PRIZE: An MMA Fighter Secret Baby Romance

by Brooke Valentine

  But it was Vincent who heard him.

  Out of nowhere, he appeared. He was told to keep Anna and Samantha in a safe place, but he chose to follow him secretly, knowing he would his help. “Strike them on the back,” he yelled out.

  Lucas turned in his direction and frowned with delight, giving him hope that he was not alone, that there are people waiting for him to come home. Instead of yelling back at him to show his gratitude, he tried what Vincent had said and struck these puppets on the back. And surprisingly, it worked! Punching them in the back forced Valentine’s ghosts to escape out of them and as it happened, they turned back into ashes and the wind drifted them to where they belonged.

  Valentine wasn’t too happy about Vincent’s intervention so he ordered Levi to get rid of him. Out of the dark smoke, Levi appeared and gave Vincent an unexpected punch on the face, almost breaking his nose. He disappeared into a smoke again and this time he hit him on the back, knocking Vincent to the ground. Levi was playing on him because he knew he was half-human and half-wolf so his strength wasn’t as strong as a pure lycan. Little did he know he was a hybrid – stronger than a lycan.

  Vincent’s temper got out of control and he transformed into a werewolf without the presence of the moon. He closed his eyes and listened to Levi’s presence. When he sensed Levi approaching, he flung his arm against his direction, knocking him down to the ground. He shook his head, trying to clear off the dizziness. He pulled his gun and pointed it to Vincent, but Theresa came into the scene and jumped on Levi.

  He struggled to get her off of him, but she was like a leech, hard to removed. She twisted his neck and palmed his head away from his body. Only she got off of him. Now she felt satisfied to have finally avenged Chris.

  She dusted her hands off. “That’s how it’s done, boy,” she said smiling at him.

  They turned to Lucas who had two more left to finish, but Valentine, seeing Levi body lying on the ground lifeless was shaken to his soul. His most loyal servant was now dead. He tried to order Maverick to fight, but he chickened out and went on his way. Now he had to face them alone.

  He revealed himself. “This is not the end. Upon my return, I will take what is rightfully mine,” he said as he withdrew and retrieved his ghosts from the remaining millennial.

  In shared relief, they all sighed with tears of joy in their eyes.

  ***

  Meanwhile, Garth and the rest of New York’s Police Department were out battling the dark shadows. They were led by none the other than Anna, and of course, her little sister, Samantha who’d made up her mind to shift her degree to criminology and become like her sister. Epilogue

  Walking along the beach, Anna couldn’t believe what they had gone through. Months ago, she did not have the slightest idea that there were more kinds of creatures in the world apart from humankind, but now she was with him, a lycan who defied both his kind and opposing kind to protect her, she couldn’t ask for more but a continuous peaceful life.

  She inhaled the fresh afternoon breeze. “I want to live by the sea and watch the waves come in. I want to feel the sand on my feet and smell the salt water.”

  Lucas wrapped his right arm around her shoulder. “Everything can come true if you just believe,” he said as he kneeled down and caressed her baby bump. “We’ll never live in the forest. We’ll live right where we are.”

  He stood back up and imparted a mellifluous kiss on her lips.

  ***

  A few months ago, they had purchased a humble shack close to the sea. Anna had finally given birth to a baby girl and they couldn’t be any happier. The dark shadows had surrendered to the lycans after Valentine had abandoned them. But little did they know he’d done it on purpose.

  But the question was, what scheme was he planning against Lucas and Anna?

  A Lone Cowboy to Marry

  By: E. Whitfort

  A Lone Cowboy to Marry

  © July 2017 – All rights reserved

  By E. Whitfort,

  Published by Passionate Publishing Inc.

  This is a work of fiction. All names and characters in this novel are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events is entirely coincidental.

  This book is for your personal enjoyment only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher.

  Warning

  This book is intended for adult readers, 18+ years old. Please close this e-book if you are not comfortable reading adult content.

  Chapter 1

  Chanda tried to stay vigilant throughout the rituals, but really she just wanted to go home. Her father’s body was now enveloped in flames and she was all alone in the world. She didn’t want to spend any more time around her distant family, either. She just wanted to melt into her bed and cry.

  “Are you having his seventh day funeral?” her cousin asked her earnestly.

  Chanda nodded. “Of course.”

  “That is good. He is in a better place, Chanda. His suffering is gone from his body.”

  “I know.” She sniffled, but did not shed a tear. Some people thought that she was a hard person, but her family knew that she was simply trying to be strong.

  “Should I go home with you? Mother said she would make us dinner,” Yun insisted.

  “I just want to be alone for a while. I have work tomorrow at the factory.”

  “You can’t do this anymore, Chanda. You can’t stay alone. There are sites –“

  Chanda put up in her hand. “I know about the sites.”

  “So what’s wrong with them? Imagine, a rich American man, making your dreams come true. You would never have to work again!”

  “I don’t mind working.” Chanda shrugged. “I have since I was fifteen.”

  “And aren’t you tired?” Yun seized Chanda’s hands and showed her where the dye had stained her skin black around her nails. “Your hands look like a corpse’s!”

