Miranda

by Sherry Foster

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Author Notes

  Miranda

  By

  Sherry Foster

  Dedication

  To the family I adore,

  my friends who keep me sane,

  and the readers who love to read.

  A special thanks to the man who

  continues to believe in me.

  I have some incredible readers.

  I want to thank each and every one

  of them for reading these books.

  A special thanks to the JIT team

  Kimberley Devine

  Monica Hendrix

  Ellie Brearley

  Melanie Robinson

  Leisa Holden

  Kayla Farrow

  If I missed anyone I am terribly sorry.

  This book is a work of fiction.

  All of the Characters, organizations, events,

  and places portrayed in this novel are products

  of the author's overactive imagination.

  Copyright © 2019 Sherry Foster

  DAS Publishing

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication

  may be reproduced, stored in a

  retrieval system, or transmitted

  in any form or by any means.

  ASIN: B07NKD4M57

  Chapter One

  Casey looked up from her book and tilted her head. She wasn’t expecting company but she had no doubt she heard a car coming up the mountain toward her cabin. Trey would have called first, as would anyone else. She got few visitors and had few friends outside of the packs. Glancing down at her book again she pulled the bookmark out and set it in the new location. As she stood up she felt the subtle wave of power drift her way. The light touch of hatred and malice caused her to catch her breath.

  The snow wasn’t deep on the road leading up to her cabin but even she hesitated to venture forth on a day as bleak as the one forecast. She had used her small plow earlier to open the road up, that looked as though it would prove to be a mistake. She noticed her hands were trembling just a touch and for a moment she hoped the visitor was making a social call. She thought frantically about everything she had said and done the last two weeks since Craig had mated Kate. Searching her memories for any way she could have broken the geas the clans had imposed on her. She had spoken to the shifters about witches, but little in the way of real information. Nothing that would break the geas or she would have suffered for it.

  She swallowed hard and thought even harder. She gave no information of the clans. So why the visitor? The oath forbade any clan member to visit her with malice or ill intention. The only clan members who were allowed on her mountain had to come with a pure heart for a social visit only and well, that had never happened. So if someone was arriving soon she needed to know why. But the only way to find out why would be to open the door when they arrived. If she was innocent then the visitor would be the one to suffer. The oath exchanged between her and the clan demanded nothing less. Nodding her head she started to prepare. If she had talked too much, if she had said too much, then she would have already suffered and anyone around her at the time would have felt her suffering. That she hadn’t meant she was innocent. At least she hoped she was considered innocent. When it came to power she didn’t have much but she did have something most witches did not have. She had books with information about the past, the powers a witch could wield, and the possibilities available. She also had the golden book.

  She had created a will as soon as she returned from the prison compound where she watched Craig and Kate’s golden wolf. If anything happened to her the lawyer in Trey’s pack would get the golden book to Kate. Woe to any witch who thought to go against the shifters after that.

  She took a deep breath and let it out before getting up. As she walked toward the door she gathered her powers. When the knock came she was ready.

  The explosion shook her house and destroyed a portion of the mountain in front of her home. The explosion could be and was seen from Trey’s territory. The small video cameras around the base of the mountain had caught the visitor approaching and relayed the information back to Trey’s facility. The explosion area was not covered by any camera, not that close to Casey’s cabin so the pack stared in dismay at the rising smoke plume coming from the area that contained Casey’s house. Trey wasted no time sending a search and rescue party to help her when she failed to answer her phone. The pack was not sure if she had lived through the explosion, they were not sure if the visitor had caused the explosion, they were clueless. Trey had a team blocking the entrance to Casey’s road while another team went in on all fours to try to determine what had happened.

  Casey had said almost nothing about her past and never entertained visitors that Trey had noticed. When the car had arrived in the area a few hours ago he had run the tags and had a few of his people scout the area around where the car had parked but they found nothing suspicious in the car or the driver. According to the reports the driver appeared to be stretching their legs and resting after eating. The area the car had first stopped at could be considered a scenic overlook though not many people stopped in the area. The little area would have gone unnoticed if Casey had not cleared it earlier that morning with her little plow. After a few hours the visitor had turned her car around and headed up the mountain to Casey’s and after that Trey had no eyes on her. But if she came back down the mountain, without Casey, she wasn’t going to get past his men. Not until they knew what had happened up on that mountain and whether Casey was safe and unharmed.

  Chapter Two

  “So this story you both have to tell me is, you believe, important in the possible war we are facing with the witches?

  “Sir, you have no idea. But, if you will be patient with us, we will tell you of how it all began.” He paused to gather his thoughts before continuing, “You understand the story must be told for you to understand, so we ask you be patient until we are done.”

