The Shadow Wolf

by Bonnie Vanak

  No longer ashamed, he felt a quiet sense of pride as he saw newfound respect on his family’s faces.

  “I was afraid of you ever fathering children, Gabriel. I hoped the recessive gene would die with you. I’m ashamed to say I thought you were our family’s biggest liability. You’re not. You’re our biggest asset.” Remy’s voice dropped to a grieved whisper. “I’m so proud of you, my son. I wish I had told you that before. That I hadn’t treated Simone and Amelia like I had.”

  Gabriel walked over and hugged his father. “It’s okay, Papa. Everything will be fine now.”

  “Will you and Megan come live with us?” Celine removed her hand from her chest, which had started to heal. “We would be honored. Until we build you a house of your own, Gabriel. For when the babies come.”

  Knowing her dream, he glanced at Megan’s shining eyes. “If Megan agrees. That place of mine in the Quarter is more suited to a bachelor.”

  “Yes,” she said, nodding her head. “Yes, yes and yes!”

  His parents smiled.

  “I suppose this means I truly do belong somewhere now.” She reached up for his kiss.

  “Always,” he said solemnly, as he bent down to take her mouth. “Right here at my side.”

  Epilogue

  “I’m full. Please. No more. Thank you for coming over and bringing coffee and dessert.”

  She pushed back the china plate of homemade blueberry pie. “See? I ate everything, Celine.”

  “But, chère, you must keep up your strength.” Kind brown eyes, as dark as Gabriel’s softened. “And what is this Celine? I asked you to call me Maman.”

  She dabbed at her eyes as Celine rubbed her back.

  “It’s normal, Megan. Every woman gets emotional afterward.”

  A chorus of voices agreed with her. She smiled at her sisters-in-law.

  “We’ll come over any time you need good, old-fashioned womanly support. Because the men sometimes, well, they just look too confused to figure it out. Even men who have extraordinary powers,” said Emily, who was rocking her baby, Sam.

  Once she thought no Draicon could ever be called friend. Now she had a supportive family of Draicon.

  She wasn’t alone anymore. And never would be, not with Gabriel’s strong, powerful family as her allies. All Shadows had been freed and the Draicon who’d used the females as sex slaves sent to prison. Shocked and humiliated at knowing they’d been controlled by a powerful demon, the council had lifted any restrictions on Shadows. Tristan promised to find the missing Shadows and offer them a normal life among a Draicon pack.

  Gabriel had gone on a little hunt of his own and now Devin, the man who’d nearly assaulted her on the boat, was locked in a demon prison.

  Excusing herself, Megan walked to the large, comfortable bedroom she shared with Gabriel. The door was slightly ajar. She pushed it open and lingered in the doorway.

  In the rocking chair Remy had bought for her, Gabriel sat holding their six-week-old daughter. With some awkwardness, but growing experience, he cradled the newborn. In his deep, soothing tenor, he crooned tenderly to their baby.

  Emotion filled his dark eyes as he glanced up at her. “She’s sleeping.”

  Megan went to him, caressed his cheek. “Because she loves her daddy’s voice, and only he can make her sleep.”

  He brushed his lips against the thick down on their child’s head, then picked up her tiny right hand to display the silver crescent moon birthmark. “But Amelia is her mother’s daughter.”

  They didn’t know yet if their baby would be Trans-Feral. But with each passing day since the birth, Megan felt Gabriel’s fears ease. His family would help train Amelia and teach her to control her enormous powers.

  “And then there’s also Amelia’s godfather, who just happens to be a very powerful Immortal.” Gabriel grinned, reading her mind. “Tristan would never let anything happen to her.”

  Megan pulled up a chair to sit beside him. “She’s safe, Gabriel. It’s a new world she’s been born into. A good one.”

  “Unreal,” he murmured. “I can’t believe you and I did this. The Shadow and the Trans-Feral.”

  “Learned to change a diaper?” she teased.

  Gabriel’s expression filled with love as he gazed at her. “Created a miracle.”

  If you loved this heart-wrenching, sensual story

  about destined mates uniting against impossible

  odds, be sure to turn the page and read

  DARKNESS OF THE WOLF,

  which was first published in electronic form

  in Harlequin Nocturne Bites.

