Absolution

by Jambrea Jo Jones

  A Total-E-Bound Publication

  www.total-e-bound.com

  Absolution

  ISBN # 978-1-78184-184-6

  ©Copyright Jambrea Jo Jones 2012

  Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright November 2012

  Edited by Sue Meadows

  Total-E-Bound Publishing

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.

  Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

  The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

  Published in 2012 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, United Kingdom.

  Warning:

  This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a heat rating of Total-e-sizzling and a sexometer of 2.

  This story contains 89 pages, additionally there is also a free excerpt at the end of the book containing 7 pages.

  Seeds of Dawn

  ABSOLUTION

  Jambrea Jo Jones

  Book six in the Seeds of Dawn Series

  Is the world ready for shifters?

  Kitty Kelley is running from her past, dragging along her younger twin sisters. With a bit of luck she ends up at the Masters pack. Just as she starts to get comfortable—her past catches up.

  Everett Cord wants what his cousin has found. A mate. He used to be the go-to guy for his cousin, but now that he has a mate, Everett is a bit lost. When Kitty’s past shows up, he is there to protect her.

  Shifters are about to be exposed to the world and it’s going to take Kitty’s past and Everett standing strong with her to make sure the outcome doesn’t have them locked in cages.

  Dedication

  This one is for me. Dreams, book one of the Seeds of Dawn series, was the first story I wrote for publication. It wasn’t my first book published, but it was my first Total-e-Bound story in the anthology Over the Moon. Absolution is the last book in the series and it’s hard to believe it’s coming to an end. It’s been a great ride with the Masters pack and I hope you’ve enjoyed your time with them as much as I have.

  And thank you to Kelly who let me use her name. Hope you like your fictional character as well as your fictional partner.

  Also a shout out to Kim, Jenn, Rhonda, Susan, Valerie and Jo for winning an auction and giving me the characters Peter and Everett.

  Last but not least, Joy.

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Cowboys and Angels : Dustin Lynch, Josh Leo, Tim Nichols

  I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing: Diane Warren

  Armageddon: Touchstone Pictures

  Punk’d: MTV Networks, Inc.

  Washington Post: The Washington Post Company

  Smart Car: Daimler AG

  Prologue

  “This is Jill Scott with the late-night edition of your local news.” She held a hand up to her ear and looked confused before speaking again. “I’m getting some breaking news. My station manager has just informed me that the following video you are about to see is not a hoax. I repeat, this is not a hoax. Last night our camera crew caught something extraordinary on tape. The kind of thing you only see in the movies. Take a look.”

  The reporter faded away and on the screen was an image of a man changing into a wolf, but the reporter’s shocked gasp was caught on the audio. She seemed to compose herself back into her on-air persona. Her tone nice and even—as if she hadn’t seen a person changing into a wolf along with the rest of the nation.

  “We are not sure who this is, but if you have any information, the local authorities would like you to contact them. Please, keep your distance. We don’t know if it’s dangerous.”

  * * * *

  Bella Pouge sat bolt upright in bed and clutched a blanket. She gasped for air and willed herself to calm down.

  “Bella, honey, what’s wrong?” David Sanders, her mate, reached up to stroke her back.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.” She struggled to calm herself.

  “Mmkay. You good?” David patted her hip.

  She looked down at him, his eyes were still closed. Bella smiled. He was still half asleep and trying to comfort her. Bella rubbed her stomach and sighed.

  “I had a dream,” she admitted.

  “A vision?” David sat up slowly and pulled her to his chest.

  “I—oh, God, David, I hope not.” She snuggled closer, letting him comfort her.

  “What is it?”

  “Werewolves are going to be exposed on the nightly news if we don’t do something to stop it. That is, if I had a vision.”

  “The Ancients said it would happen.” David sounded resigned.

  “I know, I was just hoping this once they’d be wrong. Things have been so good lately. Must have been the calm before the storm. We have too much to lose to let this just happen, David. If that news story breaks before we have a handle on the situation, we could all be caged as lab experiments or die.” Bella’s hands shook as she rubbed her belly again.

  David put his hand over hers. “Let’s go find Russell.”

  Bella watched her lover get out of bed, and prayed to the Ancients that they could weather this storm as they had all the others before them.

  “Please let this be the last trial so we can have peace in the Masters pack.”

  David reached to help Bella out of bed. “It has to be, we’ve already been through more than one pack should have to.” He kissed her on the check.

  “If it wasn’t for some of that trouble we would have never met. The same goes for most of the mated pairs in the pack.”

  “This is true, I wouldn’t change any of that for the world, but it’s time. We were lured into a false sense of security. We knew something like this would happen. We should have taken care of it months ago, but I understand Russell’s reluctance. Hell, I don’t want to become a scientific experiment any more than the next guy.”

