by V. A. Dold
THOMAS
Le Beau Brothers
Book Five
By
V.A. Dold
Copyright© 2015 by V.A. Dold
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without written permission from the author–except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper, or on the web.
This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events; to real people, living or dead; or to real locales are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and their resemblance, if any, to real-life counterparts is entirely coincidental.
Ebook 9780990523536
Print: 9780990523543
Dedicated To…
Jack & Michael. I love you guys.
All of my readers and fans of the Le Beau Series, I appreciate you more than I can say.
A special thank you to all the Bayou Babes who support me every day.
XXOO
V.A.
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The Five Shifter Rules
Always put your mate before yourself.
Respect another shifter’s mate.
Do nothing to expose the existence of shifters.
Do no unnecessary harm to shifters or humans.
Respect all nonhumans.
THOMAS
Le Beau Brothers
Book Five
As the owner of The Backwater shifter bar, Julia Le Beau is happy with her place in the shifter community. The only thing missing in her life is a man. Until he arrives on his white horse, she has stacks of romance novels to fill her nights. Too bad, her crazy mother doesn’t see it that way.
Thomas James’ childhood has molded him into the man is today, extremely protective and relationship shy. As the chief of security for the royal family, he has his hands full. His grandparents, Isaac and Emma Le Beau’s lives are in his hands. Women don’t factor into that other than as an unwanted distraction.
Though they are destined to be mates, the obstacles between them and their happily-ever- after, seem insurmountable.
Will Julia and Thomas’s happiness be snuffed out before it has a chance to begin or will they forge through—obstacles be damned.
Welcome to New Orleans, Louisiana, where every myth and scary story you were ever told is real. A place where the things that go bump in the night, or daytime for that matter, are surprisingly friendly. For the most part.
Take a good look at your neighbor, the person sitting beside you at the bar or your coworker. Are you sure they’re human?
Prologue–The Plan
Only the birds singing and the leaves ruffling in the breeze shared Emma’s solitude. Reverently, she knelt before the dais constructed for John’s conversion. As part of the preparation, she had taken her daily meditation time at its base.
Closing her eyes and lifting her hands in supplication, she began to pray. “Mother Luperca, I ask that you bless this holy site and give it your approval.”
As she knelt quietly, a soft voice greeted her, “Beloved daughter, I give this site my approval. All is prepared for my newest son, John, to join my family.”
“May I also inquire about my unmated sons?”
“You ask about your sons, but that is not what I feel in your heart. Your true concern is for Thomas, and the plan I have for him.”
“If it pleases you, may I be honored with the knowledge of your plan?”
“Thomas is destined to be Julia’s mate.”
“How may I be of assistance in bringing this mating to fruition?”
“Julia will attend the gathering. You must ensure that they meet.”
“Thank you, Mother Goddess. How else may I be of service?”
“Your daily worship pleases me well, child. You do enough. Blessed be.”
“Blessed be, Mother.”
Emma completed her prayers and final preparations, excited to tell Isaac her news.
Isaac sat in his office responding to emails from the other pack patriarchs. The gathering was shaping up to be a complete success with every family in the region attending.
“Isaac! Isaac, where are you, cher?” Emma called through the house.
“In here, mon amour.”
“I can’t believe it!” Emma perched in the chair opposite him. “The Goddess has given me the next mate.”
“Who?” he asked excitedly. “Lucas? Marcus?”
Emma leaned toward him and whispered her incredible secret. “Thomas.”
“No! How?”
“Julia.” Emma clapped excitedly. “They’re mates.”
“I never saw that coming.” Isaac laughed.
“That's why she won't convert him with John.”
Isaac nodded. “He’ll be converted by Julia during the ritual.”
“The Goddess told me Julia will attend the gathering, and our job is to ensure they meet.”
“All right.” Isaac grinned. “That should be easy enough. I’ll keep tabs on our Grandson, and you watch Julia. If they don’t meet on their own, one of us will make the introduction.”
Several days later…
The new moon had arrived. Anna was lighting candles while Emma busily prepared the dais.
The ritual was surprisingly easy. As the women knelt before the icon of Luperca, John laid face up on the dais.
Emma and Anna quietly prayed, requesting the wolf goddess join them and grant John, his wolf soul.
The limbs on the tree above them gently swayed in a breeze that hadn’t been there a moment ago. Her soft voice was heard before she shimmered into form.
“Rise, my beloved daughters, and await my new son at home.”
Anna glanced at Emma, alarm evident in her eyes.
“It will be fine,” Emma whispered encouragingly. “Come, he’ll join us shortly.”
Once they were alone, the goddess focused on John. “John James, what do you ask of me?”
