by Rose, Dahlia
Tempest
Copyright © June 2012 Dahlia Rose
Cover Art by Mina Carter
ISBN 978-1-936668-76-2
All rights are reserved. No part of this may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Chapter One
Outside, the wind howled and whipped the trees around frantically deep in the Louisiana bayou, but in her little house, the air was humid and stuffy. Tempest Boliene lived alone and at the farthest end of the swamp. This was for two specific reasons; one, because she wanted her privacy, and two, because the people in Cormina Parish viewed her as something of a witch. She didn’t mind it much; it was a cross her family bore. Her mother had the sight and her grandmother as well. In Louisiana, when you had a gift, it could be viewed in many different ways. When she predicted three deaths in a row that came true and the residents found out about her predictions, they deemed her a witch. And right now, as the wind buffeted her little house that sat so close to the banks of the swamp that it was practically her backyard, she was steeped in a vision that was unlike any that she’d had before. It was her future, her destiny. It was mystifying, thrilling and downright scary. In this vision she was mated to the two men who lived in the Marigold Plantation house. Two men who kept to themselves just as much as she did and, not surprisingly, they were much more than just men.
In her mind’s eye, she saw them.
Alex Wakefield had pitch black hair and green eyes that held hints of yellow flecks in the irises. He wore his hair long in dark waves and he was tall. He was wide across the shoulders and lean at the hips. He had a few days worth of stubble and he was shirtless. He turned suddenly as if he could see her watching him, and then there was a flash of lightning and his face changed to that of a wolf.
Dominic Cross was a few inches shorter than Alex but not by much. He had sandy brown hair cut low in military style. In fact, the word around town was that he was in the army before being discharged four years ago. And it was four years ago that they came into town and bought the Marigold plantation and began fixing it up.
Now, through wide, unseeing eyes, she, Tempest, could see his face. He wore a crooked grin across his rugged face and strong jaw; his eyes were gray and held laughter. He was a lighter soul than his counterpart, but both men were dangerous. Dominic as a wolf was silver—like his eyes—and beautiful. Alex was black as midnight.
She saw them shift in her vision and run towards a low hanging moon. She longed to follow them and the word mate echoed through her head.
The vision released her from its grasp and she fell back against the sheets damp with her sweat. Was it possible? She asked herself the question as she slipped from the bed and made her way to the bathroom. Go! The words ricocheted through her head and the pain of it made her drop to her knees in the bathroom. She braced herself against the sink and pulled herself up. This was definitely not like her usual visions; she had never had voices yelling at her or felt a power so fierce it pulled her to the floor.
Thunder cracked outside and the wind howled louder. It almost sounded as if even the elements were chanting her name, urging her outside into the hellish weather. Instinct and an almost wild sensation coursed through her and, without thought, she pulled her beat up sneakers from under the bed. Nothing would keep her dry in this weather, but she could hardly care. She pushed her way out into the stormy night and moved across the rain-soaked earth towards her destiny at Marigold Plantation. Lord Jesus, protect me, she thought as branches tore at her thin shirt. She hadn’t changed from the cotton shorts and tank top she slept in. The pounding raindrops stung her skin as she moved through the dark woods that separated her house from theirs. It was only the three of them that lived on the outskirts of Cormina and it seemed they were destined to be together.
She finally broke through the trees and bushes that lined their property. Through the rain and whipping leaves she could see the plantation house and a dim light illuminating the downstairs windows. Tempest climbed the old, rickety fence that they had obviously not thought to fix up and she slipped on the wet wood before she finally made her way over. It was a fight against the elements and nature’s fury as she moved across the pastures to the front door. Using her fist, she pounded hard, hoping that someone inside would hear. Tempest repeated the action twice before the door was flung open. Since she was leaning against the door while pounding with all her might, she fell inside and landed flat on the braided rug. She was nose to nose with the hardwood floor it covered.
“What do we have here?” Dominic said, a deep timber resonated in his voice and held a hint of humor.
“Whatever it is, it’s dripping all over my new hardwood floors,” snarled Alex.
Tempest rolled over on her back to look up at them. She’d seen them every once in a while in the small grocery store in Cormina. Or, sometimes, in the neighboring towns, when she really didn’t want to deal with the small-minded residents closer to home, she’d go out to eat and happen to see them there too. Outcasts form one pack. Her vision blurred and she saw a glimpse into the future once again. Quit it, will you? Just for tonight, she pleaded with her gift and closed her eyes tiredly.
“I think she may be falling asleep on our floor,” Dominic said.
“Well, by all means, let’s just get her a blanket. And how about a pillow while we’re at it?” Alex snapped.
“I’m not asleep; I’m just very tired. You try running through a damned storm, plus seeing visions all night,” Tempest snapped right back.
“Oh, so you believe your own myth?” Alex drawled.
She opened her eyes and glared at him. “You believe what you want, Alex Wakefield, dark wolf, Alpha to a pack with only two members.”
