Scarlet Matthews
Lexi Baker
Lily Gaines
Devil Hills
Book One
Karen A. Nichols
Copyright 2011 by Karen A. Nichols
Smashwords Edition
Published by Karen Nichols. Copyright, Karen Nichols. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Chapter One
Scarlet stood in the door, lips slightly cocked to the side and hands on her hips.
She had most of the bed and breakfast cleaned and prepared for the quiet winter months ahead. She made enough money during the spring, summer and fall between the bed and breakfast and her baking sales that it wasn’t a hardship to simply coast from October through April. It was the middle of September and she was ahead of schedule.
Time to reward herself, she declared with a brilliant white toothed smile. She went to her quarters on the first floor, the large space held a nice bed, two bureaus and a walk in closet and private bathroom. She had a shelf filled with all type of books and a computer set up on the small desk in the corner.
The television was nestled in the built in shelves and spent most of its time silent. She glanced at the clock and quickly undressed, opening the large window and making sure all lights were out before she took in a long, slow breath of the fragrant forest air.
There was no denying the coolness spread beneath the wide colorful trees and huge old world ferns growing in the forest surrounding the lake. The waters sparkled in the waning sunlight, cold and few from the glaciers higher in the mountains, she still loved swimming there.
But it was combination of the fragrances that held her senses captive. When the breeze was coming at her, she could smell flowers and greenery; animals and even sunlight, she was positive of that. There was even the tiniest hint of the cold coming in from the far north.
Evening was falling quickly the middle of September, a soothing coolness signaling a time of sleep for most of the inhabitants around the mountains and lake.
But not all.
She held herself still, head slightly bent and eyes closed. She could see herself but didn’t need a mirror of the vision to come to her. She could remember the first time it happened as clearly as if it were yesterday instead of twenty years ago.
It had frightened her then.
It had saved her then.
Tonight it set her free.
The long, lean body took a step back and surged forth, going through the open window and landing on large, cushioned paws in the thick grass bed surrounding the huge, old house. Dark, deepest brown fur shimmered beneath the slowly rising half-moon off to the east, the faintest hint of gold at her ankles and the tips of her ears. She never gave much thought to her appearance. She only knew it was the most exhilarating feeling she’d ever known in her life.
Lucas Daniels sat cross legged on the huge old stump of an ancient tree.
He was patient.
He’d waited a long time to find her again.
He wasn’t aware of the pulse jumping in his throat when he saw her bound from the first floor window. She was beautiful. Darkness and gold glimmering vaguely beneath the dim strands of light thrown off by the street lamps.
He knew it wasn’t going to be easy. She had every right to be furious with anyone from her past. No, he corrected, everyone from her past. He’d been off at school when it happened.
When she first changed. No one was there for her.
No one but the sixteen year old boy who had forced the change when he raped her. And the idiot elders who shoved everything into a closet. Out of sight, out of mind. He was twenty-three when he returned to find her gone. Slowly he began pulling the story from people. From too many people.
Scarlet Matthews had taken every penny left her by her parents and vanished the instant she could. She’d started using her mother’s last name, put herself through business school as well and culinary vo-tech and established the bed and breakfast she’d been running for almost ten years.
He’d been searching for her almost that long. He only found her because of a friend traveling in the area. A friend who recognized her from an old photo he had tucked away. He shoved his feet to the ground and zipped the short leather jacket. Hands slipped into the side pockets as he began the walk around the large lake.
He’d been watching her for three days. He’d scouted the area and knew where she went on her run. The sky was clear so it would be a nice evening for a walk, he decided, sticking close to the waters’ edge, vaguely listening to the slapping of water on stones.
Hank and Allen would manage picking up the bulls he was adding to the ranch. They’d have them and be back for him in a day. He’d wasted time, he knew that. He just wasn’t in a hurry for a confrontation and what he was afraid would be the outcome.
She was thirty-three years old. It was time she accepted her place in their pack.
Lucas shoved one hand through the straw colored hair that hung in layers that barely touched the collar of his shirt. The water was still. There wasn’t a breeze and he knew he was coming in downwind of her, so she’d never know he was there before he wanted her to.
He needed her back to hold things in order. He needed her back to force the more aggressive females into line and out of his hair. He was sick and tired of being chased when the dark haired girl was the only female in his mind and blood.
He’d listened to both his brothers telling him all males wanted his problem through their laughter. They might not understand the truth, but they knew the importance for order. All he ever wanted was to be a vet and rancher. He’d achieved it but now had to deal with the politics of a pack with a few fringe members he’d just as soon banish.
