The Horse Shifter's Mate: A Wishing Moon Bay Shifter Romance (The Bond of Brothers Book 2)

by Harmony Raines

  “It’s not that I don’t know who they are.” She looked down at the teacup in her hands. “When I was eighteen, I began my search for them. Not because I wanted anything from them but because I needed to satisfy my curiosity.”

  “And what did you find?” Dario asked quietly.

  “What I was searching for.” She took a sip of her tea, her eyes straying to the TV screen, but Dario doubted the images on the screen were the same ones playing in her head.

  “Were they bad people?” Dario asked gently, not wanting to push his mom where she didn’t want to go.

  “No, not really. My mom had been very young when she found out she was pregnant. I was an accident. My mom said she wasn’t sure who my father was.” She smiled sadly. “I’m grateful that my mom decided to ignore the child growing inside of her rather than tell anyone and seek an abortion. Instead, she didn’t tell anyone until she went into labor.”

  “Wow.” Dario’s shock caused him to pull back and he sat down heavily on the carpet. “That must have been incredibly scary for her.”

  “Yes. Now, I can look back and feel sorry for the woman who gave birth to me. From what she told me, her parents insisted on her giving the child up for adoption. After all, there were plenty of couples who wanted a baby.”

  “But you weren’t adopted?” Dario asked. “You said you grew up in the system.”

  “No, I was adopted. A lovely couple, they had been trying for a child for ten years with no luck. So they adopted me. I can only imagine my early years were happy, but I was too young to remember.”

  “What happened?” Dario reached for her hand and held it tight as Valerie’s eyes filled with tears.

  “I was four when my mom got pregnant. It’s all they ever wanted, to have a child of their own.”

  “But they had a child, they had you.” His hand tightened around hers and he wanted to take her pain and make it his own. The woman who had raised him deserved happiness.

  “Their child was born with a heart defect. It meant several rounds of surgery. It drained them physically and emotionally until they didn’t have the time or the energy for the little girl they had adopted. I was placed into foster care.” Her voice trembled. “Can I blame them?” She shrugged. “I didn’t remember them. If I do, those memories are wrapped up in a whole string of foster homes and failed adoptions. It was as if I was jinxed, as if there was something at work stopping me from being adopted again.”

  “Do you believe that?”

  “I’ve taught you to make your own luck, Dario. And that lesson comes from the heart of a child who made her own luck. But that luck was bad. It was as if I messed up every chance of being happy and having a permanent family.” She sighed. “I’ve had a lot of time to think it over. I believe I was too emotionally scarred by losing my family to ever let anyone else in.”

  “Then why decide to adopt us?”

  “Because I realized that if I didn’t take a chance on love then I would die lonely and bitter, and I didn’t want that. I’d spent too long alone already. I’d been in relationships, of course I had. But the guys never stuck around or else I got bored of them. I certainly didn’t love any of them.”

  “So you chose to adopt children.”

  “I decided to adopt a girl.” She gave a short laugh. “I have no idea what went wrong there. I figured I’d be okay with a girl because, well, I was a girl and knew how to do girly things.”

  “Ah, girls would have been boring.” Dario rolled his eyes.

  “You might be right. And I wouldn’t have raised the best chef in Wishing Moon Bay if I hadn’t adopted Ivan.” She laughed. “That said, I’m proud of you all. You’re all special in your own unique way.”

  “Said like a loving mom.” He kissed her cheek. “Did we get in the way of you finding love?”

  “No!” She shook her head firmly. “There was never any way to get in. The right man never came along, and I think I’m too old for that to change and maybe I’m too old to even care.”

  “You’re never too old for love, Mom.” He hugged her, aware her old bones were no match for his muscled arms. “I just want you to be happy.”

  “I have been happy since I first set eyes on Logan. I knew then that adopting a child was the right decision for me. He fulfilled me in a way I can never explain. But that set me on the path I traveled.”

  “Just don’t tell me I have to tell him we’re grateful to him, please.” Dario inched away from his mom and then stood up. “I have to pack and get ready for tomorrow.”

  “I didn’t know if you’ve even unpacked, you travel very light for a man of your age.”

  “I live off the land, I work for what I need,” he told her.

  “And now it’s time for you to set down roots.” Valerie reluctantly let go of his hand. “Just make sure the two of you come back in one piece. And that means physically and mentally. You know what lurks in the darkness.”

  “I do.”

  “You know what lives in the closet.” She fixed her eyes on his. “You need to teach Helena about the possible threats she may be exposed to.”

  “There are some things I’d rather she didn’t know about.”

  “And what gives you the power to pick and choose?”

  “You’re right.”

  “I know that you want to protect her. But the best way to protect someone is to give them the power to defend themselves against whatever might come at them.” Valerie’s eyes flashed. “She’s strong. But you can make her stronger.” Her hand gripped his lower arm and her fingers dug into his flesh. “And together you are invincible.”

  Dario hugged his mom before he got up and left the apartment. He had a lot to think over before he and Helena left town.

  Then he had decisions to make. Decisions that would affect his future with his mate.

