by Angel Nyx
Table of Contents
Title
Copyright
Foreword
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Other Books
About the Author
Radiant Violets
Book Four of the NOLA Shifter Series
Angel Nyx
Angel Nyx Publishing, LLC
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidences are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.
Copyright 2017 by Angel Nyx. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Angel Nyx Publishing
Cover design by Najla Qamber Designs
Foreword
The NOLA Shifters Series is set in the Louisiana Bayou. Many of the characters you will meet are Cajun. Their speech patterns reflect this. Too often, authors are leery of using a dialect that is specific to an area or to a group of people. I feel it would be an insult to anyone who is Cajun for me to make my characters Cajun while having them speak perfect English. I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into their world!
To all the survivors of sexual assault, you are not alone. I hear you and I believe you.
To all the single mothers out there raising their children alone, stay strong. You’ve got this!
Prologue
Fourteen was an awfully young age for someone to have to take on adult responsibilities. Casey Owens wasn’t given a choice. Her youth was taken from her the night her life irrevocably changed.
She was the quiet girl, the one who didn’t get invited to parties, and she was okay with that. She would rather spend her time taking photos of the woods and fields where she lived than going to parties and getting in trouble. Summer had just started and there was a huge end-of-school bash taking place out of town. She’d had no intention of going to it but one of her friends talked her into getting out of the house for a change. She figured it wouldn’t hurt and maybe she could snap a few discreet photographs for a collage.
“I’m sooo glad you decided to come, Casey,” Sarah said as she looped arms with her friend. They’d ridden to the lake, where the party was happening, with Sarah’s older brother, Ronnie. He was supposed to keep an eye on them, but Casey had the feeling he’d be abandoning them as soon as he could. He wasn’t going to play babysitter even if his parents expected him to. After all, what kind of trouble could they get into?
“I don’t know about this, Sarah,” Casey said, biting her lip. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”
“Oh, stop. You never get out and do anything, not really. It’s time you had some fun,” Sarah replied.
Casey rolled her eyes but let herself be dragged into the crowd. She’d heard all the tales about how you never accepted an already opened drink and never left your drink unattended, so she was sure she’d be fine.
“Having fun?”
Casey turned at the voice and blinked. Garret Michaels was the son of the town’s mayor. They had money out the wazoo and he always had a girl on his arm. That he was standing here in front of her, alone, was a bit of a shock. That he was talking to her was even more of a shock. “Um, I guess,” she finally replied.
“You guess? You don’t like parties? Is that why I’ve never seen you at any of the others?” Garret asked.
Casey blushed a little. “I’ve just never really been that interested in them,” she admitted. “I’m more of a homebody, according to my best friend.”
“You’ve been missing out, Casey.” He smirked when she looked startled at him knowing her name. “It’s not that big of a school and I make it a habit of knowing the names of all the hot girls,” he told her.
Casey snorted. “You must be drunk, or you need glasses, because hot is the one thing I know I’m not.”
He slid an arm around her shoulders. “I beg to differ.”
What Casey didn’t realize at the time was that he slipped something in the drink she was holding when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She soon felt a bit lightheaded and before she could register what was happening, Garret had led her away from the party. Despite the fact she was a shifter and he was human, she wasn’t strong enough to push him away, not with what he’d slipped her. The drug was so strong, it kept her inner wolf from coming out to protect her. Some time later Sarah found her where he’d left her, with her jeans tangled around her ankles and tears drying on her cheeks.
Casey tried to report the rape, she really did. How did one get justice in a small town when their rapist was the son of the very wealthy mayor? They didn’t. No charges were brought against him and while her life spiraled into one of depression, Garret went about his business like nothing had happened. When she realized she was pregnant, her parents tried to talk her into aborting it. She was too young to care for an infant, they said. She needed to think about her education, her dreams of going to college. Casey looked them both in the eye and, without hesitation, told them no. She would finish school from home, reverting to being homeschooled—really she’d taught herself since both her parents worked, and when her son was born would list the father as ‘Unknown’. If Garret ever wanted anything to do with her son, he would have to admit to what he’d done first, and she knew there was no way in hell he was going to admit to raping her. He’d sworn that he never had sex with her, that she’d hit on him and he’d turned her down.
If it wasn’t for the Pack, Casey knew she wouldn’t have made it through the months after the rape. She found solace in their coming together and she found someone she could really look up to and talk with in her Alpha’s daughter, Lily. Lily was only four years older than her, and when Casey had been at her lowest point, Lily had helped her through it. She had been there when her son, Jacob, came into this world, almost taking her out of it in the process. Lily had given Casey the strength to face the future regardless of how unsettling it was.
