Triumph (Wolves 0f Gypsum Creek Book 2)

by Serena Meadows

  She really didn’t believe that, but it made her feel better to think it. Made walking away from something that could be so wonderful a little easier. She’d faced bigger heartache in her life; a missed opportunity at love wasn’t that big of a deal.

  ***Danny***

  Kara had only been gone for a few minutes, but Danny already felt like she’d been gone forever. He took a deep breath and caught just a whiff of her scent, and it felt like a punch to the gut when the knowledge that she was gone hit him.

  Wanting to capture that scent in his mind forever, he climbed the stairs to her room and stood in the middle of it, taking deep breaths. Walking around the room, he imagined her sleeping in the big bed, showering in the little bathroom, and realized that he wasn’t doing himself any good.

  He turned to leave the room when a glint in the sunlight caught his eye. He crossed the room to the little desk under the window and saw that Kara’s cell phone was sitting right in the middle of it. When he realized that she’d forgotten it, a smile spread across his face; now he’d be able to see her one more time.

  Knowing that he’d be able to catch up to her before she got to town, he headed down the stairs, taking them two at a time. He found her at the bottom of the trail and called to her just before she stepped out of the trees and onto the street that ran through town.

  “Danny, what are you doing here?” she asked.

  He held up her cell phone. “You left this in your room?” he said, hoping she wouldn’t ask what he was doing in her room.

  Kara looked at the phone, then said, “Oh, my gosh, I didn’t even notice. Thank you.”

  When she smiled at him, his heart leaped, and his body began to throb with longing. He was tempted to pull her into his arms and kiss her, one last kiss to remember over the long and lonely years. Realizing that he was being a bit melodramatic, even for him, he smiled back at her.

  “Since I’m here, I’ll go with you over to the garage,” he said instead of doing all the other things he wanted to do.

  Kara shrugged, “Okay.”

  But just as they stepped onto the street, a big black car pulled into town; without even thinking Danny pulled her back into the trees. “What are you doing?” she asked.

  He pointed down the street. “We’ve had some trouble from a group of moonshiners lately. I didn’t think they’d be back, but it looks like they are,” he explained.

  They watched from the trees as the car parked in front of the store and two men got out. Danny didn’t recognize either of them, but he heard Kara gasp, and she grabbed his arm, her nails digging into his skin.

  “What’s the matter? Do you know them?” he asked, his protective instincts kicking in, power flowing through him.

  “They’re my stepfather’s men,” Kara said, confusing him.

  He pulled farther back into the trees, but she seemed to be in shock. “Kara, what are you talking about?” he asked, tipping her chin up so she’d look at him.

  She seemed to come back to herself. “It’s nothing, really, I just need to get to my car and get out of town. I can lose them if I have a little head start,” she said, pulling away from him and heading back towards the road. “I’ll be okay, just go back up the mountain.”

  Danny knew that there was no way he was leaving her alone with those two men in town. “No way. You have to tell me what’s going on, Kara; I can’t help you if you don’t.”

  But she wasn’t listening, in fact, she was already running across the road. He caught up to her just as she barreled through the door of the garage, yelling Jack’s name. “Kara,” he said, grabbing her by the arm and making her turn around to face him. “What’s going on?”

  Before she could answer, there was the sound of a car approaching the garage. “We have to hide,” she said. “I can’t let them find me.”

  Danny wanted to shake her, to make her tell him what was going on, but the terror in her face was enough to get him moving. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the garage where her car was up on the lifts, Jack working on it.

  “Jack,” he shouted over the loud music coming out of an old radio. “We have to hide, and you have to tell those men coming in here that we’re not here,” he said, pulling Kara to the back of the garage and a stack of tires.

  “Are you serious? What kind of trouble have you gotten into? I knew that truck was bad news when I saw it,” Jack said, putting his hands on his hips. “I’m not hiding you from the law.”

  “It’s not the police, and they’re not after me; they’re after Kara. I can’t tell you any more than that now, but please don’t tell them we’re here,” Danny pleaded.

  Jack looked at Kara, then back at Danny. “Okay, but I don’t know if I can stop them if they decide to take a look around.”

  Danny didn’t take the time to answer, just pulled Kara behind the stack of tires and tried to calm his breathing. Jack went back to working on Kara’s car, the music so loud when the men finally came in, they had to bang on the counter before he heard them.

  On his way out of the garage, he turned the music off, then greeted the men. “What can I do for you today? Got a problem with that fancy car?” he asked.

  “The car’s fine,” Danny heard one of the men growl. “I wouldn’t let a yokel like you work on it anyway.”

  Then he heard another voice say, “We’re looking for a girl; we heard that she had car trouble and that her car is here.”

  Jack didn’t answer right away, but then he said, “Guess you must be talking about the little dark-haired woman who owns that car I’m working on now. It blew a radiator hose, and it’s taken me three days to get the part. She’s a little hottie; belongs to one of you two, I suppose.”

  Danny wanted to punch Jack just then, but it seemed to be the right thing to say. “You could say that,” the first man said, “We’ve been terribly worried about her.”

