Secrets (The Serenity Series Book 1)

by Dawn Kirby

  “She’s a little spitfire, isn’t she?” Kale asked him.

  “She’s certainly earned my respect,” Brody said, bowing his head to me. He looked back up at Kale and then at Raine. “Will Raine be allowed to join the pack? I think his abilities could be useful. Especially if we’re dealing with vamps.” He glanced over at Declan and smiled. “No offense man. You guys are cool.” Declan simply nodded.

  “I’ll leave that to the pack. I want my leadership to be different,” Kale told them. “Yes, I would love to have Raine with us, but I also understand it if any of you have your doubts.”

  Raine’s body tensed up while he waited for a reaction from the others. He relaxed when he heard several others side with Brody.

  The majority consensus heard, Kale offered and Raine gladly accepted the invitation. Finally, he didn’t have to hide anymore.

  “Let’s go inside, honey,” May said, coming to my side. “I need to get that bullet out of you.”

  “May, if it’s silver-” she cut me off.

  “I have what I need,” she soothed. “Come on inside.”

  My feet stayed rooted to the ground. Until I knew Mark was going to leave here alive I wasn’t going anywhere. She looked to Raine. He lifted me off the ground, I held onto Kale.

  “She’s not gonna go until you make a decision, Kale,” Raine said, frowning at me.

  “Out of respect for Leah, I will let you live,” Kale said flatly. “But, either you stay here and abide my leadership or leave and become an outcast. I will assume full responsibility for Dane’s medical care if you choose to go. Whatever decision you make, you will never harm her again. I’ll give you five days to make your choice.” Kale turned on his heel to leave and glanced back at Mark. “Don’t think for a minute you’ve escaped punishment.” He looked into the crowd. “This is the final time I’ll call on Dane’s Brute Squad. If the five of you would be so kind as to follow Donovan, I think it’s time Mark felt a little discomfort of his own.”

  With that Donovan and Declan escorted Mark towards the back property. Five huge older men followed behind them. Soon after they disappeared into the trees, the celebration started. Everyone was happy with their new leader and excited to have such an interesting new pack mate. Some of them knew Raine already and were elated to have him with them. Several ladies followed behind us, asking him what all he could change into. Brody was quick to shoo them away and ask a few questions of his own.

  Raine carried me all the way to the house. Brody stuck with us the entire way. Kale, as leader, stayed for the rest of the party. Turns out one of his pack members happened to be a surgeon and had brought plenty of supplies in anticipation of the fight. He offered to help me too, but I declined. Kale needed him worse than I did.

  Once we were in the kitchen, May looked at my shoulder. I couldn’t believe how bad it hurt and I didn’t see any harm in showing it now. Tears streamed down my face as I braced myself against the pain. She ripped the strap of my dress to get a better look. I leaned heavily on the table for support. As soon as she was sure she could get the bullet out, she disappeared into her apartment to get whatever it was she needed.

  “You really did all that, didn’t you?” Brody finally asked.

  Raine grinned at me. “She doesn’t hesitate, but she always ends up bleeding or something. I’ve nearly lost her twice now.”

  Brody sat down next to Raine and looked at me thoughtfully. His mind was probably going a mile a minute trying to take in all the new information. I know mine would be. There had been more than enough drama already without me getting shot. While he was lost in his thoughts, Brody’s strong vanilla scent made me laugh. The scent has always brought a sense of fun to my mind. The sound of my laughter brought him out of his thoughts.

  “Sorry. It’s just that you smell really good,” I said, clearing my throat.

  “Thanks, I can’t remember what it’s called,” he said. “Some girl left it for me at the restaurant.”

  “She’s not talking about your cologne,” Raine explained. “She means your personality. What does he smell like?”

  “Vanilla,” I answered. “I’m guessing you must be a fun guy.”

  “You’d be right,” Raine said. He watched for Brody’s reaction the way I had waited for his.

  “Wait a minute, you can smell what I am?”

  “That’s how she knows if you’re a good guy or a bad guy,” Raine said laughing. “You just happen to be a really good guy.”

