by April Kelley
Table of Contents
Begin Again
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
About the Author
Saint Lakes
Wingspan
Roguefalls
Lakehouse Security Series
Demon Elite Series
Pickleville Series
Single Titles
Ramsey has enough problems without a little vampire ninja biting him without even a hello first.
All Ramsey Somerset wants is for things to remain peaceful. With an impending battle looming over him and the everyday problems of running a clan, his hands are too full for a mate. When he meets Fane, things go from bad to worse. It has taken Ramsey years to gain control of his water monster, but all that goes out the window with Fane. He can’t be Alpha and so instinctive toward Fane at the same time. He has to make a choice, either his clan or his mate.
BEGIN AGAIN
AUGUST 2017
COPYRIGHT (c) 2017 by April Kelley
Cover Art by Bronwyn Heeley
Cover content is for illustrative use only, and any person depicted on the cover is a model
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the author.
Published by Hard Rose Publishing
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are 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.
Begin Again
Saint Lakes Five
By
April Kelley
Prologue
Ramsey Somerset held the basketball under one arm and tried to sneak out the front door. He had his hand on the knob when his mother walked into the room.
“You’ll break Bennett’s heart if you don’t take him with you, Ramsey. You know that.” Mother Estelle sat on the couch, Vaughan clung to her leg like a monkey. He might be five years old, but he still sucked his thumb and refused to be away from Mom for any real length of time. Vaughan arrived three months ago, and so far there weren't any improvements in his behavior.
Ramsey let go of the door handle and walked across the room. When he put the ball on the coffee table, Mom narrowed her eyes. He snatched it up again and put it at his feet even as he crouched down in front of Vaughan. “Wanna play basketball?” He wouldn’t get out of the house unnoticed anyway, so he might as well include all his brothers, not just Bennett who followed Ramsey around everywhere he went.
He didn’t mind the hero worship at all. His brother was his best friend, and he’d always want him around. But lately, his chest tightened, and he sometimes couldn’t breathe. It was like the air stopped at his heart, and he couldn’t draw it up any further. His brain also malfunctioned from time to time as if he couldn’t think past basic stuff. In those moments, he lost himself just a little, and he didn’t want Bennett to be around if he did shift.
His first shift was coming. He could feel it under his skin. Ants crawled just underneath the surface, walking on top of his flesh like an army. Every so often, he’d get a twinge of pain in one of his limbs, but it wasn’t enough to cause concern or stop him from doing anything physical. He could still play basketball.
What if he lost his humanity completely when he shifted? He didn’t know any other water monsters so he didn’t know if he’d only get the animalistic side or not. He knew wolf shifters were cognizant and others were too but dragon shifters were somewhere in between and they could be volatile in certain situations.
Vaughan shook his head, bringing Ramsey back to reality.
“Are you sure? Bennett will come too.”
Vaughan was small enough that the guys at the park wouldn’t push them into playing. They wouldn’t want to play with such a small kid, but all bets were off when it came to Bennett because he was big enough, although still smaller than most of them.
Vaughan shook his head again. “Just want Mama.”
Ramsey ruffled his hand through Vaughan’s blond hair. “Okay, buddy.” He stood, taking the ball under his arm once again and met his mother’s gaze.
“He just wants to be like you, Ramsey. You should be flattered.”
So they were back to talking about Bennett again. “I know. It’s only this time, Mom.” He rolled his eyes and huffed out a sigh. “Jeez.”
She reached out her hand, attempting to touch him as was her way. Since she was a witch, all she had to do was touch, and she’d be able to see inside his mind.
He took a step back. “I don’t need you to read me.”
She cocked her head to the side and looked at him as if she tried to see into his soul.
“Mom.” He knew he whined and since he was a teenager he shouldn’t do that anymore, but he couldn’t help it. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“How are you feeling?” She completely ignored what he just said.
“Fine.” What he really wanted to tell her was that he felt annoyed by the whole interrogation, but that would get him grounded, so he kept his mouth shut.
“No you don’t, and when you get back, we’re going to talk about it.”
Ramsey rolled his eyes.
“I’m not asking, Ramsey. You’ll tell me how you feel so we know how close you are to your first shift.” She scowled and tapped a finger on her leg. “I need to find out more about water monsters.”
How did she know everything? He thought he hid it well, but apparently, he couldn’t keep anything from her.
She picked up the phone that sat on the table beside the couch and dialed. Who she was calling, Ramsey didn’t know.
“Can I go?”
She nodded her head. “Be careful and just come home if you’re feeling weird.”
Ramsey started to tell her it wasn’t’ that easy and that his water monster took over his mind even in human form, even before his first shift started but she began talking into the phone by then.
He’d tell her later.
