by Anna Lowe
“Believe me, this was a surprise to me too.”
“One of the pearls of desire?” Silas asked quietly.
She gulped, touching the middle pearl. “I never suspected. But yes, I believe it is.”
“It has to be. Look,” Jenna said, motioning around.
Every pearl shone as if lit from within, and faint beams of light crisscrossed the table, connecting the pearls.
“A pearl of what?” Cal stared.
“One of the pearls of desire,” Anjali explained. “I can’t believe you’ve had the last one all along.”
“I can’t believe it either,” Cynthia assured her. “It’s never done this before.”
“I’ve felt mine lots of times, but it’s never given me as much power as it did this time,” Jenna murmured, touching her pearl. “Like it knew everything was on the line.”
Hailey nodded somberly, as did the other women. Cynthia took a deep breath, thinking how close it had all been. She never would have been able to hold off Moira’s guards as long as she had without the power of the pearl. She held it higher, fascinated by the crisscrossing bands of light that connected her pearl to the others’. Never had she felt more like a sister to the other women, nor so grateful to be part of such a special pack.
“It’s like the legend says,” Anjali added in a hush. “Nanalani, daughter of the shark shifter king, called forth the spirit of the sea to put a spell on her pearls so she could experience love.”
“Desire, baby. The word is desire,” Dell joked.
“Love,” Anjali insisted.
“Passion,” Tim said, smiling at Hailey.
“Yearning,” Chase whispered, pulling Sophie into a hug.
“True love.” Cynthia looked at Cal, feeling like her heart might burst from joy. Then she looked around at the others, and a new thought struck her. Maybe it wasn’t just Cal she’d been wishing for, but a feeling of belonging. The desire for friends and family that came without strings attached.
Got all that — and more, her dragon whispered. A nice, safe home. A pack to belong to, not just to rule.
It was amazing, how so many treasures could rain down on a woman at one time.
“True love,” Anjali agreed, giving Dell a stern look. “Eventually, Nanalani threw her pearls back into the sea where they would wait to be reawakened and inspire great acts of love again.” She laced her fingers through Dell’s, tilted her head against the baby’s, and sighed. “Just like the legend says.”
“The question is, what stirred it now?” Silas mused.
Anjali chuckled. “Isn’t it obvious? After all, it is a pearl of desire…”
She stressed the last word, and the women flashed knowing smiles. Most of the men, on the other hand, looked stumped.
Cynthia blushed crimson and glanced at Cal, who appeared totally blank.
“I don’t get it,” Dell said.
Anjali rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t it make sense that a pearl of desire would awaken when its bearer felt…well, desire?” She shot Cynthia a sorry-not-sorry look. “I mean, when she gets a second chance at true love?”
Cynthia’s mouth hung open. “How did you know?”
She glanced at each woman in turn. How did any of them know? She thought back, sure she’d never allowed herself to mention Cal.
Anjali flashed a smile. “Call it intuition.”
Dell rubbed his hands together. “Well, well, Cynth. I can see us getting a lot of mileage out of this.”
“Don’t you dare,” she said dryly.
“Mileage out of what?” Joey asked.
“Um…um…” Dell hemmed and hawed, a moment Cynthia might have enjoyed immensely if she hadn’t been worried about what he might say.
“Mr. O’Roarke is teasing me for being in love,” she explained before Dell gave away anything else.
Being in love, not falling in love, she said into Cal’s mind.
Falling in love all over again, he replied.
“Oh.” Joey looked at her, then at Cal. Cynthia held her breath. What would he say? A moment later, Joey shrugged and turned to Dell. “Are we having dessert soon?”
Cynthia stared. Could it really be that easy for her son to accept a new man in her life?
Dell stood with a huge grin. “Good plan. Come and help me bring it over from the kitchen, will you?”
Joey stood, as did Sophie. “I’ll get the coffee.”
Anjali smiled as they left, then motioned to Cynthia’s pearls. “Where did you get that necklace in the first place?”