He’d just as soon wash his hands of the lot of them and let his brothers’ deal with them all. That option he was holding in reserve, he thought grimly. He could see her in the dim light of a fall evening. Stretched out on the grass and drying. He knew it was her habit to thrust herself into the waters and swim as a human before striding from the cold to shift and take a nap on the shore. He watched her slowly curl into a comfortable circle, the long silky tail up and curved around her head.
Lucas heard her sigh and had a serious twinge at upending her world. He’d spoken to people over the last few days. Questioned and listened. There were a few of their kind who made a living in the small tourist town. There were too many who looked to her for guidance about their businesses and personal lives.
He almost laughed. She might not be aware of it, but she’d established herself as the alpha of the town. It came naturally to her. Which also told him he’d get little to no help should he need it to corral her.<
br />
Now it was his turn to sigh.
Scarlet heard the faintest hint of company. Her nostrils twitched but she knew it was a waste of time considering the direction the wind was tossing almost nothing around in it. She enjoyed the absolute stillness that came with cold, wintry months. Reluctantly, she raised her head, dark amber eyes sweeping the beach and then the grasses. She allowed her upper lip to curl back to bare the sparkling white fangs. It usually had a good effect along with the low menacing growl she’d perfected.
It wasn’t like she knew what to do with any of it, she thought vaguely. But it managed to scare off most anything that came toward her.
“Short of a grizzly, that probably manages to scare the shit out of most of your wildlife and half the population of the town,” offered the smooth, soft voice about ten yards away. He watched her large head snap up, teeth more firmly bared this time with a flash of awareness in eyes that instantly swung to his.
Scarlet was on her feet immediately, tail tucked and head lowered. Ears twitched, fur bristled and nostrils flaring. She cursed herself for getting so complacent, so relaxed that someone could sneak up on her. Large paws took a step back.
“I’m not armed,” Lucas remained sitting on the thick grass, legs crossed beneath him and hands up and spread. “And I’m not here to hurt you,” his fingers were open to show her they held nothing. He watched the golden tipped ears twitch slightly, her head cocked a little to the side. But those beautifully large golden brown eyes had narrowed skeptically.
“You’ve done a really good job with the bed and breakfast, Scarlet,” he continued softly, soothingly. “I’ve been searching for you for a long time. You don’t remember me…”
Scarlet took another step back but relaxed a little. Just a little. The voice was familiar. Somewhere far back in her memories, she recognized his voice. It didn’t have anything bad attached to it, she realized, letting her gaze sweep along the human form. Dark blond hair and bright green eyes. She couldn’t get an idea of his height because he was sitting, his hands lowered. Elbows rested on jean covered knees, hands dangling.
Visitors to the park are weren’t uncommon, even at the end of the season. Some, like her, preferred the fall and winter. She’d heard snippets of conversations about the man from various locals and chalked it up to nothing more than a tourist or perspective merchant.
Lucas knew she wasn’t going to speak. And even as he reached out, he could tell she’d either learned to block thoughts or hadn’t opened that skill yet. Given the intelligence he saw and felt, he was pretty sure she was blocking him.
“Do you remember, Scarlet? Do you remember the ceremony of binding that our parents performed when we were younger?” He didn’t expect an answer, and he was fairly certain she wouldn’t shift back just to talk to him. “You’ve grown into an amazing beauty. I remembered the gold tips on your fur that matched your eyes.”
Scarlet felt her head move slightly side to side.
It couldn’t be him. After all this time.
She didn’t want to hear this. She liked her quiet life. She liked the safety and solitude of it all, especially in winter. She took one last look at the squared jaw and green eyes before she turned and took off toward the high forest, deep inside and far from him and his words.
And she ran. Until exhaustion struck her and her feet swore to disown her.
It was several minutes before Lucas pushed himself to his feet, head cocked slightly to the side as he turned and walked back toward the small tourist town. One hand shoved into the pocket of his jacket, the other rose and rubbed the back of his neck.
“That went better than I thought,” he mused, shoved the other hand in the pocket of his jacket and planned the next step. “At least she didn’t rip my throat out.”
Scarlet knew she was shaking which was only a little stupid because she was positive wolves didn’t shake. She found the place she’d prepared long ago and huddled inside the thick canopy of ferns and tree limbs. But only long enough to get her breath back. She knew he could find her again if he wanted.
It wouldn’t even be difficult for him. He just had to follow her scent.
She was off a few minutes later, heading to the house swiftly and silently. She approached the house cautiously, sniffing and checking every few feet. She circled the house twice in each direction before taking the leap inside through her bedroom window.
She moved quickly, shifting back and hurriedly closing the window and the blinds. If he’d been watching her, he knew about her house. She snatched a backpack from the top shelf of the closet, selecting clothes and filling it carefully.
