and always will.”
He walked over and nuzzled the baby bump. “And I’m going to love this little one too,” he said, turning to look at the shrine. “I wonder if the medicine man knows. I wonder if he can see what he helped create.”
Bethany turned and looked at the shrine. “I think he does,” she said, then gasped when the shrine began to glow like it had before.
Then the air began to shimmer in that familiar way, and the medicine man began to appear, glowing in the night like a beacon of hope. They stood staring, neither able to breathe as the figure become more solid than they’d ever seen it, a smile on the old wrinkled face.
He raised his staff in the air and said, “You have pleased the Gods; you have rid the world of an evil man and shown that love can cross boundaries that seem uncrossable. Your love can’t be denied and shouldn’t be restrained; it has great power, the power to heal the world even more than it already has.”
Gabriel began to feel strange, began to feel the way he had only once before, and then the world went dark. When the light came back, he was standing naked as he had before, a man with arms, legs, and best of all, hands. Falling to his knees, he thanked the medicine man, then stood and pulled Bethany into his arms.
“You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do this,” he said, then lowered his mouth to hers.
When he finally forced himself to let go of Bethany, he saw that the medicine man was still standing by the shrine. “You’re free to live your life as a shifter now, but don’t forget that you have a purpose,” he said, then faded away.
Bethany threw herself into his arms. “Oh, Gabriel, can it be possible?”
“It’s true. I can feel it, Bethany. I’m free,” he said, twirling her around in his arms.
“I love you, Gabriel,” she said, “I loved you when you were a wolf, and I love you now as a man.”
“I love you too, Bethany, you’ve given me the life I always wanted, the love I always needed. Let’s go home and celebrate the beginning of our lives together,” he said, picking her up and starting for the cabin.
Bethany reached up and cupped his face with her hand. “Our lives together started a long time ago,” she said, then kissed him.
***
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Dragon’s Secret Society
By Serena Meadows
Books 1-4
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A sinister mastermind and his coven of witches are determined to annihilate the world’s shifters, once and for all. Facing impossible opposition, courageous alphas and their clans fight claw and fang to protect their innocent kin. But the only antidote to death is new life, and the only force greater than evil, is love. In this heart-stopping series, virile alphas and their men must learn to seduce instead of slaughter and bare their hearts along with their weapons.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Serena Meadows has always been obsessed with writing short stories since she was in junior high school. She writes paranormal romance stories of all types but writing about sexy steamy alpha shifters is her passion. She lives in Denver with her two dogs. On her downtime (which is rare), she enjoys hiking and camping in the mountains or riding her bike with her own alpha male to keep her safe and warm. Typically she enjoys an evening curled up buried in a good book or watching Netflix. She also enjoys time with good friends.
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Serena Meadows
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Her White Wolf: Wolves of Gypsum Creek (A Paranormal Romance Story) Page 13
