by Leilani Love
Warrick’s Hope
The Dragon Ruby Series
Leilani Love
Copyright 2017 Leilani Schweitzer
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
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Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
Noncommercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
No Derivative Works — You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.
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Contents
Other Books by Leilani Love
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
About Leilani Love
Other Books by Leilani Love
Violca’s Dragon
The King’s Fire
Violca’s Vow
Kassandra’s Wolf
Warrick’s Hope
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my boys.
They are always proud of me and encourage me in both good and bad days.
My family and my friends who I love like family.
I also want to give a special thanks to all those who have left me a review
and sent me a message. Those always come at the perfect time.
You guys are the best and I am very blessed.
Prologue
Warrick knew this was a dream the moment it began. A memory he had dreamed about so often he began to wonder how much was true and how much was just his mind filling in the blanks. His parents had dragged him to the neighboring town where the Blue Mountain wolf pack lived. He didn’t want to go. Why couldn’t his dad understand he had a life too? He had plans that day to go on a date with a girl from school to get burgers and shakes.
After he met the pack leaders, his parents had dismissed him. Annoyed he had to ruin his plans he walked aimlessly around the small town. It was quaint and you could tell that despite being small, the town was definitely flourishing.
He ate lunch alone at a small diner. Warrick was envious that his twin brother, Gabriel, wasn’t forced to come. Since he wouldn’t be inheriting the pack, his parents had let him stay home. Before they had left this morning, Gabriel had joked that he would take Sue out to lunch for him. Warrick had attacked him and they’d started wrestling. His father had burst into the room, pulling them apart and yelling that an Alpha does not attack his pack members over a silly girl. His father didn’t understand. He never understood. As far as his father was concerned, no female really mattered except for a wolf’s true mate and Warrick should just ignore all of them and wait for her. But he was fifteen and the idea of not being able to date who he wanted frustrated him.
Warrick wondered how much longer he was going to have to wait for his parents so he could leave. Hopefully he’d still have time to take Sue out. He had already wandered all the downtown area, and visited most of the shops. As he stood outside on the corner of the street deciding what to do next he caught wind of an intoxicating scent that caused his body to instantly tense. It was the faint smell of flowers with a hint of something earthy he couldn’t quite identify. It called to the animal in him making it his only priority, to find who that scent belonged to.
His eyes scanned the crowd as a gentle breeze coming from the south caught his attention. There it was. Her scent again. He turned to find her. As he began to walk that way through the crowd of people he heard a woman yelling. The crowd parted and he was surprised to see a little girl no more than four years old running straight toward him. She was laughing as she ran. Her little legs were surprisingly fast as the sun shone on her honey blonde hair.
Warrick was surprised to realize that the scent was coming from the little blonde-haired hellion. Stunned, she ran straight at him and jumped into his arms, which instinctively reached out to catch her. Her amber eyes lit up with mischief as she patted both of his cheeks with sticky fingers. “Mine.” She declared before giving him a big smile.
“Yours,” Warrick whispered unable to help himself from smiling back at her.
She laughed as he shifted her in his arms to hold her more comfortably and was surprised when she put her head on his shoulder. When Warrick looked away he saw an older woman running toward them holding the hand of a little boy who looked to be the same age as the girl. The two looked very different except for the same amber eyes and matching mischievous smiles.
When the woman stood before him Warrick llooked her over. She didn’t smell anything like the two kids. She looked to be about fifty with salt and pepper hair and fine lines around her blue eyes. Even though she looked fifty, he knew she was also a wolf and that her aging process would be slow like his. “Hope, you know better than to run off. What would your mother say?”
Hope, was a perfect name for the little girl. He watched as Hope looked at him, giving him a playful look before she looked down and gave the little boy a big smile before saying, “Mine.”
The little boy smiled back. His dark wavy hair framed his face and Warrick watched as they exchanged a secret look before looking at him. The little boy seemed oddly familiar. It took him a moment to realize why he recognized the boy, he was almost the spitting the image of his father, the pack alpha he had met earlier.
The happy moment seemed to be etched in his mind forever and he lived it over in his dreams. The moment he found her. He wished the dream would end there but this is where it always changed. Flames. So many flames and the little girl he held in his arms was suddenly in front of him before running off. Warrick screamed as he chased her through the fire and straight up to her house. The flames were so big and high surrounding the house but when he heard a scream he knew he had to go in. Warrick had to try to save them. As his mate her family was his family.
