Fred’s love for Joanna and obsession with finding a cure for Joey led him to the last place Joanna wanted him to look. When Hoffman called Joanna, she became terrified all would be exposed and her ‘perfect’ daughter’s life would be ruined. Charlene picked up Joanna’s photo as a pretty woman in the bloom of her youth.
Her mother a werewolf? She scoffed out loud. Not possible. Look at her. She’d been beautiful. Perfect. She closed her eyes, thought back to happy times in high school—and flashed back to her mother and father fighting.
It had been in the middle of the night and she’d gotten up to go to the bathroom.
Her mother’s voice had been uncharacteristically whiny. “I really need that medicine, Fred.”
“The moon won’t be full for another week.”
“No. I need it now.” Her mother was crying. “Please, please, please.”
“You’re becoming addicted, Joanna. If I give it to you now, you’ll never be off the damn drug.”
“You bastard!” The distinct sound of a hand slapping a cheek had rung out in the house. A gasp. “Fred. I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”
A door had slammed.
Charlene had crept back to bed, pulled the quilt over her head, and cried herself to sleep.
She opened her eyes as the realization overwhelmed her. The signs had all been there, but she’d never had the family history to put them into context. Not until now.
She stared at the perfect picture of her mother. Perfect, perfect, perfect. Not.
“What happened, Mom? Where were you going that night?”
The police placed the accident on I-83, heading south, at about midnight. Why were they out at that hour? Were they heading to the genetics lab two exits away? Had her mother convinced her father to destroy his werewolf research? Who was she hiding it from? Why bother? Hoffman knew and was planning to fire her father soon.
“You wanted to protect me. You confronted Fred at a full moon.”
Her mother must have been furious. Did she forget to take her medications—or did she skip them on purpose? Without medications, when the full moon of March came to collect her due, did Joanna change like Joey and the boys on the bus? Knowing how frightened she’d been, Charlene could only imagine Fred’s reaction. In her rage, had her mother attacked her mate, clawing and biting him? Maybe the car had gone out of control. Or maybe Dad had felt he had no choice but to drive straight into a concrete buttress. Each, in their own way, fought to protect the next generation—her—from knowing the family secrets. And in the end, they both lost. Because, as Jethro said over and over, “Blood will tell.”
An unbidden thought bubbled up in her mind. What had her mother looked like in her werewolf form? She sat down hard in an armchair, her mother’s photo clutched in her hand. The fact that she found herself accepting the possibility of such a creature, and that she even wondered what her mother looked like when she changed overwhelmed her.
She took deep cleansing breaths and tried to think of rational explanations for all the strange experiences she’d had before coming to Eden. Her mother’s monthly migraines, her brother’s fixation with the moon, her own urges to go on long distance runs on nights when the moon was full. And, now, here in Eden, all the other weird events, even the visitation by the strange silver wolf. She stood up and walked back to the bedroom.
Next to the bed on the floor, she found a few strands of silver-white hair. The same color as Zack’s. The animal’s eyes had been the same as his, too. She whispered to herself, “I’m either going crazy—or I’m in love with a werewolf.”
How could she leave Eden now? She found her family, her home—and a man who made her feel complete. Her soul mate. There must be another solution. Her mother and father had chosen a path that led to death. What should she do? Her mother struggled for decades to protect her perfect daughter—and died to keep the secret.
Now that she knew, Charlene had to choose. But what should she do? Be disloyal to her mother and all the sacrifices she made for her? Or accept her hidden birthright and destroy the last vestiges of her mother’s perfect human child? Was it all or nothing? Or was there a way to have a ‘mixed marriage’, like her parents, and live in both worlds?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
~*~
Secrets Within Secrets, Within Secrets
Zack pulled the bus, now empty of all riders except Joey, into Charlene’s driveway. His beloved stood on the porch in a cobalt blue dress that accentuated her smoky blue eyes. Her berry red lips looked as if they were waiting for his kiss. His heart sped up, and his pants tightened at the thought of rubbing his hands across her breasts and hardened nipples. Later, he would make love to her and lick her all over.
