Dark Fates (A Paranormal Anthology)

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  Together they have a chance to not only release her wolf, but find the connection and future they both deserve.

  Chapter One

  Heart pounding in rhythm with the slap of her feet against the leaf-covered forest ground, Cora Rivers couldn’t run fast enough. The scent of spoiled meat overwhelmed the earthy aromas of the forest and soured her stomach. They chased her, coming for her as they had her family, whenever she entered the woods. Fear burned her insides, fueling her muscles to move faster through the trees and underbrush.

  Mutants were the vilest of creatures. Half-human, half-shifter, they were nasty, emotionless, cold-hearted killers created to by the rogue Pack Onyx’s Alpha to serve as his team of assassins so he could take down the shifter Packs hoping to control them all.

  Those monsters had chased down and killed her family and ripped their throats out. First her parents when she was eighteen years old, then her brother while he stood guard at his sentry post only a few short months ago.

  Fear of being alone and grief over her loss crippled her, forcing her wolf to retreat so much Cora couldn’t find the connection with her animal half. Not anymore.

  The trees flew by as she raced through the thick forest. Twisting to glance behind her, she stumbled and fell. No. No! Cold dread and fear sliced her. Too late. They were too fast.

  The bushes next to her split in two and a large creature— half-man, half-wolf—stepped out. His fangs jutted out from his upper and lower jaws. His chest rose and fell with each heavy, deep breath. A fierce growl erupted, and the ground beneath her shook.

  She screamed.

  Sitting straight up in bed, Cora’s whole body trembled even as the nightmare faded. Always the same. No matter how fast she ran, the mutants caught her. Her weakness shamed her.

  And where was her wolf? Cowering in a ball, paws over her face in the deepest, darkest part of Cora’s soul. The beast retreated after her parents died.

  Her wolf grew sadder with each passing day, not responding when Cora tried to call her out. Oh God, how she wished to be able to shift to hunt or play with the wolves and cats of the den. No, her wolf had no desire to play.

  Her animal had fled farther and farther over the past four years. Then, when Jason died last fall, the wolf had given up on living.

  Fat tears rolled down her cheeks, but she brushed them away, refusing to let fear control her any longer. Flinging the covers off, she got out of bed and met Jasmine’s concerned stare. Her roommate stood in the doorway. With a shake of her head, Cora pushed past Jas and fled their house, refusing consolation from her best friend.

  For a split second, she was confused by her surroundings. Then she remembered she wasn’t in the Ashwood den, but in MoonRiver—the wolf den before the Pack had left to merge with the leopards. All because Onyx attacked Ashwood a few weeks ago, sending everyone seeking shelter in MoonRiver.

  Sniffing the air, she found the faint fragrance of the poppies surrounding the burial grounds where her family lay. Fleeing to the woods like she’d done a number of times since their passing, she traveled unerringly to their plots. When she reached the gravesites, she dropped to her knees in front of her mother’s headstone between her father’s and brother’s. Cora’s vision blurred as she let out the grief weighing on her heart. Fat tears dropped from her eyes, and she began to shake.

  A familiar, yet soothing, pine and spice scent danced in the breeze around her. Inhaling deeply, she blinked away the tears and glanced to the source. Keegan Andrews—Ashwood Falls former Alpha—stood nearby, leaning against a thick tree. She let out a shaky sigh and turned back to the grave markers.

  “I’m not strong enough, my Alpha,”

  He approached slowly, his presence calming her wolf enough that she was able to lift her head.

  “I’m no longer Alpha.”

  She shrugged and continued to study the ground under her knees. “You will always be my Alpha first. Blaine is second.”

  His husky, deep laugh made her smile, a little. When he sat beside her, he leaned in so his shoulder pressed into hers. She sagged into him and allowed him to wrap his arm around her. “How is Addyson?”

  “She is well.”

  Cora smiled wider. She could feel his leopard beam with joy at the mention of his mate. Keegan may had stepped down from his Alpha status, but he stayed connected to the Pack as he always had—a fact for which submissives like Cora were grateful.