As soon as he entered the burning house, his lungs filled with smoke so he held his arm over his face to protect his lungs from the heated air. He did his best to follow the screams upstairs until he ended up in front of a closed door. The sound of someone coughing reached him so he kicked down the door and found a woman on the floor. Once he reached her, he picked her up, but before he could get out he heard the distinct sound of floorboards breaking. He didn’t have time to respond before the entire floor collapsed out from under him.
The feel of flames licking his skin. The smell of flesh burning as he tried to get his bearings. He had to find Hope. He tried to scream her name, but smoke filled his lungs and he began coughing.
Warrick’s eyes started to water and he fell to his knees. The flames singed his skin. The pain so intense he knew he wouldn’t last. Trying one last time he screamed, “Hope!”
When his eyes opened he s
uddenly found himself staring into a pair of amber eyes that were bright with unshed tears. Could she really be here? Was this just another dream? Before he could come up with any answers he felt a sharp prick in his arm and his world went black.
There was a moment, before he passed out, when Warrick’s cobalt blue eyes met hers and she thought he might have recognized her. It was the first time that he had awoken since they rescued him from his brother’s clutches. Jared, the young dragon-shifting guard, was careful when picking him up, trying hard not to jostle him, but with the amount of bones Warrick had broken there was no good way to move him.
“What did you give him?” Hope asked the doctor who had been called in to help.
“I gave him some more morphine. I need him to stay still so that the bones we just set have time to heal before he begins to move,” the doctor said, his voice soft and patient.
Hope looked up at the doctor who was checking Warrick’s heart rate. He was an older human whom Viktor had called in. Viktor was the King of the Dragons and he had assured her that Dr. Raine had often been called in to help his family and he could be trusted.
“I’m going to set up a drip to keep him under. Between his natural healing ability and Violca’s constant healing touch I don’t think we’ll need to keep him drugged too long. I just want to make sure they’re set right,” Dr. Raine announced, giving her a sympathetic smile.
Hope smiled at him. She hadn’t really noticed much when they’d arrived at Viktor’s house, her focus had been on Warrick. She was happy when she started noticing Warrick’s heartbeat growing stronger and how he started getting a little color in his cheeks.
When they’d first arrived and Violca tried to shut her out of his room, Hope thought that she would have to fight with the witch to be allowed access. Instead, she was allowed into the room and watched while Violca touched Warrick gently. The air itself changed when Violca had touched him, it felt almost electric and the scent of magic had filled the air. It wasn’t oppressive like the town Gabriel was controlling. Instead, she felt drawn to the witch. When her sisters walked in and touched Warrick that feeling grew, along with the strength of her magic.
“He’s going to be out for a while. You should eat and get a nap. Let’s make you some food, then I can stay and watch him while you get some rest,” Dr. Raine said while patting the hand Hope had resting on Warrick’s bed.
Hope took a deep breath, she wanted to tell the doctor no but her stomach gave a distinct rumble that made him smile. She pictured him as a grandfather. His hair completely silver, slightly thinning, wire rimmed glasses and a small belly. She let him lead her from the room looking back one more time at Warrick, who was sleeping soundly.
He was still thin but the scar that ran down the side of his face was no longer puckered, swollen, and looking angry. His body was covered with smaller scars but the one down his face looked the most vicious. It started on the right side of his face, just under his eye and ended close to his jaw. Dr. Raine had pointed out that less than an inch higher and he probably would have lost his eye.
As they left the room and Hope let the doctor lead her down the flight of stairs, she began to feel guilty. She half listened as he told her that Viktor had made sure that there was plenty of food prepared and she was welcome to go to the kitchen and make herself at home. For the first time, she realized exactly how late it was. The house was quiet with only a few small nightlights illuminating the hall, guiding them to the kitchen.
“When he wakes his body is going to be hungry but I don’t think he’s eaten a full meal in a while. We will need to make sure he only eats a little bit at time. If he’s like every other male patient I’ve had he’ll complain at first. Don’t let him win,” Dr. Raine finished telling her before opening the fridge. “Now let’s get you fed so you’re strong enough to help take care of him.”
1
Two months later
Today was the day he would be moving out of Viktor’s spare bedroom and into a house that both packs had rebuilt for him and Hope to live in. When the two had first imprinted on each other the packs thought that it would unite two of the strongest packs along the East Coast. With everything that had happened the packs were a shadow of their former selves and now the packs looked at Hope and Warrick as a sign that their lives were going to be turning around.
