He held her against his side as he braced their weight with his other hand on the overhead handle. Connor wasted no time powering the truck along the streets of the small town, following Will’s directions.
He needed to know what they faced so he cuddled her tighter, pressing a kiss to her forehead before he spoke.
“Do you know why they’ve taken Jessie?” he asked her softly and she nodded once, her face ashen.
“They know,” she whispered. “They know about me, about what I can do. I healed Robert, you see, when were younger. We started seeing each other; no one knew about it as I was not a suitable girlfriend for the son of the preacher.”
Anger churned dark and acrid in his stomach as she continued to explain about her parents eloping and running away from town and her return after their death. A harsh growl from his brother beside them assured Caleb he was not alone in his disgust as the sorry tale spilled forth.
“We parked down by the lake one night, stayed too long, and Robert was worried they would find out about us. The roads were thick with ice and he spun the car, crashed into a tree, and broke his leg. There was so much blood, and I thought he would die, and the pressure just built and built in me until I had to let it out. I forced it into him and I couldn’t believe the bone and flesh between my hands knit together.”
Tears rolled down her face and he hauled her into his lap, kissing them away.
“Robert passed out from the pain and when he woke up and saw his leg was healed, I thought he would be grateful.”
The bitter laugh made him wince.
“I should have known better. He cursed me, called me a witch, a whore. Beat me so badly I could barely see from the blood when I finally escaped from him. I hid in the woods and eventually made my way home. But the preacher was waiting there for me.”
The sobs racked her body so hard she couldn’t speak anymore, and Connor jerked the truck over to the side of the road.
Will spoke through the open rear window, his voice choked with anger and tears. “She came to us after her aunt threw her out. It was bitter cold and she was in such a terrible state, we thought she’d caught pneumonia on top of the injuries that little bastard had subjected her to. We took her in, nursed her back to health, and kept her safe.” Will reached through the window and stroked the white streak on Hannah’s head.
“I hate those evil monsters for what they did to my girl, but I can’t be sorry they drove her away and into our keeping.”
She raised her tear-stained face to regard him, her father in all the ways the word counted, and he patted her shoulder.
“Dry your eyes now, Hannah. Jessie needs us, needs you to be strong.” The nod against his chest was barely perceptible, but she drew a deep breath and scrubbed her face dry on his shirt.
“Okay?” his brother growled and she nodded once. Caleb let her slip from his lap and into her seat where he secured her belt tightly across her. He exchanged a fierce look with his brother over her head.
If Jessie is hurt, then they’re all dead, Caleb vowed via their telepathic connection.
You know it. Without hesitation, his brother threw the truck into gear and barreled away from the curb.
Chapter Twelve
The church was ablaze with a thousand candles when Connor and Caleb shoved the doors open. The thick wooden bar across the door proved no hindrance to their enhanced strength and escalating fury. Will had handled the two men set to guard the entrance by racking the first round into his shotgun, the sound enough to send them fleeing.
Hannah blinked as she adjusted to the blinding light inside the church. The pews stood empty and she focused on the macabre tableau arrayed on the dais at the front of the room. A blonde woman knelt with the head of a small boy in her lap, the child dressed in pajamas and a bathrobe. Robert crouched at her side, his hands clamped hard on Jessie’s tiny shoulders and a flush of such rage raced through her body that it stole her breath. Her baby held the little boy by the hand, her whole body swaying in exhaustion. The strength inside Hannah pressed forward and she flexed her hands at her sides. Preacher Thomas towered over the small group, Bible in hand as he ranted and exhorted God to heal the child.
The bang of the door flying open had turned all eyes upon them as she strode forward down the central aisle of the church. A place she had hoped never to enter again. The Wolves formed a solid wall of muscle at her back, so close she could feel the heat radiating from their skin giving her warmth and comfort. Cold struck bone-deep as her baby poured her own tiny life force into what had to be Robert’s child. A brother she had never met since her father had never acknowledged his bastard.
“Jessie, stop!” Her voice cracked out, startling her daughter out of her trance, and she dropped the little boy’s hand. He was a pathetic thing, she noted. Barely a husk remained and at any other time she would have pitied the woman crouched over the boy’s head.
“Let her go, Robert. Let her go now or I swear to your mockery of a God you will die right here.” Hannah surprised herself with the calmness in her tone.
A fierce growl tore through the room and Caleb pounced forward, his wolf blazing in his eyes as he leaped over the prostrate boy, knocking Robert flat onto his back. Connor was there in an instant, sweeping Jessie up and clear, turning to shield her from any danger. The blonde woman cried out and dropped to cover the boy and an inkling of compassion stirred in Hannah for the woman who, even in the face of everything, sought to protect her child. Hannah knew the feeling well and her heart hardened as she recalled this woman had been willing to sacrifice Jessie for her own selfish desires
Preacher Thomas fumbled in the pocket of his robe and yanked a gun free, pointing it at Caleb who sat hard on Robert’s chest, his hand clamped around his throat.
