“You were supposed to be cut up and sent to the ferals as hostage to get Mason to rescue you,” he said, his breathing labored. “He was supposed to die, Ava, and I was going to be Alpha. You could have been my female if you’d played your cards right but I arrive and you’re mated to that bastard? You disgust me.”
His words were ice cold and he was still moving forward.
“You’re working with the ferals?” she whispered, the truth hitting her like a stone dropping into the pit of her stomach. “You’ve been working with them the whole time?”
Tanner gave her a slight shrug, like he was discussing his preference of coffee flavors, not betraying his pack and his very race.
“Only enough to get me the Pueblo pack back,” he said. “But you and your mate fucked it up and now you’re both just going to have to die.”
He said it as he launched himself forward at her, claws and fangs extended. Ava reacted quickly enough to duck underneath him as he was airborne and at that exact moment, she let her wolf take charge, springing to the surface in a mass of gorgeous white fur, sharp claws, and devastating teeth.
The wolf turned on the attacker and wasted no time in jumping at them. Tanner immediately shifted into a large sable and white wolf with a black spot on the side of its coat and launched at the smaller white female wolf, getting its teeth solidly into the smaller wolf’s shoulder.
The sable wolf shook the smaller wolf ferociously, hoping to snap its neck, but it simply used its small size to quickly shake free and launch its own attack at the sable wolf’s vulnerable throat. She had a good grip but the bigger wolf was moving her backwards and pushing her over, causing her jaws to lose a bit of grip.
From the right side, a giant black wolf suddenly leapt over the porch railing and collided into the sable wolf, sending all three sprawling into a heap.
Teeth and claws ripped and tore as Ava shifted back to her human form and threw what remained of her clothes on as her mate and Tanner’s wolves fought to the death.
It didn’t take long for Pax’s black wolf to rip the throat out of the weaker sable wolf. With a whine, he padded over to Ava with his bloody snout and knocked her backwards on her behind as it checked her for injuries.
“I’m fine,” she whispered, shaking. “Shift back for me, Pax. Let me see if you’re okay, too.”
On cue, the fur and the claws rippled and Pax appeared crouched before her, whole and safely in one piece.
The battle was over soon after and the entire Zion pack, as well as Omar, Pax, and Ava regrouped after taking showers and dealing with the dead and injured.
None of the Zion wolves were seriously hurt, thank goodness, and the ferals that had come to support Tanner had lost four shifters. A few were seriously injured and the Zion Beta, Anise, had taken them offsite for questioning with her sentinels.
That left Ava and Pax with Harrison and the newly arrived Silver Pine Alpha.
“Now’s as good a time as ever to start the discussions, I suppose,” Harrison said as they sat at the table. It wasn’t ideal, but after Mason had been alerted, he’d insisted on being in on the conference call to offer his own apologies for his double-crossing Beta.
She could hear in Mason’s voice the heartbreak at Tanner’s betrayal and it would probably take a long time for him to trust anyone again. Mason had a long road ahead of him as the work of an Alpha was never done and didn’t stop for personal tragedies.
That afternoon, the deals were done, the handshakes were delivered, and a new agreement had been forged and sent via email to Mason.
They were shaken, but eager to get back to Pueblo lands, so Omar drove Pax and Ava through the rest of the day and into the night until they arrived back at Ava’s home.
She showed her new mate around and introduced him to everyone. Mason had been told ahead of time (by Tanner, no less) that Ava and Pax had mated, so it wasn’t a complete shock to him. Sure, he had some reservations about the boy who broke his sister’s heart returning as the man who claimed her for the entire world to know, but Mason knew Ava and her heart.
They’d just settled into her apartment for a few days when he was stretched out on the bed. Despite looking comfortable, she could tell there was something going on with him.
“You miss your pack, don’t you?”
He looked surprised at her question but didn’t answer right away.
“I’m happy being Beta there,” he said. “But you’re my priority now. And if you’re happy here, then I can be happy here, too. All I want is you.”
It was such a sweet sentiment. Pax truly believed that the key to making Ava happy was to give her anything he thought she wanted. But even she knew that wasn’t the key to long-term happiness.
“I’ll be honest right now,” she said, sitting on the edge of the bed, running her hand up and down his leg. “I have work with my brother that I want to finish. Work that I will finish. But I want a new life with you, too, and I think there’s good work for me to do up north. So, if you’re willing to be a little flexible over the next few months and travel with me while I finish this up, I’d be willing to transfer packs and be a Canyon wolf with you.”
Pax was silent as he pushed himself up to a seated position and stared at Ava. What was he thinking? His expression was so guarded. Did she push too far? Maybe he didn’t want to include her in his affairs up north. She had no idea what to make of his reaction until he crawled across the bed to her.
“This means the world to me, baby. I’m going to spend the rest of my life making you happy, Ava Carrigan.”
She laughed at the name.
“Montclair,” she corrected him.