Not making eye contact, Charlene looked distracted and played with her bracelet. She approached the bus after it stopped, and climbed aboard.
“Hi there, Joey!” She signed and spoke at the same time. “Did you have good day?”
“Moon, moon, moon,” he signed. “Big moon.”
Strands hair fell into her eyes when she nodded, and she brushed them away. “Yes, there is a full moon tonight, but you’ll be in bed—before it rises.” She lowered the lift. “Now, let’s get you an early dinner, so Zack and I can have a private conversation.”
Joey’s evening rituals took on a soothing quality for Zack, even as questions bubbled up in his mind.
Charlene spoke very little to Zack directly, instead keeping her focus on Joey for the next hour. When she met his gaze, her eyes slid away from his, as if she was afraid of what she might see.
He wondered if he repelled her now that he had revealed his true identity to her. Had it been too soon? Part of him wanted to drag the truth out of her, but his other, fearful self was relieved at her silence.
Too soon dinner was over, Joey bathed and in bed, and she led him by the hand out onto the porch. “It was you. You came to me last night.”
“Yes, I wanted you to see who I really was.”
Her smoky blue eyes changed, grew darker. “You—you’re a man—and a wolf?”
His breath gushed out. “Yes.”
Her lower lip trembled—she looked as if she might cry. The love of his life took a deep breath. “Are there others?”
He took both of her hands into his and gazed deep into her eyes. “I think you know the answer to that question.”
“My father?”
He shook his head. “One hundred percent human.”
Her nails dug into his palm. “My mother?”
He nodded.
“So that makes me—a half-breed.” She shook her head. “A genetic condition—just not one most people can talk about.”
Zack worried as he watched doubt and fear chase each other across her face.
Would she stay? Or would she run away?
She yanked her hands away and his worst fear—losing Charlene—clutched his heart and soul. Instead, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him, nearly choking him. Zack’s dread of her being disgusted by him evaporated in a rush of lust. His hands found her breasts and stroked her nipples.
She moaned. “I want to be with you always.”
“It’s not just about you and me—it’s about our family, the pack,” he growled. “Jethro’s ready to let me take charge. The pack can only survive with a new pair of leaders. All the men—except your grandfather—have died young from years of inbreeding. That’s why they need us so desperately. And we need them, too.”
“What do I need to do?”
He stopped nuzzling her neck and stepped back. “I have to bite you hard enough to draw blood. If I do that, you can never be fully human again. There’s no going back.”
A pained look crossed her face and tears welled up in her eyes. “My mother gave up her life to protect me, to keep me human. I want to be with you always, but—”
Zack took a deep shuddering breath, moaned, and pulled away. “Your mother was right to protect you, to be afraid for you. Once you make the chan
ge, you won’t be able to resist the call of the moon. You’ll be persecuted and hunted. Your mother knew.”
“When I’m with you here, in this place, the world is brighter, fuller and happier.” She put his hand between her legs and whispered, her voice husky. “You do this to me.” She was wet and trembled at his touch.
His heart jumped erratically in his chest. He tore himself away from her and stepped back—afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop once started.
“Without you and me, the pack will die out. You and I can make babies, Charlene—healthy ones. But you must choose to become one of us.”
“Healthy werewolf babies, Zack? Or babies like Joey?”
He snarled. “No. That—that—evil creature—that predator caused Joey’s disease, and all the others. I left your mother’s letters for you so you would know—from her, not just from me. He wasn’t like us. He was one of those people—” He bit back the rest. He wanted to tell her, but Jethro had forbidden him from speaking their name for fear of conjuring one up.
The fading sunlight danced across her face and set her blonde hair glowing to gold. A bewildered look creased her beautiful face. “What are you talking about?”