  “You are not weak, Cora.”

  “I feel like I am.” Her vision blurred as tears welled up and spilled over her lashes. “When does the pain stop?”

  His ability to know what his Pack needed had made Keegan a great Alpha. Whether it was comfort or an ass kicking, he knew. Sometimes even before the other shifter did.

  “It doesn’t. You learn to cope and find a new purpose in life.”

  “I’m afraid.”

  “So am I.”

  She glanced up at him, confused. “You? I’m sorry, Alpha…Keegan, but I don’t believe you.”

  Taking her hand, he stood and tugged her with him. “Come walk with me.”

  Not bothering to fight him, she complied, knowing what he had in mind. They’d done this several times since her parents died. She’d run off when things crashed in around her, and Keegan would bring her home. Only this time, Jason wouldn’t be waiting for her.

  “Fear is natural to both our human and animals halves. It drives us to learn and become stronger. Dominants hide it better than submissives. It doesn’t mean you are weak.” He led her through the trees and toward Ashwood instead of MoonRiver, but she said nothing. Home wasn’t home anymore, and she truly didn’t want to be there at the moment.

  The two dens sat on the same mountain. The graveyard where her family, along with so many others from both Packs, lay in peace within the eight-mile neutral zone between MoonRiver and Ashwood. One reason Luna approached Keegan about merging their packs more than thirty years before was that the dens were so close together. After suffering huge losses at the hands of Felix and his Onyx Pack, both needed the help and the security. It made escape plans easier because Felix believed MoonRiver was uninhabitable.

  Another reason could have been because leopards were known to welcome outsiders. Like her parents, who were cast out of their Packs because they were a mixed couple. Her father was a leopard and her mother a wolf, making her and Jason hybrids. Although Jason’s primary animal had been the leopard and Cora’s the wolf, they still had both animals’ DNA.

  In theory, she and Jason could shift into their animal of choice. She’d asked Jason once before she went through her first shift at sixteen if he could change into both animals. He’d told her then he only felt his leopard and the cat was more natural to him. She hadn’t understood what he meant, and he didn’t seem to know how to explain it. He said she’d understand when she got older.

  When she shifted into her wolf for the first time, she’d finally understood. Her wolf was there, but, unlike Jason, she never felt her leopard. Sure, she possessed cat-like abilities and even purred, but she never gained the ability to shift into a leopard. At least not before her parents died. She hadn’t tried since.

  Keegan linked his fingers with hers and squeezed gently, drawing her from her memories. Blinking, she realized tears had begun to fall again. He tugged her to a stop and faced her. “Your parents didn’t care which animal you or Jason could shift into. They loved you both more than anything.”

  A weak smile pulled at her lips. One thing she loved about the walks with Keegan was she didn’t have to explain her scattered thoughts to him, because he listened to her. Most of her packmates found it annoying. She found relief in not having to speak the words aloud. Somehow saying them only hurt more. “I know.”

  His brown irises lightened a bit, reminding her of his leopard. Nodding, he led her through the tree line, and she gasped at the sight of the den she’d called home all her life. Debris littered the street. About ninety percent of the buildings and homes stood untouched, but t
he other ten were either half gone or had burn to the ground. Russell’s Bar, her place of employment since she turned eighteen, was among the few destroyed. Her heart ached, and a lump formed in her throat.

  “It looks worse than it is,” Keegan said as he led her toward the office building adjacent to the medical center. Both were among the undamaged structures.

  “Any harm to our home is heartbreaking.”

  “I agree, but we’ll rebuild and grow stronger because of it.”

  She shook her head. Leave it to Keegan to turn everything into a learning experience. “You see? You can’t stop being Alpha.”

  He glanced at her over his shoulder, one corner of his mouth lifting. “And you are stronger than you believe.”

  “Because I tease?” She shrugged. “You are like family to me; my wolf is comfortable with you.”

  “And Pack is not family?”