He dragged her to her feet and shook her. “Have you been spying on us? Damn you, answer me!”
“Alex, you’ll hurt her.” Dominic put his hand on his friend’s shoulder to restrain him.
Tempest didn’t make a sound, and she refused to show weakness. If she was meant for them, so be it, but she refused to be anything she was not. She was strong enough to live alone and take the ridicule. And, by God, she could handle two men.
“Let me ask you a question. If I was spying on you wouldn’t at least one of you have smelled me in the wind, even a hint?” Tempest said. “You know I live just through woods from you. When you run in your second skin I’m sure you’ve watched me. We know each other even though we’ve never really met. Have I ever, and I mean ever, seemed to be the gossipy type? I live alone for a reason—as do you—and I keep my nose out of other people’s business. So how would I know, huh? Unless I saw it in my head or are you just really bad at being a wolf?”
Dominic laughed out loud while Alex growled low in his throat. The sound terrified her, but she refused to look away.
“Right now I smell fear,” he whispered. He was so close she could smell brandy on his breath.
“That you may, but you’ll never see me show it,” Tempest replied.
He let go of her and she slumped against the wall and rubbed her shoulders. “So you see visions. You may think we’re wolves, but we can always just call you crazy or a witch like everyone else does.”
Now that stung! Tempest lifted her chin. “You’re right; I should’ve never come here. I’ll be leaving now.”
“Jesus, Alex, must you be an ass?” Dominic snapped. He held the door closed as she tried to turn the knob. “Tempest, it’s wailing like hell out there. You can’t go out in this.”
“I made it here, didn’t I? I’ve lived through worse weather than this. I was born into it actually. I’m part of this land and it won’t hurt me. Now let me out,” she demanded.
“Fuck. I’m sorry,
okay? What I said was a low blow,” Alex said after Dominic shoved him in the shoulder.
“Don’t do me any favors,” she muttered. “Do you think I wanted to come here?”
“Alex is really a good guy. Just a little rough around the edges,” Dominic said as he steered her towards a door off the hallway. “Get her a towel or three, Alex, so she can get warm and dry in front of the fire. Oh, and some brandy too. She has to be chilled from the inside out.”
“Well, hell, why don’t we offer her my robe and some warm socks too?” Alex muttered as he turned away.
“That would work. Thanks for thinking of it, brohemoth,” Dominic said.
Alex growled and muttered under his breath as he walked away.
“Brohemoth?” Tempest asked curiously.
“Alex and I had a rough go of it early on and the nickname came out of it.” Dominic smiled and sat her down on the rug in front of the fireplace. “Since we’re friends now, Tempest, eventually you might hear about it.”
“Okay,” she said simply. She had no reason to push. With all she had seen in her mind’s eye, Tempest knew for a fact everyone had secrets.
“I wonder what made you run through a storm to our house, Tempest,” Dominic murmured.
“Me too.” Alex came in with a snifter of brandy, a stack of thick towels, and even a robe and held them out. “Here.”
“Thanks, I guess. I really think you need to learn how to talk to people,” Tempest said.
“Well, I find talking to people sucks ass half the time so…” He shrugged.
She understood completely and nodded. “The looks, the whispers, the gossip. It all gets to be a bit much.”
“See. You’re commiserating. We’re all going to be friends,” Dominic grinned and took the brandy from Alex and handed it to her. “Drink up and get warm. Then tell us why you braved this harsh weather to see us.”
Tempest took a gulp of the amber liquid in the glass and it burned a line down her throat into her belly. She coughed a little and fanned her face. “Whew, I’m not used to this.”
“You don’t drink?” Alex asked as he sat down.
Tempest shook her head. He was wearing a gray long sleeved cotton shirt with the two buttons open at the neck and a pair of blue jeans that clung to his tight figure. Dominic was in a black T-shirt and basketball shorts. His muscular thighs and calves on display. It seemed Dominic was in bed when she showed up while Alex was not. She looked around, taking in the changes they made to the house. The sunk-in living room had a plush beige carpet, while the two steps that lead to the hallway and the hallway itself were a luxurious dark mahogany hardwood. The last time she saw the fireplace it had been boarded up, dusty and old. Now, they had revealed the true beauty of the fireplace with quartzite stone. Everything had been changed and given a contemporary feel. Mahogany also shone on the stairs. There was dimly lit track lighting on the ceiling. The walls were decorated with beautiful abstract paintings.
“You guys sure did change the place.”
“You’ve been here before?” Alex asked.
Tempest smiled. “I used to come here with my brother when I was a kid when the place was abandoned.”
“Where’s your brother now?” Dominic sat back in the overstuffed chair.
She shrugged. “Who knows. He left when he was eighteen. He hated the fact that he was part of the crazy gypsy family who lived outside of town. Even when my grandmother and my mother died he never came back.”
