The Shadow Wolf

by Bonnie Vanak

  Every day would be like that with her, and then when the kids came along, lots of kids, he wanted a big family and hoped she did, as well….

  Stricken by the thought, Gabriel stopped. Children? With his defect?

  A family was as out of reach for him as a star. Even Megan, with her unique and wonderful abilities as Shadow, didn’t have to worry about passing on a defect. Not like him.

  Deep grief replaced the honest joy. Gabriel closed his eyes, seeing Amelia’s smiling face, her innocent trust. He didn’t deserve to have children. Not after how he’d betrayed his sister-in-law and niece.

  Hands encircled his waist and softness nestled against his back. Gabriel tensed for a moment as Megan released a contented sigh. The warmth of her embrace and her honest affection tore him apart. He needed her, needed her in his life, but how could he show her what he truly was?

  A Feral—a savage, dangerous Draicon who had let down those who relied on him.

  She must never know.

  But the feel of her against him was so soft and good, he allowed himself the luxury of being loved without fear. Closing his eyes, Gabriel savored it as he would enjoy a long, leisurely meal. He cupped her face in his hands and gently brushed his lips against hers. Gabriel closed his eyes, tasting the sweetness on her mouth. He kissed her with light butterfly strokes as he heard her sigh. Then he deepened the kiss, his need boiling to the surface.

  “The twins will be awake soon,” she murmured.

  He tightened his grip. “Not if I give them a little push to help them sleep.”

  “Normally I’d say no, but they do need their rest.”

  He broke the kiss, rubbed his temple. “That will do.”

  Turning off the heat beneath the frying pan, he then took her hand and led her back into the bedroom.

  Flushed with joy and newly found sexuality, Megan sat at the table watching the twins and her mate dig into their breakfast. Gabriel caught her staring, winked.

  The house’s safety and cozy interior made her feel protected and comfortable. They were like a little family. She could indulge in the dream of her and Gabriel together like this, their own children chattering as they ate the meal he’d cooked….

  Her coffee cup slammed down, spilling black liquid. Gabriel glanced up, wiped his mouth with a paper napkin.

  “What is it?”

  “The letter,” she said tersely. “We forgot all about it.”

  The dreamy mood broke. Inside the sealed envelope was the objective of her quest. Megan dreaded opening it.

  They had already suffered enough instability. She set the envelope before Gabriel, then went on her knees before the twins.

  “Jenny, Jilly, whatever is inside that letter, I want you to know this. You’ll always be my family and whenever you need me, wherever I am, and wherever you are, I’ll be there for you. Okay? Nothing can break apart the Three Musketeers, not time or distance or a silly old letter.”

  “Four,” Jillian whispered. “Four Musketeers. Don’t forget Gabriel.”

  She met his solemn gaze. “Four. Gabriel. It’s time.”

  Gabriel broke the red seal and began to read.

  Then he looked up, his tanned, handsome face slack with shock.

  “What is it?” she cried out.

  “I can’t believe this….”

  Jillian and Jennifer were not strangers to him.

  They were his nieces. His flesh and blood. Alex’s twins, the ones Simone had said were stillborn.

  They were alive and sitting before him, staring at him with their mother’s eyes.

  Gabriel’s mouth went dry as the paper fluttered to the table. Megan pressed his arm. “What is it? What did Gram say to Alexandre?”

  Words lodged in his throat. Gabriel looked at Jenny and Jillian and his mind finally acknowledged what his heart knew all along. How they resembled their mother, her sweet heart-shaped face, her gentle innocence and shining belief in all things good.

  “You’re my nieces,” he said thickly, hugging them tight. “My brother Alex’s lost girls. We thought you were dead. Oh God, we were told you had died.”

  “You mean you’re our uncle?” Jennifer asked.

  “We have family,” Jillian said happily. “You’re really our uncle. I knew you were a real Musketeer!”

  “You’re my brother Alex’s little girls. You have a dad.” Overcome, he swallowed past the dryness in his throat and murmured to Megan as if seeing the girls anew. “Twins. Ils se ressemblent comme deux gouttes d’eau.” They resemble each other like two drops of water.