  “Well, I haven’t seen her since she drove off with some guy in a truck I didn’t recognize; talked to her on the phone yesterday though, expect her here sometime later today,” Jack said.

  “Then we’ll just wait right here for her,” one of the men said.

  “Suit yourself, but if I were you, I’d go wait at the diner. You can see everything from the center booth by the windows,” Jack suggested.

  There was a long silence. “We might just do that, but if you hear from her again, you better come get us.”

  “Sure, no problem,” Jack said, and then Danny heard the door slam as they went out.

  They stayed hidden until the car had driven away, then slowly came out from behind the tires. Jack came wandering back into the garage. “Guess I’d better get this car fixed; don’t know how you’re going to get past those men though.”

  “She’s not,” Danny said. “You’re coming back up the mountain with me.”

  Kara shook her head, “Danny, I can’t; they’ll just find me up there and then all of you will be involved. As soon as my car is fixed, I’ll make a run for it. Maybe I can sneak by them.”

  “That will never work, Kara, besides, I’m already involved in this. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m not leaving you here,” Danny said.

  He could see by the stubborn look on her face that she wasn’t going to listen to him, so he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and headed for the back door. “I’m already involved in this, and I’m not leaving you here,” he repeated once more. “You’re coming with me one way or another.”

  Kara struggled in his arms for a few minutes, then relaxed, “Okay, I’ll come with you, but as soon as my car’s fixed, I’m leaving.”

  Chapter Ten

  ***Kara***

  When they came to the end of the trail and entered the garden, Kara had to stop. She was out of breath and needed a few minutes to collect herself, plus she had no idea what her next move would be. The last thing she wanted to do was put Jessie, Sophie, and Danny in danger, but it seemed like that’s what she’d just done.

  “I can’t
figure out how they found me so fast,” she said when she was able to talk again.

  “Who are those men and what do they want from you, Kara?” Danny asked for what felt like the tenth time.

  Kara looked at him resigned to the fact that she was going to have to tell him at least some of the truth. “My stepfather has been looking for me for two years; I ran away from him not long after my mother died,” she said, hoping it would be enough.

  Danny studied her for a long time, then said, “But you’re a grown woman; he can’t keep you prisoner.”

  “It’s complicated,” she said, evasively. “Sebastian thinks he owns me and he’s a very powerful man; I didn’t realize just how powerful until I ran away from him.”

  “What did he do to you, Kara?” Danny asked, grabbing her arm, “Did he...” his words trailed off the anger he felt making his powers flare.

  Kara watched as Danny’s green eyes began to sparkle and glow; she knew what that meant so she quickly reassured him. “It wasn’t anything like that,” she said, “he just knows how to control me, how to make me do things I don’t want to do.”

  Danny seemed to calm down. “We have to tell Jessie; he’ll know what to do. You can’t keep running from your stepfather; eventually, he’s going to catch you.”

  Kara’s heart sank; she really didn’t want to tell Jessie about her stepfather, and she wasn’t sure that she could make it through all the questions he was sure to ask. “I don’t know, Danny, he doesn’t like me very much. I remind him of his mother.”

  “Jessie’s a good guy, Kara; he’ll help you, I promise,” Danny said, pulling her toward the cabin.

  When they got to the cabin, Danny started shouting Jessie’s name before they even got to the door. Jessie came running out, his face full of alarm. “What’s wrong?”

  “Kara’s in trouble, and we have to help her. There are some men in town looking for her; we have to hide her or something,” Danny said, slightly breathless.

  Jessie narrowed his eyes at Kara. “I knew you were hiding something,” he said, then he sighed, “I guess you’d better come inside and tell me what this is all about.”

  When they walked in, Sophie was standing in the kitchen; she looked surprised to see Kara. “I thought you left,” she said.

  “Kara’s in some trouble,” Jessie said, raising his eyebrows.

  Sophie nodded. “I thought so,” she said. “You’d better sit down and tell us what’s going on.”

  When Kara hesitated, Danny said, “Her stepfather is chasing her; he sent some men to town to find her, but Jack covered for us.”

  “What were you doing in town?” Jessie asked, “I thought I asked you to clean the chicken coop this morning?”

  “Kara forgot her cell phone. I had to take it to her,” Danny said, then slapped his forehead. “Your phone, Kara; that’s how they found you.”

  Kara pulled the phone out of her pocket. “I had it turned off until yesterday afternoon.”

  Danny took the phone from her, popped the back open and took the battery out. “Now they won’t be able to track you here,” he said, handing the phone and battery back to her.

  Kara shook her head. “It’s too late, they’re going to find out I’m up here. All they have to do is talk to George.”

  Danny looked panicked. “We have to leave then; we’ll take the truck.”

  Jessie shook his head. “And then what?”

  Danny was silent for a few minutes, then said, “I don’t know.”

  Kara knew that it was time for her to jump in. “If I can just get to my car, I’ll be alright. I don’t want to get you all involved in this.”

  Sophie patted her on the back. “I think we already are,” she said, then pushed Kara into one of the chairs at the table.

