SCAR (LOST CREEK SHIFTERS NOVELLAS Book 2)

by Samantha Leal

  Finn smiled at her and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

  “Come on,” he said. “I don’t want to keep you out, up here in these dangerous mountains,” he joked, obviously mocking the bartender from the night before. Chloe laughed and slipped her hand into his as they walked together back down the hill.

  “How long will you stay for?” she asked him as they began to approach the square.

  “I’m not sure,” Finn shrugged. “Probably until after the holidays.”

  “Me too,” Chloe beamed. She was glad that he wasn’t going to be disappearing on her any time soon.

  He led her towards the bar and as they stepped inside they chose to take a quiet table in the corner next to one of the roaring fires and cuddled up on one of the big cozy couches.

  Finn ordered them a bottle of red wine and poured it for them both before relaxing back into the cushions and pulling Chloe close to him. If the room had been quieter, it could almost have been as if they were an established couple, relaxing at home on an evening in front of the fire. Chloe closed her eyes and imagined it and smiled.

  They were wrapped up in each other’s arms, kissing and exploring each other without offending everyone else in the bar when Chloe felt her cell phone vibrating in her back pocket. She ignored it at first, but when it started to go off for what must have been the fifth time she apologized to Finn and excused herself from the table.

  “Mom?” she said as she pressed answer.

  “Chloe,” her mom panted hurriedly. “Where are you?”

  “I’m in the square, at one of the bars… what’s the matter?” She could sense the angst in her Mom’s voice and knew immediately that something was wrong.

  “Who are you with?” her Mom asked.

  “Mom! What is going on?” Now Chloe was really panicking.

  “Listen to me carefully, whatever you’re doing, leave it and walk out of their casually. If you’re with someone, just excuse yourself and say you need to get an early night. Hurry back. Right now!”

  Before Chloe had a chance to respond, the line went dead.

  She knew that something had been happening with her family, and now she had the feeling she was about to find out the truth. She turned on her heel and trying to keep her hands from shaking she walked back to Finn and apologized.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said trying to act as normal as possible. “That was my mom, she’s not feeling well and she needs me to head back.”

  Finn raised his eyebrows and looked concerned.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked as he got to his feet.

  Chloe nodded and leaned in and gave him a kiss.

  “Honestly, everything’s fine,” she smiled.

  She turned and quickly walked out of the bar, not looking back over her shoulder even though he had called her name.

  She had to get back to the cabin. Something terrible was happening… she could feel it.

  9.

  In her panic her feet slipped on the ice as she tried to navigate the pathways back up to the lodge. The darkness seemed thicker and as her heart raced, her hands shook and her mind became clouded with confusion. She was in such a rush she realized that suddenly she didn’t recognize the path, and the forest seemed thicker and appeared to be looming over her. She heard the snap of a twig behind her and she shivered as she realized that she must have taken a wrong turn… she definitely wasn’t on the right path back to the lodge.

  She was about to go back and try to find the right way when suddenly out of the darkness ahead of her, she was aware of a figure emerging… a flashlight clasped in their hands which they shone up into her eyes.

  “Chloe,” the voice said sternly… and it sent a chill right down her spine.

  She would know that voice anywhere…

  It was Damon.

  Chloe brought her hands up to shield her eyes and blinked as she tried to see past the harsh glare of the flashlight, but as soon as she was able to focus, she immediately wished that she hadn’t… because in his hand, Damon was holding a gun. And he had it pointed right at her.

  Her whole body was frozen to the spot and she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Damon was there… and he was going to harm her. She felt her body tremble and she wanted to speak, but she couldn’t find the words.

  “Hold your hands up,” Damon said coldly. “Hold them out in front of you and cross them at the wrists. In a minute I’m going to tie them and then you’re going to come with me.”

  “Damon…” she stammered, “What is happening? What are you doing?”

  “Oh for God’s sake Chlo,” he spat, “Isn’t it obvious?”

  Her mind raced to try and make sense of it all, but she was coming up with nothing.

  “You didn’t think I was with you because I was into you did you?” he snorted. “As if… I was only with you to get information about your father and his businesses… and now I know a hell of a lot that I can use to my advantage.”

  None of it made any sense.

  “Your dad’s not really away on business you fool!” he laughed. “He got wind of my little plan to kidnap you and use you for ransom… so he sent you here thinking I wouldn’t be able to get to you… Ha! How he underestimated me.”

  Chloe’s mind almost exploded… Damon had used her… and was going to kidnap her to extort money…? This was almost too unbelievable for words.

  “So get down on the ground and hold up your hands, I have a van waiting and I’m already half frozen!” He spat.

  Trembling, Chloe got onto her knees and just when she was about to resign herself to whatever fate Damon had in store for her, she looked up into his eyes and realized he had a look of sheer terror spreading out across his face.

  He was looking at something behind her and she could tell that he was frightened. When she turned to look around, roaming proudly and fiercely out of the snowcapped trees behind them was the biggest and purest white bear she had ever seen.

