Fated Magic (The Wolf Pack) (20 page)

Love of a Shifter Series Book Two

by Bryce Evans

River drove further into Colorado wondering what she was going to do now.  She had thought about going to one of the ski lodges seeking some type of work.  She could waitress, cook, or clean.  River knew she would do just about anything for a roof over her head and food to eat.  The money she had when she ran was just about out.  She had used most of it for gas and the motel she rented for the night three days ago.  She had been sleeping in her car since she left the motel.  She didn’t want to take the chance of someone following her home to Mary’s so she left the restaurant with the money she had in her purse and what Mary had given her before she left.  The rest of her money was locked inside Mary’s house.  

She was starving too.  Her stomach felt like it was eating her insides out.  River went days without eating, saving the money for gas.  She had learned to drink a lot of water in order to make her stomach believe it was full.  She learned early on in life that being hungry kept you going.  She was a fighter and knew how to do without.  With very little clothing and keepsakes, River disciplined herself to pack light, because material things only slowed you down.  She kept traveling from town to town knowing she was going to have to leave again.  A friend was something she couldn’t afford. 

Her entire life had been a hard road for River.  Living in an orphanage in New York City at the age of four taught you to do without and keep your head down.  However, she didn’t always manage to stay out of trouble.  She ran away numerous times because of the beatings and how they treated her and the others.  They used a belt at the orphanage to discipline the kids.  At least that was what they called it—“discipline”.  River called it abuse, and how nobody reported those people she never understood why.  River tried to repress most of those terrible times she got the beatings, but the nightmares would always bring them back.  She lived there for two years then she was shipped off to another orphanage in New Mexico where she lived until she was sixteen years old.  Finally, she ran away living off the streets, working odd jobs just to stay alive.  Her special gifts kept her out of trouble for the majority of her younger years, until she turned twenty-five years old. 

That’s when she met him.

Paddock Reed was the best-looking man she had ever seen.  He had those bad boy looks River craved in a man.  He came in the restaurant she worked at every night asking for her to be his waitress.  He tipped big and flirted with her all the time.  That should have said something to her.  She knew nothing was free in life.  Everyone wanted something from you.  He seemed to be a rich man and he was acting as if she was the best thing since sliced bread.  Clue number one.  She thought she was in love with Paddock until the night he revealed his true self to her. 

River shivered as she remembered that terrible night she had agreed to meet Paddock at his house.  He lived in a huge mansion across town.  The mansion had twenty acres of trees hiding it from the public eye.  Clue number two.  River found out soon enough why he lived so far out away from other people. 

She was excited because Paddock had told her he wanted to talk to her about something important that would change her life forever.  River knew she was stupid and immature.  But those stupid fairytale dreams girls had pulled her into his web of terror.  Clue number three.  Who would want to marry her? 

She lived too much in those romance books she read.  Little did she know her life was going to change again and romance had nothing to do with it. 

When River pulled up in Paddock’s driveway, she looked out the passenger side window with her mouth open.  The house looked haunted to her.  The eye-like windows appeared to be looking at her.  Grim images flooded her mind as she looked up at the house.  Death was what she had seen and felt as she walked up the porch and knocked on the door.  Clue number four.  Instincts were what she should have used, but River was too young and dreamy-eyed to take heed to her own gut feelings.

Paddock met her at the door with a gluten smile as he welcomed her into the living room area.  Looking around, she could tell the house was gloomy and out of date.  The lights were dimmed and the room looked out of the sixteen hundreds.  She remembered the way her skin crawled as he touched her.  Never had she felt such death in a room before.  Her mind and body were telling her to get out of the house, but her stupidity and romantic fantasy she created wouldn’t allow her to leave.

“I guess you’re wondering why I called you here tonight?”  River nodded, as she smiled up at Paddock who came to sit beside her.

“You see, River, I can smell you and it calls to me.  You will stay here with me.”

River remembered how naive she was.  She actually thought he was talking about how he loved her not that he wanted to suck her blood and make her his play toy that he could drain every night.  The demanding voice he used should have made her get up and run out the door, but NO, she had to lose every bit of sense God gave her.  Clue number five.

She muttered, “You want me to move in here with you?” 

Vampires Among Us Book Two

By Alice Brown

Everything looked deserted when they pulled up in the driveway, but Marshall had an eerie feeling that the house was more dangerous than it appeared.  “Keep your eyes and ears open, guys.  I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” he warned his teammates.

Kevin came across the earpiece immediately.  “What’s going on, Marshall?”

“I’m not sure; it’s just a feeling I have.  I think we are being watched.”  He chuckled lightly.  “Hell, we haven’t even made it to the front door yet.” 

The three men hopped out of the truck and started up the sidewalk toward the house.  Kevin came back on the earpiece to state that backup was on its way, just in case it was needed.

