The Glittering World Anthology: Native American Romance Paranormal Fantasy

by Trinity Blacio

  “I’m shutting up because you’re doing that growly thing. Nice truck.”

  He jammed his foot on the gas, squealing tires and scratching a few gears. He hadn’t been lying when he’d said his control was shaky at best.

  Dyani—goddess she was gorgeous—kept her lips firmly shut with her hand gripping the ‘oh shit’ handle like her life depended on it.

  He parked outside the lodge with one hand draped over the wheel, the other on the gearshift.

  Chapter Eight

  The hair on her nape stood on end, from fright or excitement Dyani wasn’t sure, probably both. The tone of his voice had her pulse jumping from times before when he’d been growly and demanding. She remembered when he’d sounded very similar, but those were memories best left in the past.

  He looked so damn sexy, but a little out of control. She shivered, looking between his profile and the door to the hotel. How could this man make her want him? She was sure that part of her had died when he’d left, coming back to life when Cammie had moved inside her. The tiny flutter of movement had been her reason for getting up in the morning.

  What did she know about this man now? He could be married, or a serial killer, or any number of things, and she’d gotten up and left with him. She cleared her throat and consoled herself with the fact her family saw them leave together. Couldn’t he get on with whatever he had to say, so she could go back to her normal life? And what about the teeth? Trick of the light? Sure, she’d go with that.

  “Let’s go.” Rasmund opened his door.

  Not waiting for him to round the truck, Dyani opened her door and jumped down. She gave him a look she hoped passed for boredom, following him into the building while ignoring his scowl. Inside his room, he paced, running his hands through his hair, and paced some more. The chair she sat on afforded her a prime position to watch him. Her stomach flip-flopped each time he passed. The way her body reacted to him made her angry.

  “I was going to open the door for you.” He turned to face her.

  “Why don’t you spit it out?” She waved her hand in a dismissive manner.

  “Fine. You want the truth? Here it is. I’m a shifter. The alpha of my pack.” He stared her in the eyes. “When I fell in love with you, I was prepared to give up the title that awaited me, which was alpha, and my family. However, my father, who was the alpha at the time, didn’t agree. He sent two of his top enforcers to convince me to return.” His breath left him in a loud exhale. “You remember the two men who grabbed you that final day?” He waited for her to nod. “If I had not said what I did, they’d have killed you right then and there. I had to convince you I was done so that you would hate me, or they’d have ripped you apart before my eyes.”

  “Okay.” Of all the things she’d thought since that fateful day, his being a shifter actually made sense.

  “You don’t believe me?”

  Dyani almost felt sorry for him. “Of course, I believe you, but what does that have to do with me?”

  “You believe in shifters, that I am one?” Disbelief filled his voice.

  “Rasmund, I am aware there are all kinds of things that are not considered normal. Just because I do not possess anything special, doesn’t mean I don’t know of others who do.” Okay, having a real-life werewolf standing before her sent shivers down her spine. Dyani pushed the fear aside. “So no, it is not a stretch to believe there are other species. I’m Native American. We’re full of folklore and tales passed down through the centuries.” The stories told around the campfires paled in comparison to what he said.

  “That makes it easier,” he breathed.

  His statement made her pause. “Again, I ask, what does this have to do with me?”

  Rasmund threw his hands in the air. “You were my mate but that meant nothing to them. They would’ve killed you because I wasn’t alpha yet.”

  The images his words invoked made fear shoot through her. She lifted her chin, hiding how she felt with bravado. “Oh, is this where I’m supposed to say thank you? Am I supposed to be grateful that you left me, with not only a broken heart but a baby? With no help, no word from you for over twenty-three years?” Her voice raised several decibels with each question she fired at him. She was actually shaking, her hands clenched tightly in her lap. Hurt and anger warred for supremacy.

  He held his hands in front of him. “I sent a guardian to protect you, and money. I checked in on you and our daughter. If she could have shifted, you both would have been welcome in my pack.” Exasperation edged his voice.

  That he’d cared enough to have someone watching them actually pissed Dyani off. The fact that he had known how they were but didn’t want to be with them enough to come see them, made her want to beat the crap out of him. She’d accepted his money and made sure Cammie never wanted for anything, but she’d not used a penny for herself. She’d even let her keep the monstrous Jeep he’d sent her. “Since she couldn’t turn into a whatever you are, you turned your back on us?” She sneered. “Well screw you, and your precious pack. We’re better off without any of you. Thank you for explaining. Now I’d like for you to take me home.” Her stomach lurched at the thought of her baby girl being shunned by his precious pack. She placed a trembling hand on her abdomen, hoping to stop the ache.

  Rasmund stepped closer, eliminating the small space between them. “It’s not that fucking simple. My father issued a command for me to return home, and mate with a bitch from another pack. It was to unite our packs, strength in numbers and all that bullshit. I said no, but then he threatened your life. If I’d have stayed, or even kept in contact, he would’ve had you and Cammie killed. I did what I thought was best.” His eyes dilated.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Her hand flew to her mouth. “Wait, you have a mate? Do you have other children? Oh God. Don’t answer that. Don’t tell me anymore. Take me home and leave me alone.” The last came out as a sob. All the strength left her legs as anguish washed over her in waves. For years, she’d secretly hoped he’d return, that he was as miserable as she, only to find out he’d truly moved on. Dyani wanted to curl up in a ball and lick her wounds in private.