  It stood up on its haunches and lunged forward in a snarl of teeth and claws. Chloe screamed and covered her eyes, but couldn’t help but peek through her fingers as she watched the majestic beast launch itself at Damon and pin him to the ground.

  The bear was huge… she had never seen anything so incredible, but also so out of place. It was like a polar bear, something so beautiful and unique in that little resort in Colorado… none of it made sense!

  The bear clamped its jaws around Damon’s leg and began to drag him ferociously into the woods and out of sight. Chloe couldn’t see what was happening, but she could guess from the wailing and snarling that it wasn’t going to be anything good. She got to her feet and went to run but then was aware of a silence that pierced through the forest.

  The screaming had stopped.

  She turned on her heel and peered behind her, into the darkness, and she could see the outline of the great hulking bear coming slowly towards her. She was rooted to the spot with fear and as she shook with terror she made a silent prayer that it wouldn’t harm her.

  Please, she thought, please don’t hurt me.

  The bear came towards her and stopped about two feet away from her. It looked at her deep in the eyes and she felt herself falling into a trance. The eyes were so familiar… she knew she had looked into them before. Her heart started to pound as she realized what was happening… She knew who’s eyes they were…

  They were Finn’s.

  “Finn?” she whispered as she moved closer to the bear and held out her hand.

  The bear rose onto its hind legs and roared up towards the moon. It was so deafening she clamped her hands down over her ears and whimpered with fear. But when she looked up the bear was looking at her tenderly and she knew in that moment that she was right.

  In a flash of white fur and rippling muscle, the beast in front of her turned from majestic animal to handsome human, and as Finn stood in front of her, completely naked and covered in sweat and streaks of blood and snow she felt something trigger inside of her that she
had never felt before.

  She was speechless… but all she wanted was for him to come for her and to strip her naked. She held her breath and watched the rise and fall of his chest as he caught his breath.

  “Take me,” she whispered.

  Finn lunged at her through the dark and pulled her close to him. As he tore at her clothes she had never been at someone’s mercy so much in her entire life, but it had never felt so right. This man, this beast, this powerful creature, had chosen her. He had protected her and saved her from Damon, and now she had seen him shift back to his incredible human form and he was going to devour her in his own way right there on the forest floor, in the snow and under the moon.

  As he thrust his powerful unsheathed cock inside of her warm folds Chloe moaned with ecstasy and gripped onto him with all of the strength she had. She wrapped her legs around him and opened up fully to him as he pumped in and out of her and she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold on for long before she unraveled in a wave of pleasure.

  As she came she screamed up at the stars, savoring every second of a pleasure she had longed for and needed for so very long. As Finn felt her pussy quiver around him he too exploded and emptied his hot, thick load inside of her and collapsed down onto her chest.

  She had been claimed. She was now his and she wanted to be his mate for life. She knew in that moment that she would do anything for him. She wanted to give Finn everything.

  He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her lightly on the forehead. She shivered but it wasn’t because of the cold. The reality of what had happened with Damon came flooding back and the panic set in.

  “My mom!” she said as she sat up and grabbed at her clothes, pulling them around her.

  “It’s okay,” Finn soothed. “She’s safe.”

  Chloe looked down at him as he traced his rough hands across her soft, smooth, plump skin.

  “How do you know?” Chloe was so confused.

  “Because…” Finn began… “I was sent here to protect you…”

  She looked down at him and took his hand in hers.

  “Your father sent you here like Damon said… but he’s no fool Chloe… he hired me to make sure you and your family were safe.”

  “What?” she couldn’t believe it.

  “My military background… special ops… He hired me to take care of any problems should they arise and keep an eye on you all… And good job, hey?” he winked.

  Chloe couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He’d been hired?

  “So this?” she said as she wrapped her coat around her chest… “I take it this was part of the job description?”

  Finn laughed and shook his head.

  “Chloe, the last thing I bargained for when I took this job was that I’d fall for the girl I’m supposed to be protecting.”

  All of the anger and confusion she had started to feel quickly evaporated. Finn was falling for her. And she certainly knew that she had fallen for him.

  “White bears, Polars, shifters… whatever you want to call us… we know when we find the one,” he smiled.

  He took Chloe’s hand in his and kissed it softly.

  She had never been so happy in her entire life.

  “Come on,” he said as he helped her get dressed and then began his walk back to the woods to find his clothes. “I better get you back to the lodge, your father is on his way.”

  As they left the woods and walked back across the mountain Chloe couldn’t believe how much her life had changed in the space of a few days. She had lost one boyfriend, but gained something much more… she had found her mate for life. There were only a few days to go until the holidays and now she had Finn she knew it was going to be the most special Christmas she had ever had. What could be more incredible than spending it out at their log cabin in Colorado with her wonderful family and the man of her dreams?

  They held hands and walked into the night, as the moon shone brightly above and the sky seemed to jingle with stars…

  Happy Holidays, Chloe thought.