  Chanda jerked her hands away and shoved them into the pockets of her dress. “The foreman is good to us. He said I can get a raise if I stay another year.”

  “Another year? You want to stay here another year?” Yun gasped and rolled her eyes. “I think we should join the site together. At least then you can talk to men. You need a man in your life, Chanda, you’re almost twenty-five!”

  “Be respectful!” hissed an old aunt.

  Chanda and Yun nodded to her apologetically. “Think about it,” Yun whispered as she turned her attention back to the priest, who was reading Buddhist scripture for Chanda’s father’s spirit as he journeyed into the next life.

  Finally in the safety of her single room near the garment factory where she worked, Chanda began to sob. At last, reality hit her. She had at least had the company of her father’s body with her for the past seven days, since he drew his last breath. There was some solace to not sleeping alone. But now the apartment was completely empty, with every last scrap of her father’s life gone. All of his things had been cremated with him to accompany him into the afterlife. The room was now so bare.

  For a while, she prayed. But there was no sign that her father heard her. “Why am I so selfish? You are busy meeting with our ancestors,” she whispered into the dark, dank air. That made her cry harder and she retried to the bed, where she sobbed herself to sleep.

  Watching her father die slowly of cancer was extremely hard. She had had to keep strong face and work to support them both. But being unmarried and all alone was even harder. How was she supposed to cope? Should she consider the site that her cousin spoke of? It seemed wrong, but the idea of a husband who would give her a better life did appeal to her.

  “How are you?” one of her co-workers asked her sympathetically at work.

  “I am all right,” she sighed. “How are you?”

  “I must offer my regrets about your father.” Then the girl grinned. “I am wonderful! I am moving to America.”

  “What?” Chanda narrowed her eyes. “Was it
one of those sites?”

  “Yes, I met a nice man! He says he is coming here to take me away.”

  Chanda forced a wan smile. “Are you sure that he is a nice man? I have heard scary stories –“

  The girl cut her off brusquely. “Of course he is nice. He has even chatted with me over video. He drives a truck. He makes a fortune.” She beamed down at the fabric that she was working.

  Chanda shrugged haphazardly. “All right then.”

  “Have you thought about the sites, Chanda? You should. You can become lucky, like me. Leave this place.” She waved her hand disdainfully around the damp, filthy plant where the air reeked of sweat. All of the women looked serious and tired, with their hair pulled back and perspiration lining their brows staining their armpits. Their hands looked raw and swollen, stained with dye.

  “So you need a sexy profile picture,” Yun said excitedly. “Do you have any lingerie?”

  “No!” Chanda cried. “Why would I have lingerie? I’ve never even been with a man!”

  “Oh, come on. You have to look sexy to get clicks. See? My picture is sexy and I get hundreds of clicks every day.” Yun proudly showed Chanda her profile picture on her phone. “I am talking to fifty-four men right now. I only had to block one. He was asking me to do stuff with donkeys.”

  “Donkeys?”

  “Some men are weird. But most of them are very nice. They’re all so very lonely and they worship Asian women. You’ll have such good luck.”

  “But I have no sexy pictures,” Chanda said sadly. “I don’t even know how to take one.”

  “I’ll take one for you. I’ll even lend you one of my pieces.”

  “Let’s just take one in what I’m wearing,” Chanda sighed. “I’m tired of men treating us like sex objects. I want a husband who is more respectful.”

  Yun sighed. “They won’t click on your profile if you aren’t sexy.”

  “Aren’t I sexy?” Chanda mock pouted, slipping the strap of her pink sun dress off her shoulder.

  Yun giggled. “Fine. Hold still. Do you have a sexy model look?”

  “Like this?” Chanda pursed her lips like the girls she saw on Instagram.

  Yun giggled again. “That is a good picture.” She showed it to Chanda.

  Chanda shrugged. “That is OK.”

  “It would be better in lingerie.” Yun sent Chanda the picture so that she could upload it to her new account.

  Chanda sighed dishearteningly as she went over her profile. “You really don’t think I’ll get any clicks?” She hesitated over her picture, wishing that her dimples weren’t so deep and her braid wasn’t so kinky. In reality, Chanda was an extremely pretty woman, with high cheekbones and thick black hair that swept richly over her shoulders. But she had dedicated so many years to caring for her father and working that she had not let any men into her life. She wasn’t used to male attention. Nor did she look in the mirror often.

  “Not as many without lingerie.” Yun noticed the hopeless look on Chanda’s face, and stooped to give her a peck on the cheek. “You will find a man, sweetheart. Keep your hope. You always were the tough one of the family.”

  Chanda half-laughed. “I would always start fights with boys and yell at them when they would pinch us. That doesn’t mean I was the strong one.”

  “But you stayed there for uncle, even after aunty died. You were always there. You are strong and you will make a great wife.”

  Chanda anxiously checked her email several times throughout the day. By evening, men started taking notice of her profile. She was overwhelmed by how many men suddenly started emailing her. They all said that she was gorgeous and that they wanted to chat. Some even sent her wink faces or blew her kisses. One man sent her pictures of him pantless and asked her for some in exchange; she promptly blocked him.

