Hayden shoved it in his pocket. He didn’t have time to work out that mystery with so many left for him to solve. If it proved not to be unlucky, and he’d do an internet search on it to find out, he’d give it to Chelsea as a gift. He smiled at the thought. His honey mate would love small gestures like that. It had been way too long until someone had taken care of her.
He continued on to the car. It started right up, but before he drove away, he stopped to look at his vineyard. In terms of size, it wasn’t as impressive as some of the older, original, or corporate-owned places, but he was damned proud of it. After Savage had handed him the Napa Valley and told him to go make himself a home, he hadn’t really known what to expect. This place, pushed into a hillside, with vines, at least half of which he had planted himself, had become their sanctuary.
He had a mate to help it feel like home. Maybe there would be more than survival. Maybe there would be a future.
But first people had to die. And he would be their executioner.
Chapter Six
Chelsea had no idea how she’d gotten where she was, and she really didn’t care to find out. The moon shone down on Hayden’s bare back. He walked through the woods wearing his black pants as if they’d been made for him. She wanted to get them off his body immediately. She’d push him against one of the many trees and finally get his cock deep down her throat.
Her pussy wept at the thought, and she nearly tripped over a root in her distraction. He turned around and grinned at her. “You’ve got to keep up, princess, or we’ll miss the appointment. Then you’ll never catch up to me.”
She heard the laughter in his voice, and although he normally chased her for fun, this time she didn’t manage charging after him as though she was the one with wolf blood instead of him.
“Hayden.” A male voice called him from a distance, and she stopped short, nearly colliding with her mate when he halted.
She grabbed his hand in hers, wondering if the forest had really dropped ten degrees or whether it was only in her own head. “Who is that?” she whispered, although why she felt the need to be quiet was beyond her when whoever had spoken clearly knew they were there.
“Lucian.” Hayden dropped her hand and put his hands on his hips. “I wonder what he wants here.”
“Lucian?” Her voice squeaked. “Isn’t he dead?”
When Hayden turned to regard her, he had one of his eyebrows raised. “Where would you have gotten an idea like that?”
As if conjured by the moonlight, Lucian appeared before them. She blinked rapidly. How had he done that? In fact, what was going on here? How had she gotten in the woods?
“Don’t worry, seer. This will all make sense soon.” Lucian turned to Hayden. “I made a mistake. You have to find him. It was always you who would.”
She tried to focus on what her mate said to the man who had nearly destroyed him with his dark expectations, but all she could seem to hear was the soft swishing sound the wind made and all she could see was the way the moon the shone down on them all.
Daughter of mine.
She gasped and covered her mouth. Had the moon spoken to her?
They chose humanity to have you. You and your sisters. Have you forgotten? Has it already left your memory? Why are you not feeding the dreams? Your mate is in danger of losing himself.
Wait…what? Her mate was right next to her. She turned to look at him and found that he wasn’t there. Nothing surrounded her, not even the trees, just the light of the moon shining down on her.
You need to see, daughter of the moon. You need to see.
She grabbed at her eyes as energy surged through her and brought her to her knees. This wasn’t real. This was a vision. She’d fallen asleep and woken up in another reality. That was the only explanation she could come up with. Chelsea couldn’t remember previous visions, but she hoped they hadn’t all gone like this. Did she end up in horrible pain every time it happened?
The scene changed, and instead of the woods with the moonlight, she stood back in the labs. Well, specifically one of the offices connected to the labs. Hayden stood in front of her. He was dressed this time in the same clothes he’d been in before they’d made love.
“Hayden.” She called out his name, but he didn’t turn around. “That’s right. This is all coming back to me. You can’t hear me. I can only see what might be happening to you. Or maybe it’s not. Maybe this is some kind of possibility that will never actually occur. I hate these fucking visions.”
Hayden moved forward, and that was when she saw the doctor. He’d wanted her to call him Robert. And then he’d poked at her, sneered at her, and ultimately made a pass at her before threatening her life.
“You.” Hayden pointed at Robert. “You’re going to answer my questions. Or I’m going to make you hurt. You can believe me when I tell you about the pain. Dishing out punishment always came easily to me. But you and I don’t have to go there. Not if you answer my questions.”
Robert jumped to his feet. “No one talks to me like that. Certainly not a werewolf like you. All of your kind need to be put down.”
Hayden sighed “That’s what I thought you’d say.”
“Hayden.” She called out last though he could hear her even knowing he couldn’t. “Don’t do that. You’re not that man anymore. You’ve made a life for your pack. You have me now. There’s no need to go back to the darkness.”
If he continued forward, that was what would happen. Hayden, whose eyes hooded when he talked about his time with Lucian but who glowed with light when he walked through his vineyard or managed his pack, could not be allowed to travel backward to the place he had left behind. Not for her. Not ever.
She could stop him. This hadn’t happened yet. It could still be prevented. She needed to wake up. Open her eyes. Stop the vision and get help before it all faded away. Somehow she’d done it before, and she could do it again.
She. Had. To. Wake. Up.
Her eyes flew open, and she darted upward. A hand restrained her, and she blinked, trying to clear her blurred vision. Two figures, a male and a female, stared down at her, and she didn’t know either of them.
