by Anna Lowe
A lifetime together. Her fox gave a dreamy sigh.
“Can we visit?” she asked when the breeze shifted, carrying the scent of everything that made Koa Point so special. Flowers. The ocean. Good friends.
“As often as you like.”
“Hey, you can stay at Pu’u Pu’eo,” Kai said. “Now that we’ve decided not to sell the property, I mean. I can’t believe we ever thought about letting it go.”
Ella made a face. “Especially not to someone like Goode. I still can’t believe he tracked us to that property.”
Kai frowned. “I guess we’re not the only ones to have done some detective work. We’re already in the process of getting the deed changed so that doesn’t happen again.”
“Goode,” Jake snorted. “Some name.”
Ella shook her head, still finding it all hard to believe. Over the past week, Kai and Silas had been busy investigating to get to the bottom of that. Goode was one of many aliases the liger had used. Weapons dealers knew him as Geoff LeBonn, as Kai had discovered. Either way, he was the very man Jake’s buddy Hoover had suspected. As a private contractor with shady contacts, Goode had exploited human suffering for personal profit in war-torn regions around the world. Moira had probably rubbed her hands in glee when she’d connected with Goode, the perfect man to do her dirty work. Moira wanted revenge on the shifters of Koa Point, while Goode wanted revenge on Jake for the “crime” of inadvertently derailing a profitable deal.
That’s the bastard! Did you get him? She’d heard Hoover bark over the phone when Jake had called two days back.
Oh, we got him, all right, her inner fox hummed.
Kai and Silas had arranged for some contacts on the mainland to follow up on what Ella had learned to ensure Goode’s illegal operations were shut down — the weapons deals, the drug deliveries, and the sex-trafficking schemes. Those women had been freed, and the remaining members of Jake’s unit could finally breathe easy and grieve for their fallen friends with a measure of peace.
Jake nodded crisply. “I just wish we could have gotten him sooner.”
Ella nearly said I wish we had gotten Moira too, but this wasn’t the time or place. Neither was it time to kick herself for assuming Goode had anything to do with a group of unrelated feline shifters Silas was planning to meet with soon. Instead, she took Jake’s hand and held it tightly. “No looking back, McBride. Just forward.”
He cracked into a faint smile and nodded. “Forward sounds good to me.”
“Speaking of which…” Cassandra cleared her throat deliberately. “I have something to look forward to. Real soon.” She turned to Silas. “Are you having second thoughts, or are you ready to get this wedding started?”
Silas laughed — a loose, happy sound Ella had never heard coming from him before. “Bet your ass, I am.”
Everyone laughed, and Tessa and Jody scurried around with pink, yellow, and white garlands. Every person got one, with a deluxe version for Cassandra.
“Oh! It’s beautiful,” the bride exclaimed, ducking for Tessa to loop a lei around her neck and place a lush crown of flowers on her head.
“Dawn made those,” Jody explained. “The one I tried was a disaster.”
“It’s perfect,” Cruz growled, touching the bunched-up amateur lei he put on.
“This one’s for you, and you, and you…” Tessa said, distributing one to each person.
Jake nudged Ella, and she nodded. “Presents. Right. We have one for you.”
“No presents necessary.” Silas looked at Cassandra with shining eyes. “We have everything we want. Everything we need.”
Ella knew how he felt, but she plunged on. “Well, call it a bonus.”
She looked at Jake, and he drew the opal from his pocket and held it out for all to see.
For a moment, everyone went quiet. Then Kai whistled. “Holy…”
“…shit.” Boone finished.
Nina stuck her elbow in his ribs. “Baby ears, Boone.”
“Sorry. Holy sheet?”
The others stared in wonder. They’d all known about the stone that had given Jake the strength to fight Goode, but Ella had insisted on keeping it close to her mate while he recovered. Now that he was back to full strength, it was time to do the right thing.
“The Keystone,” Cassandra whispered. “Is that really it?”
Ella didn’t have to answer — not when the rumbling undercurrent of energy around the opal pulsed.
“The stone that gave the others their power,” Silas said.
