Dark Moon Falls: Volume 2

by Bella Roccaforte

  “Sounds wonderful,” he replied.

  “Don’t worry, I also put together a platter of cold roast beef and rolls in case you were really hungry,” she smirked.

  “Thank you,” he smiled back appreciatively.

  “I know Wolves like their red meat. Skylar has already started to develop quite a taste for it. She asks for it at every meal, but I try to temper it with poultry and fish,” she shrugged as if she were asking a question.

  Foster took that as an opening to talk about being a Wolf. He followed her inside the kitchen to the cozy little nook where she’d laid out a healthy looking breakfast. He breathed deeply allowing the different aromas of the food she’d prepared for him to tease and tantalize his senses.

  His chest filled with warmth and pride. Gratitude as well. She’d made this for him. It was sweet and simple, but also profound in a way he imagined most men took for granted. His Wolf grunted appreciatively and Foster sat down.

  He had to tell her. Everything. And soon.

  “That’s good,” he smiled, “but she may start to crave red meat even more as she gets older. We don’t metabolize fat and proteins quite the same as humans.”

  “Oh?”

  “Not at all. You see, Skylar won’t have to worry about clogged arteries or cholesterol. Her Wolf is primarily a carnivore. Meat is good for Shifters. Especially Wolf Shifters. It will keep her and her Wolf healthy and happy.”

  “Oh, well okay then,” nodded Lydia.

  She got the cutest little crease in her forehead as she took in what he was saying and he wanted nothing more than to lean forward and smooth her worries away. His chest tightened and his body throbbed. She was so beautiful. So caring. A good mother.

  Mine. Grrr.

  “I’m glad I didn’t make tuna,” she joked.

  “I like tuna,” he said and took the platter she offered.

  They sat and made sandwiches and talked a little about the town and the cabins. He was positively delighted by everything she did. Lydia was not only beautiful and enticing, she had a wonderful sense of humor and was often making little jokes and wisecracks.

  The minutes seemed to speed by as they sat and ate and talked. Really talked. When was the last time Foster had just sat with a woman and soaked in her beauty like this? The answer was a simple short never.

  He’d never cared about anyone the way he did Lydia. Never would. His Wolf snorted happily inside of him. The animal content to be near her.

  Fated mates were a blessing among his kind. A rare and sought out gift from the fates, or gods, or the universe depending on the Shifter’s belief system. Foster had never thought to find his own. Now that he had, the need to claim her superseded all else. Even his desire to clear his name. But he would. For them all.

  “You started your own business with an infant to take care of? That is pretty impressive.”

  “Thanks,” she said and he could hear the notes of pride in her voice, “I am good with computers and numbers and it just kind of fell together, I guess. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t luck really, I mean I worked my butt off to build a client list. Now I help individuals, families, and even small business from all over the world. The best part is I don’t have to leave the house to work. I can be here for Skylar twenty-four seven.”

  “Luck is fickle, and it’s important to have a good work ethic, you should be proud. You’re an amazing mother, Lydia. I don’t think anyone can deny that.”

  “Thank you. I try,” she said and he loved the way her cheeks turned pink under his gaze.

  “So, why did you come to Dark Moon Falls?” she asked.

  Foster paused for a second. This was it. The question he’d feared from her. Only looking into her large blue eyes, he didn’t feel afraid. He felt hopeful.

  “The truth is, I came here for the space and the quiet.”

  “Oh?”

  “A couple of years ago something happened and I got blamed,” he began, watching her closely to see her reaction. When she only looked concerned, he continued.

  “I’m here to clear my name.”

  “Clear your name? Were you in jail or something?” She joked.

  He saw the exact moment she realized what she’d said. Noted the exact point in time when the happiness faded from her brilliant baby blues.

  Fuck.

  “You really were in jail, weren’t you?”

  “Lydia,” he began, heart in throat, “Let me explain.”

  “Um, I think you need to go.”

  “Wait. Please.”

  “I have to run some errands in town before Skylar gets out of school. Thanks for coming by and everything.”