  We hope you enjoy it.

  Chapter 1

  They could kill him. Now. Or wait. He’d gone past caring.

  No one would mourn his death. Guy Laurent was alone in the world. The thought made him ache. In his world of Draicon werewolves, anyone who used to know him thought he was already dead.

  Huddled in a corner of his cage at the Savage Kingdom Zoo, he lay with his head between his paws. He stared at the steel bars prohibiting escape. Disguised as a real zoo, the facility was a prison for werecreatures who were forced into their animal forms during the day for unknowing human visitors.

  A little girl licking an ice cream stopped before his exhibit as her mother sat on a bench feeding a toddler. The child looked upset. “Please don’t be sad, wolf.” She held out her cone. “You can have my ice cream.”

  No one ever gave him anything without a price. But he still had a soft spot left for children. Guy loped toward the bars, wishing he could smile at her.

  His keeper approached, knocked her hand away, sending her ice cream toppling. “Hey, you stupid kid, don’t feed the animals!”

  The girl started crying.

  A low growl rumbled from Guy. He glared at the demon and charged the cage.

  Electricity zapped his powerful body. Uncaring, he pawed through the bars, wanting to hurt the demon for upsetting the child.

  The little girl screamed. “Mama, the wolf’s going to hurt me!” Guy watched in pained bewilderment as she ran off. I was only trying to help you.

  When would he ever learn that nothing good came of helping others?

  The demon pressed a box on his belt. The Identi chip buried beneath Guy’s skin sent painful pulses through him. He yipped, shaking his head, trying to get rid of the agony.

  Later, they came for him. In human form now, he was naked. Using the Identi chips injected into each werecreature, their demon keepers restricted their magick and forced all the prisoners into their human forms long after the zoo had closed.

  The garrote around Guy’s neck choked him as they paraded him off to the shed. The demons stretched him out as they tied him to the punishment posts. The leather whip cracked through the air. Guy tensed. Salt on the whip’s silver studs ensured his wounds would scar.

  A cold night wind whistled over his body as they dumped him into the cage after his beating. The winter chill infiltrating central Florida felt like needles stinging his shivering flesh.

  “Rough day?”

  At the sound of that familiar, deep voice, Guy raised his head and snarled.

  “Come to finish off what the demons didn’t, Phoenix?”

  The tall, dark-haired man standing before him raised every hair on Guy’s nape. Tristan was a Phoenix, one of the immortal Justice Guardians who oversaw all werecreatures.

  “If I were, I’d have given you to the Draicon executioner instead of confining you here.”

  “Fine. Now get the hell out of here. You’re blocking my view,” Guy muttered.

  “How would you like to be free?”

  Agony flared on his back. “I’ve been tortured enough today. Save it for tomorrow, when the demons get bored.”

  “I never torture. Not my style. This is legit.” Tristan sat cross-legged before him.

  “They told me the only way I’m getting out of here is in a coffin.”

  “I have final authority here. How does visiting Île de Sanglier in
the Caribbean sound?”

  Wild boar island. “Why, they have a new zoo they want to display me?”

  “You have a friend there. Bernard Belizaire. Bernard acts as a sort of resource coordinator for Draicon on the island and keeps tabs on everything that happens. He helped several Draicon packs settle on Île de Sanglier years ago. Recently, the oldest pack vanished.” Tristan’s green gaze met his. “They were slaughtered by Morphs.”

  Guy swore softly. Morphs, former Draicon who turned to evil for greater power by killing a close relative, were their race’s greatest threat.

  “The Quartermaines left the States, but their alpha, Dell, kept tabs on them. Dell wants Brianna, the youngest Draicon. She managed to escape, and make it to a Draicon safe house. Your job is to be a bodyguard for Brianna and help Kayla Morris, the woman hired to find and bring Brianna back to Dell. We need a Draicon who is a good fighter and will keep Brianna safe until her return to the States.”

  “Why can’t Bernard do it himself? Or this Kayla person?”