“Demon! Devil spawn! I knew you were a whore of Satan,” the preacher shrieked at Hannah, spittle flying from his lips. A deep growl rose from Caleb and his body tensed as though ready to leap at the Preacher.
“No, Caleb.” The calm of her own voice surprised her. She didn’t want vengeance. Now Jessie was safe, she just wanted to get them away from this awful place. She glanced right, checking Connor had her baby secured. He was wrapped around her, his back completely exposed to any threat, using his huge body to block her from sight.
Caleb growled again, bringing her focus back to him. The muscles in his shoulders flexed as he battled to hold himself still and the wave of love that filled her almost brought her to her knees. She moved up beside him and buried her hand in the thick curls of his dark hair.
“Let him up, Caleb. Please,” she murmured and he wrenched his head around toward her. The wolf’s golden eyes regarded her, full of anger and confusion. Does he think I still feel something for Robert? All the love she felt for Caleb welled inside.
“He’s not worth it, my love,” she whispered, and he relaxed under her touch. He stood abruptly, his body all muscle and fluid sinew as he rose to his full height and pressed her behind him. With one swipe of his thick arm, he backhanded the preacher, knocking him stone cold in one blow, the gun flying harmlessly from his grasp as he fell to the floor.
She knelt beside the woman and boy on the floor and pressed the woman away from the child so she could study his condition. The little boy regarded her solemnly and her heart ached for him at the acceptance she read in his tired gaze. There was nothing she could do for him other than ease his pain, help him slip away. She smiled and patted his hand where it lay limply on his chest.
“You could have asked me, Robert,” she said softly. “You know better than anyone what I can do. If you’d come to me earlier, I would have helped you. But you waited too long, let your father’s poison override your good sense, and now it’s too late. There is nothing to be done for your son, and you were prepared to risk the life of your other child in this folly.”
His face crumpled into a rictus of pain and grief. Not for their child though and the harm he’d brought upon on her. Only for
this boy and his wife, the perfect family she could never have been a part of with him. Hannah sighed, grateful this wasn’t her life, grateful for the man at her back who loved her and her child beyond all things.
Placing her hand over the boy’s, she let a trace of strength slide through her and into his ruined little body. She drew deep, flooding her ability through him until his breathing grew less labored, the lines of strain on his face easing as her healing settled into him.
“Good-bye,” she whispered and rose to her feet, the harsh sobs of the boy’s mother ringing in her ears. Caleb kissed her cheek, his eyes calmer and once again their normal gray.
“You’re a better person than I am, Hannah. I couldn’t have done what you did.” His voice was still tight with anger as she slumped against him. The drop in adrenaline as well as the amount of strength she had released made her light-headed for a moment and she was grateful for his strong arms.
“Come on, sweet thing, let’s get our baby girl and go home.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and steered her toward where Connor remained huddled over Jessie who appeared to have fallen asleep in his arms. The worry on his face as he turned it up to hers had her heart racing in panic.
“I assumed she was asleep, Hannah, but now I’m not so sure. Her breathing is getting shallower and I can’t seem to wake her up.” His deep voice cracked and she fell to her knees beside him, Caleb right there with her.
“Jessie? Come on, baby girl, open your eyes,” She shook her daughter gently, but there was no response. She swallowed hard against the bile in her throat as she placed a shaky hand on her daughter’s forehead and she gasped at what she felt, or didn’t feel. She was hollow, empty, as though her spirit was gone and Hannah probed deeper, seeking any sign of life. Every drop of strength she wove through her baby girl disappeared, sucked into a blank place, and she pulled back with a gasp.
“She’s used herself up, Caleb. Oh my God, she gave everything to that boy and now there isn’t enough left for her own body.” She bit back a sob, grasping Jessie’s head between her hands as she drew on her strength and fed it as fast as she could into her daughter.
The void within Jessie sucked greedily as Hannah called her strength faster and faster. Her own resources depleted as she tried to fill the blank space but the void seemed endless. She couldn’t stop though although her own body started to resist her. It knew it was running out and she had to battle to draw it forth and push it into Jessie.
“Hannah! Hannah!” Caleb shouted in her ear, but she couldn’t turn her attention to him, couldn’t let the power go for a moment or she would lose control of it. Big, strong hands wrapped around hers as he draped his frame over her body. The presence and weight of him called to her body, and their connection pulsed in remembrance. A tendril of her ability snaked free and shot out into him seeking the musky strength of his wolf.
Like a floodgate opening, their connection grew until her strength was brimming once again. She drew deeply and pushed with all her might, taking everything he offered, forcing it into their child, and she knew in that moment he truly regarded Jessie as his own as he freely gave his own life force to help her heal.
A faint shimmer rippled in the void and she cried out in triumph as a small pool of energy started to form where for so long there had been nothing. The connection pulsed as another pair of hands reached to cover Caleb’s where they encased hers. Connor’s. His wolf tasted different, more earthy and raw and slowly, slowly the tiny pool in Jessie grew and expanded.
