by KD Jones
“I think I shall retire.” Lila rose and started up the stairs. She could hear the two women talking in hushed tones.
“You can’t let this get to you,” Mary said softly to Jackie.
“It’s just … how am I supposed to handle having another woman in the house that had a relationship with my husband? I already had to deal with my ex cheating on me. I know Adrian is in love with me, but I can’t help but feel suspicious and jealous. I hate that feeling.”
“I know what you mean. I have to live with that perfect blond beauty that came here to mate with my Ric.”
“Your situation is completely different. Roxy never slept with Ric.”
“But she would have in a heartbeat, if Ric had shown more interest in her.” Mary pouted.
“Honey, you have nothing to worry about. That man worships the ground you walk on,” Jackie reassured her.
“True. And I worship his body every day … every night … and twice on Sundays.” They both giggled. “Adrian feels the same way about you, too, Jackie. If he were in love with Lila, they would have mated centuries ago. Hopefully Lila’s mate will finally show his face and sweep her off her feet and out of your house.”
“I certainly hope so,” Jackie mumbled.
Me, too, Lila thought to herself. She was anxious to meet this man from her dreams. She had been dreaming of him for a while now, but he was always a blur and she could never get a fix on his location. The last dream she had, she saw her dream man sitting next to Adrian on the beach. They were talking, but she didn’t understand what they were saying. When she woke from the dream, she knew she would find her mate somewhere close to Adrian. She just hoped he was worth the trip.
She entered the guest room and started to remove her clothes. Everything she had now, she owed to Adrian. She had had to borrow clothes from another woman when she first rose. She had shown up on Adrian and Jackie’s doorstep with nothing, no job, no place to live, and no money. Adrian welcomed her into their home and had been showering her with gifts ever since.
She walked over to the dressing table and picked up the newest item Adrian had gotten for her. It was called an iPhone. Supposedly she could call people on it, but she didn’t understand how it worked. Jacqueline’s daughter Samantha had tried to explain it to her, and Lila had smiled and thanked her for her help. She seemed to be a sweet girl and Lila didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but none of this modern stuff made any sense. Why call someone on the phone when she could link with them mentally?
The clothes she had been given were another symbol of how much she did not fit into the modern times. She came from a world where women wore dresses that came down to their ankles and rarely showed cleavage. But in this day and time, the women walked out in the backyard in two pieces of cloth that barely covered their parts and plunged into water. So strange. And don’t even get her started on the strange type of food the humans now ate. Some of it was just grotesque.
She placed the phone back on the dresser, shaking her head. She was so far behind the times, there wasn’t anywhere she would fit in. Maybe coming here had been a bad idea. She had nothing to offer her mate. No land, no wealth, nothing. She laid on top of the covers on the bed and sighed.
It wasn’t the first time she had had these thoughts. She wondered whether she should just leave, return to ground, or meet her final death. But the thought of never seeing this mystery man who had woken her up from her deep rest and inspired her to keep going was just not a possibility. She had to meet him. She didn’t really have a choice, if he was meant to be hers. One thing did need to change, though: She needed to have a place of her own. For everyone’s sake. If she had to see a naked Jacqueline riding Adrian’s massive cock once more, she would scream. Yes, she needed her own place, and soon.
Chapter 2
Laws Carrington drove his SUV down the main street of the small town of Strange Lake Falls. It had been nearly twenty years since he had been here. There were a few new buildings, but for the most part the town didn’t look like it had changed much.
He had once been the Beta for the local werewolf pack, but he had left to search for his mate. He began having dreams of her and became consumed with the need to find her, so he had told his Alpha that he was leaving for a while. He truly had not planned to be gone that long. For ten years, he searched from state to state and was about to try broadening his search overseas, but then he had been captured by were-hunters, a terrible experience he would never forget.
He had come to a mountainous region by the Colorado River. It was a pretty desolate place. He changed into his wolf form so that he could run free and hunt. His wolf hadn’t detected any other scents around, so he assumed he was safe.
The sun was just starting to set and he stopped to drink. That was when he scented something strange, a combination of different animal scents. It didn’t register until it was too late that the animal scent was being used to mask something else: the hunters.
He turned to run for a grouping of rocks, but then he felt a sharp sting in his side, close to his hind legs. He fell to the ground. He could hear the hunters, definitely more than one, coming his way. Outnumbered and injured, he needed to find a way to escape.
He moved low to the ground, almost crawling his way the water’s edge. Another shot rang out, hitting the ground next to him, but that didn’t stop him. As soon as he was close enough, he dove into the water. He paddled hard to keep his head above the fast-moving rapids. The sounds of the hunters shouting grew fainter and fainter. He began to think he might have escaped the hunters, but he wasn’t out of danger yet. He didn’t know where the rapids would lead him, and he could feel himself growing weaker and weaker by the minute.
At some point during the ride down the rapids, he shifted from wolf to human form. He caught sight of a boulder and reached for it, wrapping his arms around it and pulling himself up onto the flat top. Pain racked his body as the rapids tried to suck him back into the water. He managed to hit his head just as he pulled himself up and that was the last thing he remembered.
