Shifters After Dark Box Set: (6-Book Bundle)

by SM Reine

  “You don’t sound happy to have everything you ever wanted,” Summer said. He didn’t respond, and she pressed her side against his in a silent gesture of solidarity. “What happened after we fell through the fissure?”

  “Leliel and I sat down together, and we talked.”

  “You…talked? That’s it?”

  “We talked.” Nash managed to make that sound like a bad thing. “I don’t think we’ll ever agree with each other on anything, but…we came to an understanding. I also restructured Adamson Industries so that it will continue to function without me. So much of the Haven’s current economy depends on my company—it would have been a tragedy to let the world fall for the sake of my freedom.”

  “But you only took fifteen minutes to follow me,” Summer said.

  Nash finally gave her a faint smile. “A virtual lifetime.”

  This was the man that she thought had cared about nobody but himself, yet he had taken the time to make sure his employees would continue having jobs, the cities would thrive, and nobody would be hurt. Summer snuggled against his arm. “I knew you weren’t a creepy jackass.”

  “Is that a compliment?”

  “Yes, and you’re going to take it.” Her smile quickly faded at the thought of Nash spending days with Leliel. “What did you talk about with her?”

  “She told me some of what I’ve missed. The circumstances are worse than I thought. Though the war has ended, many of the people involved are still in motion, and tensions are rising. This entire world is in danger.”

  Summer knew that should have worried her, but it was hard to get upset when she could still see the bonfire through the trees. The world seemed so small in comparison to that.

  “But she let you go,” she said.

  Nash nodded. “She let me go, and it only took minimal coercion.”

  “So…what now?”

  His lips drew into a thin line. “You’ve found your parents. I must likewise find my family.”

  Summer blinked back a sudden surge of tears. “I understand. I mean, you’ve been away for a long time, and Leliel still loves you, so—”

  “What are you talking about?” he interrupted. “There’s no love between Leliel and I. My exile was entirely her fault. She may have forgiven me, but that road doesn’t go both ways.” Nash caught her arm before she could walk away. “What are you doing?”

  “Going back to the camp,” she said. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

  His eyes searched her face, and his fingers tightened. “Do you want me to leave?”

  Summer bowed her head against his chest. “I want you to be happy, Nash. If you need to go find that happiness…I’ll be happy for you. But the thing is…” She bit her bottom lip as she searched for words.

  How could she begin to tell him that her happiness at finding her parents was only a single pine needle in an entire forest of trees in comparison to what he made her feel? Nash was the best thing that had happened to her in over twenty years. But whether or not she liked it, he was still a soldier in an ancient war.

  “Human lifetimes are so short,” he said gently.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing.” Nash chuckled softly. “Everything. Can I show you something?” The last time he had asked her that, they had gone on the most amazing date of Summer’s life. She didn’t even have to think before nodding.

  Wings unfolded from behind him. He must have been holding his power back, because this time they were just wings—no brilliant light or surges of energy. Just feathers.

  Summer wrapped her arms around his neck, and they climbed into the air with a single flap of his wings. The trees quickly turned to formless black shapes. The air grew colder, and Summer snuggled against his chest for warmth.

  They couldn’t seem to reach the stars here, but as the world sprawled out under their feet, she could see the pinprick lights of distant civilization. Houses, towns, places Summer had never seen before. “Now look at this,” Nash said, flapping his wings to turn them.

  Summer gasped.

  A huge sphere hung in the sky, blue-gold and cratered. It glowed like a cold sun and spoke to her like nothing else had before. The hair on her arms stood straight up. Chills washed down her spine.

  She reached a hand into the sky. It was too far away for her to touch, even though she so desperately wanted to. There was also no sign of the archer constellation here, but she thought that she liked this sky much better—even if it didn’t sing to her.

  “That’s the moon,” Nash said. His breath was so much warmer than the breeze, yet having it brush over her shoulder made her shiver again. “Legends say that the gods of the forest live there. They’re the ones that gifted humans with the ability to have the twin natures of beast and man.”

  “It’s incredible.” She traced the line of his profile with her eyes—the strong nose and dimpled chin, the lips that made her blush just to look at them. As amazing as the moon was, it had nothing on Nash. “So what are you going to do?”

  “I promised that we would discover the world together, and I never lie.” Nash hesitated. “But you’re with your family now. Surely you won’t want to leave them.”

  “I barely know them yet. There’s a lot of catching up to do.”

  “And I have so much to see and learn. There is much I have missed. I should rejoin my ethereal counterparts if another war is to begin.”

  Summer’s fingers tightened on his chest. She turned her face into his arm, sheltering herself from the wind. “Maybe Leliel’s wrong about the war. It’s been a long time since you were exiled. The world must have changed a lot, and I bet people have, too. Nobody is going to want to fight.” Summer gave him a sideways look. “You don’t want to fight anymore, do you?”

  “Given the choice, I would never fight again.”

  “Well, peace has to start somewhere. If Adam’s mightiest soldier lays down his fiery sword, then maybe others will follow you.”

