Slowly the fabric began to glow. It flared like a flame around his arm and glowed brightly, illuminating them.
"It's burning," Rafael said, trying to pull away.
Faith kept her grip on his arm, refusing to let go. She kept her eyes closed as the fabric smoldered underneath her hands. Finally releasing her grip, she dropped onto the ground beside him.
"Are you okay?" Pinky asked, brushing Faith's hair off her face.
Faith nodded then reached over and unwrapped Rafael's arm. His wounds were healed.
Chapter Fourteen
The sound of children filled the Smythe house. Their feet stomped as they ran and shrieks echoed outside as they played. It was like the past month never happened.
Pinky looked out the window and saw her mother smiling as she pushed a little girl on a swing. The twins were on the deck painting and her father was in his office going through all his files. Everything was back to normal.
Grabbing an empty box, Pinky brought it into her room and set it down on the floor. She was almost done packing, and it was time for her to go out on her own.
Her mother seemed a little upset at first, but Pinky knew she'd be fine. The twins tried to guilt her into staying, but she had given up enough of her life to the kids in the community. It was time for her to move on to other things, like the Talisman.
Her father tapped on the door as she emptied a drawer of t-shirts into a box. While everything seemed the same, her father was different. For one thing, his hair started growing back. After seeing him bald for years, it was odd to see him with rich brown hair except for a single white tuft on the side. His hair made her think of Rose, and she wondered what other secrets she was keeping.
"How's the packing coming along?"
"Good," she said. "You sure you're okay with this? After everything you just went through?"
"Pinky, it's time you went out on your own. Besides, I'll still see you every day. I have so much to teach you."
She smiled at her dad, and for the first time, she was happy with her destiny. After everything that happened, she realized the importance of the Talisman and the connections it had. Without them, she wouldn't have been able to rescue him.
The Talisman was the perfect thing for her, especially with her love of paranormal research. Everything worked out so perfectly that she believed it was something she was fated to do.
The familiar purr of Rafael's car pulled up in front of the house. Her dad looked out the window and held his hand out to Pinky. In it was the dragon amulet she threw at Sean.
"You should keep this," he said. "It answers to you now."
Pinky took it from him and tilted her head to the side.
"I never saw you with it before, but Erich found it when you disappeared."
"It's the talisman. It only responds to those it chooses, those with integrity and an honest heart, so it can never be in the wrong hands. It is the reason we do what we do."
Pinky looked at the dragon and rubbed her thumb over the medal. For a split second she thought it moved, but she knew better than to think that.
"Dad? There are still some things I don't understand."
"Like what?"
She flipped the medal over, revealing her name. "Why is my name on it?"
He smiled and took it from her, closing it in the palm of his hand.
"Because the dragon belongs to you now," he said, opening his hand. "Just as he once belonged to me."
The back of the medal said 'Jerry'. He placed it in her hand and closed her fingers around it. When she opened her hand, she looked at the medal. Her name replaced her father's.
She shook her head, knowing there was no way to explain magic. It was something she had to accept. As she dropped the amulet back into her pocket, her father turned to exit her room.
"Wait, Dad. Just one more thing. The files in the basement of Night Shift. Erich said the place was a mess and that some files were gone. There was one with my name on it. Why would someone take it?"
"That is a long story, my child, and it'll have to wait for another time. But trust me when I say that everything is okay."
Her father kissed her cheek and left the room as Rafael entered. She still had more questions, but she needed to be patient. Everything else was a story for another day.
"Looks like you're almost all packed," he said.
Pinky nodded as she played with the talisman in her jeans pocket. "Yup, just a few more boxes. Erich said he'd help me bring them over in his truck."
"You sure you don't want to live with me?" he said with a sly smile.
Pinky rubbed her hands over his chest and up to his shoulders. Looking up at him, she smiled and pressed her lips to his.
"I would love to–"
"But..." he said, interrupting her.
She sighed as she ran her hands over his broad shoulders.
"Don't get me wrong, I really want to, but I just don't know."
She loved him so much and wanted to move in with him, but she was scared of losing him. What if he realized how messed up she was? Or what if he met someone better? It broke her heart to think about it, but it would kill her to live through that.
He hung his head down and rested it on her forehead as he looked into her eyes.
"I know, and I really do understand," he said. "That doesn't mean I like it, but I want to know that when you move in with me, you're never moving out. You're the one, Pinky. The only one."
She wished she could be as certain, but when she looked at him and thought about how wonderful he was, she couldn't believe she could be that lucky. Looking into his pale blue eyes, she saw sadness and she knew she caused it, but she couldn't help how she felt.
The room darkened and Rafael drifted away. She was in a dark tunnel. At the end of the tunnel was the outdoors. The sound of children's laughter echoed down to her and she followed it, not feeling any fear.
Stepping out of the tunnel, Pinky found herself in a large backyard. The children were splashing in the rectangular ground pool. In a corner of a yard were three couples sitting underneath a wooden pergola that had climbing jasmine on each of its columns. Two of the couples were in their thirties, the other couple was older.