“Thanks,” Marshall replied as he reached for the door handle and opened the door.  The team fanned out to scan the room, and saw an old, torn up couch with a couple of punks sitting on it.  Another punk, evidently the leader of this little gang of misfits, was sitting in a torn up recliner with a sawed-off, double-barreled shotgun pointed at the ceiling. 

“Who the hell are you?” the man with the gun demanded.

“What’s it to you?” Tom replied, obviously not in the mood to deal with these lowlifes, but rather wanting to get packed up and out of there.  The one with the gun casually stood and walked over to the team, acting as if it was his home and he had every right to be there. 

“I don’t know who you three are, but you are on our turf now, dude!”  He snorted and spat on the floor.  “Now, I believe I asked you first.”  The man with the gun suddenly jammed the shotgun under Tom’s chin.  As if to emphasize that he was the boss, he continued, “Who the hell are you, and what are you doing here?”

The team really wasn’t worried about these three misfits; there was no chance they knew they were picking a fight with three vampires.  Tom was patiently waiting for Marshall, who was in charge of the mission, to issue the order that they could kill these idiots.

One second Tom was standing beside the guy with a gun jammed up under his chin, the next second he watched with disbelieving eyes as the barrel of the shotgun was bent, making the gun harmless.  It was then that Marshall knew who their backup was. 
Stephanie
. 

“What the fu…?”  The leader stared at his gun as if it had suddenly grown legs.  He took a step back and threw the gun over to the other side of the room.  A calculating look in his eyes, he addressed Tom, “So, do we have a magician in the group?”  He was trying to regain some control over the situation. 
Yeah, this guy must have done some magic to make that gun turn at such an odd angle; that is the only reasonable explanation.
 

Marshall sighed loudly, out of patience.  He was here to get a job done, and that’s what his team was going to do.  Moving so fast that the leader never even saw him move, Marshall wrapped his hand around the guy’s throat and lifted him off the floor, leaving him dangling a few inches.

“I assume you were expecting Enrico,” Marshall stated, listening to the man gasp as he tried to breathe. 

One of the punks still sitting on the couch spoke up.  “Yeah, man, he owes a lot of money.  What, did he send you ‘cause he’s too chicken to come himself?”

“Enrico is in jail,” Tom answered the guy sitting on the couch.

“Where’s the girl?” choked the man Marshall was holding off the floor.

Marshall’s temper flared.  He squeezed the man’s neck a little harder to let him know he meant business.  Marshall would have already given the order to kill all three of these punks, except the paperwork was such a headache.  The council demanded full documentation whenever a human was killed during an assignment, and this would be three times the usual amount, and they just weren’t worth the work. 

Marshall glared at the gasping man before answering his question.  “Safe, and that’s all you need to know.”  Then, furious because he had the audacity to ask about the little girl at all, Marshall followed up by tossing him across the room.  He landed in a heap between his buddies on the couch. 

Marshall pointed to the man he had just thrown across the room.  “You will never go near the little girl or the woman again.  Am I clear?  Because let me show you what you will be facing next.”  Fairly sure Stephanie was still around, Marshall hoped and prayed she would not let him down.  He found he was holding his breath as he directed the room’s attention to a seemingly empty corner.  Seconds later, Stephanie came to her beloved Marshall’s rescue and displayed an image of the hideous monster that she had turned into last night for her father and Marshall.  She took a step toward the bug-eyed, gaping men cowering on the couch.  Even Marshall had to admit that if he hadn’t known who was doing this, he would have been a bit shaken up.  With her red eyes blazing and what appeared to be steam coming from her nostrils every few seconds, she was enough to scare even non-believers. 

Marshall took a menacing step toward the three sitting on the couch.  “Do I make myself clear?” he repeated.  Three heads nodded in confirmation.  “I don’t care what Enrico owed you or what business you have with him.  It’s over.  He’s in jail, and he’s going to be deported when he’s released.  You have until the count of three to get out of this house, or you won’t live to tell about it.”

The two that had been sitting on the couch didn’t even wait for orders from their leader.  They scurried off the couch, but one of them leaned down to retrieve the gun that had been thrown on the floor.  Stephanie, still in monster form, lunged for him.  “Leave that gun right where it is,” Marshall stated calmly.  The guy looked up at Marshall, eyed Stephanie briefly, and then took off following his buddy.  The leader of the group had also made it to the door, and the two men jostled for position for a moment before they both made it out the door and ran down the street.

Tom and Alec looked a bit nervous with the monster still in the room, and Marshall decided to have a bit of fun.  He walked over to stand in front of her.  “Thanks, sweetie.”  He watched both of his teammates’ jaws drop to the ground.  The Stephanie-creature blew Marshall a kiss in return.  Marshall chuckled—leave it to his girl to find some comedy in an otherwise serious situation.  She disappeared, but it took another ten seconds for Tom and Alec to find their tongues. 

“Who—or what—was that?” Tom asked, once he was sure he could speak. 

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