“Relax, human who belongs to my brother. No one is going to hurt you.”
A load groan sounded next to the man who had spoken. The woman who spoke sounded annoyed. “Don’t talk to her like that. She doesn’t belong to your brother, fleabag. Humans don’t own each other. She’s her own person, and she’s clearly just had a vision, so why don’t you just shut the hell up?”
“Woman.” The man growled.
Chelsea’s eyes cleared, and she stared for a second. There wasn’t much time, and maybe he could help Hayden. If not, she was going to go find Sal. Finally, she spoke to the man. “You said Hayden was your brother?”
“I am Savage.” She’d heard that name.
“I’ve had a vision, and I’m going to lose my memory of it, but someone has to go help Hayden. He’s in danger of doing something that will be horrible for him. He’s going to sacrifice years’ worth of progress he’s made toward letting go of the past. Please, someone has to find him.”
“Is he in danger?” A growl sounded from his mouth. “Sal said he’d only gone to scout things out.”
“Please, I can’t argue with you. The longer I wait, the less chance I’ll have of remembering. He’s going to torture one of the True Believers.”
The woman spoke again. “Why are you going to lose your memory of the second-sight? Drink your shake and move on.”
Her words didn’t make any sense. “Shake?”
“I told you, Viola, that my brother said she loses her visions. They fade. You are here to help her with that. And, evidently, I have to find out what has happened to Hayden.”
Savage looked an awful lot like Hayden. The same dark hair, the same broad shoulders. But where Hayden clothed himself in a very low-key manner, Savage wore all black and had two earrings, one in each lobes, with dark eyeliner under his eyes. She supposed he would be calle
d Goth. It was a good look for him, but not one that would work on Hayden.
She preferred her quiet winemaker. Oh God, she hoped Savage could find him and make him stop before he injured his soul again.
Viola spoke again. “How have you been surviving if you haven’t been taking your herbs?” She stood tall with bright blonde hair and striking blue eyes. The other woman had a Marilyn Monroe birthmark in the same place. If Chelsea wasn’t already so freaked out, she’d ask Viola if she had done deliberately tried to resemble the actress or if it had been just a genetic anomaly.
Of course, Chelsea wasn’t getting warm fuzzy vibes from Viola. She’d keep the question to herself permanently.
“What the hell are you talking about?” But she wasn’t going to remain in bed all day and let the woman speak nonsense. That was when it dawned on her that she was naked. She gasped and tugged the blankets up to her neck. Hayden’s brother and this stranger had just seen her nude. He must have gotten at least a good view of her breasts. Heat shot up her neck, making her cheeks hot.
“Now you notice you’re baring it all?” Viola laughed. “Don’t worry. As much as I admire other women’s beauty, and you’re cute, I don’t swing that way. And I would guess that you smell so much like his brother that Savage didn’t give it much thought either. But put on some clothes and meet me downstairs. I have to get out of this room. The bedroom furniture is horrendous. It feels like it’s attacking me with its tastelessness.”
With that, Viola turned on her heel and strode from the room. Chelsea let out the breath she held. If Viola could help her, then that was great. If not, then Chelsea was going to knock the woman out. The furniture attacked her? Some people needed more to do with their time.
****
By the time Chelsea got down to the kitchen, Viola had torn it apart. Apparently, they didn’t have anything that she needed to make some kind of shake she insisted Chelsea had to drink. It took two trips to three different stores, but they eventually ended up back at Hayden’s kitchen counter using a newly purchased blender.
Chelsea didn’t have any money, but Viola didn’t care one bit. She’d paid for everything without blinking at the cost. In fact, the other woman had stayed all but utterly silent the entire time they’d been out of the house. Not that Chelsea particularly wanted to chat, but the silent treatment was really, really off-putting.
What was this woman’s deal?
Viola threw the remainder of the groceries down on the counter before she rounded on Chelsea with her pointer finger wagging at her like some kind weapon. “I just don’t get it. What’s wrong with you? It’s hard enough on those of us with the Gift without you getting caught by the psycho scientists and dragging the Wolves into our business. Why couldn’t you take your herbs and keep quiet?”
Enough was enough. “I don’t have a fucking idea what you’re talking about.” She pointed her own finger back at Viola. “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know about any herbs. I only know that I’ve been through hell—years of it—and I didn’t involve the Wolves. I happen to be mated to one of them, even though that shocked the hell out of me.”
“Are you tell me that you have lived your whole life without taking the concoction? That’s not possible. They would have locked you away as a child.” Viola narrowed her gaze.
“I didn’t have these problems as a child. I inherited them when my grandmother died. No money, no family, nowhere to live, but the ability to see many futures? That I got. So don’t talk to me about what should have been.” Who did this woman think she was?
Viola threw her head back and laughed. “This isn’t like that. You always had it. If you got it when she died, it’s because you stopped eating correctly. There must have been something she fed you every day. Think.” The blonde bitch touched her own head like she pantomimed the act of using her brain.