  Chapter Thirteen – Helena

  “It seems like you’ve only just gotten here and now you are leaving.” Penny’s eyes widened as if she’d had a eureka moment. “Oh, you have just gotten here.”

  “Don’t tease, you know exactly why I’m leaving town so soon. Believe me, I would rather stay.” Helen grabbed her sister and hugged her tightly.

  “This is my way of covering my emotions,” Penny admitted. “I don’t want you to go. Not without me. Not if this my fault.”

  “How can it be your fault?” Helena asked sharply. “You haven’t done anything.” She brushed her hand through her hair. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be sharp. It’s just that even if this about you, it’s not your fault. You didn’t tell creepy Barry to let himself into my apartment, did you?”

  “No, I did not. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t there because of something I’ve done.”

  “Like what?” Helena’s question was answered by a shrug from Penny. “Exactly. There’s nothing you have done. And there’s still a chance that Barry’s story is true. He might have bumped into me by accident and then been overcome with the need to possess me that he made an error of judgment and broke into my apartment.”

  “That’s true.”

  “Not that he won’t get his head ripped off either way.” She sighed. “I’m stupid really, I should have dealt with it before I came here. But it freaked me out a little. You hear all these things on the news about obsessive people and the crimes they perpetrate.”

  “There will be no perpetration from Barry once he knows you have Dario at your back.”

  “And that is my second fear,” Helena admitted. “That Dario might do something that we’ll all wind up regretting.”

  “Logan said he’s not a violent man unless severely pressed. In which case I hope he does do something worth regretting. Barry needs to be stopped. Even if he broke into your apartment just for kicks, it’s still very, very wrong.”

  “I suppose we’ll see when we find him.” Helena hugged Penny and carried her luggage to the door. “I have to go. Give the sleepy man a hug from me.”

  “I’m assuming you mean Milo and not Logan.” Penny grinne
d.

  “You can give them both a hug from me, I’ve told them both to keep a close watch on you. If Barry is up to no good, I want to make sure you’re safe here.” Helena opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. “I’ll keep in touch. And you need to call me if anything happens here. Okay?”

  “Okay.” Penny leaned on the door and watched Helena as she carried her luggage along the corridor toward the stairs. “Take care of yourself, and Dario. Shifters have a strong need to protect their mate. I only hope Dario can rein in his anger if you are threatened.”

  “We’ll be okay. Just enjoy being here and spending time with Logan and Milo. Before you know it, Milo will be starting school and you three won’t have time to bond.” Helena shrugged. “That’s my argument against you coming anyway. But I know you can see through it. I just need to know the two of you are safe.”

  “And I want you to be safe. Even if Barry is no more than a lecherous stalker, that still makes him dangerous. We’ve lived in the world outside of Wishing Moon Bay to know that you don’t have to be supernatural to be dangerous.” Penny ran along the corridor to Helena. “Come back soon.”

  “As soon as we can.” She looked down at her hand holding the suitcase. “I was thinking of going into the office and quitting my job.”

  “You were? You didn’t say.” Penny stepped back, searching her sister’s face for answers. “Is that what you want? I know I would love for you to move here and I’m sure Dario would be more than happy if you relocate here. But what about work? I know you’ve worked so hard to get to where you are. You’ve made sacrifices in your personal life for promotion at work.”

  “And for what? So I can go home each evening and sit on the couch alone?” She inhaled deeply, fear filling her chest as she took a deep breath. “I want to be happy. Seeing the family together yesterday, everyone around the dinner table, talking, laughing...”

  “You want a slice of that, too. I know exactly how you feel. We grew up with just the three of us. You, me, and Mom. We had no one else, no aunts, no uncles, no cousins. Mom never had any close friends.” Penny held both of Helena’s hands but didn’t meet her eyes as she added, “When you have dealt with the Barry situation, I want us to track down any information we can on Mom and where she came from. I want to find out about our father. There must be some clues somewhere. People don’t just appear.”

  “Witness protection.” Helena had been giving the whole thing a lot of thought ever since they went through their mom’s things. “Isn’t that the only explanation? Whether it was official or whether Mom was in hiding on her own, it just feels as if she purposely kept our family history from us.”

  “Witness protection? Really? Why?” Penny wasn’t buying into the idea. “Was it even a thing when we were kids?”

  “I just think she was on the run...from something.” Helena gave a short laugh. “Now I’m hoping Barry is more than just a stalker so we can get all the information from him. It would be a whole lot easier than trawling through archives trying to figure out who we are.”

  “Maybe that’s where we should start.” Penny pointed her finger at Helena as she started to back away. “The best place to start is with the two things we know for sure. Where we were born.”

  “Neither of our birth certificates have our father’s name on them. So, I don’t know how that will help to find him.”

  “I know, but I could scour the newspapers for...anything. Those are the only two fixed points we have.” Her shoulders sagged. “I know it’s like a needle in a haystack, but it’ll give me something to do while you’re gone.”

  “Spend time with Milo and Logan. Leave the rest until we come back.” Helena watched Penny go back into the hotel room. “At least leave it until you know what information we get from Barry.”

  “Okay,” Penny answered but Helena didn’t believe her.