  She laughed mirthlessly at the thought.

  Rasmund got down on his knees and took Dyani’s face between his hands. “I am not mated. The woman he wanted me to mate with fell in love with a man in her own pack. As a sign of peace, her father offered mine a deal. The two packs would be combined, with me as second. At the time I thought it was a win-win. I could come back and claim you once it was settled. But then Sage’s mate died.” Rasmund took a deep breath. “She was pregnant with twins. As second in command, that meant I had to step up and offer my protection to her and her children. I became alpha of both packs several years ago, but I won’t bore you with more details.”

  “You mated or married her, even though she was pregnant with another man’s babies?”

  Rasmund nodded. “I did my duty, but my heart has always belonged to you.”

  Did he think she’d be grateful? That the fact he...she couldn’t even continue the train of thought. He had a wife, or mate, or bitch back home. Anger clouded her vision. “Thank you for explaining all this to me.” She tried to push his hands from her face.

  She was barely holding her tears inside. If she had to hear anything else, she would completely break down in front of him.

  “Baby, please forgive me. I love you. I’ve always loved you.” He kissed her forehead. “When Sage died, I had hoped to come back and claim you and our daughter, but then war over territories broke out.” He tilted her face up. “Dyani, open your eyes.” Anguish laced his words.

  His mate was dead. She felt a small flash of sorrow for the faceless woman named Sage. “Well, I’m still not a shifter, and I’m obviously too old to give you a shifter child. So, what do you want from me? Do you want to have a quick fuck or something before you go? Is that it?” She finally opened her eyes. The pain she heard in his voice matched what she saw in his face. />
  Rasmund growled. “You were never a fuck for me. I’ve never felt anything for anyone the way I feel for you. I’m not going to lie and say I haven’t had sex with other women, but they didn’t mean anything. It was a mutual slaking of lust. But I never slept with Sage.” His hands left her cheeks, grasping her arms and gave her a fierce shake with each word.

  In the light of his obvious anger, her own blazed even brighter. “Well, bully for you. You’ll have no problem finding someone else to fill in the gaps and slake that lust with then.” She tried to twist her arms out of his grasp, wedging her fists on his thick chest. The man was too strong, which served to piss her off even more.

  He held on tight and as his face descended, she clamped her lips and eyes shut. She wasn’t going to kiss him back. She wasn’t going to allow him to manipulate her with his mind-blowing kisses. Her resolve lasted about as long as it took him to trace her closed mouth with his tongue. She should’ve felt shame, but lust, and longing for all she’d lost overruled her common sense.

  Then she kissed him back with all the yearning, and feelings that she’d had bottled up inside since he left.

  “Dyani, I swear if you give me a chance, I’ll show you how much you mean to me. I will do anything to prove how much I love you. Not a day or night has gone by that I have not thought of you, dreamed of you.”

  She looked into his eyes, seeing the sincerity. For years, too many to count, she’d held out hope he’d come back, and then she’d tried to move on, to be disappointed time and time again. Could she deny what her heart and body wanted because he’d hurt her? Could she trust he wouldn’t do it again? Dyani understood on one level he’d done what he felt was best for her and their unborn child, but the hurt and pain wouldn’t be erased so easily. However, she pictured the next twenty years without him, and realized she’d rather try to forgive him, than live without him.

  “I love you, but if you hurt me again—“Rasmund cut off her words with his lips in a kiss filled with such longing and love, she knew she’d made the right decision. For better or worse, Dyani couldn’t wait to feel his skin next to hers. God. It had been too long since she’d felt him so close.

  Hours later...

  “How are you going to explain all this to Cammie?” Rasmund’s question roused Dyani.

  The picture of her daughter’s face once they told her their story sent butterflies dancing in her stomach. When she didn’t answer right away, Rasmund shifted on the bed. The air on their tangled bodies was cool after their passion had been spent, making her shiver. He reached down to pull up the blanket that had been knocked off in their haste. Dyani wanted to snuggle down, go to sleep with Rasmund, and wake up with him. But first they had to deal with Cammie.

  Dyani turned to face Rasmund, who pulled her close to his body. “We tell her the truth.”

  He grunted. “You think it’s going to be that easy?”

  She couldn’t control her laugh at his puzzlement. His questing fingers traced down her ribs, lingered over her ass, before he gripped her thigh, bringing it over his leg. He shifted, and she couldn’t help but feel his erection brushing between their bodies. “Nothing worth having is easy, but I think you’ll realize our daughter is a very forgiving young woman.”

  “So, you’re saying I have a lot of explaining and groveling to do with her mother, then she’ll forgive me?” He paused and then continued with a gleam in his eye. “I think I can handle that. But maybe I should start with you first.”

  His way of groveling was a shift of his hips and a tug on her body, bringing them together, connecting in the most basic way.

  They finally called Cammie a couple of hours later, and like Dyani had anticipated, their daughter was very understanding.