  “You’re very optimistic,” Nash said.

  Summer smiled up at him. The moon lit his skin with traces of silver. In the forest below, the bonfire was still burning, and if she focused, she thought that she could hear Gran and Rylie laughing.

  She kissed Nash softly. Their lips lingered.

  “It’s a good day for optimism,” she whispered.

  This isn’t the end of the story!

  War is coming. Which side will Nash choose? Can Abram step up to face his destiny as hunter? And will Sir Lumpy ever find the love of a lady cat that deserves him?

  Find more Cain's Chronicles along with the connected Descent and Ascension series on Amazon.

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  Author’s Note

  Thanks for joining me for yet another book. Your help has been invaluable in getting this one out, and your support means the world to me! If you want to get involved, go ahead and…

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  Happy reading!

  Sara (SM Reine)

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  SEVEN YEARS

  (A Seven Series Novel: Book One)

  DANNIKA DARK

  All Rights Reserved

  Copyright © 2013 Dannika Dark

  dannikadark.net

  Fan page located on Facebook

  Seven Years is a Shifter romance about family, second chances, and finding that person who completes you.

  Cliffhanger free. HEA. 18+

  Summary

  It’s been seven years since Lexi Knight lost her brother in a tragic accident. On the anniversary of his death, her brother’s best friend shows up unexpecte
dly - a man she hasn’t seen since the funeral. He is no longer the boy Lexi once knew, but a dangerous-looking man with tattoos and dark secrets. He broke her trust and abandoned her family, yet what he reveals makes it impossible to stay angry. Lexi has been secretly infatuated with Austin since childhood, so finding out he’s a Shifter just makes him sexier. Dammit.

  Austin Cole has returned to the city where he grew up, and just in time. He’s lived a hard life these past seven years, and the shadows of his past are threatening to destroy Lexi’s family. It’s time that she learned the truth about her brother, but there is a shocking twist that Austin never saw coming. Now he must protect her family when her mother and sister wind up in mortal danger. Will Lexi learn to accept the truth about who he is, and can Austin salvage a relationship from the ruins of their past?

  Seven years ago, my world ended.

  Seven years later, my new life began.

  Chapter One

  I don’t care what anyone says, every girl needs to have a good long cry once in a while. The kind that weakens you, swells your eyes shut, and strips away every shred of emotion from your body until the pain subsides. The pain of… whatever. Death, heartbreak, solitude, desire, jealousy. All the crap that becomes a badge of honor among women—like those little merit badges Girl Scouts have sewn on their uniforms, only these badges are stitched across our hearts.

  Of course, the last place I needed to have a meltdown was in a candy store by the gummy worms. Sweet Treats had closed half an hour ago, and I was restocking the shelves while April handled the cash drawer.

  It used to be a fun place to work… when I was twenty-one. But now I was twenty-seven and this shit was getting old. Maybe it was the smell of chocolate in the air playing tricks on my hormones, or watching all those rug rats screaming up and down the aisles and wishing I had one. Or maybe it was the fact that Brooke Worthington (although in high school she went by Brooke Jenson) had walked into the shop wearing a business suit with three kids in tow and asked, “Is this what you’ve been doing since high school?”

  “Alexia, what’s the matter?” April peered at me from around a stack of canisters, her charcoal-lined eyes wide. “Did someone die?”

  Which brought another gasp to my sob.

  Yeah, that too.

  Tomorrow will be the seven-year anniversary of my brother’s death. My older brother by three years, who taught me how to ride a bike because our dad was a total dick and ignored me. My older brother, who piled our beanbag chairs in front of the television and made awful microwave popcorn while we watched a scary movie whenever our parents went out. My older brother, who was into muscle cars and hung out with all the bad boys my best friends for life (whom I haven’t seen since high school) wanted to marry. My older brother, who gave me Indian burns, hid my pink razors, and intimidated the hell out of my boyfriends when I started dating in high school.

  My older brother, who was killed in a motorcycle accident when he was twenty-three and found two days later by passing motorists when they spotted his bike in a ditch off Highway 71.

  “Alexia?”

  April didn’t know about my brother, Wes. Sometimes there are chapters in our lives we don’t want others to read. She’d started working here a year ago when she was twenty-one, but the girl had plans. She had been submitting her résumé to the top companies in the area in hopes of getting her corporate career started. Her long-term goal was to be a project manager, but handling the register and the books stretched her experience in the meantime. Our boss even added on a few additional duties to give her an incentive to stick around. Plus, she had a backup plan of becoming a store manager if the corporate gig didn’t pan out.

  I didn’t know much about April’s personal life because she wasn’t one of those girls who put it all out on the table. I once asked about her mom and she clammed up, so I never brought up the topic again. All I knew was she was a workaholic who talked about books, complained about her younger sister, adored animals, and possessed a charismatic laugh that turned heads. I always found myself doing or saying silly things to bring a smile to her face.

  “I’m fine,” I lied, but it came out all garbled, so I cleared my throat.

