by Lowe, Anna
“One of the pearls of desire,” Anjali whispered.
The pearls of what? Sophie nearly choked on her own breath.
The other pearls were glowing as well — practically winking at each other, given the way sunlight bounced from one to the other. But they were under the shade of the porch, so it couldn’t have been the sun.
“Wow,” Jenna breathed. “Another one.”
Chase looked absolutely speechless.
“Another one?” Sophie stammered.
“Another of the pearls of desire,” Cynthia said.
Chase squeezed her hand, assuring her that wasn’t a bad thing.
“It’s a legend,” he said, as hoarse as he’d been those first few days after the fight.
“Not just a legend,” Anjali said firmly.
Sophie stared at Anjali’s pearl, speechless.
“Does it get warm?” Jenna asked.
Just when Sophie’s jaw had finally felt realigned, it fell open again.
“Well, yes. But that’s just…”
Jenna’s look said that wasn’t just anything.
“Does it pep you up when you feel down?” Hailey asked. “I know that sounds crazy, but I mean it. Mine does. All those times I felt alone…”
She laced her fingers through Tim’s and shot him a grateful look that said those days were long gone.
“Does it give you strength?” Anjali asked.
Sophie touched the pearl with one finger. “Sometimes, just having it makes me feel…braver than I would otherwise.” She looked up, sure they would mock her for that, but every woman nodded as if she knew exactly how Sophie felt. Slowly, she went on. “And in the fight…”
She trailed off. That had to be her imagination twisting her memories, right? But those rocks she’d thrown hadn’t just pestered the grizzly — they’d genuinely interfered with the beast. And the way she’d been able to shove David in that make-or-break moment…
“Sophie’s no pushover,” Chase said, looping an arm over her shoulders.
She could have kissed him for having such faith — more than she ever had in herself. But the more she thought about it, the more she felt something else had been involved.
Anjali smiled. “Of course, Sophie is no pushover. But even the best of us could use a boost at the worst of times.”
She spoke as if she knew just how it felt to stare down death and survive, and Sophie nodded. “It was like that. Exactly the way you describe.”
“Not just a legend.” Jenna nodded firmly.
Sophie put the locket in one hand and the pearl in the other, and pursed her lips. “Wow.”
“Do you feel it?” Anjali asked with shining eyes.
Sophie raised the hand holding the pearl. “I always thought it was just the locket reflecting my body heat. I never thought it was the pearl.” Then she looked up. “What does the legend say?”
Cynthia stood wordlessly and stepped into the house, while the other women looked at each other, deciding who would speak first.
“Nanalani,” Chase whispered in the silence that ensued.
Sophie tilted her head at him. Nana-what?
Jenna nodded and took over from there. “It’s a Hawaiian legend — that of Nanalani, daughter of the shark king.”
Sophie’s breath caught in her throat. She’d only just come around to the idea of wolf, bear, and lion shifters. Dragons were still a little scary, but yikes — sharks, too?
Cynthia returned with a heavy, leather-bound book that looked centuries old, and Connor cleared some space on the table.
“So much for dinner,” Dell sighed.
Anjali shushed him with a firm look.
Cynthia leafed through a few pages and then turned the book around so Sophie could see. Most of the page was filled with swirly, decorative script, but the bottom was illustrated with a scene of a tropical island.
“Is that Maui?” Sophie whispered, studying the waterfall, craggy mountains, and golden strips of sand.
Cynthia nodded. “We think so. Somewhere in Hawaii, for sure.”
Sophie leaned closer to examine the rest. A woman stood waist-deep in the ocean, unconcerned by the shark circling nearby. Her focus lay entirely on the seashell cupped in her hands — a seashell full of pearls.
“Nanalani was terrified that her shark side might emerge and hurt her human friends,” Jenna explained. “So she kept away, exiling herself to a cave.”
Sophie’s heart ached. Yeah, she could identify with that. For years, she had been afraid to get close to anyone. Her crazy family had threatened her; what if they hurt her friends?
