Mountain Wolf's Courage (Daddy Wolves 0f The Wild Series Book 4)

by Serena Meadows

  He didn’t even bother saying hello. “I know I didn’t call last night, but it was very late when we got home,” he said, trying to suppress his annoyance.

  “I’m getting tired of threatening you,” Richard said. “Now, tell me what you learned last night, and there better be something.”

  Trevor had nothing new to tell him, had in fact, had completely forgotten about Richard and his demands. “Well...there’s going to be a riding challenge, and I have to go,” he said.

  “Why do I get the feeling that you are up there on vacation? I sent you to find out where the power in the valley is and bring it to me. I’m running out of patience,” Richard said.

  “I’ll try to get into the lodge this morning,” Trevor said.

  “That’s better,” Richard said, then the line went dead.

  He got out of bed and headed for the kitchen, a scowl on his face, annoyed that Richard had once again stepped in and disrupted his life. Now instead of sleeping in like the rest of the camp, he was going to have to go sneaking around to get into the lodge, something that filled him with a wave of guilt that made his stomach hurt. No one had ever said that he wasn’t allowed to go inside, and Jake had offered to show him, but the guilt was still there.

  Deep down, he knew it was because the secret to Serendipity’s power was inside, and once he found it, he was going to have to choose, a choice he wasn’t sure he was ready to make. His time here had already shown him that there was a lot of good in the world, that life had a way of going on and giving you things you never thought you could have again.

  But until he knew for sure, he’d have to continue to play along with Richard and find a way into the lodge without being seen. He poked his head into Gabe’s room. “I’m going for an early breakfast. Do you want to come?” he asked.

  When all he got was a mumbled reply, he said, “There’s milk and cereal in the kitchen. I might be gone a while.”

  Gabe waved his hand in the air, so he shut the door and left the cabin, feeling the weight of his guilt. But when he came out the front door and looked over at Sarah’s cabin like he always did, she was standing on her porch, and the guilt disappeared. She waved and came down the steps and started walking toward him.

  “You’re up early this morning,” he said when she got to him.

  “I woke up with the sun,” she said. “You’re up pretty early too.”

  “The sun got me too,” Trevor said, leaving Richard out. “I was headed to the dining hall for breakfast. Do you want to join me?”

  “That sounds nice,” she said, taking his hand when he held it out for her.

  They walked in silence for a few minutes, then Sarah said, “Trevor, I want to thank you for last night. I was a mess. Honestly, I’m still a bit of a mess; everything is kind of fuzzy in my head, and, well, I was thinking that maybe we should slow things down a little.”

  His heart sank. “Does that mean you want a new partner for the challenge?”

  “No, I wouldn’t want anyone but you. I know I can trust you,” she said, squeezing his hand.

  A new wave of guilt washed over him; he wasn’t exactly lying to her, but he was hiding a pretty important truth from her, and he wondered if he should tell her. It wouldn’t be an easy thing to explain; in fact, just the thought of what Richard wanted him to do was beginning to make him feel a little sick. If he decided not to go through with it, Sarah might not ever have to know he’d even considered it.

  But he still had to sneak into the lodge and figure out what it was that gave Serendipity its power, and it looked like it was the perfect time. The camp was deserted, so there was no one to see them slide through the big wooden doors and into the brightly lit room that welcomed them with a burst of power.

  Sarah gasped when she felt it and started to back towards the door. “Did you feel that?” she asked, holding her hand over her heart. “It was like a burst of electricity or something. I don’t think we should be in here alone.”

  Trevor pulled her farther into the room. “It’s okay, we’re just going to stay for a second,” he said.

  Around them, the murals sparkled in the sunlight, seemed to dance and sway on the walls, and a deep sense of well-being settled over him. He pulled Sarah farther into the room, toward the old fireplace at the end, where the mural was the brightest. She stared open-mouthed at the walls around them, her hands at her sides, her finger twitching.

  “They’re alive,” she finally said.