Pinky felt unreal, as if she were floating. No one noticed her and she wondered if she was dreaming, but the last thing she remembered was talking to Rafael. As she walked towards the patio, she heard some of the conversation.
"Mom, listen to Dad. You'd love a cruise. Twelve days on a ship would be amazing and so relaxing."
"No, no, being stuck on a boat for that long isn't for me."
Me neither, Pinky thought as she approached.
The older woman, the one called "Mom", turned around and looked directly at Pinky. Pinky stopped, stunned as she looked at herself in the future.
She looked next to future Pinky and saw Rafael, older but still just as handsome and sexy. Looking closer at the couples, one of the men looked just like pictures of her father when he was younger. And the woman in the other couple was the spitting image of Rafael.
Future Pinky smiled at her. "You see, there's nothing to worry about," she said.
"What did you say, Mom?" the daughter asked as future Pinky turned around.
"Nothing, sweetie. I was just remembering something from a long time ago."
Pinky ran back into the dark tunnel and saw another light. Rafael's voice echoed from there.
"Pinky? You okay?" Rafael asked. "You zoned out for a minute. What were you thinking about?"
Pinky blinked and looked around. She was back in her bedroom in her jeans and t-shirt with Rafael. The open box of her shirts sat on the floor beside her.
She laughed to herself and smiled before throwing her arms around Rafael's neck.
"I changed my mind," Pinky said. "I'll move in with you."
"Really? Now?" he asked, his face lighting up.
"Yes, now. I love you so much, but I was afraid of losing you."
"You'll never lose me. You're everyth
ing to me."
"I know that now."
He dipped her back and kissed her neck. She giggled as she held onto him.
"One more thing," he said, sitting on her bed with her on his lap. "I need to go back home for a visit. I haven't been back in two years, and I miss it. Please say you'll come with me."
"Yes, I will. As long as you promise to never make me go on some crazy long cruise with nothing to do."
His brow wrinkled and he tilted his head. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but okay, I promise," he said with a laugh.
"Don't worry about it," she said with a grin. "I'll remind you about it when it comes up."
Pinky didn't know everything life had in store for her, and she didn't want to know. The glimpse she got of the future was enough. Things with the Talisman and Leeds Point would always be eventful, but as long as she had one stable thing in her life, she knew she'd be okay. Rafael was that one thing, and one day she would get her happily ever after with him.
The End
Thank you for reading The Crane Curse trilogy! I really hope you enjoyed the books in this series. While this is the end of The Crane Curse, there will be more stories about the people of Leeds Point soon!
Now Available - The novel Wolf at Her Door. Continue reading for an excerpt of my latest wolf shifter romance.
About Wolf at Her Door
Each time I find her, I have to make her fall in love with me again.
Callen MacCulloch has spent lifetimes searching for his love. But while he is an immortal wolf shifter, his mate is human. She has no memory of the past they've shared together.
When curvy Heather Mather sees Callen in a bar in Leeds Point, the world stops. She can't explain why she is so attracted to this sexy shifter, or why she has been dreaming about him her entire life.
But the closer Callen and Heather come together, the stronger an evil threatens to tear them apart. Now that evil has a face and a name, and he is rising out of the depths of a Scottish loch.
This is a complete novel with a Happily Ever After.
The prequel—The Highlander's Mate—part of the USA Today Bestseller Highland Shifters boxed set is also included.
Wolf at Her Door
by
Liliana Rhodes
Prologue
Ainsley
I remembered everything as if it just happened yesterday. Only it wasn't so recent, it was a long time ago. Time didn't change how I felt or the pain that coursed through my chest whenever I thought of him...Bran. He was the love of my life, the one who made me feel things I never thought possible, but I had to leave him. It was the hardest decision I had ever made, one I might not have chosen if I realized how long forever would feel without him.
Chapter One
Bran
Where the hell was I? Turning off the road, I noticed a sign that said Leeds Point. I was in New Jersey, a state I had been to a couple of times before and had never thought I would return to again.
This time was different though. I caught her scent and I had to follow it. I didn't have a choice. I would follow that scent wherever it led me. It had been over four hundred years since I first caught her scent. How could she still be alive?
The road was dark with only a few street lamps guiding me. I didn't know where I was headed, but in the distance I saw a green neon sign for a bar called Night Shift. Did people accept shifters in this strange town? Or was that name just a coincidence?
As I steered the car towards the rickety old wooden building, I knew the answer–the air was filled with shifters. Breathing in deeply, I tried to catch her scent, but it wasn't there. If I were patient, it would come back to me. It had to.
Everything around the building looked worn down and deserted. Why would any shifter or even human come here? I knew the bar was a dive before I even stepped out of my car. But for some unexplainable reason, I felt that was where I needed to be.
Wearing jeans and a polo shirt, I knew I would fit in with the crowd. It was a habit I cultivated a long time ago. Someone like me didn't want to stand out in the crowd. Blending in was safer. Not that I was afraid of anything, I just didn't want to attract attention to myself.