  Tears shimmered in Megan’s eyes, tears he would never allow himself. The twins did not ask questions. They merely hugged him back.

  Lifting his gaze to the girls, Gabriel made the first promise he’d uttered since the day Amelia died. “On my honor as a Draicon, I make you this vow,” he said hoarsely. “I will get you to your dad. I swear, I don’t care if it takes the last breath in my body. You’ll be safe in my care until you at last get to meet your father. And he finally gets to hold you in his arms.”

  When he stood, he met Megan’s shocked gaze. Gabriel pointed to the letter. His eyes were dryer than desert sand. Emotions roiled through him, but he brutally forced them aside.

  “It’s from Simone, written after the twins were born.”

  Watching her read the note, the knife in his heart twisted hard and sank deep. Simone had visited Shadow Island, the land of her birth, when she was pregnant and suddenly went into labor there.

  The note explained the secret kept by Simone and her mother, who was Megan’s grandmother. Jillian and Jennifer carried a distinctive Shadow birthmark. Simone had made the agonizing decision to leave the girls with her mother to raise because they would never be fully accepted by Alex’s family, his pack, with their Shadow heritage.

  Tears swam in Megan’s big blue eyes as she carefully set down the paper. “She never knew that Shadow Island would become a prison. To Sissy, it was a refuge for her babies. Gabriel, they have a real father. Now I know they’ll be in good hands with you by their side, too. You won’t let anything happen to them.”

  “I have to go out,” he muttered.

  “Now? Gabriel, what’s going on with you?”

  “Nothing.”

  The door slammed behind him. He headed for the lake needing to be alone with his turbulent thoughts.

  Gabriel was shutting her out again.

  The twins came first. She hugged them, asked if they had any questions. They did, expressing their concern over their unknown father. Would he love them? Was he a good person who, even though he was Draicon, wouldn’t make them feel bad the way other Draicon had?

  “He’s Gabriel’s brother, remember? You like Gabriel, he’s been good to you. I’m sure Alex will be just as brave and good as his brother.”

  But as secretive? She’d wanted a mate who wouldn’t hide from her emotionally. Megan smiled to assuage their fears and told them to go clean up.

  She ran water into the sink and began washing dishes. The closeness of last night caved into morning doubt. Would Gabriel ever fully open to her and bond with her emotionally instead of physically?

  She needed all of him, not just the parts he chose to share with her.

  Now she needed space. Megan set aside the dishes, grabbed a bottle of water and went outside into the sultry heat. The wood swing hanging from a large tree branch provided a perfect place to contemplate and relax.

  At least now they knew the twins would never be alone. Megan smiled at the girls as they scampered outside, embarking on a furious game of tag.

  “Cousin Megan?” Jennifer stopped. “Is it okay if we play hide-and-seek? There’s no one around to see us.”

  “Why not? Just keep it to half an hour. Don’t wear yourselves out.”

  Shrieking, the girls ran toward the forest. She tracked their scent, and settled back into the swing.

  “Where are the girls?”

  Gabriel joined her, thumbs hooked into his jeans, his long
legs splayed before him. Megan shivered in pleasurable remembrance of the soft hairs on those limbs rubbing against hers as he thrust slowly inside her.

  “Playing. They’re fine. What about you?”

  “I don’t see them.”

  “Stop worrying, they’re fine.”

  “They’re my nieces now, my responsibility.” He shaded his eyes. “I can scent them, but can’t see them.”

  His expression darkened. “Jennifer is in the tree. Merde. Descends del la droite maintenant! Get down from there!”

  Emerging from Shadow, Jennifer climbed down. Megan told them to keep playing.

  “Gabriel, they’re the same little girls they were an hour ago, before you read the letter,” she reminded. “You’ve done a wonderful job making sure we are out of danger. Stop worrying.”

  “I can never stop worrying. It’s like asking me to stop breathing.” He stood up and whirled around as giggles surrounded them.