Chapter One
Casey
It was late afternoon, the sun was out, and Casey was curled up on her front porch with a cup of mint tea. Her parents had come by earlier, to take Jacob out for ice cream, to treat him for getting such good grades at school, and she was enjoying the moment of quiet. It was funny, if she thought about it, her parents being so proud of him. They’d tried to get her to abort the pregnancy because she was so young, and now they wouldn’t dream of Jacob not being in their lives. Sometimes she wondered if their love for Jacob would be different if he’d taken after his human father instead of after her. When a human and a shifter had children together, it was a 50/50 chance whether or not the child would be able to shift.
As she sat there sipping her tea, her mind kept going back to the conversation she’d had with Lily a few weeks ago. Her friend had hit the nail on the head when she’d said it couldn’t be eas
y living in the same small town as the man who’d raped her, knowing he’d gotten away with it. Not once had Garret acknowledged Jacob’s existence, even though he had Garret’s brown eyes instead of Casey’s blue ones. Not that Casey was surprised, in the least. Why would he acknowledge his son’s existence when he denied ever touching Casey in the first place?
Her life was there, in Slatefall, but what kind of a life was it? She didn’t go out; she didn’t date. She worked from home, for crying out loud. She worked as a medical transcriptionist; it was a job she could do remotely from anywhere as long as she had WiFi access. It wasn’t her passion, it didn’t make her happy the way her photography once did, but it was a paycheck. The more she thought about the offer Lily made for her and Jacob to move to New Orleans, the more she thought about her future and what she wanted out of life. What was keeping her in Montana? Sure, her parents were there, but was that reason enough for her to pass up the opportunity for something more?
When she heard her parents’ car turn onto the lane, leading to her home, she sighed and finished her cup of tea. She would have to talk with Jacob about the possibility of moving across country. She wasn’t going to just uproot their lives, which could be traumatic for a child, without giving her son the chance to have his say in it, too. “Someone looks like he really enjoyed his ice cream,” she said once Jacob had joined her on the porch. There was a chocolate stain on the front of his shirt.
“Sorry, Mama.” He gave her a sad-puppy-dog look.
Casey laughed softly. “Go on and change your shirt. I’ll soak it so the chocolate comes out.” When he was inside she turned to her parents. “Was everything okay?”
“Of course it was, sweetheart.”
Casey arched a brow at her mother. “Uh huh. That’s why you look on edge. Come on, Mom, I’m not a child anymore.”
“Your mother just doesn’t want to upset you. We bumped into Garret at the ice cream shop. I think he’s starting to see the resemblance to him in Jacob.”
Casey froze. “Did he say something?”
“He just asked where Jacob got his brown eyes from,” her mother hedged.
“Dad, tell me what he really said.”
“He said ‘Brown eyes. Must have gotten them from his dad since his mom’s eyes are blue.’ Then he moved to the counter and put in his order.”
Casey suppressed a shiver. No way in hell was she letting Garret anywhere near her son. “Thanks for taking him for ice cream. I know he enjoyed himself.”
“Casey, honey, you don’t have to thank us for doing things with our grandson. We love that little boy.”
“I know, Mom. Why don’t we get together this weekend for dinner?” By then she would have her decision made.
“Sure thing, sweetheart. This time I’m cooking. You and Jacob come on out to the house Saturday, whenever you feel like it.”
“All right, Mom.” She gave her parents both a hug and waited until they left to head inside. She found her son stretched out on the floor, drawing. She sat down next to him and looked at what he was drawing. “A lion? Why not a wolf?”
He shrugged. “I wanted to draw something different.”
She ruffled his hair a moment. “Hey, listen, little guy, I need to talk to you about something.”
“What’s wrong, Mama?” He put his colored pencils down and sat up to look at her.
Casey tugged him onto her lap and cuddled him. “Well, here’s the thing, squirt. A very good friend of mine invited us to New Orleans, and I was thinking about maybe moving there. But only if you want to move too. It would mean leaving your friends behind and making all new friends. And leaving Grandma and Grandpa. You’d only get to see them when they visit us or we come here for a visit.”
She watched her son chew on his lip as he thought about what she said. “If we moved, I could still talk to my friends, right? Like on the phone? And I can talk to Grandma and Grandpa, too?”
“Of course you could. You could call them every week if you wanted to. Every day, even.”
“What’s it like in New Orleans?”
“Well, why don’t you go get my laptop and we can look stuff up together so we can learn more about the city?”
“Yeah!” He hopped up and ran into her bedroom and brought her laptop back to her. They sat there on the floor together, looking at photos of New Orleans, and reading up about the city and the climate. “It doesn’t ever snow there.” He looked stunned.