The stone that gave Jake power too. Ella whispered a silent thank you to destiny one more time.
“Wait,” Tessa murmured, pulling an emerald necklace out from under her blouse. The green glowed brighter — and brighter still when Nina shifted the baby in her arms to reveal her ruby necklace.
“Wow.” The ruby was glowing just as brightly.
“It’s really true,” Dawn breathed, pulling out an amethyst.
When Jody held out a sapphire and Cassandra cupped the diamond around her neck, Ella held her breath.
“The Spirit Stones. All six,” Cassandra whispered.
A beam of light glinted off the diamond and shone across the center of the circle they had formed.
“Wow,” Kai whispered as a beam of green light crossed the first.
More rays shot out as the rest of the Spirit Stones came to life. Each of the gems emitted its own beam of light, while the mosaic of colors within the opal sparkled and shone back.
“I’m not the only one who feels that, right?” Jody whispered.
Ella shook her head slowly. She felt it, all right. Heat, seeping into her body. Power. Energy.
Jake’s throat bobbed, but his hand remained steady under the opal. “What is that?”
“It’s like the legends say…” Silas said in a hush.
The intersecting beams of light glowed brighter and brighter while the air vibrated with power — power that reached out and swirled around them. Ella’s cheeks heated, and she found herself inhaling deeply. Standing taller, straighter. Holding her arms out slightly, soaking in that sense of power. Even little Keiki looked on, purring madly from her perch on Hunter’s broad shoulder.
“Now that’s more like what I expected when the Spirit Stones were united,” Boone said in an uncharacteristically awed voice.
Silas swung his hand slowly through the beams of light, shaking his head in wonder.
Ella closed her eyes. The sensation coursing through her was like a drug. She felt powerful. Invincible, even. Ready to take on any foe.
Her fox lashed its tail from side to side. Bring ’em on. Anyone. Everyone. We can stop any enemy, any time.
It was amazing. Intoxicating. Almost frightening to feel that mystical power.
“Whoa,” Cassandra murmured, slowly closing her hand around the diamond. The beam of white light faded, and one by one, the others followed suit until all that was left was a faint thrum of power.
“Can I just say, I’m glad the bad guys don’t have that?” Boone murmured in the silence that ensued.
Jake closed his hand, looking as startled as the rest, and handed the opal to Silas. “Like I said, a present.”
Silas stared, and Ella nodded. Yes, Jake meant it. The Keystone belonged at Koa Point with the other Spirit Stones. She and he had even driven to the roadside stand to question the woman who had sold Jake the puzzle box, but the woman was gone.
No idea where she went, the man at the lunch truck had said. She was only here that one day. Never before, never since.
Destiny, Ella’s fox had whispered, awed.
She took a deep breath, thinking it over. Maybe destiny had been on her side longer than she’d thought.
“You’re serious,” Silas whispered, dumbstruck.
Jake cracked a little smile, trying to keep things light. “I am keeping the box it came in.”
“But this…” Silas started.
Jake tipped his head toward Ella. “Got all I want. All I need.”
Ella half expected Boone to wisecrack or Silas to make one of his usual, measured replies. But neither said a word. Slowly, Silas accepted the Keystone and cupped it in his hands.
Everyone went quiet — dead quiet — and Ella could sense the emotions spinning around. Relief at finding what they had sought for so long. Respect for Jake, and for the opal’s power to magnify the effect of the Spirit Stones. And maybe even a little nervousness, because possessing that kind of power came with huge responsibility.
Silas nodded gravely. “So much power. Almost too much power.” But then his gaze went to baby Kale, sleeping peacefully on Boone’s shoulder, and little Luna in Nina’s arms.
“Maybe just enough power,” Jake said quietly. “Just in case.”
Ella followed his gaze to the babies — so helpless, so innocent. No one actually mentioned Moira, but Ella could tell the she-dragon was on everyone’s mind. Would Moira’s spite for the shifters of Koa Point ever abate? Would she hire another mercenary or strike in person someday? Or would she finally give up and leave them in peace?
Ella looked at Jake, and he immediately squeezed her hand. If we survived the liger, we can survive anything.