  May reappeared with a metal case in her hand and sat down in front of me. Inside it was a pair of the longest tweezers I’d ever seen in my life. There was also a set of what looked like forceps and a really sharp pair of scissors. Raine pulled his chair up behind me and let me lean back on him.

  “Alright, baby, this is gonna hurt like hell,” she warned. “Just stay still and I’ll have that out of you before you know it.”

  I closed my eyes when she slid the tweezers deep into my shoulder. I could feel them scrape across the bullet, among other things, but she couldn’t get a good grip on it. After trying a few more times, she pulled the tweezers back out. Digging for the bullet hurt worse than the bullet did. She looked at me sadly; her eyes shifted to the scissors and then back at me. I should have known this wasn’t going to be simple.

  “It’s okay, May,” I assured her. “Use ‘em if you need to.”

  She nodded her head, handed Raine a thick piece of leather and pulled the neckline of my dress down a little further. “Bite down on that, Leah.” I took a deep breath as Raine placed the strap in my mouth. “Good. Now hold her.”

  “She’s been shot before,” Brody asked gesturing towards the small scar on below my collarbone.

  “That was a stake,” Raine said tightening his hold on me. Brody’s jaw dropped.

  “Brody, I need your help, hon.” She picked up the scissors and made the hole a little bigger. Then, she put the forceps into the wound. I bit down harder, trying not to allow the pain to get the best of me. Raine squeezed my hand. “Raine, hang onto her. Brody, you hold these open while I dig that bullet out.”

  He looked a little apprehensive, but he did as he was told. I closed my eyes, braced myself and focused on Raine’s smell. Somehow, I managed to stay still while they dug around inside my shoulder. May was right. It did hurt like hell. After a minute or two, she was able to get a good grip and extract the bullet.

  “My girlfriend would be screaming her head off right now, and she’s a werewolf,” Brody said shaking his head.

  “This little thing has been through a lot.” May said reaching for a bottle of antiseptic. Raine took the strap out of my mouth and dropped it on the table. “It’s a shame it’s not over for her.”

  “What do you mean?” Brody asked her. She mouthed sorry to me as when I winced. The brownish-red antiseptic burned its way into the wound. “Michael’s dead.”

  “Raif has conspired with another vampire to take her. They want to see if she can give birth to a Day Walker,” May told him. She didn’t even try to hide the disgust she felt. “Can you imagine?”

  “She’s got our protection now. Between us and you,” he said smiling broadly at Raine, “maybe we can keep that from happening.”

  May finished up my shoulder and handed me two pills: one an antibiotic and one for pain. Apparently, I’d be on them for at least another week. As soon as I was taken care of May started cleaning up her tools.

  “I hope so. I can’t lose her,” Raine told him. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head.

  “You won’t,” I assured him. “Thanks for accepting Raine, Brody. I’m sure he’s always wanted to tell you.”

  He leaned over and patted my leg. “I know why he didn’t and I thank him for not letting me in on it,” he said smiling. “I really do enjoy living.”

  I closed my eyes and listened while Brody asked Raine even more questions about what all he’d been able to change into. Raine gladly told him. Listening to him now, it was obvious he’d h
eld the secret for way too long.

  When my eyes opened again, Kale was sitting at the table with us. He’d already had a shower and gotten dressed. He had several scratches that had required stitching and a few puncture wounds on his face and hands.

  The three men were sitting around the table, talking about cars, specifically fast cars. Listening to them made me wonder if Kale had taken mine car out yet. I was pretty sure he hadn’t, but I wasn’t positive. Raine’s gotten pretty good at hiding my keys.

  “Have you taken mine out yet?” I interrupted.

  “Not yet,” he said gruffly. “But I will.” He looked like a child that had just heard no for the first time.

  “Take it out now,” I offered. Kale’s eyes lit up. “After all this time in the garage, someone needs to. You’ll have to find my keys though. I don’t have a clue where they are.”

  Raine quickly fished my keys out of his pocket and dangled them in front of Kale’s ecstatic face. He snatched them out of his hand and hurried around him to give me a kiss on the cheek.