  Tristan’s jaw tightened. “He admitted he can’t protect her from Morphs. He has a rare condition and his senses, especially hearing and smell, are failing. Kayla lacks Draicon powers. She’s been hired because Brianna only trusts females. If you do this, you can go free.”

  “And you’re offering me this out of the goodness of that black ice you call a heart?”

  His windpipe compressed as Tristan squeezed a fist, clutching nothing more than air. “Watch it, wolf.”

  Tristan released him. Guy rubbed his aching throat.

  “And why should I trust you when you put me in here?” he demanded.

  “You’re here because you killed your pack alpha.”

  “I’m here because of Anne. I warned her Simon was turning evil and I was going to take him out. So she told Simon. He went after me…I killed him, and then Carl, Simon’s beta, took over. Carl got leadership and I got prison.”

  He’d foolishly warned Anne to keep her safe, failing to see her blind loyalty to their leader. He should have known better than to put a woman’s needs before his own.

  Tristan stood, shadowing Guy with his tall body. “Because you saved the pack by killing Simon, you’re here instead of six feet under. You knew the rules. You should have told Carl, who would have alerted the Kallan to execute Simon. The Kallan is immortal and the pack would have respected his authority. Instead, you killed Simon and nearly involved your pack in a brutal war over who believed you and who didn’t. You’re a rogue who can’t follow orders.”

  “And you think I can follow rules now?” he taunted. Damn, he still had freshly bleeding stripes on his back to prove otherwise.

  “I’m giving you this chance to see if you can.” The Phoenix flashed him a dark smile.

  Freedom. So close he could taste it. Guy squeezed his aching fists. “I’ll do it. What about the Identi?”

  “It stays in until you deliver the girl to Dell. A little insurance in case you take a detour.” Tristan looked impassive. “I’m deactivating it, but in five days starting it up again unless you deliver the girl.”

  The thought of the chip still buried inside him rankled Guy. He took a deep breath.

  “Just remember, deliver Brianna to Dell or you’re back here. And you won’t leave until you’re in a coffin.” Tristan paused. “When she shows up tomorrow, go easy on Kayla. She usually avoids Draicon.”

  “Sure, I’ll take it easy on the human.”

  Tristan smiled. “I never said Kayla was human.”

  “What the hell is she?”

  “Your destiny.”

  Fear and rage roared through Guy. “The hell with destiny, Phoenix. I’ve spent thirty years locked up because a woman betrayed me. You call that my destiny, too?”

  “Kayla isn’t Anne, Guy. She has no pack loyalty.”

  Guy shook his head. “Every wolf for himself.”

  “We’ll see,” Tristan murmured as he vanished.

  Chapter 2

  Kayla Morris didn’t scare easily. She’d endured her father’s execution, her pregnant mother leaving and her alpha throwing her into the human world.

  She thought nothing could faze her. Not until she walked through the gates of the Savage Kingdom Zoo.

  Draicon senses long abandoned flared to unwilling life. This wasn’t a zoo, but hell for werecreatures.

  A man wearing a crimson jumpsuit swept trash into a dustpan. She saw his eyes flash deep red. A Century demon. They enjoyed tormenting others.

  Only the most savage were imprisoned here. How could she work with such a wild beast?

  No choice. She desperately needed the forty thousand dollars promised upon delivery to save her business from creditors. Guy Laurent was part of the deal.

  Kayla wiped her sweating palms against her jeans. With a black band, she bound her brown curly hair in a tight ponytail. Assuming the indifferent expression that protected her against the world, she steeled herself.

  No matter how savage this Draicon was, she could handle him.

  When she reached the wolf exhibit, the cage was empty. But the lingering scent caught her attention. It was nothing like she’d ever experienced, deeply masculine mixed with a delicious fragrance of sage and pine. It was heady and she breathed it in, feeling her body surge unexpectedly. It felt like a high-octane sexual cocktail.

  She didn’t consider herself a Draicon anymore. But her long-dead wolf senses charged to life with one inhalation.

  A tall, redheaded man, wearing an Italian business suit, strode toward her. Victor, head demon for this noxious place.

  She raised her hands to show she didn’t carry a weapon. Demons always were suspicious. “Kayla Morris, here to pick up Guy Laurent.”

