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Published by The Hartwood Publishing Group, LLC,
Hartwood Publishing, Phoenix, Arizona
www.hartwoodpublishing.com
Corner
Copyright © 2018 by Tricia Andersen
Digital Release: March 2018
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination, or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Corner by Tricia Andersen
Josiah Hallow carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. Literally. Between keeping his family safe as the head of the Hallows, training his six younger brothers for their individual turns in the MMA cage, and guarding his mother’s amulet from the creatures who want to use it to take control of the world, his sanity is about to break.
Mating with the pure Sarah Merit, an overly-religious school teacher whose body makes every fiber of Josiah’s being stand at attention, could finally push him over the edge. Unfortunately, despite the all-consuming sex that blazes between the pair, it isn’t enough to convince Sarah to live with him so he can protect her as well.
When Josiah learns the secret Sarah is keeping from him, he makes a deal with the pair of vampires who run the MMA promotion the family fights for in an attempt to save her. But will he be able to save her again when Sarah is kidnapped and taken to Josiah’s grandfather, Atticus, the vicious alpha of a pack of werewolves in Maine? And what will Sarah do when she finds out the sexy corner of the Hallow Brothers is a werewolf too?
Dedication
To Angie. Your excitement to meet Josiah was inspiration enough to write him. Thank you for your encouragement. Lots of love to you!
Chapter One
If one more thing went wrong, he was going to have a fucking meltdown.
Josiah stared at the little house as he pondered. Five of his younger brothers filed onto the sidewalk beside him, each with his hands shoved in his pockets. He had no idea where the sixth was. Did werewolves have meltdowns? Or was he the first one who was going to get locked up in the loony bin?
The little house didn’t hold too many fond memories. Aunt Edith and Aunt Edna warmed up to him at first. He was the firstborn of their baby sister. He wasn’t sure if it was Micah and Samuel’s arrival or if the boys’ true nature finally got to them. They slowly soured to the little tykes. By the time he was six, he was introduced to a wooden spoon to the ass. His aunts told him it was to beat the disobedience out of him. He was pretty sure they were trying to beat the werewolf out instead.
Now he was an adult and a deviant, according to his aunts. He heaved a sigh. He may have hated being around Edna and Edith, but right now he’d give just about anything to get them back. They were his family.
Josiah huffed as he started toward the front door. “Standing here isn’t going to change anything. And we need to stop these sons of bitches.”
He strode to the front door with his brothers on his heels. He threw open the door and then held it open for Micah to catch. He didn’t have to even step inside before he saw the blood. It was everywhere. The whole sight made Josiah’s stomach turn. There were puddles dotting the floor, and there were streaks on the walls. The faint outlines of two bodies contained only drops. The end tables were overturned. Little porcelain knick-knacks were shattered. The putrid smell of cooked cabbage and something akin to death filled the air.
The day before, his two spinster aunts, Edith and Edna, had shuffled around the tiny abode, chatting and praying and acting holier-than-thou, which was the mantra they lived by. Now, they were dead. And there was no doubt in his mind who did it. Vampires. Fuck.
Voices across the room caught his attention. He glanced up to see Caleb, the middle of the seven Hallow brothers, in the doorway of the kitchen. Littlefoot, his late father’s best friend and a second father to them, stood on one side of him. Eve, Micah’s mate and the Hallows’ resident computer hacker, stood on the other. The three of them were studying several photos in Eve’s hand.
Josiah caught Micah’s lunge forward toward the kitchen. He reached out an arm to stop him. They couldn’t taint the crime scene, not if they wanted any kind of justice. The sheer amount of blood stopped Micah in his tracks.
“Eve, baby. Why are you here?” Micah asked.
Eve turned to her mate. “I finally cracked into the right camera. I found an image of who lives in that mansion in Connecticut. The one that was bidding on Momma’s necklace and probably caused the massacre at the strip club.” Eve held the photo out to him. As much as they stretched, they couldn’t make contact.
“Let’s all meet outside on the front lawn,” Littlefoot advised. “I have images of Edna and Edith on my phone before they were taken away.”
“Where’s Momma?” Josiah questioned. His heart ached for her. She and Littlefoot were the ones to find Edith and Edna that morning. Her sisters were the only relatives she had from back in Maine. It left her all alone, the lone survivor of her family line that didn’t include werewolves.
“Back at my house,” Littlefoot answered. “Meg and Ruby are with her. I sent them with her in my truck when Cay and Meg arrived from the North Cabin. We’ll finish talking outside.”
Josiah turned toward the door and pulled it open. The rest of his brothers on the foyer side of the bloodbath followed him outside into the warm sunshine. He jogged down the steps and onto the grass. They didn’t bother with the lawn. His family wasn’t known for conformity. He reached to Eve for the photos. Micah beat him to it with a huge smirk on his face.
“Mike,” Josiah chided.
“You might be the oldest, but I sleep with her.” He held them out for Josiah to study with him. Josiah barely got a gander at them before another hard, masculine body pressed tight against him. He didn’t bother to look, and he wasn’t about to tell whoever it was to back up and give him some space. They were all heartbroken and scared shitless. They all needed to know what they were dealing with. He heard a sniffle from his right.
