Authors: Bonnie Vanak
“Bang,” he said.
The crystals didn’t explode as the surge of power hit them. They evaporated, like raindrops beneath the hot sun.
Xavier blew on his finger as if it were a smoking gun.
“And I expected something more dramatic,” Tristan murmured.
The Crystal Wizard shrugged. “I’m in a hurry. Hot date.”
With a wave of his hands, he vanished into a puff of white smoke.
Tristan looked at her. He was tall. Forbidding. Dangerous. She slipped her hand into Raphael’s and her courage returned.
“And now what?” she asked Tristan.
The wizard seemed to ponder the question. “It is not finished yet, Jessica. But I have a few things that demand my attention first. I will return for you later. Meet me here at 6 o’clock sharp. I have something to give you.”
Oh dear. She didn’t know what he planned. Gathering her courage, she spoke in a strong voice. “Give me? Can’t you tell me now?”
“Jessica,” Raphael murmured, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
“I hate surprises. And anticipation. How about a clue? Give a girl a break, okay?”
The wizard gave a slow smile. “I assure you, you will know later.”
With a hand wave, Tristan vanished into a puff of black smoke.
Raphael looked around. “We should tell the others what happened.”
“And find Daniel. That poor kid must be terrified. It’s bad enough he thinks he’s a walking Magic 8 ball.” She tugged at Raphael’s hand. “Let’s take your truck. I bet I know where he is.”
They drove back to the main house. Alexa and J.J. were sitting on the porch, looking worried.
“I tried calling your cell,” J.J. told Raphael. “What the hell is going on? Daniel rode his bike back here, dumped it on the ground and ran into his room, looking like a demon was chasing him.”
Regret filled her. “A demon
was
chasing him—me. I have to talk to him.” She looked at Raphael.
“Go, Jessica. I will explain to J.J. what happened.” He kissed her, all emotion and passion, and she flung her arms around his neck, needing him, his strength. When they finally broke apart, the darkness haunting his gaze had vanished.
For good this time, she hoped.
Ignoring the stunned looks of Alexa and J.J., Jessica went inside the house. Alexa followed.
“Wait, please. Jess!”
Giving her best friend a guarded look, she stopped.
“You’re in love with Raphael,” Alexa said. “I knew it. Is this real? Are you sure you know what you’re doing? He’s so…intense.”
Bristling, she fisted her hands. “All I have is my instincts to guide me and they’re telling me Raphael is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I have a chance for real happiness with a guy who doesn’t treat me like a pariah, and respects and loves me, and if that makes you unhappy, sorry. I’ve been through hell and back and he pulled me out of it. And now he comes first. I’m not going to abandon him because you feel uncomfortable and if you do, you’ll have to learn to live with it.”
“Oh Jess.” Two fat tears slipped down Alexa’s cheeks. “I’m not judging you. I’m happy for you. I’m so sorry I’ve ignored you the whole time you’ve been here. You’ve always been there for me, no matter what, and when you needed me the most, I let you down and wasn’t there for you to confide in me. Can you forgive me?”
Her stomach pulled tight. Jessica’s mouth wobbled. “Forgive you? Alexa, there’s nothing to forgive. You’re my best friend. Sometimes life just pulls you in a different direction than what you think you want, and you have to grow up and accept.”
They hugged each other, and she felt the old camaraderie return.
Alexa wiped her eyes with the corner of her shirt. “Look at us. The two Lupines who never wanted to fall in love. What a mess we are.”
“The best kind of mess.” She hugged her again. “Go onto the porch. Raphael will explain everything. I’m going to talk with Daniel.”
“First door on the left, up the stairs. He always keeps it closed,” Alexa told her.
She knocked gently, and when there was no answer, opened the door. Daniel sat at his computer, staring at the screen. Sounds of lasers firing, and loud crashes and blasts, blasted from the twin speakers on the desktop.
“Hey,” she said softly.
He turned his head and gave her a wary look. Then he continued playing the game.
Jessica saw another chair by the window. She pulled it next to him and sat.
“I’m sorry I tried to hurt you, Daniel. That wasn’t me.”
No answer. He kept clicking the controls, using them to blast away meteors threatening the spaceship.
“Okay, I lied.”
That got his attention. He stopped and glanced at her.
“It
was
me. I thought that belt, which you told me was evil, would give me everything I ever wanted.” Jessica sucked down a deep breath. “I almost lost everything I’ve ever had.”
He set down the controls. “I don’t understand.”
“I wanted to find my own family so badly that I was willing to do anything, everything, regardless of hurting people. I thought only of myself. I’m sorry.”
Daniel blinked hard. “It’s okay. I wasn’t hurt.”
She touched his hand. “You and I are special, Daniel. There’s a bond between us. I know you feel like an outcast sometimes because of your gift.”
He stared down at the desk and when he finally looked up, tears shimmered in his eyes. He wiped them away with an angry fist. “Don’t call it that! It’s not a gift! I hate it. I hate being different, never fitting in. I just want to belong to a pack and then I have these stupid, weird fugues and say things that make people upset. Why? Why did this have to happen to me?”
“I don’t know why. All I know is sometimes we’re given special gifts. Maybe it’s a responsibility we don’t want, but we have to make use of these gifts as best as we can.”
Jessica tapped her temple. “You’re a precog. You can see the future, and warn people. I am the descendent of a crazed, powerful Lupine who went on an ego trip. Fortunately, I found out at the last minute that power isn’t as important as something else.”
Daniel stared solemnly at her. “What’s more important?”
She squeezed his hand. “Family. Friends. Pack. All of them. They’re the ones who will help teach you control your gifts. They’ll be there for you when it gets rough, if you let them. But it means reaching out and asking, not shutting yourself and hiding away with a computer game.”