Jenna pointed to a passage in the text. “In her loneliness and sorrow, Nanalani called forth the spirit of the sea. Together, they put a spell on her pearls — the pearls of desire. Her treasures allowed her to go safely forth as a woman and love a man she had admired from afar. Over the years, Nanalani had many lovers, though she never found her mate.” Jenna looked up with shining eyes. “This is the key part. Ready?”
Sophie wasn’t sure she was ready for anything, but when Chase gripped her hand, she nodded. With him, she could handle just about anything.
Jenna moved her finger along the next section of text. “As time went on and her lovers passed away, Nanalani threw her pearls back into the sea, one by one. ‘Now I am alone again,’ she sighed to the god of the sea. ‘I give you my pearls, not to keep, but to safeguard for another worthy lover who needs their power someday.’” Jenna looked up and pointed at Sophie. “That’s you.”
Sophie’s eyes went wide. “Me?”
“It was each of us, once upon a time,” Anjali said.
When Anjali looked at Dell with eyes so full of love, Sophie could have sighed. But Chase was looking at her with exactly the same expression, and her soul soared. For years, she’d feared love was something she would only ever witness from the outside. But her turn had come at last.
Love will never, ever fade, a little voice whispered in her mind.
Chase nodded and kissed her hands. Had he heard that too?
Sophie closed her eyes a moment too late to catch the tear sliding down her cheek. She brushed it away, feeling silly. But a furtive glance showed her that the others looked a little teary-eyed as well — even those big, tough guys. Connor looked at Jenna like he was about to spout poetry, although he wasn’t exactly the poetic type. Tim gazed at Hailey like she was his sun, his moon — his entire universe. Dell pulled Anjali close to form a little huddle around baby Quinn, and Cynthia…
Sophie bit her lip, because Cynthia faced the sea, alone. A lonely rock in a sea of happiness, a barren island of her own.
Sophie twisted her hands in her lap and leaned into Chase. She’d never felt so lucky in her life, but guilt gnawed at her. Didn’t Cynthia deserve the same?
Then Sophie spotted Hailey glancing at Jenna and Anjali, who each gave a barely perceptible nod. They’d gone from dizzy with love to determined in the blink of an eye, and Sophie wondered why. Then it hit her. Those women had all gone out of their way to help her get together with Chase. Would they turn their matchmaking efforts to Cynthia next?
Sophie caught Hailey’s eye and did her best to communicate, Whatever you have planned, I’m in.
“And you said your aunt got the pearl from her partner?” Cynthia asked, all business again.
Sophie rubbed her cheeks, trying to change gears. “Yes. From Lionel.”
“An islander?” Cynthia leaned closer.
She nodded. “Yes. His roots on Maui went way back, and his nephews and nieces inherited his paintings and studio.” Then she gasped. “Wait. Lionel painted pearls. Well, he painted a lot of island themes. But he always hid a pearl in a painting when he wanted to represent love.”
“Did he ever mention the legend?” Cynthia asked.
Sophie shook her head. “No, but he did say some things were just for islanders to know. He was really nice about it, though.” Her mind drifted off on memories. When she’d visited as a kid, Lionel had been
friendly but busy with his art, and her aunt had mostly spoken to her about kid things.
She closed her eyes, aching at the loss of those two special people. “It really was true love,” she whispered to no one in particular. Then she looked at Chase and took both his hands.
True love, he said. Destiny.
She rested her head against his. Her aunt had often said she didn’t have a single regret, and Sophie could identify with that. Whether she got to live another ten, twenty, or fifty years with Chase, she’d bask in every moment of the love they shared.
The pearls glinted at each other from around the table. Cynthia wore a strand of pearls, and for a split second, Sophie thought one of them shone, too.
“Is that one of the pearls of desire?” she ventured.
Cynthia pinched her lips and touched her necklace. “Just the normal kind, I’m afraid. A gift from my mother.”
“Oh,” Sophie said, feeling stupid. But that one in the middle had really seemed to shine. She looked at the book, desperate to change the topic. “So, there are five?”
Jenna nodded. “Apparently. And between us, we have four.”