Another touch, another jolt, and the connection danced toward this new rich source. Images of a deep, dark forest flooded her, and she knew it was Stefan, there to protect his sons and his new granddaughter. The strength flowed like a torrent through her now, filling Jessie until the little girl suddenly opened her eyes and drew a deep, gasping breath.
Hannah fell back against Caleb as their hands dropped away from Jessie and he gathered her into his lap as he sat back on his heels. She was looped, and it took a few moments to break the connection between everyone.
Will straddled over them with his shotgun in hand, while Connor and Stefan crouched on either side of Jessie’s head. She met Connor’s starry gaze and he gave a huge grin.
“That was one hell of a ride, Hannah. Booze and drugs never have much effect on us because of our higher metabolism but I’m as high as fucking kite on whatever that was!” He started to giggle and the hard body shook behind her as Caleb started to laugh, too. She turned to Stefan who blinked hard and scrubbed a hand over his face. He didn’t seem so shaken, probably because he had been the last to join them. Jessie sat up and all Hannah could do was smile as her daughter curled her arms around Stefan’s neck.
“You smell like the woods, Papa,” she said and Stefan grinned broadly as he settled her on his hip.
“So it’s to be Papa, is it?” he said, and she gave him a firm nod.
“Will is Granddad and I already have a Grampa, too, so you can be Papa. Grampa comes to see me when I’m asleep; he was the one who told me Caleb would come and save Momma. He watches over me, Gramma, too, but she can’t come and visit me like he can.” Jessie spoke so blithely about the fact the spirit of Hannah’s father came to her in her dreams it stunned her.
“Did you know about this?” Caleb whispered against her ear and she shook her head. A high-pitched scream echoed and her daughter’s body spasmed violently. Stefan lowered the little girl to the floor. Sharp claws flared at the tips of his fingers, and he sliced away the clothing that constricted her writhing body.
Horror filled her and she reached instinctively for her child; only her mate’s strong grip prevented her from touching the rippling skin along her back.
“Wait, love. Dad will help her. It will be fine, I swear it.” The soothing whisper in her ear did little to calm her as Stefan hunkered down to stare deep into Jessie’s tear-filled eyes.
“Come on, little cub.” His voice was soft but commanding and the little girl relaxed as her limbs twisted. A wash of chocolate-brown fur, a shimmer of light, and a tiny wolf cub shook itself where her daughter had been just moments before. The cub yipped and Stefan gathered her into his big hands, soothing her ruffled fur as he lowered his face and rubbed his cheek against her soft back.
He rose gracefully to his feet, whispering words of encouragement and praise to the little cub as though nothing had happened. Will offered his hand to Connor and helped him to his feet as well. The giggling had stopped, to everyone’s relief, but he still wore a fool’s grin a mile wide.
“How?” Had she done that with the healing?
“I think we need to talk about your parents, Hannah,” Caleb murmured against her ear. “I have a feeling your father, at least, might have been one of us.” The suggestion seemed reasonable and yet fantastic in the same breath.
Connor’s strong hands lifted her, holding her steady as her mate pushed himself up after her. Robert and his wife remained huddled over their dead son and they were so lost to their own grief, they seemed oblivious to what had happened.
She tried to feel pity for them but then decided they were not worth a moment more of her time.
“I’m taking you and Jessie to Los Lobos tonight,” Caleb said firmly as though expecting her to disagree with him. “A bed and breakfast opened up recently and we can stay there for a few nights while we get the house sorted out.”
Hannah wrapped her arms around his waist and rose on tiptoes to kiss him. “Take me home, Caleb. Take us home.”
Murder comes to the Black Hills Wolves….
On the one-year anniversary of Drew Tao defeating his father and becoming Alpha of the Black Hills Wolves, everyone looks to the future. On the heels of their celebration, a new threat emerges…. Someone is killing the human mates. The pack survived the reign of a madman, but will a single bullet shatter all their hopes and dreams?
Murder in Los Lobos
A Black Hills Wolves Mini Series
Look for
it January 2016
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What a Wolf Wants by Heather Long
Chapter One
The bite of snow curled through the winter wind. Any other time, Ryker would be in wolf form, racing through the hills. Unlike so many in the broken pack, the moon had never bound him. Though her sway didn’t call to him as it did to the others, the lack had never prevented him from joining the hunt each month, when the moon-called shifted, and shadowing their progress.
Few were those who ventured out unless they had to, and less was their joy—until Drew finally came home. The boy had—did—provide a fresh resource for the pack. Though desperately frayed and facing challenges on all sides, the pack bonds had begun to heal. But it would take time.
Of course, anything worth having should take time. Magnum hadn’t decimated them overnight. Just the thought of the previous Alpha was enough to have Ryker’s upper lip curling. His death should have been celebrated for months, but they’d only been able to sigh in deep relief.
A relief he, the deadly, highly-feared enforcer, shared. He had given thanks for every bloodless evening since. Even chastising three over-exuberant youths, who’d been caught on camera, hadn’t diminished his contentment.
A Mate's Healing Touch Page 8