Zack turned on his heel and stamped toward the bus. “I have to see Jethro. Now.”
“I don’t understand,” she called after him. “What was he?”
He had to see the Old One, bring him here, force him to tell Charlene the truth about Oblis and his evil clan of jinn. She needed to know that a genie could live for thousands of years—and that the blood feud between the clans began when King Solomon favored the loyal and obedient werewolves over the disloyal and disobedient genies.
~*~
Charlene watched the bus until it was a yellow dot in the distance. Was he angry with her? Had she driven him away with her questions? She loved him with all her heart, but couldn’t make this momentous decision. Not yet. She needed time to process everything, to get her head around her mother’s history and her possible future. Even though it was early evening, she was exhausted. Charlene climbed into bed and fell into a fitful sleep.
In a dream, she saw herself married to Zack, pregnant with werewolf babies—and they were trying to claw their way out of her. She doubled over in agony, looked down, and her fingers turned into claws. She screamed and woke up with cold sweat dripping down her back and between her breasts. She took a deep cleansing breath, got up, and opened the window. The full moon peeked over the horizon, enticing her to come for a run, like in the old days when her parents were alive and her life was a protective cocoon.
A man whispered. “Come to me.”
She looked around. “Zack? Where are you?”
“Come to the woods, come to me. I need you.”
The whispers thrilled her, setting a fire in her loins that only Zack could quench. She lost all other thoughts, could only think about how to get to him soon.
“Come to the woods. Leave your bracelet at home. I have a new one for you. Come to me.”
“Yes,” she whispered as she dropped the bangle on the kitchen table and grabbed the keys to the minivan. “I’m on my way.”
~*~
Zack found Jethro on his front porch, whittling a piece of wood.
“We have to tell her about THEM. Now.”
The Old One looked up at Zack, his eyes flecked with sparks of orange, as they did at the start of each full moon before the Change. “The more she knows, the more likely they’ll come after her.”
“You told me you kept the cause of Jessie’s death quiet, to keep the pack from panicking—because of Oblis and his clan.” The younger man paced the porch. “Charlene’s asking questions, is worried about having healthy babies, about joining the pack. She’s afraid she’ll have a baby like Joey. She needs to know the truth. From you.”
The Old One ran his finger over the stick. “As long as she wears the bracelet and doesn’t know the names of the evil ones, she’s safe.”
Zack snatched the piece of wood out of Jethro’s hands. “Have you heard nothing I’ve said? She won’t marry me until she hears the truth. And I can’t force her to become one of us. She has to choose on her own.”
The elder’s eyes sparked orange. Jethro bared his teeth at Zack. “It’s too much for her—she can’t handle the truth.”
“She can’t? Or you can’t handle telling her the truth. Let her decide what she can handle. She’s not a child, she’s a woman.”
“Those Other People are shape-shifters and powerful.”
“All the more reason for her to know, so she can be on guard.”
“It will sound like a fairy tale to her human ears.”
“You MUST tell her.”
A faraway look came into the Old One’s eyes as he gazed into the distance. “Our pack goes back to the time of the great King who had dominion over all creatures. He enslaved the Jinn, forced them to build his temple. He commanded all creatures—including werewolves. But because of our great loyalty, we earned the right to one of his rings. She’s still new to our ways. How will she understand our history and all that means to us now?”
“Your granddaughter will hear the truth in your words. You once told me she had more loyalty to her family than I did. You must tell her.”
The Old One stood slowly and shook his head. “This is a fool’s errand, you’ll see.” He called out to his mate. “We’re going to Charlene’s. I’ll be back before the Change.”
Hair loose, blue eyes flecked with gold and her face more youthful looking as the Change approached, Rebekkah appeared in the doorway. “About time, you told her.”
Zack realized she’d heard the whole argument.
She pulled the door behind her. “I’m coming with you.”
With the full moon rising, a sense of urgency seized Zack and he rushed them into Jethro’s pickup truck. “I’m driving.”