He sighed hard as he closed his eyes. He only needed one glance at the pictures. The figures in them had become all too familiar to the Hallows. Rock and Cort had introduced themselves as Leroy’s new partners in his mixed martial arts promotion in Duluth. It was fine with Josiah. Leroy was a cheat and a bastard, and he sucked as a promoter. But ever since that first meeting during Samuel, his little brother’s, face-off before his fight, Josiah sensed something disturbing about them. It was something ancient, something primal. Like they had been at war for thousands of years.
Photos like this just proved that his feeling might be true. They wanted his mother’s amulet. Josiah had no idea why, but they followed Samuel’s new mate, Henry, to their isolated camp. Then Henry was struck by lightning on a clear night. He flickered from himself to an ancient Egyptian.
The Heka.
Josiah hadn’t thought things could get more bizarre. He was a werewolf, after all. But in the past few weeks, they did. They were mind-blowingly bizarre.
Micah crumpled the photo paper as he clenched it tighter. “Should hav
e fucking figured.”
Josiah shook his head as he opened his eyes and cursed. “Shit.”
“Who is it?” Sam queried.
Micah handed the photo to him. “Your boyfriend led them to us.”
Josiah watched Sam study the wrinkled photo as he muttered under his breath. “Motherfuckers.”
“So as far as we can tell, Cort and Rock are vampires,” Josiah continued.
“We know they are,” Samuel replied. “Henry saw one of them suck at his assistant’s neck. What other kind of creature does that?”
“Did he ask for their ID?” Caleb quipped.
Samuel glared at Caleb. Seven alpha males had a tendency to evoke that response. “No, smartass.”
“Then we surmise,” Josiah concluded.
“Let me add a little more information to that.” Littlefoot handed his cell to Josiah. He stared at the cell phone photo of his aunts. They were covered in blood. Yet he didn’t miss the two linear spots on each of their necks. He cringed as he handed the cell to Micah. Micah, in turn, handed it to Samuel. Each brother cringed before they passed it on to the next. “Whatever happened to those folks in the strip club happened to Edna and Edith. And there are two dots on Edna’s neck just about the distance of a human’s canine teeth.”
“What do they want with Momma’s necklace?” Ezekiel questioned.
“I might have an answer,” Samuel answered. “Delilah did research on the Heka while she’s in Egypt. The Heka was a powerful magician. The Pharaoh hired him to enchant an amulet to give to a girlfriend. The Heka did so but also spelled it to give the person who possessed it the ability to rule the world. The Pharaoh found out about it and put the Heka to death, but a local prostitute was pregnant with his son. The son inherited not only the Heka’s abilities but his evil spirit. It seems that the enchanted amulet and the Heka have been following each other throughout history causing chaos. Wars start when they reunite. I sent her a picture of Momma’s amulet. It’s the exact same as the sketch in the book.”
“Cort and Rock called Henry the Heka.”
“Delilah wants to do more research, but I begged her to come home.”
Caleb laughed. “You begged?”
Josiah rolled his eyes. Caleb had a big mouth with no filter. He had no idea why the ancient power that led them to their mates picked him first. Meg, Caleb’s mate and wife, had the patience of a saint. Before he could tell him off, Samuel did the honors.
“Shut up, fucker.” Samuel looked at Eve. “She says all her research is digital, but it’s secured. Can you help her with that?”
Eve smiled. “Of course.”
Josiah felt the long night he had before, and the loss of his aunts, wear on him. His body ached with exhaustion. He glanced at each of them. “There is quite a bit to figure out, but we need to get back. I don’t know about you boys, but I need sleep.”
“I need to get Meg and Ruby,” Caleb added.
Josiah looked at Samuel. “When does Delilah return?”
“After the full moon,” Samuel responded. Josiah didn’t miss the little smile on Sam’s lips. He’d fallen for the fiery redhead that he mated with. Samuel had two mates. Was it even possible? It seemed like it was. But the Heka worried him. It bothered him enough to piss Samuel off to the extremes.
“Good. We need her help. In the meantime, we’ll figure out what to do about Henry.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“I can’t speak for the other five but I’m not sure your supposed mating to him is a good thing.”
Sam’s face contorted as he clenched his fists at his sides. “Fuck you. Fuck you all.” He stormed off before Josiah could say another word. The rest of the group was silent as they watched him climb into his beat-up truck and speed off.
Josiah felt a hand clamp over his shoulder. “Let’s head back to camp,” Micah said. “Just let me kiss Eve goodbye.”
“I want to go check in on Momma,” Josiah replied.
“All right. Eve can ride in the Jeep with us. The two of us can spend some more time together then.”
Josiah watched his brother as he strode to his mate. Micah and Eve talked quietly to each other. Josiah felt a pang of envy pierce his heart. The way Eve gazed at Micah made the jealousy burn. Josiah enjoyed sleeping around. The kinky things he picked up from the women he slept with would make the devil blush. But he wanted a woman to look at him that way. He wanted a woman to love him like that
He followed the couple to the Jeep and climbed in the back.
