Daddy Wolves of the Wild Prequel
Serena Meadows
Copyright ©2019 by Serena Meadows - All rights reserved.
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Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.
Contents
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
Epilogue
Whats Next in this Series
Also By Serena Meadows
About the Author
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Chapter One
***Derek***
Derek stood on the front porch, his son asleep in his arms, and waited for the door to open, glancing over his shoulder to make sure he hadn’t been followed. When the door finally opened a crack and Gus peered out at him, he wanted to shout with relief, but it was the middle of the night. They were miles out of town, and he couldn’t risk the one safe haven he had left or exposing Gus to the kind of people who might harm him.
“Bring Samuel in and take him to the guest bedroom,” Gus said. “It’s the one you and your dad used to stay in when you’d come visit.”
Derek went down the dark hallway, still familiar to him after all these years, and tucked his son into the same bed he’d slept in as a child, then kissed him on the forehead. Samuel stirred in his sleep but didn’t wake. He was glad the child had missed all the drama that night but wasn’t sure how he was going to explain them leaving in the morning.
It still shocked him the lengths his mother would go to rid him of what she saw as the curse of the devil, but here he was, running away from the only home he’d ever known. When it had become clear earlier that night that all his years of hiding his gift had done more damage than good, he’d turned to the only person he could: Gus. Now, he was Derek’s only hope of giving Samuel a normal life: the kind of life he’d never had.
Shutting the door softly behind him, he went down the hallway and through the kitchen door, not at all surprised to find Gus sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in front of him. There was a plate of cookies in the center of the table, and he couldn’t help but smile because it felt like time hadn’t passed at all. But looking across the table at his father’s best friend, he could see how the years had aged him.
It had been almost twenty years since the last time he’d seen him. His father had only been dead a few days, and he’d come to the house to see Derek. His mother wouldn’t let him in, but as Gus walked away, he’d yelled that he’d always be there if he needed him, and this night, he needed him.
There was so much he wanted to say to him; he wanted to tell him that losing him and Maudie had been almost as hard as losing his father. But instead, he watched silently as Gus poured him a cup of coffee, set it down in front of him, and pushed the plate of cookies across the table.
“If Maudie were here, she’d be telling you to eat one of those,” Gus said, a brief moment of sadness appearing on his face.
“I’m sorry about Maudie; it must be hard here without her,” he said, thinking of all the meals he’d eaten at that very table.
“It’s much too quiet, but I’m getting used to it,” Gus said. “She’d be glad to see you sitting at this table again.”
They were silent for a few minutes, then Derek jumped in. “I need your help, my mother...well, she’s gone too far this time, and I’m afraid the only way to stop her is to leave.”
Gus nodded. “I was afraid this day would come when I heard she got mixed up with that Reverend Roscoe,” he said. “That man is up to no good, and he’s got a lot of people helping him.”
“He’s got my mother convinced that I killed Prudence, that my shifter side lost control,” Derek said, almost not able to tell Gus the rest. “They want to burn crosses into my skin to drive the shifter out of me, and then they want to do it to Samuel.”
Gus sat back in his chair, clearly stunned. “I had no idea things were getting that bad,” he said, looking down at the table. “I should have been paying closer attention, but when I lost Maudie, well, things just went cloudy for a while.”
Derek reached across the table and put his hand over Gus’s. “It’s okay; I’m not sure you would have been able to do anything anyway. But I could use your help now. I need to go someplace where they can’t find me, at least for a little while until things calm down.”
Gus looked up at him, then got up from the table and left the room, leaving him sitting there wondering where he’d gone. But he was back in only a few minutes, a white business card in his hand. He set it down on the table in front of Derek, then got the coffee pot and refilled both of their cups.
He looked down at the card, which had only one word printed on it, then back at Gus. “Your father left that here right before he died; he said that someday you might need it.”
“I don’t understand. What does it mean?” Derek asked.
“Turn it over,” Gus instructed.
On the back was an address in Leadville, Colorado. “Serendipity is a place,” he said.
Gus nodded. “A very special place,” he said. “At least, that’s what your dad told me.”
He turned the card back over and stared at the word Serendipity. “Do you think my dad knew this was going to happen? Did he know that I’d need to escape someday?” he finally asked.
Gus sighed. “I don’t know; your father wasn’t himself toward the end,” he said.
“What do you mean? I thought his death was an accident?” Derek asked, his heart pounding in his chest.
***Lynette***
Lynette turned from the view spread out before her and mounted her horse, knowing that spring had just begun, and she’d have plenty of time to enjoy the mountains waking from their long winter sleep. But she still found herself lingering over the view and taking deep breaths of the fresh crisp air before turning and heading home.