“Coward,” Alex muttered.
She turned to him, angry. “Don’t you say that about him! Jeremy got beat up for me when I couldn’t stop the vision in high school. He stopped two boys from trying to rape me in the woods. There was only so much he could take and wanted to take me with him. Momma wouldn’t let him and, in the end, he had to look out for himself.”
“He never came back,” Alex snapped and waved his hand. “You live in the swamp by yourself with those same people around, only grown up now and more dangerous. He could’ve come back for you.”
The bottle of brandy fell from her hand and shattered against the stone of the fireplace as she stood quickly. She didn’t look down, but her hands were clenched at her sides. “I told him not to, damn you. I wanted him to have a life instead of have to deal with these bastards. He spent his entire childhood running from bullies and when he was too big, he had to restrain himself or he would be in jail or worse. He deserved a fucking life!”
“Okay, calm down,” Alex said softly. “I’m sorry again. Jeez, I seem to have to say that a lot around you.”
“That’s because you have an incurable case of foot in your damn mouth disease.” She glared at him. “I need a dustpan and broom to clean up my mess, please.”
“In a minute. You need not tell us why you’re here,” Alex replied.
She sighed and sat back down. Here it was, the truth, and boy was it one hell of a story. “My visions led me here to both of you.” She let her gaze drift from one man to the next, both incredibly sexy. She knew without a shadow of a doubt she was meant to be theirs. “In my visions, I saw both of you in your true nature.” She turned to Dominic. “Your wolf has a white underbelly and your fur is silver.” She met Alex’s eyes. “Your wolf is like your hair, pitch black and dark as midnight. In my vision, I’m with you, a human woman with her pack, three outcasts become a family. I’m yours and it seems both of you are mine.”
Dominic gave a low whistle. “Well, I sure as hell didn’t expect that.”
Alex stood up. “I think we need something stronger than brandy. I’ll bring whiskey and three glasses.”
It didn’t go as bad as she expected, telling two men who shifted into wolves that she was their mate. Dominic looked bemused and scratched his head and Alex felt they all needed something more to drink. All and all, at least they didn’t kick her back out in the rain, laughing and slamming the door. Stage one was over and Tempest wondered what stage two would entail. Curiosity mixed with excitement produced butterflies in her stomach. Even with her visions, this future was unknown territory.
Chapter Two
Well, if this doesn’t beat it all. Alex thought he’d heard everything, but this took the cake. Here stood a woman, gorgeous even though right now she looked like a drowned rat in damp cotton pajamas. Her skin was the color of espresso with a hint of milk and wide almond-shaped eyes with dark irises. Her lips were shaped so perfectly he wanted to run his finger on the soft skin. Her body was like a punch to the groin; full breasts, slim waist, and curvaceous hips. Instant hard-on. And Tempest said she was theirs. He didn’t know if he should fall to his knees and praise the heavens or have her mind checked. She knew their secret, even the color of their wolf. He came back in with the whiskey and a dust pan and a broom for the broken glass. The brandy had already been sucked into the stone and dried by the heat of the fireplace. The power had gone out hours ago and the glow from the fireplace was the only light in the house. Hell, she looked delectable by firelight. He wondered what she tasted like. Whoa, buddy, now is not the time for such thoughts.
With the glass cleaned up, he sat back down on the carpet and poured them each a glass. “So you’re saying you are both our mate, that we share you?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know how it works either. It’s not like I ever did this before, but yes, in part of my vision, I saw all three of us naked and coupled.”
“As in sex,” Dominic said.
“No, as in playing ring around the rosie,” she joked. “Of course, sexually. You guys are close; I don’t need a vision to see that. Is it too far off in saying that you both dated and found something that appealed to you in each other’s girlfriend and vise versa? I guess I’m it for both of you—the perfect package.” She laughed and took a sip of the whiskey before grimacing. “This is awful and look at me promoting myself to two men. Who the hell am I?”
“I’m wondering if I’m dreaming,” Dominic said.
“This is real all right. And she’s right. Remember those gi
rls when we were in boot camp?” Alex asked. “They both shared qualities we wanted, but in two separate packages.”
Dominic smiled and nodded. “So is this like some kind of three way dating thing?”
“I don’t think we’re the going out to dinner, flowers, and candy kind of people, not in Cormina anyway,” Tempest announced. “So let’s just get to know each other and see where it goes.”
“And you’re certain this was in a vision you had?” Alex asked.
He watched her as she leaned forward and met his gaze. “The first vision I ever had made me pass out in middle school and from there it’s been hell. I’ve seen death and life, cheating and murder. I see hate, lust, and greed in the residents of Cormina and when I step out of this town. This is why they hate me because I can see their dirty little secrets. I’m alone, always by myself, and maybe this is meant to cure me of my loneliness. Either way, I know what I see and it never changes.” She pointed to herself then Alex and finally Dominic. “The three of us are meant to be—destiny.”