Gathering Darkness: A Paranormal Romance Collection

by Anna Zaires

  He slung the strap over his neck and looked down at the camera, pressing a few buttons. “This way, princess.” He gestured to the fence.

  She disliked everything about her current situation. She hadn’t been happy to be split up from Celeste, but she’d decided to go with the flow. Right now, she was regretting that decision. Adriana should have trusted her instincts and asked for a new guide, or just skipped the tour entirely.

  She glanced at Alfie, who regarded her with bored disinterest. Sighing deeply, she walked with Jesse close to the fence, where four enormous elephants stood. If it didn’t sound entirely nuts, she would’ve thought the animals were waiting for them. Jesse whistled sharply, and the elephants moved closer to the fence. Fascinated, Adriana stared up at them as they drew close. The elephants stopped when they were close enough that she could have reached through the fence and touched them. She could hear them inhaling and exhaling, and she wondered what they smelled.

  Jesse rattled off a handful of elephant facts, but all she could think about was how near they were to her and how much bigger they were in real life than she’d expected. One of them touched the fence with his trunk, and she reached up, tracing the outer edge of it with her fingertip. He snuffled at her, and she laughed and heard a click.

  Jesse said, “That’s a good one,” as he looked down at the camera screen. He looked at the elephants and said, “We good here?”

  “Are you talking to me or them?” Adriana asked. As she turned to look at Jesse, she swore she saw the elephants shaking their heads at him out of the corner of her eye.

  “To you, of course. We’ve got a lot of other paddocks to see; the elephants are just the first stop on the tour. Next up are the wolves; they’re my favorite.”

  “Oh yeah? Why?” She followed him to the Jeep and sat in her seat.

  “Because wolves rock, that’s why.” His tone brooked no argument, and what would she say, anyway? She’d always thought wolves were beautiful and interesting.

  The Jeep meandered along the trail, pausing only briefly at the fenced-in areas for white-tailed deer and buffalo. Jesse pointed out birds that were roosting in trees, but he spent the majority of the ride between the elephants and the wolves’ paddock talking about wolves. He grew more excited as the Jeep slowed and came to a stop.

  Leaping from the vehicle, Jesse said, “Destiny awaits, princess.”

  Rolling her eyes at the prissy nickname while mentally nicknaming him asshole, Adriana got out and walked with him to the fence. It was thick chain-link, and rose above her head. The wolf paddock had lots of trees and some small buildings that surrounded a larger building. The door to the large building was open, and she could see tools hanging on the walls.

  “What are the buildings for?” She asked as the wolves in the paddock began to pad toward them.

  “The small ones are for the wolves to sleep in, and the big one is where we keep the tools to clean and repair the paddock and tend to the grounds. That wolf there is the alpha.” His voice was filled with pride as he spoke. He moved subtly closer to her every few seconds, crowding her toward the fence.

  She stepped backward, but he angled himself so that she bumped into him. “It’s okay, princess, they won’t hurt you. They like pretty girls.”

  He was the creepiest guy she’d ever met, and that included the slimy guy who’d hit on her at a bar once, wearing a blue leisure suit with gold chains around his neck and greasy, slicked back hair.

  She closed her eyes for a moment and pushed her feelings of revulsion away. For the time being, she was at Jesse’s mercy. A wolf barked sharply, and Adriana opened her eyes. The one Jesse had pointed out as the alpha, a big wolf with solid black fur, seemed to be glaring at them.

  Jesse growled under his breath and stepped away from her, giving her room to breathe. Even though she knew the wolf wouldn’t understand her, she mouthed thank you at him. To her surprise, the wolf nodded.

  Adriana blinked rapidly, certain she’d imagined it. The wolf was staring at Jesse with what appeared to be disapproval, and Adriana decided she’d been out in the sun too long. “Can we get back in the Jeep?”

  Jesse scanned the wolves and then looked at her. “Fine. I guess we need to get a move on anyway.” He took a picture of her in front of the fence and then escorted her back to the vehicle.

  His demeanor had changed drastically. He’d been animated and excited about the wolves, but after leaving their paddock and moving on to the lions, he was sullen and quiet.

  She moved to the fence for the lion paddock by herself. She’d always liked big cats, and so did Celeste. She was sure her friend had oohed and ahhed over the enormous cats.

  “There’s only one lioness and the rest are males. Isn’t that unusual?” she asked Jesse, turning to where he stood leaning against the Jeep.

  “There aren’t a lot of females in captivity.”

  She frowned, certain she’d seen female lions at other zoos. The lions, like the wolves, seemed to come close to the fence, sniff the air, and then wander away. She wasn’t sure she was imaging it, but it almost seemed as though they didn’t like the way she smelled. At Jesse’s urging, she leaned against the fence and smiled, and he took her picture.

  In spite of Jesse’s strange and creeptastic behavior, Adriana was having a good time. Although she wished she’d been able to be with Celeste, she enjoyed the animals and was amazed at how close they got to the fence when she was there.

  When the Jeep pulled to a stop, through the fence she saw the gorillas. Their black fur shimmered in the sunlight as their big bodies moved fluidly around the paddock. One leapt down from a tree, landing with a thud, and she smiled. He was a big fellow, even bigger than the others.

  She climbed down from the Jeep and took a few steps toward the fence.

  “I wouldn’t get too close,” Jesse said, “they’re total animals.”

  Arching a brow, she asked, “What else would they be?”

  “No, I mean that they’re violent. They’ll attack the fence, even rape females, too.” He looked through the fence, clearly disgusted.

  “That’s an urban legend. Gorillas don’t rape human women.”

  He snorted. “Whatever, princess.”