She took the trail as quickly as she could, knowing that she was going to be late for dinner and dreading the lecture she’d get from her father later. But she’d been dreading this dinner for days, and as childish as it was, striking out this way felt good. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Tim—he was like a brother to her—but she just couldn’t imagine marrying him.
For years she’d known that someday, she’d marry him; it had all been arranged when they’d been nothing more than children. But now that the time had come for it to actually happen, she found herself reluctant to take the next step and announce their formal engagement. Her father had been pushing her for months, reminding her that she was already twenty-five, more than old enough to be married and starting a family. What he couldn’t understand was that she wasn’t ready for all that, didn’t know if she’d ever be ready.
It might have been different if she’d been in love with Tim, but no matter how hard she tried; she just couldn’t find those kinds of feelings for him. She couldn’t imagine her life without him; he’d been there for as long as she could remember, had been the first boy to kiss her, but she didn’t love him that way, and never would.
Things might have been simpler if he’d felt the same way, but she knew that he
was in love with her, had known it since that first kiss. He’d never pressed her, never pushed her, but she sensed it when they were together, even now after all these years. She didn’t want to break his heart, but it was becoming clear to her that there was no way she could marry him: it wouldn’t be fair to either one of them.
Heart heavy, she descended the mountain and headed for home, slipping into the dining room just as the food was put on the table. “Nice of you to join us,” her father said, a disapproving look on his face.
“I’m sorry. I went riding and I lost track of the time,” she said, telling only half a lie.
“Well, while you’ve been gone, Tim has been telling us about the progress they’ve made on his new house,” her father said, sending her a pleading look.
Lynette finally raised her eyes from the table and looked over at Tim, who was smiling and nodding. “We’ve finished the framing and will start on the roof next week,” he said.
She tried to look as excited as she should have been since Tim’s house would one day be her own. “That’s great. Things are moving fast.”
Tim studied her for a second, then said, “Summer doesn’t last long around here, and I’d like to be done by the time the first snow flies.”
She knew there was a deeper meaning in his words, could tell simply by the look on his face, and her stomach began to hurt when she thought of what she was going to have to do. But a broken heart could heal. A broken life lasts forever. It wouldn’t be fair to him to get married when she knew that she’d never love him the way he loved her.
Feeling more trapped than she ever felt before, she ate a few bites of her food, then said, “I don’t feel very well. I think I should go lay down.”
It was a cowardly thing to do, but she needed to escape before the subject of their engagement came up and she was forced to blurt out her decision in front of everyone. She needed to talk to Tim alone, let him down easy, then tell her father, who wouldn’t be happy but couldn’t force her to get married.
Her father shot her a suspicious look but said,” If you must.”
When she got to her room, she locked the door, then crossed over to the window seat and sat down. Outside the window, night had descended on Serendipity, and the stars shone brightly in the sky, the moon only a sliver in the blackness. It was just as beautiful as it always was, but she felt the old yearning for more, for new experiences and people. As much as she loved her home, she wanted to see the world, explore places she’d only read about.
It was a dream she’d been childishly holding onto, but she knew it was a dream that could never come true thanks to her responsibilities at Serendipity. Still, she had other dreams: dreams that she wasn’t ready to let go of; dreams of a life full of love. It didn’t seem too much to ask. If she was destined to spend her life in Serendipity, it should be with someone she loved.
A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts of romantic kisses in the moonlight and handsome strangers who would sweep her off her feet. “Come in,” she reluctantly called, the spell broken by reality.
She was expecting her mother, but her father was the one who poked his face in the door. “I just wanted to check on you,” he said, coming all the way into her room when he saw her in the window seat.
“I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have run away like that, but...” she trailed off. They’d had this discussion many times.
Her father lifted his hand to stop her. “I know what you’re going to say, and I’ve decided that you can have your way on this one. I’ve spoken to Tim, and the engagement won’t happen unless you want it to. If I can’t convince you that he’s the one for you, then maybe dating a few other men will help you see that.”
Lynette jumped to her feet and hugged her father. “Thank you, Daddy. I know you think you were doing the right thing, but I don’t love Tim that way,” she said, then hugged him again.
“We’re going to have to have a few rules about this dating thing though,” her father said, looking down at her sternly.
Chapter Two
***Derek***
Gus held up his hand. “I’m not saying it wasn’t, but the last time I saw your father, he seemed agitated,” he said. “He kept talking about changing his life, about moving away from here to a place where he’d found people just like him.”
“Serendipity?” Derek asked.