Ramsey dribbled the ball, waiting to take the shot. He blocked Lars Greer with his free arm, keeping him from getting what they all coveted. Ramsey also turned his body sideways, so he faced the right side of the park, away from the basket.
The park was part of North Lake. The village of Saint Lakes put in a couple of basketball hoops and a swing set. The swing set’s thick metal poles were planted in the dirt and secured with cement around the base of each leg. But the hoops were on a square piece of pavement.
Ramsey looked around, trying to see which of his teammates were open. He saw Bennett trying to get around Mike. Bennett, who was the smallest kid playing, tried to gain an opening but Mike blocked him too well. The other guy on his team was a cougar shifter named Tim. Tim was almost as big as Ramsey, and because of that, he had two guys in fr
ont of him, keeping him from the ball.
Tim was a farm boy Ramsey only associated with on the court. Something about Tim had always rubbed Ramsey the wrong way, so they didn’t hang out much.
Ramsey pivoted on his feet, turning completely around and made a fake pass to Tim before taking a shot for the basket. Lars’ hands were in his face which was the only reason Ramsey missed, or so he’d like to think.
“Shit.” Ramsey didn’t wait for the ball to make a landing but went for it. Lars was right there with him, their sneakers making a scraping noise on the pavement as they ran to the hoop.
The ball practically landed on Bennett, who grabbed it the same time Tim did. Tim yanked the ball hard, and at the same time, Bennett pulled back. Bennett didn’t have a chance against a stronger boy like Tim.
“We’re on the same team. Just give me the ball.” Bennett did have a way of saying exactly the thing everyone else was thinking.
“Give it to him.” Ramsey deepened his voice on the last few words. He cleared his throat and shook his head, trying to dislodge whatever gave him that menacing quality.
“Let go, Tim.” It was Lars’ turn to plea.
Tim’s mouth turned up into a smile, and his eyes narrowed just slightly, right before he let go of the ball. It snapped back onto Bennett’s face. Bennett’s whole body froze, and then he dropped the ball, his hands going to his face. It bounced on the pavement once before Tim snatched it up with a laugh.
Blood trickled out of Bennett’s nose. Ramsey went to Bennett and tilted his head back. It wasn’t the blood but the tears that gathered in Bennett’s eyes that made Ramsey’s water monster take over his mind, his control slipping away.
From somewhere behind him, he heard the ball dribble and then it had hit the backboard of the hoop before a swooshing sound came. Tim let out a whoop right before Ramsey saw him out of his peripheral vision.
Ramsey’s gums ached, but he still bared his teeth and slowly turned.
Tim’s eyes widened, and he held his hands up in front of him as if that would keep Ramsey calm. “It was an accident.”
Ramsey gnashed his teeth together and discovered they were longer and grew in number.
He let Bennett go but kept him at his back, putting his body between him and the threat. “Liar.” The word came out like a growl, and he took a step toward Tim.
“He’s gonna shift, guys. Someone go get his mom.” Tim didn’t take his eyes off Ramsey, which was a smart move because Ramsey would have him pinned to the pavement as soon as he let his guard down.
Just as he had the violent thought, he experienced an ache so deep it hurt the bones in his body. He fell to his knees when they buckled and fought the urge to scream.
Tim came around him, reaching for Bennett. Despite his pain, Ramsey growled again and took a swipe at Tim with his arm only his arm wasn’t there anymore. In its place was a small fin-like appendage.
He was a gray color. He tried to stand up because his body was lower to the ground, but he couldn’t get his feet under him, but discovered he didn’t have feet. Instead, his body was long and slithery. He managed to sit up but instead of sitting on his butt like a human, he sat on the underside of his belly.
He was somewhere in between a snake and a fish. He tested out his long body’s strength and discovered he could sit high above everyone else around him. He liked the advantage.
He looked at Bennett and saw the blood on his face. His shifted eyes distorted Bennett’s image as if he were looking at him through a tunnel. At the same time, he could see things he couldn’t make out with his human eyes. Bennett’s tears looked blue instead of clear, and Ramsey could see tiny particles in every drop and Tim’s breath came out in fast pants as if he were running a marathon. Spit flew out with each exhale.
“Get back, Bennett. He doesn’t realize he has a tail.” Tim pulled on Bennett’s arm and that’s when every instinct in Ramsey told him to protect his family member.
He roared right before he latched his teeth around Tim’s arm and pulled him away from Bennett. The flesh in his mouth gave way just slightly, but that wasn’t why he pulled away. It was the taste of blood in his mouth. The metallic flavor was not something he enjoyed, even in water monster form.
He let go of Tim’s arm and shook his head in an attempt to get rid of it. Tim clutched his arm and backed away.
Ramsey leaned down, so he was at eye-level with Tim and roared again. The hair on Tim’s head blew back, and he blinked rapidly in an attempt at keeping all that offensive air out of his eyes.