  “You don’t sound fine. Does this have to do with Beckett?”

  I glared.

  She smiled innocently and lifted her shoulder. “You’re still separated, right? Sorry, but he’s hot and you can’t blame me for assuming you worked things out.”

  “He’s also an asshole with a temper, not to mention he has a disturbing obsession with professional wrestling.”

  “Thought you liked the bad boys?”

  I bit my lip. Yeah, I kind of did. Not that I sought them out intentionally, but maybe I was subconsciously searching for a tough guy—one who would help me forget how out of control I felt at times.

  “Learn from my mistakes, April. You’re a sweet girl and guys like that will only drag you down. They’ll make you forget you ever aspired to do anything meaningful with your life. Then one day you’ll be crying over the kitchen sink, scraping at a piece of dried macaroni that’s stuck to a plate because the dishes haven’t been washed in two days.”

  “Holy smokes, Alexia. You really need a happy pill in the worst way.”

  Her fingers dragged through the chunky strands of her blond hair. She styled it short with fashionably long bangs angled over one side of her face. The duality with April was interesting because her appearance was trendy and rockerish, but her personality was anything but. She kept her hair a platinum blond that looked so natural I wasn’t sure it came from a bottle—I’d seen girls born with that hair color before. It was a stunning look. She often wore smoky eyeliner that added an allure to her jaw-dropping hazel eyes, and I would have killed for her flawless complexion. April was as pretty as a pixie but lacked a social life from what I had gathered. Her personality shined at work, but in private conversations, she possessed a shy demeanor.

  Maybe shy wasn’t the right word.

  Sensitive. I caught onto this because April was clumsy, always bumping into things or stumbling over her feet. When kids made fun of her, she’d laugh it off. It only bothered her when someone our age or older made a joke. Men in particular, but I could relate to that. A few years ago, I stepped in a hole on the street and almost broke my ankle. All I could think about was how embarrassed I was that everyone saw me fall on my face. Never mind the fact I almost ended up in an ambulance. Only later was I mad no one had bothered to help.

  April was an introspective girl with a big heart, even if she didn’t have the gift of gab. A bird had once slammed into our shop window and died on the sidewalk. She’d tried to help it, but it was pointless. I’d ended up sending her home when I saw how upset she was. I’d never had any pets, so maybe I just couldn’t relate. But it spoke volumes about her character.

  “I’m closing up; are you done restocking the supply?” she asked.

  I glanced at a jar of circus peanuts and nodded.

  Normally, the black cloud of depression didn’t follow me. I’d learned to embrace life no matter what was thrown my way, but today was one of those off days when rolling with the punches just meant getting beat up.

  It usually did at this time of year.

  I wiped away my tears and stood up, straightening out the wrinkles in my skirt. I’d been mistaken for a waitress on more than one occasion while wearing our uniform—and that was a compliment. Nobody was impressed when I told them I sold candy for a living, especially not anyone with two kids and a mortgage. My white skirt stopped two inches above my knees, paired with a tight-fitting orange shirt. To top off the ensemble, we wore white aprons and looked like we’d been slaving away in some magical candy kitchen, creating fantastical sugary treats.

  We opened a bag and poured candy in a jar. End of story.

  Our boss emphasized presentation: perfectly aligned canisters, attractive displays, and a well-groomed staff. He even gave us plastic hair clips to use if we wore our hair up. Cherries, ora
nge slices, or little multicolored candies were our options.

  Needless to say, I always wore my hair down.

  “Are you sure you’re okay, Alexia?” April asked, touching my shoulder as I walked by.

  “I’m outta here,” I announced, grabbing my purse from the drawer behind the register and digging for my keys. “You coming?”

  “I’m going to be five more minutes,” she said from behind me. “Go ahead and take off.”

  “Okay. Just remember…”

  “Yeah?”

  A lump formed in my throat. “Just remember you’re taking my shift tomorrow.”

  “Will do. Remember you’re taking mine on Saturday,” she sang melodically.

  Damn. Saturdays sucked. The store was like a zoo because we were located near a pizza shop, not to mention the movie theater was just a short walk up the street. Parents often dropped their kids off in herds, and telling a bunch of rowdy eleven-year-olds to behave when their moms weren’t around was an exercise in futility.

  “I won’t forget,” I replied with a sarcastic smile. “Can’t wait.”

  “Liar.”

  The silver bell at the entrance jingled as the door closed behind me.

  Then the sight of my own damn car made me want to start crying all over again. “What the hell is wrong with you, Lexi? Can’t you keep it together for one day? It’s not even the day and you’re already a hot mess,” I muttered.

  “Alexia!” April yelled out. Only my close friends and family called me Lexi, but at work and otherwise, I went by my full name.

  April held her thumb and pinky finger up to her face in that universal “you’ve got a phone call” gesture.

  “Now what?” I murmured. My stomach knotted because nobody called me this late. It was well known I was probably the only twenty-something living in Austin without a cell phone. But hey, I never liked being accessible.