Lucas stepped very quietly in front of the window. He’d locked the door so if she shifted, there was no way out. And he was seriously hoping his instincts were accurate enough to know she wouldn’t attack him. He winced at the thought and worked to contain the lust brewing inside him. Her scent was a heady combination of spices and wilderness. Staring at her naked ass didn’t help with that, he realized and closed his eyes before stepping out of the darkness in the large room.
Scarlet spun on her heels at the sound, the shift in the tension in the room. She might be human but her skills had been finely honed and crossed over to her from the wolf in her. She was about to shift when he held up a palm, his voice low and husky.
“Please. Talk to me, Scarlet,” Lucas closed one eye. “After you put some clothes on.”
“Oh, god!” She made a wild dive for the oversized towel hanging on the closet door, wrapping it snuggly around her.
At least it took her mind off shifting, he thought, pulling the chair from the desk over and sinking into it in front of the locked bedroom door.
Scarlet glared at him for all of one second before striding across the room and letting her arm swing in a wide arc that caught him off balance.
“How dare you! You…you voyeur! You…you…” she stormed across the room, pacing more like a cat than a wolf. “Why couldn’t you just knock on the damn door like normal people? Oh no, of course not because you’re the mighty Alpha.”
Lucas sat blinking, one palm up and rubbing the side of his face. Some unimportant part of his brain was trying to remember the last time he’d been slapped in the face. Add to that there was just a small bit of entertainment watching her pace, the edges of the towel barely topping her thighs and globes of her behind peeking out when she spun away from him. Then there was the neatly trimmed dark patch that had him wondering if it was as soft as his imagination suggested.
He sighed.
“I am not a voyeur,” he said calmly, listening to the voice inside his head call him a liar. “I’m also going to give you that one since, if nothing else, I deserved it for what I was thinking.” He watched additional fury leap to life in her eyes and had a briefly less dangerous thought on what it would be like if it were turned into passion for him, while he was alive, not when she killed him.
“Get out of here. Go away,” she said clearly, firmly, expressive wide eyes darting around the room. First for the exits he’d covered and second for things to throw. “I want you out of my house or I’m calling the sheriff.”
“I can’t go, Scarlet. I need you to come back to Devil Hills with me,” he inhaled slowly. “Will you sit down and talk to me? Or how about we go have dinner somewhere.”
Scarlet arched a brow, skepticism across the high cheeks and deep in her pale eyes. She pulled the full bow of her lower lip between her teeth.
“Did you bother to look around the town? We’ve pretty much closed for the winter. Shops are only open during daylight hours. It’s called hibernation,” she said dryly, abruptly aware of how almost naked she was. “Turn around,” she ordered and went into her closet without looking at him again.
She pulled the door closed since she didn’t trust him and tapped the light switch. It was very tempting to just curl up on the floor and cover her head with her arms. But she pulled a scoop neck tee skirt on, tucked it into a pair of jeans and added a snug vest since he
r underwear was in the other room with the voyeur.
Lucas leaned against the back of the chair, long legs stretched out in front of him and arms crossed over his chest. He might get in a nap, he realized, since she’d holed up in the closet. One brow arched when the door opened, the towel slung up and over the door. A quick inventory found bright red toes on bare feet, snug jeans and a nicely curved woman returning his stare.
He’d been a little surprised that her hair was shorter than his and was layered in springy, dark curls that sent strands to touch her cheeks and dangle over her ears. But it was the lush, deep rich brown that held his attention, a color that caught every hint of light to sparkle and spark tiny red tints now and then.
“If you look at all women like this, you should have been dead a long time ago.”
“Sorry. I haven’t seen you in a very long time. And while I might be a wolf, I don’t incorporate that into my social life.”
“And that’s an excuse how? I’m pretty sure I’m nowhere close to looking like I did when I was…what…thirteen? And that would have made you all of sixteen and if you seriously want me to believe you were even vaguely interested in a gauche, gangly thirteen year old, I’m simply not gullible enough for you,” Scarlet moved toward the window, trying to be casual and failing.
“Not quite casual enough,” came the gravelly whisper right next to her ear, a strong arm around her waist, pinning her hands to her side. “Now…I want to talk to you. I’m not asking for forever. I just want your help with a little problem that is annoying the shit out of me and before I kill females in our own pack, I came to ask for your help. I need you to at least hear me out, Scarlet.”
He stopped talking, the stillness of the room broken by the soft sound of her barely breathing. He inhaled deeply and realized something was very wrong. He opened his arm and barely had time to catch her before she hit the floor. He swore viciously to himself. It never occurred to him how she’d react to being held helpless.
Devil Hills: #1 Scarlet, Lexi &amp; Lily Page 1