  The Alpha looked at the couple in front of him. They were not well known to him, but if they had the answers he needed he would give them the time they requested. “I’m listening.”

  ***

  Ireland 1709

  “Oh Donovan, tis been such a wonderful day.” Merry looked around the clearing while Donovan packed up the picnic they had shared. She couldn’t remember the last time she had such a pleasant day. The flowers he had given her smelled so wonderful. She hated that she could not have them in her room with her. But she knew Jolene would fix them in a vase and put them on the table in the servant’s kitchen where she could go and admire them while they lasted.

  “Ah my Merry, today is not over. Come, I have someone I want you to meet. I have told my Alpha about meeting you and how my wolf has claimed you for me. He is anxious to meet you. Do say you will agree.”

  “I would be honored to meet your Alpha.”

  Donovan lifted the basket his mother had packed fo
r him when she found out he was to meet with his future mate today. He thought his picnic packing skills were sufficient but she had taken one look inside the basket and after giving him a look of dismayed shock promptly dumped the basket and repacked it. He had to admit she knew a bit more of packing picnics than him. He thought, for a first attempt, he had done a fair job. Seeing Merry’s eyes light up in pleasure as he unpacked the basket had told him perhaps he should leave packing for picnics to his mother from now on. His food choices according to his mother were more fit for single men on hunting trips than for a courting couple.

  He held out his arm for Merry to take and they headed back toward his carriage. If he could get the blasted horses to cooperate on the return trip today would be perfect. Unfortunately horses did not always agree around shifters. Fortunately today they cooperated and the couple were soon back at his village. He hoped she would agree to meet with his parents today also.

  “Donovan, so this is your little mate. How do you do Milady? Come, let me help you down. It is a rare pleasure to meet you.”

  “Merry, this is Seamus, my Alpha. Seamus, this is Merry. Is Aileen around. I would like her to meet my Merry.”

  “Oh, ho, so sure she is yours then? Come on inside. Have you taken her to meet your mother?” Seamus was watching the two young lovers as he led them inside. He would be happy for any of his pack who found a true-mate but he wasn’t sure about the one Donovan had brought to visit. From his understanding this one was daughter to a witch high in the clans. He knew witch wolf matings had happened in the past. They were rare and not much talked about so he wasn’t sure what to say. He could not forbid the two mate. One did not forbid a true-mating. He just had no idea what would occur when the wolf and the witch became one. The stories passed down through the old ones told of great magic and dangerous times. But what kind of magic and what kind of danger were not really spoken of so the tales were fragmented and history lost. He and Aileen had spent many hours the last few weeks speaking with the elders in the pack trying to gather all the information they could about what to expect. What little they had been able to piece together hinted at power he did not want to imagine being in his pack. But he would not turn out a pack member for falling in love with someone different. The magic had never been wrong in the history of shifters. A true-mate was a treasure beyond all else and would be protected even until death. Of course, Seamus didn’t think death was in the future. He and his mate were looking forward to what the future might hold with a shifter-witch mating. The old ones spoke of a golden wolf child born to a shifter witch mating and he hoped he lived long enough to see such a thing. That is, if such a thing existed. He found the tales hard to fathom, possibly exaggerated. Who ever heard of a golden wolf?

  “My love, look who Donovan brought to us today.” Seamus called out to his mate as he led Merry to a chair and bade her be comfortable. As Aileen came through the doorway he smiled at her. He could feel her excitement through their bond. And why not, the entire pack had been awaiting the day Donovan brought his future mate to visit for the first time. As the two couples sat and talked Seamus called to Donovan’s parents through the bond, letting them know of the visitor. Soon the couples were joined by more and more of the pack as everyone came to make themselves known to the little witch. The tales had flown through the pack about her though no one had met her before. Some had worried because a few had heard tales of her mother. The worry did not last long after meeting her though as her bright and sunny smile never wavered and the pack could feel her genuine delight at meeting each and every one of them.

  Donovan watched his Merry as the pack members mingled through the room, each stopping for a while to talk before heading away only to return shortly with the desire to get to know the little witch a bit better. Something about her called to them and they each felt her love for Donovan. They had been there for a couple of hours before worry began to plague Merry and spread through the pack. Concerned the whispers started but when Merry told them her worry was for the concern her mother would feel if she were gone too long the respect of the pack increased yet again for the child. So thoughtful of her mother, so friendly to all, how could they not welcome her with open arms.

  As she and Donovan left that day she gaily waved to everyone promising to return later to visit again.