He woke up a few weeks later in a locked room with no windows. Clearly, the hunters had found him after all. He was furious to find himself their prisoner. They were not just any hunters, either; they were a special band of were-hunters. They had been out looking for werewolves the day they found him.
The hunters’ leader, Jay Fielding, was a fanatic. He had survived an attack against his family by a rogue werewolf, during which he watched his whole family die as he laid waiting for his turn. But he survived, with a damaged leg and a heart filled with hate towards all weres. Laws’ encounters with Fielding were the things of nightmares.
Laws could still feel the burning sting of the silver chains wrapped around his body as he was hung up in the air. The chains were attached to the ceiling by a pulley system that allowed him to be raised or lowered at the hunters’ convenience. He remembered debating with himself over which was the worst, being raised up high and having the chains pull tight against his skin, searing him, or being lowered to the ground, where Fielding and the rest of his hunters would whip him, cut him, and beat him near to death.
He didn’t die, but after years of torture without being able to shift into his wolf form to heal, he fell into a type of coma. When the hunters realized they couldn’t get anything else out of him, they threw his body out into the wilderness like a bag of trash. Campers found him and took him to a hospital to be treated. He remained in a coma for months. When he finally woke and was able to shift to wolf form to heal properly, he knew that there were some things that would never heal.
He had lost close to ten years of his life thanks to the hunters. Time he could have spent looking for his mate. Time he could have spent with his pack. That time was gone forever. He had to move forward with his life. He decided to give up his search for his mate and return to his pack, but things were not as he had left them.
His old pack house, ten miles outside of Strange Lake Falls, was now a run-down, abandone
d shack. The neighbors told him his pack leader had died and the rest of the people who lived in the house had split up and moved off. He would have turned around and left, too, had he not spotted a white wolf in the distance watching him.
He had changed into his own wolf form, brown and red, and ran out to meet the white wolf, who proved to be a beautiful blond werewolf named Roxanne. She had told him of the new pack and the pack Alpha, Ric. He agreed to meet at the new pack house that evening to talk to the Alpha about joining the pack, which was where he was headed now. If there were more female werewolves like Roxanne, then he may have returned in time to find his mate after all. Things were looking up.
Chapter 3
“When will you arrive?” Adrian asked his second-in-command, Charles.
“My plane will arrive at midnight tonight,” Charles told him.
“Everything okay?” Jackie asked, coming out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel—a very short towel.
“Yes,” Adrian answered, looking up at his wife. Adrian forgot for a moment what he was doing as he licked his lips. Jackie was so beautiful, with her long legs and smooth skin. Droplets of water slowly made their way down her pale throat, over her collarbone, and disappeared between her perfect breasts.
“Adrian? Did you hear what I said?” Charles asked over the line.
“What? Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow evening at the club.” Adrian didn’t wait for him to say goodbye before he hung up the phone and stood up to walk over to his mate.
Jackie shook her head. “We don’t have time for hanky panky.”
He smiled devilishly, “There is always time for hanky panky.” He backed her up against the dresser and trapped her between his arms. He leaned down to nuzzle her neck and licked her.
Jackie shivered and tilted her head back giving him more access. “That feels so …” A knock interrupted her.
“Adrian, how does the controller for the movie box work again?” Lila called from the other side of the door.
Adrian groaned. “I’ll be there in a few minutes, Mistress.” He felt his mate stiffen and pull away. “Jacqueline, what’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “Go help your … Mistress … while I get dressed.” She grabbed her clothes and went back into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. He glanced down at his tented pants. He had the worst case of blue balls.
Damn it! This living situation was not working. Something had to change. An idea came to him. He reached for his phone and texted his assistant. The apartment above his nightclub was no longer occupied, not since he had moved in with Jacqueline. It was reinforced and soundproofed, with automatic shutters that fell down at sunrise and rose at sunset. It had its own private entrance and a beautiful view of the small town. It was the perfect solution to his unhappy wife problem. He just hoped that Mistress Lila would agree.
***
Laws wasn’t sure what to expect when he pulled up to the large farmhouse. He got out of his truck and started towards the front porch. He stopped as a tall man with broad shoulders and shoulder-length brown hair came out of the house. He didn’t know the man, but he recognized what he was by the power that was pouring out of him.
“Alpha.” Laws nodded his head in acknowledgment.
“My name is Ric Nelson, Alpha for the former Red Creek Pack, which is now the new Strange Lake Falls Pack.” Ric came down the stairs and offered a hand.
“I’m Laws Carrington, former Beta of the old Strange Lake Falls pack. I have been gone for about twenty years and returned recently to this area. I didn’t realize that my old pack had left.” He shook the Alpha’s hand and allowed his Beta power to surface. He wasn’t there to challenge for the Alpha position, but he wanted the new Alpha to know he wanted his Beta position back.
Ric raised his eyebrow at the show of power. “We’ll address your challenge after dinner. My mate, Mary, went to a lot of trouble to make a special meal to welcome you. You will show your respect.”
“Of course, Alpha.” He followed Ric into the farmhouse. Smells of something delicious hit his senses and his stomach growled in response. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a home cooked meal.