Damien, the Blue Mountain alpha, would be staying with his dragon-shifter mate Kassandra. Damien’s house would be built last and would reside right next to his. For the first time, two packs would live together in the same town.
Thanks to Dr. Raine and Violca’s healing touch, Warrick was left with only a few scars and a slight limp. The doctor had informed him that after so many breaks he was surprised how well they had healed. He had, however, given most of the credit to Violca, who was a descendant of the original Earth Witch and had the gift of healing. She was the oldest of five sisters all of whom had their own gifts. Over the last two months, he had gotten to know them all quite well.
A soft tap on the open bedroom door pulled Warrick from his thoughts and he looked over to find Damien standing in the doorway. “You ready to go?” Damien asked.
Warrick grabbed the small bag at the foot of his bed. “One of the perks of traveling light I guess. Not a whole lot to pack when it’s time to go,” Warrick said. He had arrived with nothing more than the clothes on his back. Luckily, he was close to the same size as Damien who had given him some clothes to wear.
Damien was Hope’s twin brother and had spent the last two months helping move both packs from West Virginia to Colorado. Damien had given them a choice to go out and make it on their own, or move and make a fresh start. A few of Gabriel’s loyal guards had chosen to go off on their own but the rest had quickly volunteered to move and stay together.
Warrick was still surprised by how much had changed. With Damien mating with a dragon-shifter they had formed an alliance. When Viktor, King of the Dragons, had offered to help them rebuild a small town near his, Damien had taken the offer. Warrick of course could choose to move his pack elsewhere but there was strength in numbers, and he also thought it would be the best way to protect his people.
They drove from Viktor’s to his new house in silence. Damien seeming to understand that Warrick had a lot on his mind. The town wasn’t finished rebuilding yet. The first house they built was for him and Hope. Warrick didn’t feel totally comfortable moving in with her. He still felt awkward and with his limp and several scars that would never fully heal he felt out of place when he was with her. Hope was breathtaking. She’d grown up to be even more beautiful than he had ever imagined.
Warrick wondered how Hope was feeling about everything. For over forty years she had believed Warrick had been the one who had killed her parents and tried to kill both her and her brother to gain control of both packs. In the last two months, however, they had learned that it was actually his twin brother using black magic to trick them and that Hope and Damien’s mother was in fact alive. Their mother had arranged for Lazzaro, the Vampire King, to save them before the attempt on their lives was made. She managed to also get letters to Lazzaro that he was to deliver to Damien and Hope, but only after Warrick was rescued. He knew that they both desperately wanted to find and rescue their mother but in those letters, she told them that they needed to focus on rebuilding both packs; that they would find strength in numbers, and that she was okay. Her power as a seer protected her and she would be with them before the birth of her first grandchild.
That last line was in both their letters and neither Hope nor Damien knew which of the two she was referring to. Damien seemed like the obvious choice since he was already living comfortably with his mate, Kassandra. Warrick felt guilty that Hope was tied to him. Their moving in together was a decision that had been suggested by Aithne, the Dragon Queen, as a way to show the packs that things were indeed changing.
After Hope had agreed, Warrick conceded as well but asked to make sure she had her own room. Warrick didn’t have a
ny belongings so he suggested that the master bedroom be hers and he would take one of the extra rooms. Damien had given him a questioning look at the suggestion but didn’t argue.
When they pulled into their new town, Wolfbourne, Warrick found himself impressed with the amount of rebuilding they had done. The buildings that had been abandoned for decades now looked like they were almost ready to re-open. Damien had broken them into groups. They had been focusing on rebuilding some of the homes that just needed light work first, then a few of the shops so the town could start bringing in money and support itself. Besides rebuilding, the pack was learning to fight and defend itself by training alongside the dragons. Warrick had been given clearance to begin training last week and looked forward to joining the men.
As they rounded the corner to the road that led to his new house Warrick was surprised to see how many people had lined the streets. He swallowed hard and waved to the people as they passed. “They have been planning this party for weeks,” Damien said as he drove slowly up the road, careful of the kids that were running around.
Warrick nodded keeping his eyes focused out the window. Kassandra had told him that they were going to be having a feast in their honor. He had tried to convince her that it was not necessary. Kassandra smiled politely and told him that both packs were celebrating his recovery and the completion of many homes to come.