  “They’re magic,” he added, the solution to his problem right in front of him.

  “And they’ve been here for over a hundred years,” a voice behind them said from the shadows.

  ***Sarah***

  Sarah gasped and turned to the voice, then saw Marley come out of the shadows. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I was already here when you came in, but I love seeing people’s reactions the first time they see them,” she said, gesturing to the murals.

  “Where did they come from?” Sarah asked, her eyes drawn back to the murals.

  “Generations of campers painted these, and in the process charged them with magic. Now we can tap into the magic when we need to; it’s what protects this place,” Marley explained. “But I’ve noticed that the oldest of the murals is slowly disappearing, and I’m afraid the magic will be gone with it.”

  Sarah walked over to the mural and studied it. “It’s fading, like something is draining away all the color,” she said, itching to grab a paintbrush and fix it. “I could try to paint over it.”

  Marley shook her head. “I think the problem goes much deeper than that,” she said. “The spell to protect the valley is draining it; we have too many enemies, and the only way to save the magic is defeat them.”

  “Enemies?” Trevor croaked.

  Marley nodded. “For many decades, there have been people who wanted to control this valley, and now more than ever, that is true. We have threats all around us, and I’m afraid that alone we’ll never be able to defeat them. The spirits tell me that help is on the way, but until it arrives, we have to be on our guard.”

  Sarah saw Trevor’s face go pale and reached out to take his hand. “Can you tell us more?”

  Marley sighed. “Many years ago, when the area was first settled, a coven of witches who practiced black magic found the valley and tried to take it. Only the power of a very special love was able to save Serendipity, and it’s that love that forms the basis for the magic here. Over the years, the coven has threatened the valley several times, and we survived, but this time they’ve grown powerful, so powerful nothing may be able to save us.”

  Something clicked into place, and she had to ask, “When was the last time they tried?”

  “Only a few years ago,” Marley said. “A witch named Melissa found her way to Jake, who knew where the valley was, and married him. Eventually, she followed him here through the demon she attached to him. We barely managed to send them both into the underworld before she killed him”

  Sarah thought she was going to collapse on the floor as guilt and relief washed over her in equal measures. Trevor held her up with the arm he’d put around her waist. “You said there was more than one threat,” he said, his voice trembling.

  She looked over at him, but then Marley said, “Jordan’s father has sworn to destroy us all. He’s a man who’s used to getting what he wants, and I’m afraid he might team up with the witches. If that happens, I may not be able to protect Serendipity from them.”

  They were both silent, staring at the walls. “This wasn’t the way I planned to tell you all this, but when I saw you come in, well, it seemed right. But I really must be going; we’ve got a lot of work to do before the challenge starts tomorrow morning. You are both riding, aren’t you?”

  “I...” Sarah couldn’t get her brain working. “Yes, I mean, we were still planning on it, right, Trevor?”

  It took him a second to answer. “Oh, the challenge, yes, I’ll still ride.”

  “Great, then I’ll see you l
ater. Enjoy your breakfast. You can get to the dining hall through that door there,” Marley said, then walked out through the big wooden doors.

  When she was gone, Sarah stumbled over to one of the overstuffed chairs and sat down. “Did you hear what she said? Rachelle has been pushing me to tell her how to get here; I just knew I shouldn’t tell her, but now I know why.”

  Trevor sat down next to her, his face still white as a sheet, and took her hand. “Sarah, there’s something I haven’t told you about me,” he said.

  She pulled her hand from his and stared up at him. “I don’t think I can take much more,” she said.

  He took a deep breath. “I didn’t come up for a fresh start. Jordan’s father sent me here to find the source of Serendipity’s magic and get it for him,” he said.

  She jumped to her feet. “You’re the other threat Marley was talking about,” she said, backing away from him. Then it hit her, and a sob escaped from her throat. “We’re the bad guys, Trevor.”