  She stopped in mid-step and stared at him. She’d never turn away from Pack. Yet, somehow she had during her period of grief and again in the past few months after Jason died.

  “I didn’t realize….”

  He held out his hand. “I know. I was in your spot after my Cate died. I nearly abandoned the whole Pack. Could you imagine what would happen if an Alpha turned away from his Pack? Yeah, it’d be fucked up. You see, our Pack wouldn’t let it happen. Each member paid his or her respects and not one of them would leave me alone. Especially your parents and brother.”

  They were her family. Well, her biological family. She still had a family, didn’t she? The Pack held over a hundred members of extended family—leopards, wolves, and the few other types of shifters who’d found refuge with Ashwood Falls.

  “I’m not alone.” She spoke the words aloud more for her benefit than Keegan’s. She’d lost her birth family, but how many had Keegan lost over the centuries? His parents when he was only twenty, forcing him to take over as Alpha, then his first mate and child. Sure his daughter, Ana, hadn’t died and had eventually returned to the Pack, but at what cost? Father and daughter didn’t know each other.

  Meeting his stare, she offered a weak smile and raised her chin. “Show me how to find my inner peace.”

  “That is something you have to learn on your own. I do have a job for you, though.” Without another word, he opened the door they stopped in front of, and she froze.

  The one person who unnerved her, ignited a fiery desire inside her, and scared the hell out of her wolf stood hunched over the shoulder of Alec—Keegan’s youngest son—as the two of them stared into five large computer screens.

  Torin Fisher.

  Pure sex cast into the body of a sensual, yet deadly male with broad shoulders stretching his black T-shirt tight across his torso. She scanned his figure and drank in how his black jeans hugged his ass and thick thighs. The black on black was his choice of uniform. She seldom saw him in anything else.

  Torin was a senior enforcer and Hayden’s—the wolf Marshal, leader of the wolf enforcers—right hand and best friend. He had grown up with Hayden and his family. Cora didn’t know much more of his childhood or anything else about the male.

  When he turned to face her, her legs threatened to give out from under her. His silver gaze connected with hers, in a stare so intense and raw with power she couldn’t hold his stare for more than a few moments. Her body heated, and her heart rate increased a fraction. The woman in Cora wasn’t the only one affected by his presences. Her wolf perked up her ears and watched the male, waiting. Torin was one of the few to get a response from her wolf. Keegan and Luna were the only others since she lost her family. Any other time she curled up silent and sad.

  She glanced away, not wanting Torin to see the mixture of grief and desire in her eyes. No, her mate could never know her terrible weakness.

  Chapter Two

  The familiar scent of spring lilies invaded Torin’s senses, enticing and alluring. His wolf began to pace and whimper when the man made no move toward the door their female stood behind. Why would she seek him out here of all places?

  The door to the new temporary computer central opened, and the scent intensified. Turning toward the entrance, he met the stare of his mate and instantly grew hard. Whether Cora knew she belonged to him or not, he remained uncertain. He’d known since she’d come of age at eighteen. Though he had every intension of claiming her, he and his wolf had to wait until she came out of her grieving period over the loss of her family.

  He ground his molars together and inhaled deeply through his nose. Felix and his band of fucked up minions were going to pay. Someday, somehow. Torin was going to be there to witness the fall.

  Straightening fully, he studied her. Strawberry blonde curls fell in unruly waves around her shoulders as if she rolled out of bed. Maybe she had. He roamed his gaze over the rest of her. She wore a faded pair of gray sweatpants and a pink tee with a coffee stain above the hem. His cock hardened even more, pressing painfully into the zipper of his jeans.

  She held onto their eye contact for only a brief moment, but long enough for him to see the distress and sadness she fought to hide from the world.

  He stalked toward her, and, when he got within a foot from her, she retreated a step. Then Keegan flattened a hand on his chest. Torin glanced down at the leopard’s hand, then met his stare. “What’s up?”

  Keegan chose to answer him telepathically—a skill the former Alpha shared with all the enforcers and sentries. I know she’s your mate, but she needs time.