  Shit.

  “I’ll go for now, because you asked me to,” he said standing, willing her to look at him, but she kept her face turned away.

  Sadness struck him like a ton of bricks, he could hardly breathe for his Wolf howling inside of him. Anguish and agony crashing over him, but Foster fought back the tidal wave of emotion.

  He kept his outer self as calm as he could manage. Her feelings were all that mattered at the moment. It was important she felt safe with him.

  “I think we made a mistake here, Foster-”

  “Please don’t say that, not yet,” he began, wanting to stem the tide of unease that was drifting off her in waves.

  “Thank you for what you did with the fox and the yard and everything. I’m sorry I just can’t bring trouble into my baby’s life.”

  “I know that and I would never allow any of my past to affect either of you. I like you Lydia and I think you like me,” he tried again.

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said, “we’re just getting our lives settled. I’m sorry. I just think we need to move our separate ways before this attraction we feel gets any stronger,” her lower lip trembled and he felt like howling. He caused that slight tremor and the discomfort he saw in her eyes.

  Shit.

  “Lydia,” he said with one hand on the back door, “I want you to know I could never hurt you or Skylar. You mean everything to me. I know you don’t understand, but it’s true. You see, you’re my mate. I could never do anything to hurt you.”

  Chapter Six

  Lydia drove Skylar to school with a big smile plastered to her face. She tried to shield her child from her moods, but the child was beyond perceptive. Must have to do with her Shifter senses.

  “Bye, Mommy! Love you!” She called and ran out of the car to line up with the other children.

  Lydia waved and drove away as was the routine outside of the Pack school. Pick up and drop off lines were pretty smooth and efficient and left little room for crying children to try and wiggle out of going to school. It was neat and tidy and she appreciated that right then.

  Still, this wouldn’t do. She needed to snap out of this strange mood she’d been in ever since her breakfast with Foster. It had been four days since she’d seen him. Four days since she’d spoken to him. And yet she couldn’t get him out of her mind.

  What was she doing mooning over the sexy as hell Wolf Shifter with a dangerous past? Hadn’t she learned her lesson? Lydia knew better than most not to trust her physical responses to a man.

  Hadn’t her disastrous marriage taught her that? It was probably just hormones. Maybe she could find a man in one of those app thingies or try speed dating?

  Yeah right. She wasn’t interested in other men at all. Hadn’t even looked at a man since she’d been on the run from Mac. That is, not until she’d seen him in Delight’s Diner.

  How could the gorgeous Wolf just stand there and state that Lydia was his mate right there in her tiny kitchen and then walk out the door?

  Her heart had beat double time at his calmly delivered statement. From what she’d learned since, a Wolf’s mate was the most important thing in the world to him or her. But if that was true, why did he leave so easily? After making that claim, Foster had just upped and walked out the door. He never tried to touch or kiss her. And what’s more, she hadn’t seen hide nor hair
of him in days.

  Maybe he’d been mistaken. Maybe his Wolf was just suffering from a crush on the first female to talk to him after what was definitely a long, dry spell in jail.

  Jail! That reminded her how little she knew about him. He’d actually done time in prison. Lydia hated the way it made her feel to judge him without knowing the facts and she didn’t really want to, but what choice did she have?

  She couldn’t allow a man with his troubled past to come into her life now. Not when she was so close to giving her baby girl the life she deserved. Tears pricked her eyes. She felt as if her heart was breaking.

  She slammed her hands on the steering wheel. Why did she feel so strongly about him? Lydia couldn’t understand why he was affecting her this way.

  True, he was hot. Better looking than any man she’d ever seen. And yes, he’d been so careful with both her and her daughter in the brief time he’d spent with them both.

  When he had been in front of Skylar, he’d spoken to her in a direct manner. He didn’t use his charm or try to smooth talk the child. Foster had been honest, caring, and kind.

  Maybe she should just ask him about his past. Talk to him about why he’d been arrested and sentenced. Or maybe she should just forget about him. Concentrate on her business and her daughter.