Ramsey took a few deep breaths and moved away, the adrenaline leaving him slowly. His body began changing all on its own, his bones reforming and snapping back into place. His ripped clothing hung from his body haphazardly, but they still covered all his bits and human pieces.
Ramsey pulled Bennett into his side.
“Did it hurt?” Bennett looked up. “When you shifted, I mean?”
“Yeah. A lot. But not on the way back to human. That didn’t hurt at all.” He just had a hard time getting his brain to shift back to his human thoughts, but he couldn’t quite make it work.
His mother came around the corner, Vaughan at her side and Lars, plus three other boys that they had been playing basketball with, following behind her.
Storming across the park’s lawn, she had on her mom face. She drew him into a hug at the same time she took Bennett into her arms. “I’m here, now. Everything will be just fine.”
“Tim’s hurt. I hurt him.” After Ramsey had said the words, it was like that fact finally sank in, and his heart hurt. His throat clogged up and he couldn’t speak past the lump of tears.
“Your friends told me what happened, Ramsey. Tim deliberately hurt your brother.” Mom turned and narrowed her eyes at Tim. “Which his father will hear about.” She turned back and took his face in her hands. He could feel her poke around in his thoughts and memories and he let her without fussing about it like he usually did. “Your water monster is very protective. We’ll figure out how to control it. Together.”
Ramsey nodded, and she let him go. She kept Bennett at her side, though.
Bennett looked at Ramsey with a smile. The blood on his lips making him look even more pathetic. “Water monster was cool, brother.”
Ramsey smiled and swiped at the tears on his cheek, but before he could comment, Mom’s voice rang out. “Come on, Tim. I’ll fix your arm before taking you home.”
“You gonna tell my dad I was mean to Bennett?”
“Nope. You are.”
“Isn’t teeth marks punishment enough.”
Ramsey shook his head. “I barely bit you, so quit whining.”
“Well, it still hurts.”
“That’s what you get for messing with a Somerset. Right, Ramsey?” Bennett looked up at him for confirmation.
Ramsey put an arm around his shoulder. “Right.” Even as he said the words he thought it was a bit more complicated than that.
“We’ll learn to have control, Ramsey.”
“I know.” It’s what came next.
The gossip would be off the charts at school on Monday, which would suck.
Ramsey sighed.
Chapter One
Ramsey Somerset glided through the cold water as if he were flying. Being able to swim would forever remain one of the best things about being a water monster. A fine layer of snow barely covered the ground. A few stray flakes fell from the sky, letting all of Saint Lakes know winter clung to life, even as the cancer of spring continued to grow.
Ramsey loved the winter because his monster took the cold air better than he did the warmth. He twisted his long monster body around so that he floated just underneath the surface, facing the sky, keeping his head above water.
He blinked when a snowflake landed on his eyes but otherwise didn’t move. The night sky held a few clouds but stars peaked around them, and the half-moon let him know he wasn’t alone.
Swimming in his monster form remained one of his favorite
activities. Sometimes it was the only relief he had from the stresses of everyday.
He sighed, which came out more like a growl.
The impending war with the Stavros coven hung over him as if it were a giant rock hanging from a chain with a broken link. Protecting everyone in the clan remained the most difficult part. No one had prepared the clan of Saint Lakes, least of all Ramsey.
They’d lose if the war started tomorrow.
That wasn’t a pessimistic response because the situation stressed him out to his gills either.
Ramsey wasn’t cut out for the Alpha roll anymore. Maybe he never had been, but things had been quiet and easy up to a few months ago. He could run the clan when there wasn’t a threat, but with Lucas among those he counted as a clan member, not to mention he was family, all bets were off for peace and quiet.
It had been a long time since he was a newly shifted out of control teenage water monster. The situation with Stavros’ coven would push him right back to his beginning if he didn’t get a handle on himself.
Kristin’s voice penetrated the dark and cut through his thoughts. It was late, and she should have been at their mother’s house sleeping. Ramsey flipped over, not making a ripple in the water. He glided toward the sound of her voice.
A second deeper voice came next. “I don’t know what to do.”
Ramsey lay just under the surface of the water, listening to the conversation. They stood next to his picnic table. Kristin folded her arms at her chest. The backs of her legs were against the bench seat as if she needed to touch it to remain grounded.
Why Kristin choose to meet Josh Pyke on his property, Ramsey didn’t know.
If Kristin intended for the meeting to be a secret one, she picked a dumb spot for it because she knew he’d be at his cabin. He went every few days, even though he had ordered his brothers and sisters to stay with his mother until the war with Stavros came to some conclusion. He was lenient with them about the policy as well as himself, mostly because there were a lot of bodies in the house and that created unnecessary conflict. He understood needing peace and quiet all too well.