  I’ll give it to her, but she needs….

  She needs to heal and become independent. If you push her, she’ll run.

  Torin let out a low growl, then focused on Cora. She watched them as if expecting an attack. Sighing, he dropped his shoulders and held out his hand. “Good morning. What has you so upset?”

  “Just a dream. What are you doing?” She indicated Alec and the five-screen computer system.

  After a quick glance over his shoulder, he studied her closer. Her attention focused on Alec and the monitors. “He’s trying to figure out the new security layout, but he’s not having much luck.”

  “Fuck you, Tor. If it was easy, they wouldn’t need me and Dane to work on it,” Alec growled.

  Torin laughed. “He’s having so much fun. You should stay and join us.”

  “I think I will.” Cora pushed past him to stand next to Alec at the computer.

  Torin stared, shocked her sudden change in mood and interest in what Alec was doing. A low growl rumbled from his chest. He meant it as a joke, not expecting her to give her attention to another male. His wolf paced and snarled, demanding Torin grab her and leave the building.

  Keegan clasped him on the shoulder and whispered, “She has a degree in project management and software development. It’s something she loves.”

  Clarity slammed into him. Keegan had brought her here to give her something to do. “A job?”

  “Yep, it’ll give her the confidence she needs to heal.” Keegan turned toward the door. “I have to get back to my mate.”

  Torin nodded, not really paying attention. He watched Cora as she sat in the chair next to Alec. “Is that Ashwood?”

  Alec pointed to the last screen on the left. “Satellite image of the whole area, yes. The one next to it is MoonRiver. Luna and Blaine thinks it's a good idea to include the wolf den in the security design plan.”

  “I’d have to agree with them. You could utilize the tunnel system. Were you planning to bury wire around the outside perimeter? It could be a major PITA, but, with a small team, it could be done in no time.” Cora stopped talking and glanced first at Alec, then over her shoulder toward Torin.

  Her cheeks pinkened and added to her beauty. He closed the distance between them. “Those are great ideas. You can lead the team and work with Alec on the technical stuff.”

  “What? No….”

  She shook her head. Torin felt her wolf withdraw a little more.

  “But they’re your ideas. I heard the excitement in your voice as you sp
oke.” He squatted between her and Alec. Taking her hand in his, he softened his tone. “I believe you can do this. I can sense you want to do this.”

  She swallowed, but didn’t tug free, which left him and his wolf grateful. “Who…who will be my team?”

  Alec smiled and nodded. “Tanner.” He held his hand up to silence both Torin and Cora. “One, you’ll need a sentry who knows the area well. Two, you get to boss him around.”

  A shy smile formed on her full, kissable lips.

  Torin rose to his feet and added, “Tanner is good to work with. He actually takes direction better than he likes to let people know.”

  Another beautiful, smile lifted her lips. “Who else?”

  “Ana.”

  Alec nodded. “Yes, Ana will be great. I’m thinking it would be good for Gina to help also.”

  Torin snapped a narrow-eyed glare at the leopard Marshal. Gina was a mutant and only allowed to live in the den because of the enchanted collar she wore. He worried what kind of stress Gina’s presence would place on Cora. Torin opened his mouth to protest, but Cora spoke before he could.

  “Gina and Ana are good. Is that it?”

  “No. I was thinking Robyn would be great with infusing the magic triggers along the way,” Alec suggested.

  “Robyn will be perfect. I don’t know her, but she’s settled into the Pack well, I think.” Cora glanced up at Torin, sending a shockwave of desire straight to his cock.

  Reaching out, he lifted the end of one of her strawberry curls. She stiffened briefly, then gently tugged her hair from his fingers. Amusement lit up his wolf’s attention. Alec shook his head and turned toward to the monitors.

  Torin ignored the leopard Marshal/acting Beta and offered Cora his best attempt at a gentle smile. “Come, Cora, have breakfast with me.”

  She studied him for a long moment before dropping her gaze to her lap. “Oh. I’ll need to change. I…”