  Anger dawned on his face. “They’re in Shadow.”

  “Jennifer asked and I told her it was fine for them to play their favorite game, hide-and-seek.” Megan listened as the laughing girls ran toward the woods.

  “They shouldn’t be. They have to keep their energy levels primed, not waste them on play.”

  As he started toward the forest after them, she leaped up and grabbed his arm. “What is it, Gabriel? Why are you like this all of the sudden?”

  He halted, looking down at her hand on his arm. “I don’t want anyone unprepared, not after what happened at the last house. We’re still being followed and it’s only time before we’re found again.”

  “They’re just little girls who need some normalcy, as you said last night,” she pointed out. “Let them play.”

  “Play is fine. But not while using their powers.”

  “I told them only thirty minutes.”

  He walked over to the azalea bushes wreathing the tree trunk. She could not see his expression, but pain radiated from him like glowing embers.

  Suddenly she knew he wasn’t being authoritative about the twins because he was exercising his rights as a blood relative. He was worried about their safety.

  “Thank you for looking after them. You risked a lot for them.”

  “I only wanted them to have as normal a childhood as possible, despite the restrictions placed on us. They’re good kids, Gabriel. They deserve to be loved. Doesn’t everyone?”

  Silence filled the space between them, broken by the twins’ shrill laughs. “Some don’t deserve love,” he said finally.

  Emotion clogged her throat. “Everyone does. Especially little boys who think they don’t deserve it.”

  For a moment he stared into her eyes, his yearning evident. “You can trust me now, Gabriel. I will not betray you.”

  It seemed as if a connection had been made, bonding them together. Hope rose that maybe this could be the moment when he finally opened to her.

  She waited. Gabriel leaned forward, his muscular forearms braced on his splayed knees. The sounds of the girls playing, squirrels chattering overhead and the distant caw of a crow rubbed against the silence between them. The heat was a sultry, living creature licking his spine and dampening his shirt. A bead of sweat condensed on his temple, rolled down his angular cheek.

  Sensing his thirst, Megan handed him her water. He smiled his thanks. Gabriel tipped up the bottle. Fascination stole over her as she watched his strong throat muscles work.

  He wiped his mouth with the back of one hand. Her gaze settled on that warm, wet mouth.

  The bottle dropped to the ground as he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. Gabriel drew her closer and intensified the kiss, making her toes curl. Heat pooled between her legs.

  A loud, frightened shriek broke them apart like two strong hands.

  Megan shot to her feet as Gabriel bolted toward the woods. “Jilly, Jenny,” he yelled. “Where are you? What’s wrong?”

  “Gabriel, help us! Something’s got Jilly!”

  He vanished into the woods. With each frenetic beat of her heart, Megan raced toward the screams.

  Chapter 14

  Panic sliced through Megan as she saw her cousin.

  Jennifer was on the ground, trying to shake the tree. Her sister was on the outstretched limb, struggling to free herself from the grip of…

  Pure terror seized Megan.

  The green-scaled creature was nine feet long, its pointed teeth sinking into Jillian’s ankle. Her cousin screamed in fear and pain as she tried to pull free.

  “Jillian, stay there, don’t move! I’m coming up. If you move, sweetheart, you’ll hurt yourself more.”

  Gabriel began to climb. From limb to limb he moved, strong and sure. Megan ran over to Jennifer, hugged her cousin.

  Blood began to drip from the tree limb holding Jillian.

  Sickened, Megan wished she could do something. She could not shift into wolf, only Shadow. And being invisible would not help her cousin.

  She could only hold Jennifer as Gabriel approached the scaled beast. Jillian screamed in pain.

  “Hang on, Jilly,” Gabriel told her softly. “I need for you to be still. I know it hurts like the dickens, sweetie, but in order to free you, you have to be still.”

  “Okay,” she sobbed.

  “That’s my brave girl. Megan, get under that branch and be ready to catch her when I give the word.”

  As she blinked, Gabriel pounced on the creature. He landed on its back and with his hands, forced open the powerful jaws.