“I ask for conversion. I ask for the gift of a wolf’s soul, and I humbly ask to join your family,” he recited.
“Close your eyes.”
The wind swirled around John and then suddenly stilled. Something filled his chest, creating a tightness that eased after a moment.
“Your request is granted.”
One instant he was human, and the next a dark-colored wolf lay on the dais.
“Your chosen father, Cade Le Beau, is awaiting you beyond those trees. Go, learn the way of my children.”
Chapter One
“Hello?” Julia Le Beau yawned into the phone.
Her alarm never had the chance to go off. Her mother, Lucinda, beat it by a healthy thirty minutes. She was convinced the woman could hear her biological clock ticking, which was ridiculous since she had another six hundred years for children. No matter what Julia said, it didn’t seem to penetrate her mother’s ears. So, here she was, having the same conversation again.
“Julia, are you still in bed? Did you forget I’m bringing another family to your house this morning?”
“I thought I told you not to bring them. I’m finished with your parades, Mother.”
“For Goddess sake, get showered immediately. We’ll be at your door in one hour.”
“I’m not going to answer the door, so don’t bother.”
Her mother ignored her as usual and exactly one hour later was at her door.
Julia hung her head in frustration. She lost co
unt years ago how many men her mother brought for the ‘sniff’ test. Each time it was the same—no mate. Like the Little Engine That Could, Lucinda refused to give up.
The last time Julia locked the door and ignored her mother’s knocking resulted in a very ugly scene. Lucinda in the throes of an angry tirade was not a pretty sight. Her face turned a mottled shade of red, and she broke the door down, dragging the shocked men in behind her.
Since that day, she’d grudgingly opened the door. If not for her house’s sake, then for the sake of the men, she could at least spare them the humiliation of the tantrum sure to happen.
Two hours later, the clip, clip, clip of stilettos came down the hall, and her stomach churned. She loathed the questions that came after each ‘visit’. Couldn’t her mother forget to ask, just once?
“Well?” her mother asked eagerly from the doorway.
“Nothing,” Julia mumbled, not bothering to look up from the romance novel she was reading. “I had no attraction. No, scent. No, telepathy.” She didn’t even bother to say she was sorry this time because she wasn’t.
Lucinda snarled in frustration as she stepped further into the room to loom over her.
“Mother, I met all the men you just paraded through my house and had none of the mating signs. I don’t know what more you expect from me.” She sighed wearily.
“I expect you to accept one.”
Julia’s chin fell to her chest as a heavy sigh escaped. “You know as well as I do, it doesn’t work that way.”
“I’m sure if you made the extra effort to at least date them, something would shake loose. How hard can it be? Just look at Cade and that human, Anna, they met in a bar in the French Quarter of all places. Not to mention, Simon and his mate Rose, yet another human to dilute the royal gene pool. Rose showed up at Cade’s house after she lost her job in Denver, and now the family is stuck with her. And rumor has it Stefan has found his mate, and you guessed it, a human. He bought her at the auction Simon had a couple of months ago. I can’t believe Isaac can still hold his head up in public with his sons mating lowlife humans. My daughters will mate pureblood shifters and maintain the integrity of the bloodline.”
Julia wanted to scream. A mating didn’t just ‘shake loose’, and there was nothing wrong with humans. Heck, most mates were human. There was no reasoning with her mother anymore. That ability had left the building along with Elvis years ago. She wasn’t sure if the animal part of her mother was taking over and acting erratic or if the human side was slipping into insanity.
Her mother put her hands on the arms of the chair and bent over her forcing Julia to sit back, and snarled, “For years, you have rejected the males I bring to you. I’ve had enough, I expect—”
Julia sighed. “I know you want your children mated, but no matter how badly you want it, you can’t force it.”
“Just watch me,” Lucinda spat. “We are in line to gain the throne. The lineage must be continued and ready at all times.”
It was true the family needed to continue, but mates and children came into a shifter’s life when the Goddess deemed it was the right time. The last thing you wanted to do was push the Goddess or try to circumvent her plan. Thinking that way was suicide.
Lucinda turned on her heel toward the door and then paused. “There will be a group of available males here Friday. This pack is out of Arizona. Pray one of them is acceptable, you may not like my fall back plan for you.”
Once Lucinda was in her boat and headed out of her private bay, Julia finally breathed easy again. Krystal would be home in a few hours and available to talk. They needed a plan. Somehow, they needed to find a way to approach Father about Mother’s behavior. The problem was her father, Charles, was utterly blind to her mother’s oddities.
Julia turned the page of her book and settled deeper into her favorite easy chair. There was nothing she could do until Krystal got home. Tonight, she would suggest again they bring Logan and Quintin into the conversation. It was about time the boys knew what was going on behind the family’s back. Thinking it through, she shook her head. She wouldn’t bother the twins, Rémi, and René, just yet. They were too young to be drawn into this.