  “Thank you for loving me, for giving me a second chance, Tik-égh. You are ni’-ka, and I am yours. In this life and beyond. For life is like a flash of a firefly in the night. Like the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. Love is much more than the little shadows that run across the grass, losing itself in the sunset. It’s what fills all the empty spaces, creating new life, new beginnings. Hope!”

  Rasmund kissed her, wiping her tears away with his thumbs.

  “We’ve lost so much time.”

  He shook his head. “Whatever was lost was fates plan. We have now and forever.”

  The End

  Thank You

  Thank you for reading Choosing His Mate! I hope you loved it!

  Did you enjoy meeting Rasmund and Dyani? I really loved going back and writing their story, so if you’d like to read Cammie’s and Keanu’s story...guess what? You’re in luck because FireStarter, SmokeJumpers book 1 is available. I will warn you I did take a little liberty when writing this story and made it a little different story-wise, kinda. I think in Cammie’s story the first time Dyani and Rasmund did the deed, it was in a field or something, but when I sat down to write this story, that just wasn’t how she said it happened “wink” So, I went with her new version. I’m sure they did it in a field too, and maybe that’s where Cammie was conceived LOL! Anyhoo, I hope you fall for this second chance romance with a couple who I totally fell for. FireStarter.

  You can also join my Facebook group, Elle Boon’s Bombshells, to discuss all things Elle Boon books and see what’s going on or coming up in my book world.

  Want to stay up to date on upcoming releases in all my series? Be sure to join my VIP newsletter here. I promise your inbox will be filled with the hottest dominating Alphas and exclusive content.

  XOXO,

  ELLE BOON

  About Elle Boon

  Elle Boon is a reader first and foremost...and of course if you know her, she's the crazy lady with purple hair. She's also a USA Today Bestselling Author who lives in Middle-Merica as she likes to say…with her husband and Kally Kay her black lab who also thinks she's her writing partner (She happens to sit next to her begging for treats and so takes a lot of credit). She has two amazing kids Jazz and Goob and is a MiMi to one adorable little nugget named Romy or RomyGirl (greatest job EVER) who has totally won over everyone who sees hers (If anyone says a hair bow is too big, they're crazy). She’s known for saying “Bless Your Heart” and dropping lots of F-bombs (I mean lots of F-BOMBS but who is keeping track?).

  She loves where this new journey has taken her and has no plans on stopping. She writes what she loves to read, and that’s romance, whether it’s about Navy SEALs, HOT as F**K MC heroes, or paranormal alphas. #dontlookdown is a thing you will need to google. "wink" With all her stories you're guaranteed a happily ever after, no matter what twisted thing her mind has come up with. Her biggest hope is that after readers have read one of her stories, they fall in love with her characters as much as she does. She loves creating new worlds, and has more stories just waiting to be written. Elle believes in happily ever after and can guarantee you will always get one within the pages of her books.

  Connect with Elle online, she loves to hear from you:

  www.elleboon.com

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  Other Books by Elle Boon

  Ravens of War

  Selena’s Men

  Two For Tamara

  Jaklyn’s Saviors

  Kira’s Warriors

  Akra’s Demons

  Mystic Wolves

  Accidentally Wolf

  His Perfect Wolf

  Jett’s Wild Wolf

  Bronx’s Wounded Wolf

  A Fey’s Wolf

  Their Wicked Wolf

/>   Atlas’s Forbidden Wolf

  SmokeJumpers

  FireStarter

  Berserker’s Rage

  A SmokeJumpers Christmas

  Choosing His Mate (Prequel to FireStarter)

  Iron Wolves MC

  Lyric’s Accidental Mate

  Xan’s Feisty Mate

  Kellen’s Tempting Mate

  Slater’s Enchanted Mate

  Dark Lovers

  Bodhi’s Synful Mate

  Turo’s Fated Mate

  Arynn’s Chosen Mate

  Coti’s Unclaimed Mate

  Miami Nights

  Miami Inferno

  Rescuing Miami

  Standalone

  Wild and Dirty, Wild Irish Series

  SEAL Team Phantom Series

  Delta Salvation

  Delta Recon

  Delta Rogue

  Delta Redemption

  Mission Saving Shayna

  Protecting Teagan

  The Dark Legacy Series

  Dark Embrace

  The Royal Sons MC Series

  Royally Twisted

  Royally Taken

  Royally Tempted

  Royally Treasured

  Royally Broken

  Royally F**ked, Royal Bastards Coming September 2020

  Magic and Mayhem

  The Lion’s Witchy Mate

  STANDALONE

  Shaw’s Wild Mate, Coming Soon

  Nadleehi

  By

  Stephanie Burke

  As the sun set slowly in the west, it’s dying light painted the desert sky in a slowly fading display of purples and pinks except where yellow-white explosions of celestial grace that blessed the land where they . It turned the sands into a blood-red carpet that seemed to stretch forever under the endless swirling colors of the night sky until yellow-white glow of the sun faded slowly and left behind a purplish blue nighttime sky dotted with a host of stars that gleamed majestically, twinkling and sure of their places in heaven.