  Dammit. Lydia should just accept the fact that she was just no good at relationships. She didn’t even know where to start. Her heart squeezed inside her chest until she felt like screaming.

  Why now? Why her? Hadn’t she learned her lesson with Mac?

  “That’s enough, Lydia,” she shook her head and scolded herself.

  It was high time she stopped thinking about all this. So what if some big, sexy man told her she belonged to him. Not like he did anything about it. He hadn’t even kissed her.

  Enough foolishness. She stopped at the store to grab some groceries and a few odds and ends. Her little girl was growing by the second and that meant plenty of high protein low-sugar snacks for her pup. Lydia had giggled when Skylar came home from school insisting, she call her a pup like the other Wolf Shifter kids.

  My pup, she thought as she added another pound of lean ground beef to her order. She packed up her car, then she made her way down the long, mostly deserted road back to her cabin.

  Her faded yellow compact bumped along at a reasonable speed and she wondered for the millionth time when she’d be able to replace the crappy vehicle. It served its purpose though and that was all she could hope for.

  Her mind wandered a bit as she neared their small cabin. An image of Foster and that close-cropped beard of his that she was dying to run her fingertips through popped in her head. He was just so darn handsome. Almost too good-looking. A man like that should come with a warning, she mused.

  There was little traffic on the main road, and absolutely none when she got to her street along the outskirts of town. Lydia was content in her little daydream like state. Imagining the man she couldn’t get a positive read on was becoming something of a hobby. One she needed to either confront or break.

  Enough, she sighed as she turned into her driveway. Something had her pressing the brakes hard just as she pulled in. Lydia gasped in shock. The bags of groceries that she’d piled into her car rolled off the backseat as they hit the faded, but clean carpeting inside the old vehicle.

  “What?” She yelled.

  There in her driveway sat a large, mangy looking Wolf. The animal seemed to be waiting for her. Fear ran up her spine, there was something familiar in the menacing yellow eyes that made her shiver.

  The Wolf was smaller than Foster’s, its coat not as thick or shiny. The way it cocked its head and stared frightened her more than anything else could have.

  This was no wild animal. It was a Wolf Shifter. But who was it? And why would it just sit and stare at her from her own driveway?

  The Wolf flashed his long fangs at her, drool dripping from them in a gruesome mimic of a smile that promised a hundred gory ways to be hurt or made dead. It stared at her for a beat longer, then vaulted off into the woods opposite her cabin. Eyes wide, Lydia sat in the car for who knows how long before she heard a knock on her window.

  She screamed, startled out of her trance. Warm, concerned gray eyes met hers. Suddenly, the man who seemed to be living inside her brain opened her door and gently eased her out of the car.

  “Lydia? Are you hurt? What happened? Is it Skylar?”

  “Oh God, Foster,” she said and took a shaky breath before meeting his gaze,

  Her nails dug into his forearms, but she couldn’t bring herself to let go. Her voice shook with fear as she whispered the one thing she was most afraid of to the only man in the world she felt safe with.

  “I think he found me.”

  Chapter Seven

  Foster spent most of the previous night and much of that morning on the trail of the crew that framed him. Those same rogue bastards that pulled off the heist and basically ruined his life were surely acting on behalf of some agenda.

  What that was, he had no idea. He’d exhausted all possibility that this was a personal vendetta. Foster was tired and full of anxiety, but none of that meant anything in the face of Lydia’s upset.

  He trembled with rage as he inhaled the strong slightly sour scent of fear coming off his mate. His Wolf demanded he go find the source of her upset and eliminate it, but he forced the animal back down. Lydia was pale as the full moon as she sat, shivering on the couch.

  She needed his attention now. The thought calmed the animal and he saved plotting revenge on whatever had frightened her for another time.

  He placed a mug of herbal tea on the table in front of her but she ignored it. Still too shook up and he wondered if he’d made a mistake leaving her for those first few moments alone. After locking her inside the cabin, he’d quickly checked the perimeter for signs of the intruder.