  “You’re the best, little sister,” he said happily. “Thanks for saving my life, by the way.”

  “I only did what anyone else would’ve done.”

  “Not anyone I know,” Brody snorted.

  “Just be careful with my car, okay?”

  “You’ll get it back in one piece, I promise,” Kale said, shifting from one foot to the other. “Brody you’re gonna love this. My ‘Vette’s got nothing on her car.”

  “Really? What’d you drive?” he asked, intrigued.

  “Shelby GT500 KR,” Kale said, practically squealing like a girl.

  A huge smile settled on his face. “Where did you get that? I don’t see Donovan just giving away a car like that.”

  “My parents gave it to me when I graduated,” I told him. Not my mom, my parents.

  “David talked her mom out of a Taurus and then conveniently forgot to tell her the specifics,” Raine told them. “Take my word for it, that car’s got more than enough power.”

  Neither one of them could leave the kitchen fast enough. I heard the garage door open and then the motor came to life. Kale shifted the car into gear and took off. To his credit, I never heard the gears grind once.

  “What time is it?” I asked Raine. I hadn’t realized how tired and nasty I was until I saw my reflection in a kitchen window. My left arm was covered in blood and my new dress was ruined.

  “It’s about five in the morning.” He sounded as tired as I felt.

  “I’m gonna go get cleaned up and crawl in bed. What about you?”

  “I’ll be right behind you. I want to make sure the doors are locked.” He grinned slyly. “Don’t forget, you live with me now. Declan’s already moved everything in for you. He is really worried about Donovan.”

  “After my blood wears off, I’m sure everything will be fine,” I assured him. “I just hope it happens soon.”

  “I’m sure it will,” he said quickly. “Go on. I’ll be up in a minute.” He firmly patted my rear as I walked away from the table.

  I trudged upstairs and went to Raine’s room. Our room. I took a quick, skin-scalding shower, and sat on the side of the bathtub for a while. The hot water had felt amazing on my shoulder, but it had left me feeling dizzy. Once the feeling passed I went to the dressing room to find my clothes.

  Declan had left Raine’s clothes on one side of the room and put all mine on the other. I eased on a black cami top and a gray pair of sleep pants. Thankfully the straps were thin enough to miss my shoulder. Once I found my socks, I was all set.

  In one of the many drawers I went through, I found a pretty cedar jewelry box with my parents wedding rings tucked safely inside it. The old box had a beautiful Celtic wedding knot carved on the lid. Declan hadn’t missed a thing.

  Raine joined me upstairs, his shower lasting about half as long as mine had. In no time at all, he was dressed and ready for bed. He walked over to the window to watch the sunrise with me and kissed the top of my head. His warm hand gently massaged my neck, easing the tension I didn’t even know was there.

  We watched as the grounds were greeted with the gentle kiss of the sun. The soft rays played off the water in the fountain making it look like a pool of sparkling crystals. Below the window a shadow slowly moved out into the yard.

  My first thought was Kale. Raine had locked all the doors before he came upstairs. Maybe he’d been locked out? As the body came into view, I realized it was not Kale. Raine’s hand bit into the curve of my neck. My breath caught. I couldn’t believe what we were seeing.

  Donovan was standing in the middle of the yard, his face turned up, feeling the warmth of the sun for the first time in over two hundred and fifty years. His arms were outstretched, welcoming the heavenly heat onto the rest of his body.

  For a long time, we waited. Any minute now I was sure he would be horribly burned or fall into a pile of ashes on the ground. He never did. He must have felt our eyes on him because he turned around and looked up at our window. The smile he had on his handsome face spoke volumes.

  “Thank you, love,” Donovan whispered tenderly, knowing only I could hear him.

  “Thank you.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Dawn Kirby

  Dawn Kirby resides in West Texas. Secrets, her first novel in her paranormal romance Serenity Series is published by Twisted Core Press LLC. Her short story "Date Night" was published in the 13 Tales of the Paranormal anthology by Firefly & Wisp Publishing. You can find more short stories by Dawn in upcoming 7DS Books collaborations.

  To see more of her work or to contact her, please visit http://www.DawnMKirby.com