  “Focus,” she told herself as she turned toward the stairs and headed down to the reception area where Dario was waiting.

  “I thought you were never coming.” He came to meet her at the bottom of the stairs and grabbed her luggage. “I’ll carry that.”

  “I can manage,” she told him firmly but resisted the urge to grab her suitcase back.

  “I know. But Valerie raised us to be what most people would call old-fashioned.” He opened the door leading out into the parking lot and held it for her. “Courtesy costs nothing.”

  “You know, Valerie could simply have been training you to be a bellboy.” Helena grinned as he followed her out of the hotel.

  “My mom had ulterior motives. How to destroy a childhood.”

  “You know I’m joking. Valerie raised six good men. And I like a little old-fashioned courtesy, just don’t expect me to have your shirts ironed and a hot meal on the table every night.”

  “And I thought you were my perfect mate.” He waited by her car as she unlocked it and popped the trunk.

  “Are you having second thoughts already?” Helena asked.

  “Never.” Dario lifted her suitcase and placed it in the trunk, then deposited his backpack next to it. “I’m used to traveling light.”

  “I suppose you are.” She slammed the trunk shut and went around to the driver’s side. “Have you ever learned to drive?”

  “I have, I even owned a car once.” He slid into the passenger seat.

  “So you choose not to drive?” She started the engine.

  “Is that a subtle way of asking me if I lost my license?”

  “No, it’s me being curious. We have a long journey ahead of us. I thought it might be a good opportunity to get to know each other.” She drove away from the hotel and headed down the road that had brought her into Wishing Moon Bay only two nights ago.

  “Ask me anything, I have nothing to hide.”

  “Everyone has something to hide, even if it’s just their most embarrassing moment.”

  “Okay, you have me there.”

  “Now I’m intrigued as to what it is. If you don’t tell me, I’m sure I can get an embellished version from your brothers.”

  “Ah, there are some things we are sworn to secrecy.”

  “I expect if Penny asked Logan, he would tell her. Does a mate trump a brother?” She chuckled as he shook his head in defeat. “I told you I was clever.”

  “I’m beginning to realize I am doomed.” She laughed and switched on the radio as he said, “Maybe we should talk about less personal things, like our favorite music or favorite color.”

  “Are you backing down?” she asked. “Avoiding the question?”

  “Oh, don’t think you’re going to trick me into admitting my most embarrassing moment.” He wagged his finger at her and chuckled.

  “You will.” She shuffled smugly in her seat.

  “You sound confident, but there is no way I am going to tell you.” He leaned back in his seat looking relaxed and incredibly handsome.

  “I thought you’d do anything to make me happy.” She pouted but couldn’t keep a straight face when he rolled his eyes at her. “Oh, this is it, the tunnel.”

  “The tunnel. What’s wrong with it?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just... Once we go through the tunnel, we leave Wishing Moon Bay behind us. What if I can’t find it again?” She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth as she tried to control her panic. “What if Penny and Milo are lost to me forever?”

  “Hey.” He touched her hand and she jumped, her foot easing off the gas before they entered the long tunnel. “You belong here now. This is your town, I am your mate.”

  “You know Penny thought she’d been here before.” She glanced at Dario.

  “Yes.”

  “What if we came here before and for whatever reason the town closed itself off to us?” The question had been spinning around in her head along with a handful of others as she lay in bed trying to sleep last night.

  “Even if that was true, the town revealed itself to you after you saw me. That’s because you be
long to me.” He leaned across the car and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “And anyway, I’m with you. There’s no way the town will seal itself off from me.”

  “Are you sure?” She leaned on his shoulder while staring into the mouth of the long dark tunnel. “What if you leave with me and the town seals itself off from you?”

  “There’s only one way to find out.” He kissed her cheek and then pulled away from her. “Put your foot on the gas pedal and drive. Once we’re out of town, we can check if we can see the signs and the road. Okay?”

  She blew the air out of her cheeks. “Okay.”

  She put her foot on the gas and the car slid forward, the darkness enveloping them. Switching on the lights, she kept her eyes fixed on a point in the distance. It was a pinprick of light that grew steadily bigger as she drove.

  As the darkness surrounded them, her senses seemed to heighten. Her connection to Dario strengthened, she became more aware of him, of his presence, his scent, the warmth of his body. It was as if he were a beacon, keeping her from drifting off into the darkness.

  Then the light at the end of the tunnel was bigger and her sense of him faded. Yes, he was still there, and she was very aware of him, but it wasn’t the same.

  They left the tunnel and Helena glanced in the rearview mirror, relieved that the tunnel hadn’t disappeared. “It’s still there.”

  “Of course it is.” He smiled and warmth flooded her veins as if the sun had come out to chase the chill of winter away.

  Helena drove to the junction and turned left, heading toward the large town where her apartment waited for her. As she accelerated, she glanced in the rearview mirror once more, relieved to see the signs leading to Wishing Moon Bay. It would still be there for her when she came back.

  “At least if the town is hard to find, Penny and Milo will be safe there.” Helena adjusted her position in the driver’s seat, there was a long journey ahead of them so she might as well get comfortable.