Sophie looked around. Each pearl matched one in the illustration. Which left a blue-hued one, if the picture in the book held true.
“Wouldn’t Moira love to get her hands on one,” Dell mused. Then he smacked Chase on the back. “Good job keeping it away from her. You too, Sophie. Well done.”
Chase looked as if he’d rather not think about it, but Sophie couldn’t help asking, “What would Moira do if she had one?”
No one seemed eager to reply. Eventually, Connor spoke in a growl. “That’s what we’re worried about. Moira might try to twist the pearls’ power.”
“But desire…” Sophie blushed as heated images rushed through her mind.
Jenna flashed a quick smile. “It can mean that, for sure. But desire can be for lots of things.”
“Like greed.” Connor frowned. “Power.”
Sophie’s hand might have trembled if it weren’t for Chase there with her. She didn’t want to imagine what a vengeful dragon shifter might do in her quest for power.
“But there’s good desire too,” Dell pointed out. “Love. Lust. Right, honey?” he teased Anjali, who gave him one of her scolding looks.
“Let’s call it passion, shall we?”
Dell grinned wickedly. “Passion. I like that.”
“Commitment.” Hailey locked eyes with Tim.
Yearning, Chase whispered into Sophie’s mind.
She swallowed away her sorrow. That was all in her past. Now, all she felt was love.
“Joy,” she replied.
“Undying love,” Cynthia whispered, looking at the sunlight glinting over the Pacific. Sophie followed her eyes. All that space. All that emptiness.
Then she shook her head and corrected herself. The world was full of love and beauty, and someday, she’d help Cynthia see it too.
“Then there’s this part,” Jenna said, going back to the book. “‘And so it was that the pearls of desire — one for every kind of desire known to mankind — were lost, though legend claims they remain slumbering under the surface, waiting to be reawakened to inspire great acts of love again.’”
“Amen,” Dell said. “Let’s hope love wins out in the end.”
Sophie sure hoped so. And if there was any way she could help her friends obtain the last pearl, she would.
“You know what a white pearl signifies, don’t you?” Cynthia asked, smiling again.
Sophie looked up, happy to change to a lighter topic. “I don’t know much about pearls, to be honest.”
Cynthia’s smile stretched. “Maybe that’s why it chose you. White is for innocence. Beauty. Purity.”
Everyone nodded as if they agreed, and Sophie just about melted into her seat. Did they really mean her?
Chase kissed her. Yep. They do.
“And new beginnings,” Cynthia added. “I’d say your pearl has found the right person, don’t you agree?”
Sophie nodded, too choked up to speak. Now she knew why she felt so close to the other women and so at home in this place. The pearl had brought her to a perfect home.
Our home, Chase echoed in her mind.
Dell knocked on the table, getting everyone’s attention. “I’d say that brings us to that toast — finally. Ready, guys?”
Everyone reached for their glasses and grinned.
“Hurry, sweetie,” Cynthia called down to Joey, who rushed up and stood by her side with a Star Wars glass filled with juice.
“Yay, a toast,” he cheered.
Cynthia beamed at her son and raised her glass. “To new beginnings.”
“To Chase and Sophie,” Anjali said, grinning.
“To love,” Chase whispered, raising his glass too.
Sophie hurried to follow, and everyone clinked.
“To us,” Dell added, setting off a second round of clinks. “I mean, all of us. I have to say, we make a pretty good team.”
“That, we do,” Connor agreed, and everyone cheered.
Sophie couldn’t stop smiling over the next hour, as toasts turned to animated chatter and eventually to happy munches as they dug into the meal. Her first dinner as part of the Koakea family, and it was a memorable one. The stars came out one by one, and roars of laughter punctuated the chirp of crickets that filled the night. The ocean whispered over the shoreline not too far away, and the dogs sniffed around the yard, perfectly content. Joey was getting too big to cuddle in Cynthia’s lap, but he did anyway, and baby Quinn yawned in her father’s arms.
Sophie snuggled closer to Chase, soaking it all in. Home. Love. Beauty. How had she gotten so lucky?