  He got to his feet and pulled her into his arms. “But we don’t have to be,” he said. “We haven’t done anything yet, and I don’t plan to. As soon as we can, we’ll talk to Jake and Marley, confess what we’ve been doing and warn them.”

  Sarah wanted to believe him, wanted more than anything to know that she hadn’t done anything to put Serendipity in jeopardy. “Do you think that will work?”

  “The worst that’s going to happen is that they’ll send us away, but we won’t have done any harm,” he said, then he gasped. “Richard threatened to take Gabe away from me if I don’t help him.”

  “Oh, Trevor, that’s terrible, but I’m sure they’ll protect you, both of you,” Sarah said.

  “For the rest of our lives?” he asked, having second thoughts. “We can’t stay here forever.”

  “I still think we should talk to Jake and Marley,” she said.

  Trevor shook his head. “Give me just a few more days; as soon as the challenge is over, we’ll tell them. Maybe something will change before then.”

  Sarah wasn’t sure but nodded her head. “Okay, if that’s what you want, we’ll wait.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  ***Trevor***

  After breakfast, they headed down to the barn to get a briefing from Jake and Marley with the rest of the participants. They were silent on the walk, both lost in their thoughts, and full of more than a little doubt about the decision to wait to talk to Jake and Marley. But when they got to the barn, the excitement around them brought them out of their gray moods, and soon they were busy planning their trip.

  As Trevor made a list of everything they would need, Sarah pored over the map that Jake had handed out to everyone. “There are several routes you can take, and don’t think that you’re going to make it to all eight of the landmarks. Three is probably the best you can hope for. Remember: this is supposed to be fun,” he’d said.

  “I’m not sure which way we should go,” she said, her voice quiet. “Trevor, I don’t know anything about camping or surviving out there. What if I do something wrong?”

  He looked up from the list he was making. “We’ll be fine, Sarah. You’re an intelligent woman, and you took to riding really well. I’ll teach you what you don’t know. You’ll see, it’ll be fun.”

  She looked at him skeptically. “I just hope I don’t slow you down,” she said.

  “We can go as slow or fast as you want; it doesn’t matter to me as long as we do it together,” he said. “This might be our only chance to find out the mystery behind the paintings.”

  “I know, but suddenly I’m not sure I want to know,” she admitted. “I already feel like the bad guy; what if it’s something even worse?”

  “You know that can’t be true,” he said. “The magic of the valley wouldn’t have let you in if it were.”

  Sarah thought about that for a second, then gave him a shaky smile. “I guess you’re right,” she said. “What’s our first stop?”

  “I think we should start with the crystal mine, then go over here to the waterfall, and then on our way back, stop at the old mill,” Trevor said, tracing their route on the map. “That way we’ll have a nice place to camp all three nights.”

  By the time he dropped Sarah off at her cabin later that afternoon, they were ready to go, with only a few last-minute details that would have to wait until the next day left on their lists. Sarah let him kiss her on the porch but didn’t invite him in and turned down his offer of dinner at his cabin. So, he left her with a kiss and a promise to be there bright and early the next morning.

  He was dreading the call he had to make to Richard, afraid that his voice would somehow give away the fact that he knew where the magic in the valley was. Deep down, he knew that he’d never be able to tell him, but he was still hoping that in the three days they were gone, a better solution would present itself. As he walked home, he rehearsed what he would say to Richard, preparing himself to tell the most important lie of his life.

  The call went better than he’d expected, thanks to a loud party he could hear in the background. “You’ve got three days, and then I expect results,” Richard said. “This is your last chance to keep your son in your life.”

  Relief washing over him that he’d bought himself a few extra days, he made Gabe’s favorite dinner and a chocolate cake for dessert. They watched movies and ate popcorn until much too late, then he climbed into bed, so exhausted he fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

  In the morning, Gabe was up long before he was, excited to be going to Leadville with his friends and then to Nick and Maggie’s. Trevor had heisted at first when he’d heard the plans, but Jake and Drew both convinced him that Gabe would be fine.