“Not for long,” he responded as his mouth snaked over hers and his large palm squeezed a breast on top of her shirt. “Marry me, Ava. Let’s do the whole thing. A mating ceremony. A civil ceremony. All of it.”
She pulled back enough to study his face. He was serious. Emotions that she’d kept bottled for so long slowly began to bubble up. Here it was--everything she’d ever wanted and wrapped in a nice Pax Carrigan-shaped bow.
“Took you long enough to ask me,” she said as Pax kissed her for everything she was worth.
Chapter Twelve
Ava
“Stop thinking, baby,” Pax slid his hand over hers as they reclined in matching beach loungers in a tiny seaside resort town in Costa Rica. “It’s our honeymoon and there’s nothing back in Colorado that you need to solve right now.”
She pushed her sunglasses to her head and smiled at her new husband. Gods, but he was gorgeous. Tanned, muscled, and raw--the same Pax she’d always known and loved and now he was her mate and her husband.
The wedding had been almost a month ago and they’d spent the entire time travelling the world. They’d been to Korea, Japan, Thailand, Portugal and were now making their way through South America.
When they’d left, Ava had gotten the majority of packs to agree to work together against the rising feral threat. Redemption had been relatively quiet following the attack on the Zion lands, but they all knew that meant they were just regrouping.
“What if she’s hurt?”
Anise, the Zion Beta, hadn’t been heard from in almost a week after leaving to talk to a pack down toward Phoenix. She’d checked in with her Alpha Harrison when she arrived, but she’d somehow disappeared overnight after settling into her hotel room.
The majority of the Western Packs had sent shifters down to Phoenix to help search for Anise, but so far nothing.
“They’ll call you as soon as they hear something,” Pax said, trying to soothe her. She was, after all, almost four months pregnant.
Just as she’d promised, the two of them had been very busy those first few months together with all the meetings, negotiations, and long, passionate nights of reacquainting themselves with one another. Shifter pregnancies weren’t exactly rare, but theirs was definitely faster than most. Ava looked at it as a blessing and the universe’s way for helping them make up for lost tim
e.
And Pax? He was beyond himself with joy at the prospect of becoming a father and had moved up their wedding plans as soon as the pregnancy was confirmed. It was a boy they were expecting and Ava was over the moon.
“I know,” she said, responding to Pax’s earlier statement about Anise.
“Let someone else carry the worry for a little while, love,” he said gently. “Let me love you and let yourself relax a little.”
He was right. And he was fine, too, she mused to herself as she admired the rippling muscles on his flat stomach. She was worried that her changing body would be hard for him to accept, but if anything, carrying his child had made him even more insatiable when it came to lovemaking. And she wasn’t complaining, either.
“Relax a little, huh?” she teased. “Think you might know of anything that could take my mind off this worry?”
He caught the tone in her voice and was on his feet and in action within a heartbeat.
“Damn right I do,” he said as he bent and picked her up in his arms, carrying her the short distance to their beach cabana for a little privacy.
The sound of Ava’s laughter floated on the breeze and across the water as the two of them disappeared behind the straw door of their private hut.
*****
THE END
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About Jasmine Wylder
Jasmine Wylder is a Real Estate Agent by day and an emerging Paranormal Romance Author & Adventurer by night. Hailing from California, her passion for sultry stories, steamy scenes, and all-things romance began early on and it has stayed with her ever since.
When she isn’t creating captivating storylines, Jasmine loves spending time in the great outdoors, practicing yoga, painting, and treating herself to fine cuisine. She is also an avid animal lover (dogs in particular) and is the proud owner of a Husky named Luna and a Yorkie named Anya.
Whether it’s out-of-this-world love (literally), dragon shifters setting your heart ablaze, or unquenchable vampiric desire, Jasmine has you covered!
Currently, Jasmine is in the midst of crafting paranormal romances and tries to escape to the countryside every so often to get the full writer’s experience.
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Jasmine’s Other Books
Tornado
(Savage Brotherhood MC, Book 1)
Description
A curvy panther shifter plus a bad-ass alpha wolf plus an evil vampire equal one action packed and hot MC shifter romance.
Jackson
My name is Jackson, better known as Tornado, leader of the Savage Brotherhood MC.
For those who don’t know yet, my club means everything to me. It is my family. My home. My Shelter.
So, you better not get between me and my brothers or you’ll get to know my inner wolf. Well, one exception allowed. If you are a hot chick with curves in all the right places. Just got to know Ava last night. Let me tell you, never experienced anything similar before.
But I cannot be distracted. Our club has a mission most people don’t know about, and I better not mess up for the sake of humankind.
Ava
Well done, Ava, well done. Pregnant by a man I barely know and don’t even like. I don’t know why I’m always drawn to the wrong guys. I mean, there is literally no chance that the leader of the local chapter of a motorcycle gang, a criminal empire, will take care of his unborn child. And I don’t even know if I want him to take care of it.