Chelsea wanted to punch her in the face. The only thing that stopped her was that, yes, in fact, there had been something her Gram had made her every day. The old family recipe. “Soup.” Her voice sounded small.
“Well, there you go. That’s kind of old-school, but I guess it makes sense if it was your grandmother doing it. Shakes are easier. There aren’t many of us with the Gift, but those of us who have it handle it in two ways. First, we keep it secret. No one needs to end up in an institution. And the second is that we eat a combination of vitamins and minerals every day. It lets us remember our visions, control how many we get, and stay in good mental health.” Viola drummed her fingers on the counter. “You probably did have visions as a child, but you were being fed properly, and it felt like dreams or whatever. Puberty makes the whole thing less manageable, but we all get it under control as adults. Your grandmother never told you anything about this?”
She shook her head. “We weren’t close. She kind of didn’t know what to do with me most of the time, and she died very suddenly.”
“Right, well, I guess I’m going to show you what your grandmother should have. It’s rather simple. It’s all about what we put in our bodies. Ready?”
For the next ten minutes, Chelsea listened to how she needed to combine gingko biloba, hawthorn, gotu kola, bacopin, rosemary, schisandra, DMAE, vitamin B6, and folic acid. She also needed to eat more fish, which finally explained her Gram’s preoccupation with fish bone soup. Viola put the whole thing in a juicer with kale and spinach. Five minutes later, Chelsea drank the whole thing down.
She nearly gagged and had to grip the side of the counter. Viola drank that combination of stuff every day and didn’t throw up all the time?
“There are ways to make it more palatable if the kale isn’t your thing. Some people add orange juice.”
“Um…”
The door banged open, and Hayden burst in—all the anger and tension keeping her on her feet fled. He grabbed her and pulled her against him. “You’re okay?”
He was worried about her? “I’m fine. Did they get to you in time?”
“I hadn’t even gotten to the front entrance.”
A noise caught her attention, and Savage entered, dragging Robert, the doctor, with him. “I’m putting you in the wine caves. You’ll be locked up. Then we’ll figure out who, other than my brother, will deal with you.”
Robert yelled something she couldn’t understand thanks to the gag in his mouth.
The room spun, and she grabbed Hayden tighter. .
“Sweetheart?” He squeezed her arm. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure…”
The room went black, and she heard Viola’s response. “Oh, this might happen the first time. “
A lifetime of visions she had forgotten flooded her mind. Then nothingness.
****
“I’m really fine. I wish you’d stop fussing.”
Hayden extended his hand again, and this time she took the shake. “You were out cold for twenty-four hours. I’m going to worry for a while. I can’t help it.”
She smiled. They had a True Believer locked in their wine cave, and he worried about her? “Viola says I’ll be fine now.”
“Viola can suck it. My brother knows some bad people. You and I will figure this out on our own.”
She smiled. “Fair enough.”
Things between them were different now. She had the memory of knowing him lifetimes, of seeing over and over again how spectacular a werewolf he could be. Thank the moon and the stars Savage and Sal had reached him in time.
She told him she’d seen into his soul during her visions. Every time he touched the darkness, it destroyed something in him. And she wasn’t going to let him do that again.
Hayden sighed and sat down next to her. She was his mate. Sometimes he knew her thoughts. “I would have done it for you and never regretted the torture. What is my past good for if not for protecting you?”
Her mind drifted briefly to the strange vision she’d had of Lucian talking to Hayden. His former Alpha had made a mistake in thinking he wouldn’t have made a good alpha. Someday when they w
ere departed and with the moon together she’d tell him about it. But not right then. Things were too cozy, too easy, and she wanted a few moments like that for the two of them.
“There’s no need for either of us to ever sacrifice like that, Hayden.” She kissed his neck, bringing his male scent into her lungs. “Being together means that’s all behind us.”
“Fair enough.”
She ignored the shudder that travelled through her. If there was something dark coming, she’d see it soon enough. She’d been a girl with no future, nothing to dream about. But now she had her Alpha, and the rest would have to work itself out.
Hayden stroked the side of her face. She sighed, loving how connected she felt to him. She was a human, but she felt truly mated and had been in many parallel lifetimes. How lucky was she that she could actually remember them all?
“Hayden?”
“Yes?” he answered.
“Kiss me.”
Hayden grinned. “As my mate wishes.”
And, oh yes, she wished it. Many, many times.
Touch of Desire
An Ashwood Falls Novella
By Lia Davis
Touch of Desire
As the wolf senior enforcer, Torin Fisher’s job is to protect the pack and each of its members. That includes the beautiful submissive wolf, Cora Rivers. He’s known for a while she belongs to him, but he decided to wait for her to come to him willingly. Since her brother’s death, he’s watched her withdraw from the Pack little by little. Tired of sitting by watching her suffocate her wolf, he decides the time has come to claim her.
Cora Rivers is no stranger to pain. Just as she comes out of her mourning over her parents’ brutal murder, her brother—and best friend—suffers the same horrifying death. Grief cripples her and in attempt to learn to be independent, she inadvertently stifles her wolf by not letting her out to run on a regular basis. When Torin Fisher, begins the mating dance, her only choice is to run.
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