  She was correct. It was definitely a Wolf Shifter. Male, mid to late thirties, he was no one Foster knew from the Dark Moon Falls Pack, but there was something familiar about the stranger’s scent. Something that Foster couldn’t identify much to his frustration.

  Lydia hadn’t said a word after scrambling for the phone when she’d gotten inside the door. From what he could hear, she’d called the Pack School and spoke to Ms. Gibson who he surmised was the principal.

  From her harried tone, he guessed she was out of her mind with worry. The principal assured her Skylar was safe and sound with the other pups which allowed Lydia to breathe calmly once again. After hanging up however, she’d been somewhat catatonic.

  Worried beyond belief, Foster did the only thing he could think of short of pulling her onto his lap and kissing the color back in her face. Now was not the time. So, he brewed tea instead.

  He pushed the table gently out of the way and knelt in front of her so they were on eye level with one another. She was delightfully shorter than him by more than a foot. Petite and perfect. Just another thing he loved about her.

  “Lydia, look at me. You are safe. Skylar is safe. Talk to me so I know how to protect you.”

  Her big blue eyes brimmed over with tears and he lost all control. Slowly, carefully, Foster moved in closer. He took her face in his hands and lifted it to his.

  “Lydia,” he breathed her name and captured her lips with his own.

  The taste of apple blossoms exploded on his tongue and he found himself drowning in the sweetness of her kiss. His Wolf growled, wanting more of her, wanting it all. The beast wanted to sink his teeth and stake his claim.

  She moaned into his mouth. Her response immediate and stronger than he’d anticipated. Hell, he almost fell backwards as her arms came up and wrapped around him more tightly than he would’ve believed her capable of. His tiny little mate was strong, a woman of pure passion.

  Desire surged through his veins and Foster fought his beast for control. He explored her mouth with his tongue, moaning when hers met his stroke for stroke. Breathing like an Olympic runner, Foster deepened the kiss.
She was heaven in his arms and he never wanted to let go. But as Lydia pushed against his chest, he stopped the kiss immediately.

  “What, um,” she cleared her throat and met his stare, “what did you do?”

  “What?” It took a moment for oxygen to recharge his brain and as it did, realization dawned.

  “To get thrown in jail. What did you do?” She asked a second time. It was time for answers and now that he’d had a small taste of her precious lips, he was going to give them to her. His Wolf demanded it.

  “I was convicted of robbing an art gallery. The same gallery that owed me money for the sale of some of my work.”

  “I’m sorry, what? Your work? What do you do?”

  “I, uh,” he rubbed his face and sat back, “I’m an artist. A sculptor mainly. I go by the name Lupin in that world.”

  “Lupin! Oh my God, you’re famous! I saw your work at a museum in Phoenix. The Ballerina in Red. It was Skylar’s favorite,” she exclaimed.

  Foster felt his face heat up. He knew he’d been famous before the incident, but it almost embarrassed him to have her gush over his work.

  “It doesn’t matter now.”

  “Of course it matters. Your work is in museums, Foster. You’re famous and important-”

  “Not anymore. I’m just me, Lydia, just a man,” he said wanting to soothe away her discomfort.

  “You’re more than that,” she said with a small smile that lifted his heart.

  “Can we just talk a bit,” she hesitated.

  Foster did not want that. He wanted her to feel as if she could ask him anything. He rubbed her arms and nodded his head encouragingly. He could tell the exact moment she decided to plunge forward and he’d never felt such relief.

  “So, where were you in prison?” Lydia’s voice was barely a whisper but he heard her loud and clear.

  “Fangborn Correctional Camp. It’s a high security Shifter jail in Arizona,” tremors wracked his body as he said the name.

  The place was a certifiable hell hole. Originally built to keep Shifters and other supernaturals out of the general population in human prisons, it was so much more than that. A concentration camp for paranormals that the regular population would never hear about. A terrible, monstrous place. He wouldn’t speak of it. Not to her.