by Kele Moon
Shattered
Nightwind Pack Book 2
Laurann Dohner
Kele Moon
Copyright © 2019 by Laurann Dohner and Kele Moon
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Editor: Kelli Collins
Cover Artist: Dar Albert
ISBN: 978-1-73421-090-3
This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Prologue
The Past
It was the sound that drew Amber Daniels from her hideout beneath the massive roots of a tree near her house. Not the loud screech of brakes, but rather, the horrible thump after it.
In seconds, tires squealed again, and the engine roared louder before the car sped away. Amber set her doll down carefully on her sweater to avoid Molly getting dirty and climbed out of her secret spot. She darted fearful glances around to make sure her stepdad wasn’t within sight and crept toward the backwoods road.
It was empty as usual, but a soft whining noise had her turning away from the street and searching through the thick brush next to it. She instantly spotted the puppy lying there, panting heavily. His black fur appeared wet and she knew, even at six years old, what had happened. He’d been struck by a car, and she could tell he was very injured. The person had just taken off and left him to die.
“Oh no,” she whispered.
She wasn’t sure why she knew it was a puppy when this black dog was easily as big as a hunting hound. He had huge paws, as if he hadn’t grown into them yet and a cute, pet-able look of a pup that made her want to reach out and touch him.
He whined again and lifted his head. Big, bright blue eyes locked on her. She moved forward and dropped to her knees next to him, knowing it was a bad idea to approach a wild dog.
Amber decided puppies were okay.
“I’m with you,” she crooned softly, knowing he would probably die from how badly he bled. She reached out and gently touched his hind leg that didn’t appear hurt. She brushed her fingertips through his soft black fur, hoping to soothe him. “Don’t be afraid. I’d never hurt you.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, blinding her when the puppy dropped his head and let out another pained whine. She inched closer to stroke his head but was sure to be careful of his big jaws. She knew now why this puppy was so huge. He wasn’t a dog, but a wolf. She’d seen the wild wolves come out of the woods a few times. Usually her stepdad fired off one of his shotguns to scare them away, muttering about how dangerous they were, but this one didn’t seem mean. Her gaze lingered on his side when she saw how labored his breathing had become.
“I could get my mommy.” She petted the top of his head. “Maybe she could help. I don’t want you to die. She’s a grown-up and probably knows what to do to save you.”
It happened fast. The thick black fur on his head turned into something thinner and silkier. The pup’s body changed. His fur receded.
In a few blinks, a boy lay curled on his side, naked and covered in blood by his hip and rib area.
“Don’t,” he whispered. “Please? I’ll heal.”
Amber’s mouth opened but nothing came out. The boy appeared to be about nine years old. He turned his head to look at her and his eyes were the same stunning blue as a human as they’d been in wolf form. Her fingers were entangled in his shoulder-length hair. She’d never seen a boy with such long hair, but then, she’d never seen a wolf turn into a boy, either.
“Please don’t tell anyone,” he rasped while Amber tried to find her voice. “They’ll either kill me or lock me up inside a cage to study me.”
She knew he told her the truth, that he was different, and she didn’t want anyone to hurt him. “You need help,” she finally whispered.
“I’m different from you. I’ll heal. I just need time.”
“Are you sure?” She doubted it when her gaze darted to the blood on his side.
“I’m sure.” He sounded confident despite the quiver of pain in his voice. “Please don’t tell anyone.”
She glanced back to his face, mesmerized by those intense eyes. “I swear I won’t. What can I do? I have water.”
“Ams?” The male voice came from the woods behind her.
Fear spread through her, and she could tell from the look on the injured boy’s face that he was scared, too. Amber bit her lip. “That’s my stepdad. He can’t find you. If I help you, do you think you can walk just right over there?” She pointed to her tree. “I have a hiding place. He won’t find us there. He hasn’t found me yet.”
The boy let her assist him to his feet, leaning on her heavily, being sure to keep his injured side away from her. He was really heavy and so much taller than her. He limped, and it slowed them down, but they reached the dying tree.
“Right there.” She gestured to her hiding spot. “There’s a big hole hidden between the roots and I’ve been digging out the space under it since I was little. The bushes in front keep it hidden. There’s water and some of my things inside. He won’t find us.”
“Ams? Where the hell are you?” Her stepdad sounded closer, louder and angrier. “I don’t got all day to look for your dumb ass.”
Amber stepped around the bushes, exposing the hole between the roots, and helped him crawl inside. Once she sat down, she turned to face the boy who was curled on his side again. She avoided looking at his body as much as she could, since she didn’t want to embarrass him. She would be so scared if she found herself naked in front of a stranger. She used a blanket to cover him from thigh to hip, hiding his backside. Then grabbed her sweater from the corner and rolled it up to put under his head.
“Ams, you little pain in the ass! Where the hell are you?”