Ric laughed. “Yeah, Mary’s cooking is beyond delicious.” As if speaking her name had summoned her, a short, pretty blond emerged from the kitchen wearing an apron with kittens on it.
“Hi, I’m Mary.” She offered her hand to Laws.
He took her small hand in his and felt her power, which, though it was at a lower level than Ric’s, still marked her as an Alpha female. Ric growled at him and he released Mary’s hand immediately.
“Nice to meet you, Mary. I’m Laws Carrington, former Beta.”
“No pack business until after dinner.” Mary gave Ric a narrow look. The Alpha smiled at his mate. Laws was shocked to see the Alpha so amenable. His previous Alpha was high-strung and always quick to argue.
“Dinner is ready. Ric, can you call the others down to eat?” Mary asked.
“Yes.” Ric turned towards the stairs. “Dinner’s ready!” he yelled loudly.
Mary hit Ric’s shoulder with a gentle punch. “I could have done that.”
“But I’m better at it.” Ric winked at his mate, making her giggle.
Laws laughed at the way the Alpha couple teased each other. It had been a long time since he saw a couple so in love. It made his heart ache a little at the reminder that he had not found his mate, even after all he had endured. But looking at the female werewolves coming into the dining room gave him hope that he might still find someone among them that he could share his life with.
The blond woman he had met earlier, Roxanne, gave him a smile. He forced himself to smile back, though he had no real interest. His wolf was quiet and had been for a while. Nothing seemed to touch him anymore or pique his interest. If he chose to mate someone, it seemed it would not be a true mating, but simply one made out of a mental decision. His people did that all the time in order to keep their numbers up. It was a cold but necessary transaction. He shook his bleak thoughts off as he purposely sat next to Roxanne.
Chapter 4
Lila could feel Adrian watching her as she walked around the large studio apartment above his nightclub. She liked the large windows overlooking the small town. A beautiful flower arrangement had been placed on the coffee table and the couches were a soft dove grey, which reminded her of the beach. It felt peaceful here.
“Jacqueline and Mary decorated it for you, but if there’s anything you don’t like, you can change it out.” Adrian ran a hand through his dark hair, the way he always did when he was anxious.
Lila gave him an adoring smile. “It is beautiful. Truly, I love it. Jacqueline and Mary did a wonderful job. I would not change a thing.”
Adrian breathed a sigh of relief. “I will let them know. Jacqueline was worried they may have overdone it with the decorations.”
Lila walked into the bedroom and the bathroom. She came back out and walked over to Adrian to give him a hug. “It’s perfect, Adrian.”
“There are automatic steel shutters on a timer that will come down at sunrise and raise back up at sunset. I am meeting with the local pack leader tonight about setting up werewolf security guards to protect you during the day.”
She pulled away, frowning. “Werewolves? Is it necessary to involve them?”
“Mistress, I know that during your time vampires and werewolves rarely tolerated one another, but things are different now. I have made many werewolf friends, and the local pack is one that I trust implicitly. Especially since my stepdaughter is part of the pack.”
She nodded as she looked out the window. A rogue werewolf had turned Adrian’s stepdaughter, Samantha, not too long ago. Fortunately, the local wolf pack had accepted her. Jacqueline’s best friend, Mary, was also a new werewolf and recently mated to the Alpha, Ric. So far the weres she had met here were nothing like the ones her family had warned her about, nothing like the ones that Vladrinski had enslaved. These werewolves were good peopl
e. Much like her long-dead Anthony.
Anthony had been one of many werewolves that Prince Vladrinski had enslaved. When her parents were murdered, Vladrinksi took her to his home, planning to hold a mating ritual and bind her to him. They weren’t true mates, but Vladrinksi didn’t care. She tried to escape the castle several times. Vladrinski became angry and locked her in his dungeon as punishment. That was when she met Anthony.
Anthony was one of the werewolf guards stationed in the dungeon. He seemed shocked to find her, a vampire princess, being held like a common prisoner. He brought her food and spoke with her, encouraging her to not give up, when no one else was around. Anthony’s family was being threatened if he did not serve Vladrinski. Anthony’s mate had been killed when he was taken, but Vladrinski knew his young daughter had escaped with her grandparents. As long as Anthony served the Prince, his daughter would be allowed to live.
Lila knew it was a mistake to let herself have feelings for the werewolf. Her parents would have been horrified that she was thinking about a man of another species. But there was no stopping her heart. Anthony was kind and generous and just as tortured by their situation as she was. She grew to care deeply for Anthony, but Anthony seemed to only see her as a child. His mate was gone and his wolf mourned her passing. But they shared a friendship, which Lila was grateful for.
It was because of her friendship with Anthony that she was able to escape, but it did not come without a cost. Vladrinski killed Anthony when he fooled the guards into chasing him in the opposite direction. She knew Anthony would never reveal where she was and she could still hear his screams as Vladrinski took his life.
Lila felt so guilty, she found Anthony’s parents and sent them money, along with a warning that they needed to leave Vladrinski’s territory. It was Anthony’s memory that had haunted her for so many years. Though the memory slowly faded, it made her decide to go to ground. It was that or meet the true death, but she wasn’t ready to do that yet.