He glanced at the screen. “It’s easier to deal with machines than people.”
“But machines can’t do this.” She opened her arms. “Come here, big guy.”
As he went into her arms, she hugged him tight. “You’re like me. Different. But different can be very good. You ever need me, kiddo, just call. I’ll never be that far away.”
When she released him, he looked at her with shining eyes. “Thanks Jessica.”
Grinning, she nodded at the computer. “Later. I still need you to show me a few tricks.”
As she pushed up from the chair and turned, she saw Raphael standing at the door. Jessica went into the hallway and joined him.
“You overheard all that?”
He nodded.
Damn, she wished he’d say something. All her feelings for him were steeped in such deep emotion. She felt like she’d been tossed around in a giant barrel and shaken. “And?”
Palming her cheek, he gazed into her eyes. And then she realized his own were shimmering with unshed tears. “You are one hell of an alpha Lupine, Jessica. You’d make a wonderful mother.”
She flung herself into his arms and kissed him hard.
When they pulled away, he cupped her cheek and studied her face. “You have a kind heart, Jessica. You brought Daniel back to the light. And myself as well. I felt myself slipping into darkness until you barged into my life.”
She sputtered. “Barged?!”
“Like a locomotive.” He grinned. “Or a steamroller.”
“Roll right over you. Watch out, Raphael. I’m trouble.”
“That you are.”
Laughing, they walked downstairs, arms around each other.
Chapter 18
Just before six o’clock, she and Raphael drove to the rodeo arena and stood near the bleachers, awaiting Tristan.
Raphael shook his head. “He’s usually late. Don’t get your hopes up. We may be here for a while.”
“Always late? You underestimate me, Raphael,” a deep voice spoke from the shadows.
They sprang to their feet, looking around. Perched above them on the top bleacher, the Silver Wizard tapped his fingers upon his bended knee.
Then he snapped his fingers, and materialized next to them. Jessica jumped and Raphael slid an arm around her waist. “Steady,” he murmured.
Tristan studied her. “I won’t waste words, Jessica. Or keep you on tether hooks any longer. You gave the belt to Xavier of your own free will. It was yours to keep or surrender. For this, you will be rewarded. I will grant you one wish. Just one. Anything you want, and I will grant it.”
Instead of punishment, she had one wish. She could have power. A pack of her own to rule over. Jewels, clothing, riches, all the things she’d longed for her whole life after nothing but hand-me-downs.
And then she looked at Raphael, and she realized those riches meant nothing. She whispered into Tristan’s ear.
The wizard’s severe expression softened. “Excellent.”
Tristan strode over to Raphael, clapped a strong hand on his shoulder. Raphael yelled, and shuddered.
“It is done,” the wizard said in a deep voice.
Raphael looked startled, and then drew off his shirt. He reached behind him, feeling the flesh on his back. “They’re gone.”
Immense joy filled her as she traced the strong, thick muscles dividing his back. His
unmarked
back.
Looking uncertain, Raphael replaced his shirt. “That was your wish? Jess, you could have had everything in the world.”
Emotion clogged her throat. She flexed her fingers. “Everything in the world is nothing, knowing you still hurt deep inside. You once told me how much it pained you to look in the mirror because every time you did, you saw only the past.”
“Jessica.” His voice thickened. “Thank you. You’ve given me a future. I’ll never look back again.”
As he kissed her, Tristan sighed. “Please. Get a room.”
They broke the kiss, and the Silver Wizard nodded. “Go, Raphael. Find those who once lived in your pack, and lead them once more.”
Overwhelmed with gratitude, she ran up to the powerful wizard and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
Tristan blinked. She halfway expected him to scowl or say something sarcastic. Instead he smiled at her. A genuine smile.
“You’re welcome. You’ll make a good mate for him, Jessica.”
Snapping his fingers, the wizard vanished.
Jessica flung her arms around Raphael’s waist. “I guess he ordered you to mate with me.”
“No one orders me to mate.” Raphael raised her hand to his mouth. “Jessica, will you be mine? I love you, my sweet Jess. You belong to me. I vow I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy.”
“I’ve never belonged to anyone, or anywhere. All my life I’ve stuck out like a…redhead. I’ve been alone so long.”
Raphael smoothed back the errant strands of hair from her face. “You are not all alone, little Red. You have me. And I’ve been lonely, too.”
He pressed a gentle finger to her mouth. “You can be alone among a pack of hundreds of your fellow Lupines. I have truly been alone…and walked a lonely path…until I met you. And then…”
Jessica waited.
His voice broke. “You are not my lover. You are my heart, and gods damn it, I didn’t want this, didn’t want you, but now that we’ve found each other, I’ll fight to the death to keep you, and wipe away every tear you cry, and never give you a reason to weep, if you will be my mate.”
Jessica stared up at him, hope fluttering in her chest. “You truly mean this?”
He nodded, and pressed his forehead against hers. Lupines craved touch, and she was no different.
Even though she was.
“With every breath in my body, I mean this. I didn’t want to love you, Jessica. I wanted to remain alone, celibate, fighting for a cause that kept me alive through pain and long years of waiting. But you came along and your laughter, your spirit, your smile, turned me from a wolf to a man who recognized his soul mate, his lifelong companion. And my need for you shattered my need for revenge.”
He kissed her, so gently and softly, she almost imagined his warm, firm lips upon hers. And then Raphael caressed her damp cheeks with his thumbs, and smiled down at her.
This was no dream. It was real, and she wanted to cling to the moment with both hands, clutching it for as long as it would remain in her palms, until it floated away like a soap bubble, gently riding the wind.
She opened her eyes, her heart filled with joy. “Yes.”
“Yes, what?” he teased.
“Yes, I will be your mate.” Jessica mock-punched his bicep. She turned to face him, filled with such happiness, she felt ready to burst.