Destiny, her inner wolf hummed.
She sighed. She could have stayed there forever if it weren’t for one thing. Her wolf was starting to pace, restless in spite of it all.
What? Sophie wanted to demand. What else could you possibly want?
My mate, it replied in a lusty growl. Want my mate.
And just like that, the lazy feeling of contentment that Sophie had settled into became a burning need. She wiggled against Chase, whose hands slid over her legs, out of sight beneath the tablecloth. Apparently, his wolf had been talking to him in the same way.
She slid her leg over his, wondering if they could make a subtle exit. Luckily, Dell solved that problem for her.
“Well,” he announced, standing so quickly, his chair screeched. “I think Quinn needs a bottle.”
“She’s sleeping,” Cynthia pointed out dryly.
Anjali jumped up too, practically glued to Dell’s side. “He means a diaper change.”
“Quinn definitely needs a diaper change,” Dell agreed, sliding his hand along Anjali’s hip.
Jenna stood next, and her face was flushed. “Yeah, we have to go too. You know, to…uh…”
“Check the perimeter,” Connor filled in.
His eyes roved over his mate’s body, hinting at which perimeter he intended to check.
“Exactly.” Jenna’s eyes glowed with lust.
Hailey faked a yawn, and Tim helped her to her feet as if in no rush at all. His voice was a little strained, though. “Well, we’ll be getting to bed, then.”
“I bet you will.” Cynthia sighed.
“Is it story time, Mommy?” Joey twisted in her lap.
Cynthia smiled. “I think it is, sweetie.”
Chase stood, keeping Sophie nice and close, where she could feel every hard muscle of his body. “Do you want us to clean up?” he asked in a voice that prayed the answer would be no.
“We’ll get it tomorrow,” Cynthia said, waving a hand lazily.
“Wow,” Dell called. “Was that really you, Cynth?”
“Goodnight, Mr. O’Roarke,” she ordered.
Sophie smiled. For all the teasing, the love in this pack shone through. All kinds, from brotherly love to hard-earned respect and the love of devoted couples.
Don’t forget lust, Chase whisp
ered into her mind as he moved briskly toward the stairs.
Sophie giggled. So much for having a shy, retiring mate.
“I can’t help it,” he admitted, running a hand down her rear. “Not around you.” Then Boris and Coco rushed over, nearly tripping him up, and he sighed. “You guys again.”
Sophie laughed and inched closer to Chase’s ear, pressing her chest against him so he wouldn’t lose track of where they’d been.
No such danger, her wolf chuckled, making her rub against the hard area of his jeans.
“Good thing we have that loft,” she said, sending lusty images into his mind as they walked.
Then a thought struck her, and she shot him a sidelong glance. “Wait a second. You said you built that loft months ago. Did you ever guess how handy it would be?”
Chase grinned and stopped to kiss her full on the lips. A long, hard kiss that promised a thorough follow-up once they got to bed.
“Like I said.” He smiled. “It was destiny.”
Epilogue
Two weeks later…
Chase padded toward the beach, sniffing the breeze. The earth was cool under his paws, and the scent of pikake filled his nose. The moonlight cast dancing shadows as palms undulated in the sea breeze.
“So many stars…” Sophie murmured as they walked. “It’s beautiful.”
He nodded and grinned up at her. Way up, because he was down on all fours in wolf form while Sophie walked alongside him. They headed down the long slope from the converted barn, past the vegetable garden he and Sophie had started to dig, and past Dell’s house, where everyone appeared fast asleep. The whole world seemed to slumber, giving him and Sophie all of Maui to enjoy on their own.
It had been two weeks since the mating bite, and Sophie hadn’t shifted yet, but she’d had a lot of wolf dreams. Good dreams, thank goodness, which she woke from with wide, fascinated eyes.
“I felt it! I was running on all fours!” she’d announced once, breathless and thrilled.
He’d been thrilled too, seeing her get in tune with her animal side.
Another time, she’d dreamed of barking, and yet another, she’d dreamed about digging.
He’d laughed. “Digging for what?”