  “Your pack is so kind and caring. I can almost see the love they have for you. And Donovan, did you see? They accepted me with open arms. Oh, I wish I could have stayed longer. Did you see the little one that…” but before Merry could continue he tilted her face up toward his and brushed a kiss across her brow.

  “How could they not love and accept you. I have tried to tell you what a treasure you are. Even they, yes each of them, can see how much brighter than the sun your smile lights up the room. You have only to laugh and a room falls under your enchantment. I love you. Far greater than you could understand.”

  Merry smiled up at him, “No, how could you love me more than I could understand when I love you far more than that? You would have to love me a great deal indeed to have a love greater than mine.”

  “My beauty, I think it is time I meet your mother and ask for your hand. I would have her blessing so we might be mated. My wolf longs to call his mate forth, and that can not happen until we are bonded. I would wait for you until the end of time, but sooner by far would I make you mine,”

  “I worry she will not accept you as your pack accepts me.”

  “Merry, love, you worry too much. Your mother will be happy for you, for us.” Donovan tilted her face toward his. “Anyone would envy us this love, this bond a treasure anyone could see. Love, your eyes shine with happiness and my heart, my heart fair burst with my love for you. You say you are the most important person in the world in your mother’s eyes, she loves you beyond all comparison. I would protest for surely I love you more. But alas my lady I know not the love a mother has for her child. But surely it can not compare to my love for you. But come, this love is no competition between children. For nay on a year have you met with me here in the woods. We have rambled and spoken and shared laughter and love. And my love for you has grown ever stronger, come love, tis time I met the one you seek to hide me from.”

  “No, love, not yet. I want to wait. We must wait. When I bring you home I want her to know you are the one forever for me.”

  “My love, no one could look at us and not know that. You have met my pack, my family, it is time I meet yours. I do not understand this worry which plagues you.” Donovan leaned down and kissed her.

  He took her hand in his, fingers laced together, “Come love, trust me, if your mother loves you as you believe, she will be happy for you.”

  “Nae, love, you do not understand what you ask of me. If we are to show my mother you have this love for me we must be bonded. I dare not take you unbonded unto my mother. She willn’t understand.”

  “But you have said our bond will be one your mother will feel. I would have her blessing first for our future. I would not choose to cause a rift between your people and mine for taking you as my mate without the proper blessing of your mother and your clan. Come, forever have the clans and shifters been friends and allies. This willn’t change with our bond. If anything our friendship will grow. Tis been many centuries since a mating between our people. Even our history tells of the incredible beauty such a mating will bring. Your history also must tell of these things. Never has a mating gone badly when the bond is true.”

  “I fear she will think me too young, not yet ready to become your mate. I fear she will not understand our love. She will worry and fret over me.”

  “Merry, my love, look at me, you honor your mother with your concern, but it is surely misplaced. You can not think she would want anything but your happiness. Come, ease the worry from your face, you will see I am right.”

  “Give me just a bit more time, I have others I would have you meet first. Give me leave to arrange this and I will send for you.”

  “Look at me.
All the time in the world I would give to you, but soon is what I would ask of you.”

  “Oh Donovan, soon. I promise.”

  Donovan stopped the carriage and helped Merry down. He would have rather taken her back to her house but she always wanted to visit with her old nanny before going home and today was no different. As he watched her open the little gate and go inside he could see she was not as happy as she had been earlier in the day and he feared he was the reason for her dismay. He wondered for a moment if she was hiding something from him but just as quickly brushed the thought from his head. His Merry would never hide anything from him. Or so he believed.

  Chapter Three

  “Ira you are truly the best of butlers. Are you certain mother did not miss me?” Merry looked around the hall before looking back at the butler.

  “No m’lady, she did not seem to miss you. I did tell her you were perhaps in the lower garden cutting flowers to take to your nanny when she asked earlier. She merely told me to send you up once you returned and to relate to you we are to have company this evening. You should make haste to wash up and change for dinner. And miss, please be careful tonight. I fear your mother has plans which she has not shared with you.”

  “Oh no, Ira, what kind of plans.”

  “That I could not say but I do believe she has invited the McGregors to stay for a week. She had the staff prepare rooms for them and I expect their carriage soon.” The disapproval in Ira’s voice was unmistakable.

  “The McGregors from the Scotland clan? But Ira, mother dislikes them ever so much. Why would she invite them to visit?”

  “That I could not tell you. She has arranged for the dress maker to come tomorrow and she has started arrangements for an informal dinner party to be held later in the week with many of the clan in attendance. M’lady, whatever it is she has planned does not bode well for you. I heard her speaking of an engagement party once the groom arrived.” This last was almost whispered as Ira performed a half bow to bring his head closer to Merry.