The wolf-boy looked at her, eyes almost too bright in the semi-darkness, but now he seemed more curious than scared. “Your name is Ams?”
“Amber,” she said automatically, like she was in school. “What’s your name?”
“Desmon, but, um—” He swallowed hard. “My friends call me Des.”
She poured some water into one of the tea cups she played with and held it up to his lips. He drank and then lay his head down. She hesitated before running her fingers through his long, silky hair again. Sometimes, when she was sick, her mom did that for her and it made her feel a little better.
“Goddamn it, I’m going to blister your ass if you don’t come out!” Her stepdad’s voice came from farther away. “Don’t test me, brat! It’ll make the belt you got last week look like a tap!”
Desmon glanced worriedly toward the covered opening to her hideout. “You should go before he calls the police and they hunt for you.”
She shook her head. “He won’t do that. He grows plants I’m not supposed to tell anyone about, and the police would find them. I hide a lot, but I’ll go home when he’s sober.”
The boy frowned. “Sober?”
“He drinks.” She looked away from him, feeling embarrassed. “I broke something and he’s mad. I’ll stay here tonight, and he’ll forget in the morning. He usually does.”
They stared at each other, before Desmon warned her, “If you ever tell anyone what you saw, they will hunt me.”
She stopped combing her f
ingers through his hair. “I give you my ultimate pinkie promise that I’ll never tell anyone in my whole life about you, Des. I don’t want anyone to hurt you. You’re nice.”
“I just need to rest. I’ll get better. Stay with me.” Desmon relaxed and closed his eyes. “Talk to me.”
She stroked his hair again. “What grade are you in?”
“Grade?” His tone was heavier, like he was already falling asleep.
“For school? How old are you?”
“Six.” He pulled the blanket up tighter around him. “No school, but we have classes. Hunting classes. Tracking classes.”
Amber had thought he was much older, like nine, but knowing he was her age was nice because she didn’t have any friends in her grade. Even if he was the biggest six-year-old she’d ever met, she still liked him. Too bad he couldn’t go to school with her since he seemed to live nearby.
“You don’t do math?” Amber was sort of jealous. “Or reading?”
“My mom teaches us math. She makes us read too.” Desmon didn’t sound too excited about it. “Pups in Goodwin don’t have to read, but Nightwinds do—all the time, every day. They make fun of us.”
“Kids make fun of me too,” she admitted softly, but she wasn’t sure if he heard her because his hand dropped to his side.
Amber felt his chest. He was still breathing.
Desmon slept.
It grew darker, colder, and Amber curled up against him to keep warm. She feared he had a fever when she realized how hot his skin felt compared to hers.
She didn’t have any friends. Maybe he could stay with her and she could sneak him food, and he could start going to real school with her to stay away from the mean kids who teased him.
She drifted to sleep—and discovered him gone in the morning when she woke up.
She was alone…again.
Two days later, completely healed, a huge black wolf pup with blue eyes showed up to play with her.
She never told anyone about Desmon.
Almost Ten Years Later
“Amber?”
She cringed, huddling in the small space hidden between the massive tree roots. They had worked to expand their hideout over the years by digging it out more, but it was still a little too small. Her long blonde hair fell over her face when she dropped her head.
In seconds, the bushes rustled and Desmon climbed into the tight space. He bumped her shoulder in a playful, wolf-like gesture.
She winced but bit her lip rather than let him know how sore she was. “Hi.” She refused to look at him.
“Sorry I’m late.” He held out a handful of wildflowers. “Are you mad?”
“No. They’re beautiful.” She took the bouquet with her good hand and smelled them. She liked the little nature gifts Desmon always brought her. “Thank you.”
“I can’t stay long.” He sighed. “It’s my birthday.”
“I know.” She set the flowers down, reached into her lap and lifted the present she had wrapped for him. “Did you really think I’d forget you turning sixteen?”
“A gift?” He sounded stunned. “You didn’t have to do this.”
She peeked at him in the dim light glimmering between the strands of hair she was hiding behind. “I know you said you were going to be real busy today but I’m glad you made it.”
He reached out and squeezed her hand. “I always keep my promises to you.”
“I know you do.” Amber stared at her small hand in his larger one and her heart ached. She wasn’t sure when it had happened, but Desmon had become everything to her. He was the one shining light in her bleak life, but she didn’t get to see him much. He said his people, the ones like him, wouldn’t allow him to be around full humans. He rarely got the chance to sneak away to see her, now that he was older and they had given him more duties after his father died. “I wanted to bake you a cake, but―”
“It’s all right.” He tore open the packaging—and then paused, staring at her gift. “Ams, I can’t accept this. It’s too much.”
A human boy might think the gift was stupid, but Desmon was different. She got the impression that, like her family, his people didn’t have much. Or more likely, didn’t need much. He was never interested in the latest video games or cool cars like the boys she went to school with.