“This was a gift from my mother.” Cynthia touched the warm, smooth surface of the central pearl, wondering if her mother had known what that really was. She doubted it, though.
“And where did she get it?” Anjali asked. “Was your mother ever in Hawaii, where the pearls got their power?”
Cynthia pursed her lips, thinking of the legend of Nanalani, who had imbued the pearls with her magic.
“No, she was never here. My mother got them from her mother. But where my grandmother got these pearls, I don’t know.” She thought back, picturing the ivory jewelry box her grandmother had kept in her bedroom. “My granddad would pick something out from his treasure hoard once in a while as a special gift for her.” Then she winced, realizing how that must sound.
Sure enough, Cal snorted. “Treasure hoard, huh? My grandfather had a junkyard.”
Tim laughed. “Never know where you might find a real treasure, you know.” He looked in Hailey’s direction, and his eyes shone with love. “I found mine in a mall.”
“On a plane,” Connor murmured, looking at Jenna.
“At a smoothie truck,” Chase whispered, looking as giddy as he’d been the day he’d met Sophie.
Cynthia couldn’t help getting a little dreamy-eyed herself, and she murmured, “On the side of the road at night.”
Cal rubbed his thumb over her hand, and for a moment, the world faded away until it was just the two of them gazing into each other’s eyes exactly as they had so long ago on a quiet Adirondack country road. She could almost hear the leaves rustle and feel the crisp autumn air.
But then someone cried out in glee, yanking her out of her reverie.
“No way. You picked this guy up on the side of the road?” Dell laughed, prancing up behind her with a stack of dessert plates. “Did that bike of his break down? Do tell, Cynth.”
She grinned. “I was the one with the broken-down car. Cal was the one who picked me up.”
Picked you up… Laid you down… Made you mine, Cal whispered into her mind, making her go all warm and achy again.
Luckily, Dell made a second run to the house, and Hailey leaned forward, pointing to Cynthia’s pearl. “Funny, I always thought it was white, but it’s tinted with blue now.”
Cynthia nodded. “That started happening a little while ago.”
“When Cal got here?” Anjali asked.
“No, a few weeks before.” She looked at Cal, who was studying the pearl.
“About the time I left the East Coast to find you,” he mused.
She stared at him, then at the pearl, which seemed to wink as if to say, Yes, I already knew.
“What does blue in a pearl symbolize?” Jenna asked.
Cynthia opened her mouth, about to explain. But then the meaning struck her — really struck her, and the words stalled out on the tip of her tongue. When Cal squeezed her hand, checking if she was okay, she got herself back together again.
“My mother told me blue means you will find love,” she whispered, looking at her mate.
Cal’s lips curled up. “Found that a long time ago.”
Briefly, the sorrow of the past years threatened to well up again, so it was a good thing Dell, Joey, and Sophie came back.
“Coffee, anyone?” Sophie asked.
The rich aroma wafted around the room, and everyone shot a hand up.
“Plus, we’ve got a mango tiramisu and a pineapple upside-down cake,” Dell said.
“I helped make
them,” Joey announced.
Everyone oohed and aahed, but Dell just waved away the praise and pointed outside the wide-open doors. “More importantly, check that out.”
Everyone turned, but no one noticed a thing. No one but Cynthia, whose eyes caught on Cal’s motorcycle, parked over in one corner. Her pink scarf was still tied to the handlebars in a gritty reminder of the past. God, she’d been so young when she’d given it to him. But even if she’d known about the struggles to come, she wouldn’t have changed a thing. Not now that all her pain and sorrow had led to enduring joy.
But she doubted Dell meant that, so she searched beyond the Triumph for some clue.
“What?” Connor demanded.
Dell shushed him. “Listen.”
Everyone strained for a moment, but there was nothing — nothing out of the ordinary, at least.
Dell cracked into a grin. “Yep — nothing. Isn’t it beautiful? No enemies swooping out of the sky. No sounds of intruders. Just peace. Real peace.”
Everyone listened in a whole new way, and Tim nodded gravely.
“Wow. You’re right. Peace like never before.”