Walking past the large man at the door, I sensed he was a manatee shifter. I always recognized what each shifter was. I had been around for too long to not recognize the subtleties. The place only had a few tables in one corner by the bar. There were some shifters shooting pool, another looking through the selections at the jukebox, an alpha grizzly behind the bar, and a wolf by a pinball machine talking to a brunette human and her friend. They were wearing skirts that were too short for their own good. He was going to cause trouble before the night was through.
I stepped up to the bar and stood between two stools. No point in getting too comfortable yet, I thought. The bear nodded at me as he walked over. He was a tanned, muscular man with kind eyes and the scent of a human on him. A couple of women at the end of the bar were talking about him. I closed my eyes briefly to listen.
"Rafael is so hot," a woman with blonde highlights said to her friend. "I don't know what he sees in that weirdo Pinky Smythe."
"Come on sweetie, I promise I'll bring you back to your friend later. Let's go for a ride," the wolf by the pinball machine said.
"My name isn't sweetie, it's Suzy," the human he was talking to said.
Turning to look over at the wolf, I could see him becoming more aggressive. He was pushing himself closer to her even though she was pulling away. Her hands were on his chest as she tried to keep him at a distance, but he didn't realize any of it. He was too tuned into her humanness to notice the fear in her eyes. I knew men like that. It didn't matter if they were human or shifter, they were always wrong.
"What can I get you?" Rafael asked.
"Whatever's on tap," I said without looking at him, feeling the amber glow of my eyes.
Pushing my dark, chin-length wavy hair back, I left the bar and walked towards the pinball machine. The fur was already beginning to sprout along my neck and arms, but I wouldn't make a full shift to wolf. I only wanted its strength.
No one else in the bar could hear what was going on between the wolf and Suzy. These shifters weren't like me or any of my clan. Most shifters weren't like us. Focusing my attention on the wolf, I listened in again.
"Let's go honey, I'm tired of this game you're playing. I know you want it."
The wolf grabbed Suzy by her arm and she tried to yank it away, but it was useless.
"Let her go!" her friend said as she pushed at the wolf.
With his free arm, he swatted the friend away like she was a bug, his eyes glowing amber. She stumbled onto a nearby table, which tipped over and landed on the floor. I had seen enough.
The wolf turned towards the door, dragging Suzy with him. Just as she screamed, I put my hand on his shoulder, turned him towards me, and let my fist meet his face. I never hit a man who didn't see it coming. It wasn't the way of a Highlander.
He let go of the human, and she ran to her friend as Rafael leapt over the bar and stood between the wolf and the women. The wolf threw a punch at me, but he was too slow and I easily stepped aside then grabbed him by the back of his neck as he lost his balance.
The manatee at the door entered the room. With one hand, I held the wolf shifter by the back of his neck and tossed him towards the door. If he wanted to act like trash, he deserved to be treated as such.
As I made my way back to the bar, the few people around stepped out of my way, their eyes wide. Whether human or shifter, I was used to that look from others whenever I displayed my strength.
Rafael brought Suzy and her friend to the bar and gave them a couple of drinks. Then he tilted a frozen mug under the tap as he filled it and placed it on the bar in front of me.
"That's on the house," he said.
"No, I'm a paying customer," I said.
"You're not from around here, are you?"
"What gave me away, lad?" I said jokingly.
&nbs
p; "You're not the only one with an accent, you know," he said, letting his New Orleans roots shine through.
"Our voices will always tell our tale," I said with a grin.
It didn't matter how long I had been away from Scotland, it never left my voice.
Suzy slid over a few stools with her friend close behind and sat beside me. They were both tempting with full cherry-glossed lips, but I knew why that wolf chose Suzy over her friend.
While humans thought of Suzy as fat, shifters saw her as curvy and luscious. Her scent called to my own wolf spirit to play, but hers wasn't the scent I longed for.
"Thank you for helping me," she said with a shy smile. "I'm Suzy, and this is my friend Michelle. Wow, look at your eyes. Are they grey? You know, you're my hero. Who knows what would've happened if you hadn't come along."
"I know what would have happened, Suzy," I said. "You and your friend should know better than to come to a shifter bar at night. Just like humans, not every shifter is as honorable as they should be."
She looked down, embarrassed, and I felt bad for talking to her like that. I couldn't help but treat her like a child. She was a child. But in comparison to me, they all were.
***
After a couple of hours, the bar emptied. The bouncer came in and sat down with his feet up on a table, his chair leaning back unsteadily against the wall. Rafael took glasses out of the dishwasher under the bar and dried them with a rag. I continued to nurse my beer.
"If you don't mind my asking," Rafael said with a tilt of his head, "what are you? I'm sensing you're a shifter, but there's something else. I'm Rafael LeCroix by the way, grizzly alpha."
I admired his courage and gave him a smile. Most men wouldn't ask me a question like that. Most men didn't speak to me.
The Crane Curse Series Complete Boxed Set (Shape Shifter Romance) Page 26