  “Don’t even tease about that, David.”

  “Who’s teasing?” David patted her on the butt.

  Bella just shook her head, rolled her eyes and continued dressing.

  “The pack is still at the pond at the party Russ and Vivian put on.”

  Bella had been tired and they’d called it an early night, retiring to their house behind the big pack compound. She looked around at what had become her home. She wasn’t going to lose it without a fight. Bring on the humans. They wouldn’t wreck what she’d built. Bella refused to lie down and take what might be dished out. The Masters pack would be victorious. After all, they’d survived a lot of trials in the previous few months. She absentmindedly rubbed her stomach again.

  Chapter One

  “Dance?”

  A hand appeared in Kitty Kelley’s line of sight. She flinched.

  Damn it, I’m stronger than this.

  She hated the fact that she was reduced to jerking away at the slightest movement. She was safe now.

  Kitty had been too busy keeping an eye on her twin sisters, Bunny and Popp
y. Her parents had been high on drugs when they named them all. Who in their right mind would name werewolves after animals that wolves would sooner eat than play with, and a flower?

  Her sisters had gone to get some punch. This was the first time the three of them had joined the Masters pack for an event since they’d been rescued from the Tyler pack. One of the few lucky breaks they’d been given in their lives.

  It had been the pack alpha, Russell Masters, who’d insisted they join the festivities. He’d been so good to them over the last few months that they couldn’t refuse. It was thanks to him they had a roof over their heads and they weren’t starving.

  Kitty smoothed down the front of her skirt to calm herself and looked up to see who’d asked her to dance. He’d pulled his hand back when she’d had her kneejerk reaction.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Everett Cord grinned down at her and shrugged. He put his hand in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.

  Everett was very handsome with his spiked strawberry blond hair and dark green eyes. He had a very appealing dimple on his chin. For some reason she wanted to lick it. The thought came out of nowhere. She shook her head.

  He’d been there the day she and the girls had been rescued. It was Everett who pulled her and her sisters out of the awful pack house they’d ended up in when their parents had died. Murder-suicide and she really didn’t want to think about that. Not now and maybe never.

  Everett was losing his smile and backing away—it was her fault for not speaking up and getting lost in her own thoughts. Shoot. She couldn’t have that. She needed to thank him.

  “Wait. Sorry.” She glanced at Bunny and Poppy, who were talking to a few of the other pack members and they seemed good—safe. They didn’t need her hovering over them. They were sixteen going on eighty and would be embarrassed if they knew she’d been keeping tabs.

  Kitty took a deep breath. It’s okay to let go and have a little fun. She didn’t have to worry about her sisters as much now that they were here. The Masters pack accepted them as their own. They’d proved it time and time again over the past five months.

  “I would love to dance.”

  One of her favourite songs just happened to be playing, Cowboys and Angels. Everett bowed low and held out his hand, wiggling his fingers this time.

  Kitty smiled. It felt good. She didn’t think she’d ever be happy again. She placed her hand in his and he tugged her off her seat and guided her towards the dance floor.

  They were in the forest, in a big clearing behind the pack house. Someone had strung up white lights in the trees and they twinkled over the pond. It looked like the lights were dancing over the water. The pack had set up the refreshments in between some trees leaving a nice space for dancing. Other couples were out there, but Kitty didn’t really know them. Well, except for Peter, Everett’s cousin, and Peter’s partner Grey.

  The couple had stopped by the cottage that she shared with her sisters. She thought it might have been because Peter felt guilty. It was his dad’s pack who’d taken advantage of her and the girls.

  Enough. Fun, that’s why I’m here.

  They reached the clearing and Everett twirled her around and shuffled her across the makeshift dance floor. He wasn’t really following the beat of the song, but two-stepping her around at a fast pace. Kitty hadn’t had this much fun in—she couldn’t remember when. She threw back her head and laughed when Everett dipped her at the end of the song, she lifted her leg high and her hair brushed the ground.

  The next song began to play and it was more romantic than the first one. She recognised it from the movie ‘Armageddon’, Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing. Kitty thought they’d go and sit back down, but Everett pulled her close and they swayed back and forth—so different from the playfulness of the first dance. He nuzzled into her neck and she laid her head on his chest. His scent was overwhelming, it made her feel safe and he smelt like cinnamon.

  Mate.

  No. Kitty stiffened in his arms. That couldn’t be right. They’d met before this. How would she not know? No, no, no, no, no, no. She couldn’t have a mate. It was destructive. People died. Kitty jerked away and scrambled backwards. Everett looked confused, but she couldn’t speak even if she wanted to, because the panic was building too fast. She couldn’t breathe. She had to get out of there. She turned and ran smack dab into a person from her past that she never wanted to see again. She backpedalled away and almost fell flat on her ass. She started to shake—this could be very bad. How the hell had he found them?