  When they were all seated at the table, all eyes turned to her, and she knew that she was going to have to tell them at least some of the truth. She took a deep breath, then said, “I’ve been running from my stepfather since my mother died. He’s an extremely powerful man; I didn’t really understand just how powerful until he decided that I could be useful to him. She protected me from him, but once she was gone, he came after me.”

  “Why? What does he want from you?” Jessie asked, his eyes focused on Kara.

  This was the question she’d been hoping to avoid, but now that Jessie had asked, she knew she was going to have to lie to him. “I’m not sure; he’s made lots of threats, but I’ve been able to escape from him until now.”

  There was silence around the table, then Jessie said, “Is that everything? The entire truth?”

  Kara nodded. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about him sooner, but I never thought he’d find me up here.”

  Sophie patted her hand. “I’m just glad you finally told us the truth.”

  Kara felt guilty; she’d told most of the truth, but not all of it. “Can you help me get away?” she asked, trying to ignore the sour feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  ***Danny***

  Danny could feel his anger and frustration building as he listened to Kara talk about her stepfather. His protective instincts made him want to head straight back to town and face the men looking for her, but he knew that wasn’t the right choice. As much as he wanted Kara to stay, he realized now the best thing they could do was help her get away.

  “We just need to wait for it to get dark, then we can sneak out of town,” Danny said.

  Kara looked over at him, “We?”

  “Well, you can’t go down there alone,” Danny said, looking at Jessie and Sophie for assurance.

  “He’s right,” Sophie said. “It’s going to take a diversion to get past those men.”

  Jessie nodded. “But I have an idea that might give us just enough time to get you out of town without having to confront those men,” he said, then got to his feet and began to pace back and forth in front of the table.

  “What’s your plan?” Danny asked.

  “Go get the cell phone and call Jack; tell him to go down the street to the diner and tell them that Kara called and said she’s not going to pick up the car until tomorrow morning,” Jessie said. “Hopefully that will get them to leave for the night, but if not, we should still be able to sneak past them, maybe use some kind of a diversion to get the car out of town.”

  “That might just work,” Sophie said, “Jessie and I can create a diversion if we need to while you and Danny get your car.”

  “We should call David and get him to go down to the diner; he can be our man on the inside,” Jessie said, thinking out loud.

  “David?” Kara asked.

  “He’s my cousin; we can depend on him to help us,” Jessie said.

  “You have a cousin living here?” Kara asked. “Can we trust him?”

  Jessie nodded. “After my grandfather died, he and Sophie’s grandmother were the only ones who would come up here to see me. Without him, none of this would have been possible; he’ll help if I ask him.”

  Danny nodded. “He’s a good guy, and when he hears what’s going on, he’ll be willing to help.”

  “I really hate to get someone else involved, but if you think he can help, then we should call him I guess,” Kara said, but she didn’t look as sure as she sounded.

  Danny patted Kara’s hand. “Don’t worry, it’s going to be fine. While David, Jessie, and Sophie make sure those men are distracted, you and I will get your car and drive it out of town.”

  Kara gave them all a shaky smile. “You make it sound so easy.”

  Danny snorted. “Compared to fighting off a dozen wolf-shifting moonshiners, this will be a piece of cake.”

  Kara stared at him in shock. “A dozen? I heard that story from George, but I didn’t really believe him.”

  “George has no idea what he’s talking about. He and half the town refused to help us, were only willing to protect the town from them, but we showed them,” Danny said, not able to hide the pride in his voice.

  Jessie sighed and rolled his eyes. “
You can tell her all about the moonshiners after we make those phone calls. The sooner we get David down to that diner, the sooner we’ll know what they’re planning.”

  Danny jumped up from the table and headed for the cabin, returning in only a few minutes with the cell phone Jessie kept hidden. He handed it to Jessie, who called David, then gave it back to him so that he could call Jack. When he got off the phone, he set it down on the table.

  “Okay, we’re all set. Jack’s going to run down to the diner and pass on your message. Your car is finished, so I told him to park it out in front of the garage with the keys in it; that should make it easy for us to get out of town quickly,” Danny said.

  “David is already on his way to the diner; he’ll call us back in a little while to let us know what’s going on inside,” Jessie said, “So, it looks like all we can do now is wait for it to get dark.”

  They all sat in silence for a few minutes, waiting for the phone to ring, but knowing it would be a little while before they heard from David. Danny knew that his time with Kara was coming to an end, that as soon as she got her car, she’d be gone.

  “Would you like to take a walk while we’re waiting for it to get dark?” he asked Kara, thinking that it would be nice to spend the last few hours she was here alone with her.

  Kara shrugged. “I guess. I was kind of curious about the ghost that’s supposed to be up here. Was she really a witch?”

  Danny grinned at Kara. “According to her diary she was, but the devil didn’t kill her and her family; it was a crazy preacher that did it.”

  He could see that he’d piqued her curiosity. “Really, how do you know that?”

  “I think you’d better show her the diary,” Sophie said. “I’ve been trying to get it into the right hands, but there doesn’t seem to be much interest in clearing Molly’s name.”

  “I can show you where the family is buried too,” Danny said, thinking that it would be nice to get Kara alone for a little while before she left, one last chance to spend some time with her before she disappeared from his life forever.