“And the best part is, it’s here to stay,” Dell added.
“Well, we still have to keep an eye out for trouble,” Connor said, but even he sounded a little dreamy.
Cynthia looked around, fully prepared for a shiver of foreboding to run down her spine. But Dell was right. The world seemed at peace in a way she’d never sensed before.
“You can never really be sure,” Cal murmured, rubbing a hand absently over his ribs. “But with Moira out of the picture…”
Silas made a face. “And Kravik.” He shook his head. “All this time, we were focused on Moira. I never thought Kravik would join her to launch an all-out attack.”
“Who exactly was this Kravik guy?” Connor asked.
Silas’s face darkened. “The head of a dragon clan I’ve heard rumors about for quite some time. Old blood, but bad blood, if you know what I mean. They left Europe — or were driven out — about a year ago, looking to establish a new shifter empire.” Silas’s eyes locked on Cal’s. “Mr. Zydler, we owe you more than we can ever repay.”
Cynthia watched Cal meet Silas’s gaze. His face gave nothing away, but she could see pride shine in her mate’s eyes.
“The prophecy,” she whispered without thinking.
“What prophecy?” Hailey asked.
Cal winced, and Cynthia did too. She hadn’t meant to share his secret, even if he’d always refused to believe in it.
But Silas spoke before either of them could. “A prophecy of a warrior who would come out of nowhere and accomplish great things.” His eyes never left Cal. “A warrior who would extinguish overwhelming evil and herald in a new era of peace in the shifter world.”
Cal shrugged. “Oh, you know. Old wives’ tales.”
“I think not, Mr. Zydler,” Silas insisted. “I think not.”
For a moment, no one said anything, and Cynthia’s heart swelled. Cal had always been an outsider, but at heart, he was a powerful alpha. The type of man born to live a life among highly accomplished shifters, not to roam on his own. She looked around, squeezing his hand. Yes, Cal would fit in perfectly here. Then she searched his eyes. Would he agree to that?
Cal cleared his throat and looked around. “The thing is, I was getting a little tired of the dragon-slayer gig.”
Silas crooked an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
Cal nodded. “Yeah. Honestly, I was thinking of settling down.” He glanced around, and though his voice was all casual, his hand tightened around Cynthia’s. “And I got to thinking that Maui might suit me. For a while, at least.”
Silas turned to the others. “Any objections?”
Everyone broke into wide grins, and Connor spoke for them all. “No. Not as long as you stay on our side, man.”
Cal laughed and jerked a thumb at Cynthia. “No problem. Not as long as you stay on her good side.”
“I don’t know.” Tim rubbed a hand over his beard. “It’s kind of handy, having a dragon slayer around.” The nod he shot at Cal was one of pure respect. “What about the rest of Kravik’s clan?”
Silas shook his head firmly. “My contacts on the mainland report that his associates are beating a quick retreat back to Europe.”
“Good,” Connor grunted. “Let them stay there. I just hope there are enough reliable shifters over there to keep them under control.”
A secret smile played over Silas’s lips. “From what I hear…” He broke off, leaving that mystery for another time. “But we digress.” He reached for his glass, raised it in Cynthia’s direction, and grinned. “I have a proposal, Ms. Baird.”
She glanced up, having ducked her head to loop her necklace around her neck again.
“Yes, Mr. Llewellyn?”
“Seeing as we’ve had several new members join our group lately…” Silas waved his glass toward Cal then to Sophie and the others. “I feel it’s time to reorganize how we run things here.”
Cynthia sat perfectly still, dreading the worst.
“There’s the matter of a certain property I own on Maui,” Silas went on. “A plantation I’m quite fond of. But my uncle left me so many properties…”
Jenna’s eyes went wide. “No way, Silas. You can’t sell this place.”
His smile grew, though everyone else looked shocked. “Of course, I can. Though I would only sell to someone who would take better care of it than I can. Ms. Baird, what do you think?”
Cynthia stared. Was he proposing she buy Koakea from him? But how? The place was worth millions, and she didn’t have a cent.