She bit her lip again. “You can’t refuse a gift I made just for you.”
“You’re so talented.” He caressed the delicate carving of a wolf that looked amazingly similar to Desmon in his changed form. “This must have taken you weeks to do.”
Months, but she didn’t correct him. It was the best piece she’d ever created, and it had cost her more than time. Her stepdad had found it and wanted to sell it for booze to one of the shops in town. When she’d snatched it back from him, he’d started beating on her, trying to pry it from her fingers because she refused to let it go.
She had bruises, but she’d gotten away with Desmon’s wolf.
“It’s from a piece of the root of this tree, to make it extra special.”
Desmon reached for her hand, took it and lifted her fingers to his lips. He brushed a kiss there. “Thank you.”
“I wanted you to have something to remind you of me when we’re apart.”
“You’re always with me in my thoughts.” His voice turned a little gruff, inhumanly so, and she’d noticed it had started happening more often in the past few months. He closed his eyes and admitted, “I think about you all the time.”
She smiled, her heart warming. “I wish you were allowed to go into town, so I could accidentally run into you sometimes.”
“We’re not permitted to mingle with humans. We allow a few to live near our land to keep us hidden from bigger developers, but we aren’t supposed to talk to them.”
“I know.” She tried not to complain. She’d never tell him how bleak her life really was, but she couldn’t help but confess, “I just miss you.”
“When you hit maturity…” He paused, as if he’d said something he shouldn’t.
Amber’s heart rate sped up. She knew that word translated into adulthood in Desmon speak. “Yes?”
He tightened his big hand over hers.
“I want you, Amber,” he said with a growl, his voice dropping to a deep and husky tone that sent a shiver over her body. “I can’t stop thinking about it.”
She turned to him, forgetting why she’d been hiding her cheek. “How?”
Desmon dropped her hand and suddenly had her face cradled in his calloused palms. She stared into his startling eyes, surprised to see fury reflected in the sapphire orbs. Even the shape of them physically changed, making him seem more animalistic despite being in human form.
“Who did this to you?”
She blinked back hot tears, because the bruises weren’t new. The rest, however
“How do you want me, Des? Are you talking about sex?”
He studied her, his eyes still making him look primal, his voice completely inhuman as he demanded, “Who hit you, Amber? Your stepfather? I’ll tear him apart for touching my mate!”
His mate.
Those words shot straight to her heart. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
Desmon’s chest rose and fell with harsh, panting breaths as he asked again, “Is he the one who struck you?”
She reached up, wincing as she moved her shoulder and gripped his hands with hers. “I’m fine. I tripped,” she lied. “I didn’t want to ruin your birthday by letting you see me this way.”
“Don’t protect him.” His eyes changed even more as he spoke, and his canine teeth grew longer in his mouth. “He doesn’t deserve it.”
“You’re losing your human face.”
“He’s lucky I have a human face at all.” His voice was still a growl of fury. “I should be ripping his throat out right now. If he were one of my people, he’d already be dead. I don’t like males who abuse women, especially my woman. No one is allowed to hurt you, Amber, you’re the one nice part of my life. I’d kill f
or you in a heartbeat.”
She wasn’t afraid of the confession.
Amber knew Desmon wouldn’t hurt her. More so, despite evidence to the contrary, she knew he was good, though others might think she was crazy for that. He threatened violence a lot, especially when he got angry and lost control of his features, but he wouldn’t actually kill.
Even if he was part animal.
He never said the word, but she knew he was a werewolf. Those mystical creatures that weren’t supposed to exist. But Desmon was startlingly real to her. He was the only thing she could trust as decent and good, so she didn’t question him. She knew he wasn’t allowed to tell humans anything, and she respected him enough to let it go.
She caressed his face, hoping to calm him down. “Are you asking me to marry you when we hit eighteen?”
He nodded, even though his breathing was still labored. “Yes.”
“Yes?” She smiled hopefully.
Desmon reached out to her, caressing her cheek once more. “I wish I could take you away with me now, but I can’t until you turn eighteen. They’d search for you, and my people won’t allow me to hide you until you’re fully mature by your world’s standards.”
“I love you, Des,” she confessed as tears rolled down her cheeks from the onslaught of emotions. “But I wasn’t sure you felt the same way about me. You’ve never even tried to kiss me.”
“I’ve wanted to, but my people aren’t good at curbing our instincts.” He slid his hand from her cheek to her throat, and then traced his finger down the curve of it. Desmon caressed her pulse point as his gaze dropped lower, to the V-cut of her shirt. His pupils were still dilated and wild looking, but she knew he was feeling primal for a different reason, his voice still more of a growl. “I just can’t risk it until you’re ready to mate. Everything in me wants you—all sides. You have been the biggest test of my control. You’ve made me stronger than I ever thought I could be.”
She laughed. “Really?”