“It’s way too far south for snow.”
He chewed on his lip more. “Could I come visit Grandma and Grandpa during Christmas break so I can play in the snow?”
“Of course, silly.” She tickled his side. “So, what do you think?”
“Let’s move!” He seemed excited about seeing a new place, one that, by all the photos they’d found, was very colorful.
“All right then. We’ll have to let Grandma and Grandpa know when we go to dinner this Saturday.” She knew her parents weren’t going to be happy about it, or at least, she didn’t think they would be, but she needed to do this for herself.
Saturday afternoon, Casey loaded her son up in her car and headed over to her parents’ home. The Pack was fairly spread out in their little corner of the world. Sure the area was shared with other Packs, but each territory was fairly large, which allowed Pack members to have some space of their own. She stopped in town at the store, to pick up a bottle of wine for dinner, and was approaching the register with it when a hand reached out and gripped her arm.
“What are you celebrating?”
She had to force down the shudder that threatened. “Get your hand off me.”
“Still as cold as ever, I see. Your son’s getting big. I’m surprised his eyes are such a dark brown. Must have gotten that from his father. At least he has your mop of blond curls.”
Casey narrowed her eyes at Garret. “Yes, my son is getting big,” she said and emphasized the word ‘my’. “As for cold, why would I be any other way toward you? I have to go.” She pulled free of his hand and ushered Jacob to the register. Garret really had a lot of nerve, acting like she should be happy to talk to him after what he did to her.
“You shouldn’t hold onto the past; it makes you a bitter person, Casey.”
She covered her son’s ears with her hands before she growled, “Go to hell.” Then she paid for her purchase and left.
“Mama? Who was that man? How come he upset you?”
They were in the car and on their way to her parents’ home when her son spoke up. “He’s just someone I went to school with. He was a bit of a jerk back then and I just don’t like him.” There was no way she was telling him the truth.
“I don’t like the way he feels.”
She glanced in the rearview mirror to see her son’s face. “What do you mean?”
“I dunno. He just feels…weird. He made my wolf want to growl.”
“Our wolves know when someone is a good person or not. You be sure to listen to what yours tells you when you meet new people.” If someone had given her that advice when she was younger, would she have listened when her wolf tried to tell her not to trust Garret that night? She would like to think she would have, but she was so young, so naive, she might have ignored the warnings because he was so popular and seemed like a good person.
“I will, Mama.”
She smiled at the surety in his voice. Her son was a spitfire, that was for sure. By the time they pulled up outside her parents’ home, her nerves were under control. She carried the wine inside while Jacob darted out to the backyard where the delicious aroma of cooking meat wafted on the breeze. Her father had the grill going.
“Hey, Mom.” She kissed her mother’s cheek and put the wine in the fridge to get it chilled. “So, guess who I ran into in town.”
“Who?”
“Garret. The bastard had the nerve to grab my arm and then act like the wounded party when I told him to get his hand off me.”
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
; “No, he was just…I think Dad’s right. He’s starting to see the resemblance between him and Jacob. He commented on his eyes to me, too.”
“That boy is a piece of work. After what he did to you, he has some nerve daring to touch you like that.”
“He’s the mayor’s son, and they’re wealthy; what do you expect? He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and he’s always had everything handed to him. He’s above the law in this little town, Mom. I learned that nine years ago.”
Her mother hugged her. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t drag all that up.”
“It’s fine. I can’t change what happened, and I wouldn’t have Jacob right now if it hadn’t, so something good came from it. Anyway, is there anything I can do to help get dinner ready?” She didn’t want to dredge up the past anymore than they already had.
“No, go on out back. Everything’s just about ready.”
“Okay.” She kissed her mother’s cheek and went out to watch her son help her father with the grill. “Be careful.”
“I am, Mama.” Jacob gave her a happy grin.
That grin warmed her. No, she wouldn’t change things because she wouldn’t have that precious little boy in her life otherwise.
Later, after the food was gone and they were sitting on the back porch, sipping wine, while Jacob played in the backyard, Casey cleared her throat. “I have something to tell you.” She looked at her parents before she continued, “A few weeks ago, Lily invited Jacob and I to New Orleans. To live. I’ve been thinking about it, a lot, and I talked it over with Jacob the other day. We’re taking her up on the offer. I need to get away from here. I don’t go out because I know I might run into Garret, and as much as I say I’m over it, it still shakes me up when I run into him. Like today at the store. I had to force myself to stay calm. We’ll visit, and Jacob will spend part of his Christmas break with you guys so he can play in the snow, but…I think this is the best thing for us.”