  But there he was, Langford Harrington, her parents’ lawyer. Langford put his hands out to steady her and Everett growled behind her. Langford didn’t pull away until she was steady on her feet.

  “Kitty, I see you’re well.”

  “How did you find us, Mr Harrington?” Kitty clutched at her throat with one hand and wrapped her other arm around herself as she moved, focusing on not hyperventilating.

  “You didn’t make it easy, but now this bit of rebellion is over. You’re needed back home.” Langford reached out for her again, but he hesitated before dropping his arm.

  Bunny and Poppy surrounded her. She hadn’t even heard them come to her aid. She didn’t think he was afraid of her sisters.

  “They are home, mister. I suggest you leave.” Everett was at her back and that would explain Langford’s not touching her.

  Everett’s warmth was reassuring. And he was right, this was home now. Not her parents’ estate or the Tyler pack, but here among this wonderful group of wolves who treated them like their own.

  “Do we have a problem here?” Russell broke into her musings.

  Now the alpha was by her side. Never had she felt more like part of the pack than right then. Russ didn’t even know Langford, but he was stepping up to make sure she was okay and that said a lot about the Masters pack.

  “He can’t make us, can he, Kit? I don’t wanna go back,” Bunny whispered, almost in tears.

  Kitty took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. She held out her other hand for Poppy, making a united front.

  “No, you, Kitty and Poppy are staying here,” Everett answered for her.

  It was all very nice, but this was her fight and she had to stand up for herself. They weren’t going back into the world her parents came from. High society with all its backstabbing was not an environment that her sisters should be raised in. No amount of money in the world would make that right. Her mom and dad found out the hard way when Mom went crazy, killed Dad, then herself, leaving Kitty behind to take care of the twins.

  The best thing she’d done was run when her uncle tried—she wasn’t thinking about that. No. Everett gripped her shoulder and she calmed. She could do this.

  “Like Everett said, we are home and have no intention of going with you. Good evening, Mr Harrington.”

  “Your Uncle Kurt isn’t going to let this go, Kitty. Just come back and we can deal with the paperwork and get things transferred over to you. It’s that simple.” Langford was using his soothing lawyer voice, but it wouldn’t work on her this time.

  “Then we can do it here,” Kitty insisted.

  “I didn’t bring the papers with me. We’re talking about a lot of money here. Let’s—”

  “No. You can go get what you need and come back. We aren’t going back to D.C. ever again.” She was firm on that matter. It wasn’t a good place for anyone. The city was toxic with all its politics.

  “The scandal—” Mr Harrington began.

  “I don’t care about that.” Kitty clenched her hands by her side.

  And she didn’t. So what if her parents’ tragedy had been all over the news? So what if her dad had been some bigwig? That shouldn’t matter to her and her sisters’ wellbeing. They’d broken away and she wanted to keep it that way.

  “You should.” Mr Harrington moved closer, but stopped at Everett’s growl.

  If the situation wasn’t so serious she might have smiled at Everett. She wondered
if he knew they were mates because he was being very protective, above and beyond a pack mate, but she had to worry about that later.

  “Leave.” Kitty was proud of herself. Her voice didn’t even break.

  She released her sisters’ hands and crossed her arms over her chest, her stance firm. She wouldn’t budge on this issue. If she didn’t have to leave the pack property she really didn’t want to. At least not yet.

  “You heard her. It’s time for you to go. You can come back in the morning and we can sit down and chat, but now is not the time. As you can see we’re in the middle of a party. And it’s a bit late for a business call, wouldn’t you agree?” Russell glared at Mr Harrington.

  Finally the lawyer backed down, but he didn’t cower under Russ’ stare.

  “As you wish, but this is far from over.”

  And it wouldn’t be. Kitty knew that. Uncle Kurt would never stop until he had her back under his thumb and in control of the money their parents had left them. Not that she had any access to it, which was why they’d ended up in the Tyler pack to begin with.

  Mr Harrington looked back over his shoulder, but kept on moving off the property, she hoped.

  “Okay—let’s get back to the party. Music?”

  When had the music stopped? Kitty looked around and realised the whole pack lingered close by. She swallowed and took a deep breath. She couldn’t cry right now.

  “Russ!”

  Kitty looked to the dishevelled woman running towards them. She couldn’t remember her name, but she looked upset. Kitty began to back away, but Everett still stood behind her, foiling her escape.

  “Bella, what is it?” Russ sounded concerned.