  “Sign here.” Victor thrust a clipboard at her.

  She signed. Paperwork and red tape. The demons were infamous for it.

  Victor whistled and an overweight demon wearing a red jumpsuit pulled on a chain, leading a sullen man out of a small shed. The chain was attached to a collar around the man’s neck. Shackles laced his wrists together. His shaggy, dark blond hair was clean, but three day’s of dark bristles covered his hard jaw. A loose orange jumpsuit, the type worn by Florida state prisoners, covered his tall body. His feet were bare. He did not look up, but kept his head lowered. Guy Laurent.

  His scent drifted over to her, filling her once more with that delicious tingly feeling.

  Clutching a thick nightstick in one hand, the demon pushed Guy roughly toward her. “Here’s your new mistress, dog.”

  A barely perceptible growl rumbled from Guy. The demon’s eyes glowed red. “You’ll pay for that.” He raised his stick toward Guy.

  “Stop that,” Kayla ordered. She gestured to the restraints and the chain. “Take those off.”

  Victor’s eyes widened. “He’s a dangerous, savage wolf.”

  “Take. Them. Off. Now.”

  The demon shrugged. “It’s your head. Or throat. He usually goes for the throat.”

  The shackles fell off as Victor snapped his fingers.

  Guy advanced toward her. Two feet away, he stopped and raised his eyes. Burning with rage, they were a brilliant sea blue. Kayla recoiled. His nostrils flared. He moved closer to her, closed his eyes and inhaled.

  Damn, the wolf was sniffing her?

  Judging from the interest in his now-opened eyes, he liked what he smelled.

  “Kayla,” he rumbled.

  Oh, dear heavens, that sultry, deep voice. He said her name as if he liked the taste of it on his tongue. As if she was chocolate melting in his mouth. She could almost feel the soft scrape of his tongue against her skin as he kissed and licked his way down her body….

  A flush ignited her cheeks. Embarrassed at her wanton thoughts, Kayla looked away.

  “You’re a Draicon,” Guy said softly.

  Scowling, she whipped her gaze back to him. “Not anymore. I don’t do magick, don’t shift and I don’t like werewolves.”

  Interest faded in Guy’s gaze
. He began to rub the bleeding circles on his wrists. Kayla winced at the angry cuts.

  “Those look nasty. You’ll need something for them.”

  He gave a short laugh. “They’re nothing. I’ll heal—I just need fresh beef to juice up my energy levels.” The Draicon gave her a slow smile. “Or sex. Want to volunteer?”

  “You’ll have to settle for a Big Mac.” Kayla studied his prison uniform. “We’ll never make it past airport security. Do you have any other clothing?”

  “I have a suitcase filled with designer suits, can’t you tell?”

  Suddenly a black duffel bag appeared at Guy’s side at the same time new clothing covered his body. He now wore a forest-green T-shirt molded to his muscular chest, and faded jeans. The jeans showed off long, athletic limbs. On his feet were sturdy hiking boots.

  Wow. The clothes emphasized his sexiness. Bad boy all the way, laced with smoldering heat.

  “Thanks, Phoenix,” Guy muttered, then narrowed his eyes at Kayla. “I need to get the hell out of here.”

  But even as he started forward, she saw the sulking demon raise his club toward Guy’s head. The damn snake. Kayla scissor-kicked his midsection. The demon reeled backward.

  “Next time I’ll aim much lower,” she warned.

  Guy gave a deep, amused chuckle. They left, but at the exit turnstile, Guy hesitated. Sweat broke out on his face. Fear flashed briefly in his blue eyes as he stared at the red exit sign.

  Kayla glanced at him. “What’s wrong?”

  “Let’s go,” he muttered.

  When they reached her car, Guy placed his bag in the trunk and then inspected the cooler she’d packed. He fished out a jar of peanut butter and a raw steak wrapped in plastic. His dark brows shot up.

  “That’s for me,” she told him, snatching the peanut butter. “I don’t eat meat.”

  She dug out another steak. She unwrapped both, placed them on a plastic plate and handed it to him. “Century demons aren’t known for feeding their prisoners.”

  Guy cleared his throat. “Do you have a knife and fork?”