She nodded slowly. Goode had been an especially formidable foe — one whose motives overlapped with Moira’s. At least he was out of the equation for good. Moira was still at large, but the shifters of Koa Point had won again. Ella and Jake would stay for as long as necessary, and even after they moved to Arizona, they could fly in at the drop of a hat to help.
She breathed deeply, taking in the gently swaying palms and the circle of her closest friends. Life was full of beauty, but there was evil out there as well. The shifter world was rife with centuries-old conflicts and enemies who had strayed close to this peaceful sanctuary time and again. So, yes. Just in case was right. The power of the united Spirit Stones would make the already powerful shifters of Koa Point nearly unassailable.
But just in case…
She looked at the Keystone, then Silas. Keep it. No one can protect it better than you can, and no one can put its power to better use if needed.
Silas looked at Jake, and suddenly, their roles were reversed. Jake was the generous alpha, and Silas, the man uncertain about the future. “You’re sure?”
“Absolutely sure.”
Silas took a deep breath. “Well, then. I think it might be best to lock this away.”
Cassandra nodded vigorously. “Definitely. Now, get moving. I have a wedding to get to.”
That broke the ice and brought out the smiles again. Silas gave Jake the heartiest handshake Ella had ever witnessed, communicating with more than words. Then Silas left Cassandra with a kiss, heading for his house and the hidden lair he kept such treasures in.
“So, Arizona, huh?” Dawn asked.
Jake looked at Ella with a secret smile. “Arizona is perfect.”
Boone nodded immediately, but Cruz muttered, “Arizona? No water, man.”
Ella raised a hand and swept it over an imaginary view, replacing the lush slopes of Maui with a vision of a huge, open landscape with red rocks, breathtaking canyons, and majestic purple mountains. She and Jake could lope along valley floors, climb mesas, count stars. How could she put all that into words?
Very simple, her fox said. Home.
“Not much water, but lots of space,” she said, leaving it at that.
Boone went a little dreamy-eyed himself. “Twin Moon Ranch is a pretty great place.”
Cruz looked at them as if they were crazy, but Jody gave Ella a thumbs-up. “It sounds great.”
Kai sighed. “So we’re back where we started. Well, not entirely,” he added, shooting Jake and Ella a grin. “But we still need someone to fix up the plantation house and to help with security around here.”
Jake put up his hands. “We’ll stay as long as you need to find someone.”
“The question is, who?”
“The Hoving brothers,” Boone immediately replied.
“The three of them?” Kai looked skeptical. “Will that be enough?”
“They’re shifters,” Boone said. “And they’re brothers, so they won’t fall in love with each other overnight.” He looked at Ella and Jake with a cheeky grin.
I fell in love with Jake a long time ago, Ella nearly pointed out. I’ve waited for my mate for so long.
She closed her eyes, not sure whether to erase the loneliness and despair from her memories or hang on to them to appreciate her mate even more.
Appreciate my mate even more, her fox cooed as Jake pulled her into a hug.
“There they go again,” Boone sighed before Nina play-smacked him.
“Like you were any better when we got together, wolf.”
Boone leaned down to kiss his mate, and the moment stretched out. In fact, everyone went a little dreamy-eyed until Kai returned to the subject.
“The Hoving brothers would be perfect. And they’re about to get out of the service, right?”
“Who’s about to get out of the service?” Silas asked, back at his mate’s side in record time.
“The Hoving brothers.”
Silas groaned. “Did you hear about what they got up to last week?”
Ella leaned closer. She hadn’t heard about that part, but then again, the Hoving brothers — a trio of young, cocky guns in the shifter world — had always been in and out of trouble.
Kai scratched his head. “Maybe it would be better to bring them in. They can keep an eye on the property, and we can keep an eye on them.”
Silas rolled his eyes. “There’s someone else I’ve had in mind. A shifter who would be perfect for the job. Someone who thinks before they act.”
“Who?” Kai asked as everyone looked up.