“He gave me that card right before he left that last time and said that if the day ever came that you needed a place where you could disappear for a while, I should give it to you,” Gus said.
Derek studied the card again, then flipped it over. “Colorado is a long way to go with just this to guide me,” he finally said, feeling exhaustion begin to claim him.
Gus got to his feet. “I think you need to get some sleep before you make any decisions,” he said. “Go climb in bed with Samuel; I’ll move your truck around back and into the barn.”
He did as Gus ordered, sure that he’d never be able to close his eyes and find sleep, but after only a few minutes, his eyes became heavy. When he woke as the sun began to rise, Samuel was curled up next to him, his even breathing a comfort in the early morning light. Making his way to the kitchen, his only thoughts of coffee, he jumped a little when he found Gus still awake and waiting for him.
“Did you stay up all night?” he asked, going to the coffee pot and filling a cup.
“Thought it might be safer if someone kept an eye out,” Gus said, getting up and stretching. “I’m going to grab a couple hours of sleep now.”
It hit Derek just then that he’d spent a good portion of his life without the one person who understood him. “Gus, thank you for everything,” he said.
Gus waved his hand in the air. “This has been more excitement than I’ve seen in decades,” he said. “Besides, your dad was my best friend, and I promised him I’d look after you. I haven’t done a very good job of that, but I’m here for you now.”
Derek felt a wave of comfort wash over him and wished there weren’t so many wasted years between them. Gus shuffled off to bed without another word, but for the first time in years, Derek didn’t feel so alone. But then he realized that he was going to have to leave Gus behind again, that he couldn’t stay here forever, and a wave of sadness washed over him.
He took his coffee to the table, sat down, and saw the white card still sitting in the middle of the table. Flipping it over again, he looked at the address and wondered what he’d find if he just got in the truck and drove there. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that it was his only choice at this point. There was no place else for him to go.
There were so many questions swirling around in his mind about his father, and what had obviously been a secret part of his life, that his brain felt overloaded. Knowing he needed a distraction, he decided to start breakfast, surprise Gus with a huge spread before he and Samuel had to leave. Picking up the card, he shoved it into his wallet, then began searching the kitchen for what he’d need to make breakfast.
When he had everything but the waffles ready, he padded quietly past Gus’s room and woke Samuel up, afraid that if he woke on his own, he’d be scared. “Morning, buddy,” he said, rubbing his son’s back. “Time for breakfast.”
Samuel opened his eyes, looked around the room, then asked, “Dad, where are we?”
Derek smiled at his son. “Never miss a thing, do you?” he asked. “We’re at an old friends house. I’m afraid your grandmother and I had a bit of a disagreement.”
His son digested that news, then asked, “Are we going to live here now?”
Derek ruffled his hair. “How about we have some breakfast before we talk about that,” he said.
“Okay,” Sam said, jumping out of bed. “I smell bacon.”
“And waffles,” Derek said, getting up from the bed.
He was surprised to find Gus sitting at the kitchen table when they walked through the door. “I hope we didn’t wake you,” Derek said, noticing the dark circles under his eyes.
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“It was the bacon that did it,” Gus said, then saw Sam. “Hi, there. I’m Gus, and you must be Sam. I’ve heard a lot of good things about you, young man.”
“I’ve never heard about you,” Sam said, just like the eight-year-old he was, and Derek cringed.
“That’s okay; we’ve got some time to get to know each other now,” Gus said. “I don’t know about you, but I love waffles.”
“With syrup,” Sam said, sliding into the seat next to Gus.
While Derek made waffles, he listened as Gus and Sam made an extensive list of all the foods they loved, smiling to see his son warming up to the man who’d once been so important to him. When he set the food down on the table and joined them, his heart was heavy. They’d just found Gus, and now they’d have to leave him. He waited until they’d both filled their plates and dug into the waffles before bringing it up.
“Gus, we’re going to have to leave right after breakfast. I wish we could stay longer, but I’m afraid we’re putting you in jeopardy too,” he said.
He waved his fork in the air. “Nonsense. They wouldn’t dare come looking for you here, but it won’t matter if they do, because in a few hours, we’ll all be gone.”
Derek wasn’t sure he understood him. “What?”
Gus grinned at him. “I’ve been thinking about it all night, and I’ve decided that I’m going with you.”
***Lynette***
Lynette paced back and forth in front of the lodge, waiting for Tim, wishing she hadn’t gotten there so early. The lodge had seemed like the perfect place to talk to him, but even the magic of the murals wasn’t helping, despite the hour she’d spent with them. They’d held their silence that evening; even the painting of her great-grandparents around the first campfire in Serendipity did little to soothe her frazzled nerves.
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