Then her inner dragon puzzled it out. With Moira eliminated, Joey is safe. You don’t have to hide your identity any more.
She smacked a hand over her mouth. “My inheritance.” She could step forth and claim her full inheritance—
Silas grinned. “And Barnaby’s. And Moira’s. After all, you’re the last of both family lines.”
Everyone stared. Dell smacked her on the back. “Holy crap, Cynth. Are you rich?
She blinked a few times. “I suppose you could say that.”
A hubbub broke out as everyone reacted to the news, but Cynthia could barely move. Eventually, she pulled Joey into her lap, hugging him and Cal at the same time.
“An inheritance is all well and good,” she whispered. “But truthfully, I have all the riches I need.”
Cal wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the head. “That’s what I love about you. Well, one of many things.”
Cynthia closed her eyes and listened to the steady beat of his heart while her fingers played over the soft strands of Joey’s hair. She was lucky. So, so lucky, and a huge inheritance was the least of that. Still, the thought was thrilling, because it meant she could stay on Koakea forever. Not only that, but she could take care of her new pack the way she’d always wanted to.
Finally, she collected herself and raised her glass in reply. “Mr. Llewellyn, I accept. But only if everyone agrees.”
Connor snorted. “It’s your money, you know.”
She shook her head. “It’s our pack. So, what do you think? The deed might have a different name on it, but everything remains the same. Well, mostly the same.” She smiled, cozying up to Cal.
“Works for me,” Connor announced.
Dell hooted. Tim and Chase exchanged high fives. Anjali and Sophie hugged each other, then rushed over to hug Cynthia.
“I can’t believe it.”
“This is amazing.”
“It is amazing,” Dell added. “Do I get a raise, Cynth?”
She pinned him with her best stare, but he just laughed.
“Okay, okay,” he gave in. “I’ll settle for dessert. Anyone else?”
Cynthia laughed along with everyone else but didn’t raise her hand. Resting against Cal’s chest had given her dragon all kinds of bad ideas, and suddenly, she was burning for her mate. Cal’s eyes were glowing with the first hin
t of desire as well, and when Joey slid out of her lap to accept a plate of tiramisu…
“I’d love dessert, but…um…” Cynthia fumbled with her napkin.
Cal stood, putting a hand on his side. “I’d love some, but my ribs are killing me.”
Cynthia nearly snorted when he pulled her up with his usual rock-hard power. Dell’s eyes flashed with his latest, greatest line — a tease he held back, thank goodness.
“You must be exhausted.” Anjali tut-tutted, shooing Cal away. “Cynthia, you’d better go along in case he needs a hand.”
Cynthia stood, and Cal slid a hand over her rear, out of sight of the others. “I definitely need a hand. Or two.”
Cynthia followed him, trying not to blush. “Well, if you insist…”
“Don’t worry. We’ll bring Joey over in an hour,” Hailey called.
“Or two.” Anjali winked.
Cynthia turned away, keeping nice and close to Cal, feeling his body heat rise. Yes, an hour or two would be nice.
“Thanks for dinner,” Cal called.
As eager as she was for a little private time with her mate, Cynthia paused at the barn door and turned back. Everyone hid his or her smile, knowing exactly what she and Cal were up to. But there was one more thing she had to say.
“Thank you.” She gripped the doorframe with one hand and Cal with the other. “For everything.”
The smiles grew broader, and Connor spoke on everyone’s behalf. “You’re welcome. Now, get out of here and take care of your mate.”
Oh, she planned to, all right.
I sure do, her dragon said in a sultry whisper, pulling her mate out into the night. The fresh air didn’t do a thing to cool her passion, and the stars — bright, happy, uncountable — all seemed to cheer her on. She and Cal barely made it around the corner before crashing into a huge, hungry kiss. Her hands flew over his body as the pearl warmed against her skin. His fingers threaded into her hair, holding her like he never planned to let go.
That’s because I never will, he murmured into her mind. Never, ever again.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Three weeks later…
“Like this?” Joey asked, wiping a wrench with a greasy rag.