  THE END

  Welcome to Zombie Island

  Natalie Nixon

  Copyright ©2015 by Cynthia Wilde. All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Thank you so much for your interest in my work! Please

  CHAPTER 1

  Club SINZ was celebrating its grand opening, and had pulled out all the stops to make their first night in business a memorable one. The place was packed with everyone from porn stars to rich losers to travel writers, all desperate to be part of the Caribbean's newest adult getaway. Club SINZ's advertising promised to make the Hedonism resorts look like a church picnic. Among the guests was a contingent of Estonian tourists, who not coincidentally, just happened to be beautiful, open-minded, and available women. The owners had clearly "stocked the pond" with professionals to ensure their initial guests left with fond memories - and maybe a few painful urinary tract infections as well.

  Cass Bauer, the main bartender was more interested in the clock than the crowd. She had important plans tonight that didn't involve Club SINZ. The last month of opening preparations had been chaotic, forcing her to work endless hours. Being an army veteran she had leadership skills, which had inspired management to entrust her with more responsibilities than the usual mixologist. She'd practically built the main bar as well as helped with everything from overall renovations to the hiring of local staff. SINZ was the first American business to open on Isla de Tortura, so the Caribbean locals eagerly lined up for the relatively high paying jobs. Two dollars and twenty-seven cents an hour represented big money on Tortura.

  Designed like a wagon wheel, Club SINZ had a central pool, surrounded by small cabanas. Tucked behind those were the VIP cabanas, which of course came with private Jacuzzis. The largest building held the dining hall, indoor bar and the industrial sized kitchen facilities. There was a band pavilion and even a miniature golf course. The abundance of outdoor bars guaranteed liquor would always be within staggering distance.

  Cass worked the main patio bar. She also taught windsurfing and kickboxing on the beach, but since the clientele lived on a diet of alcohol, frozen shrimp and pharmaceuticals, the turnout for physical fitness had been… underwhelming. But her time at the beach hadn't been a waste, because that was where she had met Talin, who was, of all things, the island's Voodoo Priest. At first she had been understandably wary of him. Talin had to be the most eccentric person she'd ever met, and that was saying something. You might wonder what an ex-military bartender had in common with an islands-raised witch doctor, and you would be surprised. Chemistry can go a long way. Over the course of a few weeks she'd happily become his lover as well as his pupil, of all things. If her current infatuation held, she planned to stay on the island with Talin for the rest of her life. It was a big change of plans, but she was impulsive like that. She’d been getting by like that for years and it always seemed to work out, so she wasn’t worried about it. She was actually pretty excited about the future.

  Initially Cass planned to kill a few months on Isla de Tortura, and then drift on to the next spot that held her interest. Keep moving and don't tie yourself down had become her mantra since leaving the military. Her first months in the civilian world had been dicey though. Without the boundaries of military life her behavior had gotten reckless and out of control. The endless parade of anonymous sexual encounters and all night drinking binges had gotten more and more extreme as time went on. None of it so much as put a dent in the pain that enveloped her though. She had actually been trying in vain to envelop herself in a nice cushion of emotional numbness, but to no avail. Eventually she had had to acknowledge that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was really “a thing”, that she had it, and that it wasn't going away on its own. Once she had acknowledged and begun t
o face it, she'd come a long way in just a few months. Her drinking was almost nonexistent; she'd stopped banging nameless losers and, most amazingly, hadn't beaten the shit out of anyone in a month or more. But the customer leaning on the bar at that moment was really challenging her on that last note at the moment.

  He was an oily looking guy, who clearly bought his way into the grand opening. They probably had charged him double. He was definitely a beta male who bought his clothes in the alpha male store. From the moment he had approached the bar, he'd been finding excuse after excuse to make casual contact with Cass' hands. He also kept offering to buy her drinks. Maybe he hadn’t noticed that she was the bartender and already had access to any drink she wanted. Fucking idiot.

  "So what time do you finish up here?" he asked, for the sixth time.

  Amazing, she thought… in what he should have identified as a perfect storm of women with high blood alcohol and low self-esteem, this jackass fixates on the one woman he can't have. Cass counted backwards in her head, engaging an old trick she often used to diffuse the inner rage this guy seemed intent on releasing.

  "I'm on until eight, and then I have someplace to be."

  "You should be with me, I've got plenty of booze, a little 420 and more… if you’re into a little P&P?"

  "P&P?"

  "’Party and play’ babe, the only way to fly." He discreetly held up a little baggie of either cocaine or meth.

  Cass casually reached over to a bowl, picking up two walnuts with a showy flourish of her hand. She put her hand in front of the jerk's face and squeezed, crushing the nuts easily. He got the message.

  "Um, I guess I’ll go check out the Jacuzzi for a bit," He said back peddling away from the bar.

  "Good idea," Cass responded flatly, tossing the walnut shards into the trash. Who the hell ate walnuts in the tropics anyway?