The breeze shifted, stirring Cassandra’s hair, and Silas immediately got that distracted, I’m so in love with my mate look. “That’s a long story — for another time. Right now, I have a wedding to get to.”
As if on cue, the intercom to the front gate crackled, and a chipper voice boomed out.
“Hello? Anyone there? Is this contraption even on? Yoo-hoo…”
Dawn laughed. “Lily. She still hasn’t figured that thing out.”
“Hello?” Lily shouted. “Can you hear me?”
“Come on in,” Hunter said, hitting the remote for the gate.
Everyone turned to the driveway expectantly, and a battered old Nissan pulled into view with Lily waving madly from the driver’s seat. The moment she parked the vehicle, she leaped out and rushed forward, making her colorful mu’umu’u sway around her generous curves.
“Well, get moving,” Lily called to the bald pastor exiting the car behind her — a man in a starched white shirt and black suit who could have stepped out of a history book’s chapter on missionaries who’d come to Maui a century earlier. “We have a wedding, you know.”
Lily oohed and aahed over Cassandra’s dress, kissed Dawn on both cheeks, and smooched Hunter three times — right cheek, left cheek, right cheek — finishing with a wink. Then she ran over and engulfed Ella in a warm hug just like Georgia Mae used to do.
“Oh, sweetheart. I’m so happy for you. And you,” Lily added, pulling Jake down for a peck on the cheek. “Lucky girl.” She winked at Ella. “Lucky man, too.”
Luckiest man on earth, Jake’s eyes agreed.
Luckiest girl on earth, Ella wanted to add. Luckier than she could fathom sometimes. She touched the silver necklace Jake had found and returned to her. Her mother and Brian never got this moment, but their love would live on in her.
Lily hooked Cassandra in one elbow and Silas in the other and started marching them toward the beach. “Now, about that wedding. Ready, Ernie?”
When the wind blew the pastor’s hat off, Cruz snapped it out of the air, startling the wits out of the poor man. Cruz handed it back with an amused, tiger grin. Ella followed closely, wondering about Lily for the hundredth time. How much did she know about shifters? And could the woman be descended from Hawaiian ro
yalty? She had a way of taking charge of every situation while spreading good cheer.
“That woman is a tornado,” Jake murmured as everyone fell into step behind Lily.
“I heard that, young man,” Lily chirped. “You now owe me a dance — if that woman of yours lets me.”
Ella laughed. Lily, she would allow one dance with Jake. But any other woman — no way.
“Oh my gosh,” Cassandra exclaimed the moment they came into view of the beach.
“Wow.” Ella stopped. She wasn’t usually one for flowers but, damn. A row of bouquets led to an archway woven with fragrant white flowers — an arch just big enough for two lucky lovers to stand beneath. In the background, shallow water glittered in brilliant turquoise, and beyond that stretched the pure blue of the sky.
“You like it?” Tessa clapped in excitement. “We worked on it all morning.”
“It’s gorgeous,” Cassandra breathed.
Silas looked pretty wowed too, and Lily had to usher both of them under the arch. Then she hustled the pastor into position and gave him a firm nod.
“Hit it, Ernie.”
Not many shifters got married because shifter mating was forever, and human ceremonies… Well, not all of them represented ties as deep. Cassandra had initially joked that the primary purpose of the wedding was to stop local hopefuls from chasing after Silas, but it was clear how much the ceremony meant to her. Even Ella had to sigh at the emotions the classic wedding scene set off.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Jake asked, whispering into her mind. Second chance, I mean?
She smiled. Officially, she and Jake were married — they’d said I do in the rushed wedding on Oahu. Of course, that had all been for the sake of a ruse. But this time, they got to enjoy what it meant. The mating scars on her neck tingled as she looked at her mate.
Married and mated. How lucky can a girl get? she replied just as the pastor started the ceremony.
“Dearly beloved…”
Everyone hurried into place, forming little rows. Kai and Tessa stood on the right, beaming and holding hands. Ella and Jake stood behind them, while Hunter and Dawn took the left, and Cruz and Jody formed a second row. Nina and Boone stood at the back, rocking the babies and looking as spellbound as everyone else.