He flew down the dirt roads, hitting potholes and tearing around corners. The brakes screeched as he slammed them on in front of Charlene’s house. The front door was wide open and the minivan was gone.
He leaped out of the vehicle and took the porch steps two at a time. “Charlene? Where are you?”
Jethro and Rebekkah came up the stairs behind him.
Zack turned. “She’s not here. Where the hell is she?”
Rebekkah peeked into Joey’s room and returned to the kitchen, a stunned look on her face. “She left her brother alone. She would never do that.”
Silence fell over the little group as Jethro pointed at the kitchen table. Her iron bracelet lay in the center. “She’s unprotected. This is what Oblis did to her mother. He whispered her into the woods.” He began to wail, “What have I done? What have I done?”
Jethro’s face crumpled and he clutched the side of his head. He fell to the floor. Rebekkah cried out and grabbed at his hand.
Zack went down on his knees. “What should I do?”
Speech slurred, Jethro reached up a shaking hand and pulled the iron chain off his neck. On it hung the large signet ring inscribed with pentacles and Hebrew letters.
“Take the Ring of Solomon,” he gasped. “Save her.”
~*~
Charlene climbed out of the minivan and stared at the woods near the old mining camp. “How did I get here?” She shook her head and turned to get back in the car and hightail it home.
“Charlene!”
“Zack?” She searched the moon-dappled forest for signs of her lover. “Where are you?”
He stepped out from behind a large tree, his silver hair a strange hue of green from the mist that surrounded him. “I’m so glad you’re here. Come closer, I want to hold you in my arms.”
She took a few steps toward him and stopped. “What are you doing here?”
He grinned. “I wanted to make love to you here in the woods, under the full moon.”
Something was off. His teeth were even his canines a regular length. She began to back up and heard a low rumbling. Five black dogs stood between her and the minivan
. One growled and nipped at her hand. She cried in pain.
“Come over here and the dogs won’t hurt you.”
She hesitated and one bared his teeth at her and snarled. She picked her leaden feet up, one at a time, her mind trying to make sense of the dogs and Zack’s strange behavior.
“Closer.”
She shuffled up to him.
“Take off your nightdress. I want to see you naked in the moonlight.”
Trembling with fear and cold, she lifted the flannel gown over her head.
Zack trailed his fingers down her neck, across her breasts, and rubbed at her nipples. Unbidden, a rush of erotic images of him taking her from every side, her mouth on his hard cock, his fingers in her moistness, stroking her, forced their way into her mind.
He whispered, “Oh, yes, we are going to have a very good time.” Zack slid his fingers down her belly, played with her silky triangle.
Heaviness filled her limbs, lassitude took over her body, and she leaned back against the tree for support.
“You are so beautiful. Even more beautiful than your mother was when my dearly departed father, Oblis, took her.”
Her eyes flew open and Zack shifted and shimmered, morphing into a creature with a forked tongue and scaled skin. Life flowed back into her lungs and she began to scream.
~*~
Zack pulled up behind Charlene’s minivan and killed the headlights. Where was she? He looked in the rearview mirror. His hair was more silvered, longer, thicker. His eyes glowed orange, his shirt strained across his chest, and silver fur stuck out between the buttons. He was running out of time, already changing. He climbed out of the truck and heard a gut-wrenching scream.
“Charlene! I’m coming—” His voice turned into a howl as heat filled him and frissons of pleasure and pain undulated from his toes to his head. The sounds of his clothing ripping came to him as if from a distance. He fell to all fours, heard her scream again, and raced into the forest, searching for her, hoping it wasn’t too late.
He found the man-sized lizard in a swirling mist of green standing over her, laughing and taunting her with what he was going to do to her. Black dogs, too many to count, held her wrists and ankles in their teeth, growling and snarling. She was white-faced and bleeding profusely. He had no time to waste.
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