Eve shook her head. “Joe, I can sit back there. You and Mike need to discuss this shit.”
Josiah smiled at her. “No. You need time with your husband. Mike and I can hash all this over on our very long ride home. And there’s always the next few days of the full moon. We don’t just sleep, fight, and beast out. Sometimes we degenerates talk.”
“I didn’t refer to you as a degenerate.”
“I know. But it is a popular opinion amongst some.” Josiah winced as the memory of his aunts popped into his mind. He couldn’t believe how much he already missed the old women.
“It’s not mine.” Eve hopped into the passenger side and wrapped her hand around Micah’s. Micah threw the vehicle into drive and took off after Littlefoot’s truck. Josiah listened to the couple’s small talk with each other. Their topics veered to the mundane. Their quiet, quick answers told him they were just as on edge as he was.
They pulled into Littlefoot’s drive. Josiah waited patiently for Micah to help his wife out of the Jeep. The little brother cocked a grin. “Wanna hand, old man?”
Josiah grinned. He had a special relationship with Micah. It always seemed like the two of them against the other five hoodlums. It stung when Micah and Eve mated and then married. It was like he lost his best friend. “No, smart ass. I can manage.”
“Suit yourself.” Micah didn’t follow Eve into the house but waited for Josiah. Josiah jumped out of the Jeep, and the two men started up the sidewalk to the front door.
“What are you going to do about Henry?” Micah asked.
“I’m going to talk to Littlefoot. Or Momma. Or whoever knows how to break their mating.”
Micah stopped his stride. “Would you break Eve and me apart? Or Cay and Meg? Better yet, who gives you the right to?”
Josiah turned to him. “No, I wouldn’t. I’m protecting our family. We already lost Edith and Edna. I’m not going to lose anyone else.”
“From Henry? From our brother’s mate? What threat is a guy in love with Sam?”
“Henry isn’t the threat. The Heka is. And as far as I’m concerned they’re one and the same.”
Micah bit his bottom lip. “Joe, there is no way to break our mating apart. You know that. Henry looked pretty confused about the Heka. I don’t think he has a clue how it all happened. We’ll watch for the Heka. We’ll be on our toes. But in the meantime, you need to see that Sam is in love with both Delilah and Henry. The three of them are a family. And the great power that binds us deemed him to be a Hallow. And Josiah, Henry is a Hallow. We need to treat him like a brother for Sam’s sake.”
Josiah watched as Micah continued his gait into the house. He hurried up to him as Micah stepped inside. “Who made you a fucking romantic?”
Micah winked. “Eve.”
The wail hit both of them as they stepped in the foyer. The sound shattered Josiah’s heart. His mother was such a happy, cheerful spirit. He hated hearing her like this. There was only one other time he heard her cry like this. It was a horrible fall morning ten years ago. She sat beside her dying husband with their seven sons gathered around their bed. Poppa’s breath was weak and shallow. His lungs rattled. Yet he mustered the strength to sit up and kiss his mate goodbye.
Then he settled back on the pillow and stopped breathing. It wasn’t like they could call an ambulance to come save him. One look at a blood test or X-ray would have outed Dad as a werewolf and put the seven brothers in jeopardy. So they stood there and let him die. P
oppa demanded that they let him go, and they never disobeyed Poppa. Momma wailed the rest of the day and off and on for two months solid.
What the rest of the family didn’t know was an hour before Poppa died, Josiah spent a few moments alone with him. And Poppa gave him the one order that took over Josiah’s life. It was the one that Josiah was certain was going to get him locked up in a straitjacket. Take care of your mother and brothers. You’re in charge now.
Things spiraled out of control after that. Josiah and Samuel took off for Duluth every weekend to drink themselves into a stupor and then sleep with anything that moved. Micah, the ever-dutiful son, took care of Momma. Caleb abandoned them all and joined the army. And Joshua, Ezekiel, and Abraham, all too young to drink or join the military, started to fight. They’d beat each other and then head into Bemidji to wreak havoc there.
Littlefoot stepped in to snap the six remaining at home back into shape when the three youngest were arrested for battery. He bailed them out, drove them home, and gave them a list a mile long of chores to do around the camp. Then he brought young men from the reservation to teach them to box, to grapple. Skills developed. The six homebound Hallows picked up on the martial arts fast. Caleb came home and shared what he learned in the military. It wasn’t long before Josiah took his first mixed martial arts fight. He won in the first round. After that, they all caught the MMA bug and started to compete.
And Littlefoot reiterated what Poppa said to Josiah. The old man put the fear of God into Josiah back then just like his dad could. Matter of fact, he still did.
Another cry tore Josiah from his memories. He stood in the foyer alone. He strode into the spacious living room with its ivory painted walls. At least a dozen members of Littlefoot’s family sat on the sofas and armchairs.
Momma struggled out of the beige suede recliner nearly swallowing her whole when she saw him. She waddled across the living room into his arms.
“Joe,” she whimpered.
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