  “Now, Jilly, drop!”

  Trusting in him, Jillian fell to the ground. Megan caught her little cousin. Her right ankle was bleeding badly.

  They glanced up to see Gabriel wrestling with the creature, his hands locked as he broke its neck with a single, sickly crack.

  She shuddered at the killing power of those hands, hands that had been so gentle on her body just hours ago.

  “Stand back. I’m coming down.”

  Gabriel dropped to the ground fifteen feet below, landing on his feet like a cat.

  “What was it?” Megan asked, gripping the weeping Jillian.

  “A damned alligator. Here, give her to me. I’ll carry her.”

  She handed over his injured niece. “They don’t climb trees!”

  “Morphs in gator form do.”

  He hurried into the house with the crying Jillian, hushing her as he cradled her close. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ve got you. You’re okay now.”

  On the sofa, Gabriel gently laid down Jillian and carefully examined her ankle. “Not broken, but she’s got some deep cuts.”

  Megan cleaned her cousin’s wounds, worried that Jillian didn’t protest as usual with her “Ow, that hurts!”

  She applied the healing liniment, bound her bleeding ankle. Gabriel handed her cousin an aspirin and Jillian gulped it down with the water her twin handed her.

  Pack up, Megan. We’re leaving as soon as we can. It’s not safe here any longer.

  How did the Morph get on the property? You shielded it against Morphs.

  Against them breaking in. These were already here.

  A hollow ache settled on her chest as she tossed things into her large backpack. The fragile, pretty Dresden figurine sat on the bureau. Megan picked it up, stroking the china face. It was all she had of her mother’s.

  For two precious days, this place had been a home where children played and a family gathered at the dinner table. She’d imagined making a life in such a place with Gabriel, where she wouldn’t have to run anymore.

  Megan folded the figurine into a towel and stuffed it carefully into her knapsack.

  She was homeless once more.

  Gabriel stomped inside. “I grabbed all the girls’ stuff and mine, threw everything in the trunk. You almost ready?”

  She handed him her pack. “Just this. Oh, and I wanted to bring some of those fresh bananas and strawberries you bought. The girls love them.”

  “Hurry up.”

&nbs
p; The kitchen was cozy and neat. She tasted tears in the back of her throat as she touched the gingham curtains, the matching tablecloth. “I’m so damn tired of running. Will it ever stop? Will we ever be safe?”

  A hissing sounded close to the kitchen door. Gas leak? Megan inhaled and caught an odor of decaying flesh. Edging aside the checked curtain, she peered out the backdoor window.

  Nothing. Megan unlocked the door to go outside. Something plopped to the hardwood floor besides her.

  The hissing grew louder. Terror seized her heart as her palms grew cold and clammy.

  A scream tore from her throat as the rattler lifted its head to strike. Instinctively she went into Shadow and sidestepped. Megan danced away. Horrified, she saw another snake poke a hole in the ceiling and drop through.

  They were coming through the roof.

  Shifting out of Shadow, she ran into the living room, yanked Jennifer off the sofa. “Run for the car.”

  As she picked up Jillian in her arms, she glanced over her shoulder.

  Hundreds of snakes and spiders dropped into the kitchen, slithering and crawling toward them. Megan dashed outside the front door with the twins and ground to an abrupt halt.

  The yard was filled with snakes. Jenny screamed as she ran, barely missing a cobra snapping at her heels. Gabriel swept her up into his arms and all but threw her into the car.

  By the time he turned back, snakes covered the yard. Megan and Jillian were trapped between the porch and the car.

  Megan could feel a spider climb up her bare ankle, pause delicately with its whisper thin legs. She shook it off.

  Gabriel advanced toward the house. Determination etched his face.

  “I’m coming out.” The snakes would bite her, but Jillian would stay safe.

  “Stay there, Megan, until I give the word.”

  Astonishment filled her as she watched him stretch out his hands. Could he mind control hundreds of Morph snakes?

  In the midst of the mass of writhing reptiles, something began growing. Sensing a predator larger than themselves, the snakes backed away.