But suddenly Ava becomes the focus of a powerful vampire. A vampire preying on shifters and humans alike. No questions asked, Jackson has to save her and neutralize the vampire threat once and for all. They’ve messed with the Brotherhood far too long already.
Ava hides her pregnancy and denies her feelings for Jackson, not knowing that she will have to open up to him in order to survive the vampire threat. Even risking both her life and her heart for a man she seems to butt heads with at every turn.
The Dragon’s Secret Baby
(Dragon Secrets Series, Book 1)
Description
I'm not pregnant, am I? How is this possible…I’m still a virgin.
Curvy archaeologist Dominique can’t believe her luck; she just uncovered an ancient Dragon egg! But she’s not the only one with her eyes on the prize. All of the Dragon clans of the area want to stake their claim. Especially that hot ass, annoying Virdi who sticks to her side like glue. Unfortunately, if she wants to stay safe, she needs Virdi’s help.
Emperor of the world—that´s what Virdi is determined for, and he doesn´t care what he has to do to see it happen. Luring women out into the forest is just one occupation on his mind. But now, Dominique with her luscious body and the egg…maybe he can have both, pleasure and power at the same time.
But the risk is growing; the Dragons are after the egg and Dominique, to fulfill a prophecy the world hasn´t seen for centuries no matter what the costs.
Virdi has to risk it all to keep Dominique and that little secret growing in her belly safe. Will they make it, or will it all break apart?
The Dragon’s Secret Bride
(Dragon Secrets Series, Book 2)
Description
He has sworn it. He has to protect the future emperor. No distractions allowed, no matter what. But fate has other plans.
Sizzling hot dragon shifter Bryant Chandler knows his determination. His mate is long gone and he has no plans to find another. Now he has sworn to protect the baby who will one day rule them all. No questions asked. But the day luscious Esther put her bounteous virgin curves in close proximity to him, all bets were off.
Esther Doran, an archeologist, has her own problems. She can’t find anybody to fund her dream dig, and is starting to think that life just doesn’t want to see her happy. Until she meets that hot dragon guard Bryant Chandler and sparks fly immediately.
And then, one drunken night ends with them being married.
Who cares if he’s the most delicious, gorgeous man she’d ever set eyes on? Love wasn’t in the plan.
But when Bryant's rival finds out about Esther and decides that she's the best way to take Bryant down, the two are forced together once more. And when a sexy dragon is the only thing standing between her and death, passions might just reach the boiling point.
The Dragon’s Secret Prize
(Dragon Secrets Series, Book 3)
Description
Kidnapped by an illegal fighting ring. Paraded as a prize. What else can go wrong?
This is the first dig on which Kayla Tucker is part of the ‘command staff’ and she is determined nothing is going to go wrong. This archeologist has plans for her future, and nothing is going to stand in her way.
No man.
No love affair.
No distraction, at all.
But then everything turns out differently.
Navy SEAL Shane Freeman has always wanted to serve his country. Unfortunately, when it was discovered that he was a dragon shifter, he was discharged at once.
F*** it! No way back.
This hard decision would tear anybody apart…but not him…it’s quite the contrary…it makes him stronger.
Coming back as the CEO of his own company, he finally can donate money to worthy causes and help people that way. And the fact that he’s funding Kayla’s dig? Well, that’s just coincidence, right?
When Shane learns that Kayla is in trouble, hi
s Navy SEAL protector instincts are on fire. He’ll stop at nothing to save her. There is no way he’s going to let some slimy person win her in a fight that she had no say in.
He wants her to be his own. Even though he’d have to fight for her again and again and again…
The Dragon’s Secret Son
(Dragon Secrets Series, Book 4)
Description
He just left her high and dry…and pregnant.
Bernie is over him. Completely, irrevocably over him.
What was she thinking when she let Tyler seduce her on the jobsite a year ago? She must have been blinded by all those tattoos and muscles.
And now, all she has left from their passionate affair is her greatest sorrow and her greatest joy.
Tyler Freeman’s family is his motorcycle club. No questions asked. Once upon a time, Tyler was certain that Bernie was the one for him. Beautiful, curvy, and intelligent, she was everything he wanted in his mate. But those times are long gone.
Unfortunately, he forgot about one thing. Mates aren’t chosen, they’re destined.
When Bernie gets abducted by her own father and sold at auction to cover his debts, Tyler has no choice. He has to fight for her, and release his dragon’s fury. Not only for her sake, but also for their child.
The Dragon’s Secret Queen
(Dragon Secrets Series, Book 5)
Description
Broke, in debt, cursed, and now someone is after her. What else could go wrong?
Life never has been kind to Polly Shields. Hard work doesn’t pay the bills anymore. She feels like she’s swimming against an oncoming tide. She is tired. Why do things always fall apart just when it seems they are coming together. It’s like she’s cursed. It’s better not to start something with her handsome neighbor, Gilbert. It probably wouldn’t last long anyway.
Rocky Mountain Shifters: Complete Series Box Set Page 28