  “How do I pick one?” she asked Yun.

  “Talk to them all until you find the best one,” Yun texted back.

  But Chanda was completely overwhelmed. There was no way to answer every man. She tried to keep up, but could not. Finally, after two days, she turned her email notifications off. It was time to focus on work and earning her raise. This mail order bride site was silly, she thought.

  After two days, though, she woke up in the middle of the night. It felt as if someone had shaken her. “Check your profile,” an inner voice told her. She got a tingling feeling in her gut and she wondered if her father was here, trying to tell her something important. Urgently, she seized her phone and checked her email. As she sifted through the countless emails from different men with unfamiliar names, she found a few that seemed promising. So she replied to them.

  Immediately she received a reply from a man named Chris Stryker. In his picture, his blue eyes and shock of blond hair stunned her. “Hi ☺” he replied.

  “How are you?” she typed. “I am sorry if my English is not good. I only learned in school so I am trying.”

  “Your English seems perfect. Your school taught you well. I am OK. How are you?”

  “I am well.” She decided not to tell him how she was lonely and how her father had recently passed. It seemed too heavy of a topic to bring about around someone new; she wanted him to be charmed and tempted by her, not depressed.

  “Why is someone pretty like yourself on here? It seems that you would be married already,” Chris commented. “Sorry if that seemed creepy but most of the girls on here seem like amateur porn stars. You, on the other hand, seem like a lovely regular girl who would make a great wife.”

  “I am unmarried,” she replied after several minutes of trying to think of the best thing to say. Maybe it was a good thing that Yun hadn’t taken a sexy photo of her in lingerie! Men seemed to click on her profile plenty without that sexy photo.

  “That’s good then. I am too. I am new to this site.”

  “Why are you unmarried?” Peering at his pictures, she couldn’t believe that he didn’t have a wife. He looked perfect. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw his pictures with horses. “Wealthy Texas landowner seeking true love” was his byline. Horses were one of her biggest fantasies; she had always wanted to try riding them.

  “It is a long story. But I am a good man and I am looking for a wife,” he replied. “I own a ranch in Texas and I’m a hardworking guy. I’m also a very lonely guy.”

  Chanda breathed in sharply. “I want to know more about you,” she replied urgently.

  Chapter 2

  Chris woke up at four each morning to work out. Once he was drenched in sweat from pull-ups and weight lifting, he would go outside to start feeding his horses and cows. First, he would tend to his horses. His horses lived in the barn beside his house. He would groom each other, before releasing them into the pasture beyond his house. He would saddle his favorite old boy, Champ, and ride Champ out to do his ranch work. A lot of ranchers now used four-wheelers or even planes to do their work, but Chris was old school and preferred working from horseback. He looked like a classic cowboy, with his blond hair, blue eyes, and tight Levis.

  With his crew, he would then traverse his vast ranch, tossing hay to his three hundred head of cattle. The ranch was dry enough that he could not feed his herds with the grass alone. He also worked almost constantly on pumping water and repairing his many miles of barbed wire fences. Branding and harvesting seasons were also rough times, when he hired tons of temporary hands and worked from dawn to sundown. Now was a down time and Chris enjoyed his days riding his horses, painting, and playing guitar. The work on the ranch was minimal now and he only needed his three main hands.

  The morning after Chris had first spoken with Chanda, he got up at the first brush of light from the sun. He caught sight of himself in the dim mirror as he brushed his teeth, and he swept his shock of blond hair away from his forehead to survey the pink scar snaking across his otherwise perfect flesh. The reason he wore his hair across his forehead was to avoid questions. What would happen if things went farther with Chanda? She would eventually notice it. He imagined them
lying in bed, and Chanda running her fingers through his hair. “What is this?” she would ask in her sweet, demure voice, stroking the scar tissue with her finger tip.

  It had been a really long time for Chris. As the owner of the Stryker Ranch, he was quite a catch. But his past made women run away as if from a nuclear meltdown. For years, he had born his loneliness. Now he was just too weak to go on. He felt a little pathetic, signing up for a mail order bride site, but what else could he do? His earlier attempts at online dating had not worked out so well. There was Karen, who had lasted a total of five weeks and who had mysteriously deleted her site and blocked his number with no explanation. There was a smattering of other girls from across the country who had talked to him briefly then lost interest in favor of other more local guys in their areas.

  Sometimes, it felt as if he was completely undesirable and meant to die alone. He hid his billionaire status to avoid attracting gold diggers, but unfortunately, it seemed like his money was all that he had to offer women.

  So if he had to order a bride, well, then so be it. He needed someone to love. Someone to be close. Talking to Chanda last night made him feel so good that he didn’t even notice how exhausted he was.

  Later that afternoon, when he returned from his ride, he opened up his email and found that Chanda had messaged him. “How are you?” she had asked simply.

  It had been so long since anyone had asked him that. It was comforting to find someone who cared, someone who wanted to know about him, someone who felt like he was worth something as a person. He hadn’t had anyone ask him that for years.

  “Great. How are you?”