  “I heard that they have a movie screen, a bowling alley, and a swimming pool,” Gabe said as he shoveled cereal into his mouth.

  “Well, I hope you remember your manners,” Trevor said, pulling some cash out of his wallet. “Here’s some shopping money; don’t spend it all on video games.”

  “Thanks, Dad. I won’t; I promise. I want some junk food too. Do you know how long it’s been since I had junk food?”

  Trevor let his chatter wash over him, wondering if he could risk his son’s happiness for Serendipity and hoping that it was a decision that he never had to make. His son had been the only good thing that had come out of his marriage to Claudia, a marriage that had left him scarred until Sarah came into his life. Now, he was faced with the knowledge that life could go on, that he could find real love, but he was scared that the wonderful things he’d imagined would never happen.

  Richard wasn’t a man to be messed with, and Trevor was messing with him. The outcome could be disastrous for all of them if he found out. It had never occurred to him until then that Richard might hurt Sarah, that he’d given him one more thing to use against him and wondered how he’d been so stupid. But there was no way he was giving her up; he’d just have to find a way to have everything and keep it all safe.

  ***Sarah***

  The sun woke Sarah again that morning, but only enough that she hovered in that place between being awake and asleep, where everything was still soft, and dreams were still more real than life. It didn’t last long as the events of the last few days came slamming back into her consciousness with a force that had her jumping out of bed and frantically checking the time.

  Relieved when she saw that it was still early, she set her phone down and sat back down on the bed. She only had a few hours before she had to be at the barn, and she had things that needed to get done, including a call to Rachelle, who’d called her several times the day before. Ignoring the calls had been easy for a while, but she knew that she had to talk to her before they headed into the mountains.

  Knowing everything she did now made the call that much more difficult to make. She hoped she didn’t give herself away when they talked. She would have much preferred to hand the whole situation over to Jake and Marley but knew that it wasn’t as simple for Trevor. No one was threateni
ng to take away something she loved, and she couldn’t imagine having to make that decision.

  Realizing that what she had to do was nothing compared to what Trevor was facing, she grabbed her phone and punched in Rachelle’s number and listened to it ring. Just as she hoped when she picked up, she sounded groggy, but that didn’t stop her from jumping on Sarah almost immediately.

  “You haven’t called me in days,” she said. “What’s going on up there?”

  “I can’t find any trace of Melissa’s spirit. I’ve looked everywhere, and it’s not here,” Sarah lied.

  There was a long silence, then Rachelle said, “That’s impossible. She has to be there. I know she’s there. You’re just going to have to look harder, or someplace else.”

  Sarah sighed. “Rachelle, I’ve done all I can. There’s nothing up here.”

  “You just want to go home to your cushy apartment,” Rachelle accused. “You never really cared about Melissa, and now when she needs you the most, you won’t even try to help. If we don’t find her soon, we’ll never get her back.”

  “Where exactly is it you think she’s gone?” Sarah asked.

  “Well, ummm...I don’t know exactly, but time is running out,” Rachelle hedged.

  When Sarah didn’t answer, she said, “You know, I was doing a little reading the other night and I think I might have found a spell that will reverse the one you’ve been under. If we were together, we might be able to do the spell, and you’d be good as new. The only problem is that it will take all three of us.”

  For just a second, Sarah was tempted, but then she realized what she was contemplating. “You want me to raise Melissa from the dead so we can perform a spell?” she asked. “That sounds a whole lot like what got me in trouble in the first place. No thank you. I’ve learned my lesson.”

  There was another long silence, and she could almost hear Rachelle calculating her next move, but what she said next surprised her. “I can see you’re not going to be reasonable about this, and I’m becoming a little bit desperate, so if I were you, I’d try a little harder. You see, before you left, I put a little tracking spell on you, so I can find you whether you tell where you are or not. I was hoping to skip that little bit, but if you force me into a corner, I’m going to come out fighting. You’ve got three days to find Melissa and bring her back from the underworld, or I’m coming up there and doing it myself.”