Once Lucinda got a notion in her head, she had a tendency to twist it until it fit her needs and desires. After that, she could never be swayed.
And her mother’s drive to force both Krystal and Julia to find mates had reached critical mass.
“What are we going to do?” Julia whispered to herself.
Two weeks later…
Morning was Julia’s favorite time of day. The bar was closed, and she had it all to herself as she wiped down tables and checked the bar stock.
The only problem was, it sometimes gave her too much time to think. Today was one of those times. She had her mother on her mind.
It wasn’t that her mother didn’t love her—she did. At least, she was pretty sure she did. But the woman had some pretty extreme ideas of late. She apparently believed shifters should mate other born shifters, and humans were a scourge and diluted the bloodline.
In her disturbed mind, she believed if she dragged her daughters around to enough eligible shifter males, she could somehow force a pureblood mating.
Julia and Krystal were tired of being paraded before one shifter family after another. Tired of letting hundreds of males sniff them in the hopes of finding a mate. It was straight up embarrassing.
As much as she loved the bayou, she was seriously considering tagging along with Krystal to Lucas’s ranch in Texas. She heaved a sigh and took a good, long look at the bar. All right, she would do it. If her mother tried to drag her out ‘visiting’ one more time, she’d pack up and head for the lone star state.
It had been a busy shift at her bar The Backwater, and Julia was ready to relax in a bubble bath with a good book.
She walked through the front door of her home to a horrifying sight. All of her romance novels lay shredded and callously thrown in a pile. To create a mountain of pages and covers five feet high in her living room it must be her entire collection. Next to the carnage laid a note on the coffee table. She snatched up the piece of paper and wrinkled her nose. The note, heck the entire room, smelled of anger, frustration, and her mother.
She was going to have to store her books in a safer place from now on. Huffing out an exasperated breath, she read the note.
You need to get your head out of the clouds and look for a mate. You won’t find him in one of these human books. I’ve had it with your lack of interest in settling down. Pick out a mate, or I will pick one for you.
“Pick one for me? She has completely lost touch with reality.”
Every shifter knew you couldn’t just pick any old mate. You had to find the one who held the other half of your soul. It was time for a private talk with her father. He needed to know how crazy she was acting.
Sighing, at almost two hundred, she was well past the age by which she hoped to be mated. Every year her mother had marched available men into her quaint little house like she was presenting the latest fashions, or worse, dragged her to them. Not a single one had been her other half. How exactly was she to blame for that?
Then she read the last sentence of the note.
You will attend the dance at your Uncle Isaac’s on Saturday. Perhaps this time you will find your mate.
Your mother
She audibly groaned. She hated being sniffed by every single male who came within five feet of her. It made her paranoid, and she found herself checking her armpits for odor. The first thing she did after a sniff test was take a long, hot shower.
Julia thought back to the beginning of her ‘shame’, as her mother described it. She had gone to yet another event where she was set out like a prize to be won. When none of the men were a match, her parents informed her they were buying the Gator’s Tooth Bar and Grill, and she would be the full-time bartender. Their hopes were she would stumble upon her mate amongst the patrons and visitors. T
he first thing Julia had done was rename the bar The Backwater to spite her mother.
Has it really been twenty years?
“Oh well, I have six days before Isaac’s party. That is time enough to stock up on new books. And I’m not going to waste another second thinking about the party. Take that, Mother.”
At least her uncle’s party actually sounded fun. Her cousins would be there, and she could hang out with them while avoiding her mother.
The Day of the Gathering…
Stretching, Julia considered what to do with her free day. The gathering didn’t begin until seven that evening, and since everyone was invited, The Backwater was closed for the day.
Grabbing her robe, she slipped on her bunny slippers and made a beeline for the coffee maker. Goddess, she loved her new programmable machine. No more waiting for the coffee to brew for this girl.
Steaming cup in hand, she grabbed one of her new romance novels. A friend had recommended it, saying the storyline and names sounded like her cousin, Cade, and his mate, Anna. She’d never read V.A. Dold before, but she hoped it would be as good as her friend said it was.
Not two chapters into the book and the last person she wanted to see walked through her door. Her mother. Lucinda took one look at the book and turned a vibrant purplish red.
“Do you always barge into a person’s home without knocking?” Julia asked coolly.
“Where did you get that?”
“The coffee? From the pot in the kitchen.”
“You know very well I’m not talking about the coffee.”
“Well, if you’re referring to my NEW book, touch it and die. And if you think I’m kidding, try it.”
Lucinda was dumbstruck. Julia had never spoken to her like that before.