  The biggest gorilla flashed his fangs and grunted angrily, but Adriana wasn’t afraid. It wasn’t because of the fence; she was pretty sure that he could get through it if he wanted to. She just somehow felt as if he wouldn’t hurt her. Adriana snorted inwardly. She supposed there were a lot of explorers who’d thought similar things before being ripped to pieces.

  The gorilla puffed out his chest and made a strange hooting sound, then grunted at the other gorillas. They echoed the noise. He moved toward the fence, gripping the links with one big hand and staring at her. Her heart clenched, and Adriana gasped as she stared back at him. Bewildered, she found herself moving forward without thought, reaching for that big hand and the dark fingers curled around the links.

  Jesse grabbed her arm and swung her around. Adriana screamed in surprise as he rushed her to the Jeep, pressing her hard against the side.

  Trying with both hands to push him away, she shouted, “Let me go!”

  His hands gripped her shirt and ripped, the material slicing apart as his fingers lengthened into dark, deadly-looking claws, curving from the tips. She screamed as he wrapped a monstrous hand around her throat.

  “I told you he’s dangerous, princess,” Jesse growled in her ear.

  “Help!” She shoved at his chest, kicking and fighting.

  Alfie said, “Jesse! Stop what you’re doing right now! We’re not allowed to touch the humans.”

  Jesse growled loudly, and Adriana swore she saw fangs in his mouth. “Stay out of it.”

  “Jesse, I –”

  He growled darkly. Everything inside Adriana went still as fear settled over her. “Do I need to remind you I’m beta?”

  Something was very wrong with this situation. She looked over her shoulder and saw Alfie’s gaze pinned to the
ground.

  A roar as loud as a jet engine sounded, shaking the trees and making her heart stop for a second. As panicked as she felt with Jesse’s hand tightening on her throat, there was something comforting about that roar.

  Jesse’s features tightened in fear, and his eyes flashed from blue to amber. He bared his teeth at her, snapping his jaws. Her vision started to blur as his hand pressed even tighter on her airway and her lungs began to burn. A moment later the pain was gone, as his hand was ripped from her throat. Another roar rent the air. Adriana fell to the ground, gasping and clutching her neck. Tears blurred her vision, but she could still see the gorilla throw the guide into a tree with an earth-shattering bellow.

  Then he turned, snuffled loudly, and roared again, barreling straight for her.

  CHAPTER 5

  Zane heard the Jeep coming down the dirt road and sighed. Leaning against the tree, he watched over the paddock as fellow band members meandered below. This was the third weekend for private tours, and so far no single males of any shifter groups had found their soulmates. He was beyond disappointed. It wasn’t that he’d expected to find his soulmate on the first tour, but a little part of him had hoped it would be that easy.

  What were the odds, anyway, that their mates would just happen to be in New Jersey and come on the tour? Below him, Neo, Patton, August, Nathan, and Win looked toward the dirt road as the Jeep drew near. The last VIP tour had held a blonde female who spoke animatedly about the lions, not even getting out of the Jeep to come close to the gorilla paddock. He supposed that all humans had their favorite animals.

  The Jeep stopped in front of the paddock and Zane leapt from the tree, landing solidly on the ground. He watched as a human female climbed from the Jeep, his lip curling in disgust as Jesse got out of the passenger seat and spouted lies to her about gorillas.

  Her eyes met his, and everything inside him quieted. Awe filled him as he stared at the female he knew in the depths of his heart was the one meant for him alone – his soulmate.

  His beast rejoiced in the only way it could – hooting for joy and pounding his hands on the ground. His band mates grunted in happiness with him. Moving to the fence, he gripped the links, willing her to come to him. She moved, reaching her hand out toward his.

  Then Jesse grabbed her roughly, rushing her back to the Jeep and slamming her against the side of it. She shouted for help. Alfie seemed to try to stand up to Jesse but Zane could see Jesse pull rank; Alfie protested, and then hung his head in submission. Jesse’s hands lengthened and claws appeared, one hand covering her throat and the other ripping her shirt.

  Rage rose up inside Zane, and he roared his fury. The fence buckled as he grabbed it with both hands and tore it apart. He pushed through and rushed at Jesse, grabbing the male and pulling him away. With no effort, he threw the wolf toward a tree, satisfied when he slammed into the trunk and fell to the ground in a heap.

  He turned and saw his mate on the ground, holding her throat and gasping for air. Zane couldn’t stop himself from moving swiftly to her. She screamed as he reached her, but when she cowered from him, he stopped and grunted, trying to appear less frightening. She swallowed hard, tears slipping down her cheeks.

  Alfie seemed to snap out of his submissive stance. “I’ll get her back to the tour office.”

  Zane couldn’t stop himself from roaring at Alfie, who took a step back and put his hands up in defense. Alfie wouldn’t be doing anything of the sort. He ordered his beast to stand down, but he couldn’t keep himself from reaching for his mate and lifting her off the ground.

  Wishing he could speak in his shift, he settled for grunting a warning at Alfie, and moved toward the tear in the fence where his band waited to help. His mate went limp in his arms. He looked down, and saw that she’d passed out. He moved carefully through the fence so she wasn’t cut on the jagged edges, while grunting orders to his band. Three of them followed him, and two stood guard by the ruined fence.

  Reaching the maintenance building, he loped down the stairs to the bottom, where his dad waited. The alpha’s brows were drawn in worry and a walkie was at his ear.

  “I’ve got him. And her. I don’t give a damn about the other tours, they can’t drive by our paddock when there’s a big fucking hole in it, now can they?”

  He removed his thumb from the side button and fixed his gaze on Zane. A smile softened his features. “You’ve found your soulmate?”

  Zane hooted softly.

  “I’m happy for you. Get to your house, settle your mate, and shift. I’m sure the last thing a human woman needs to see after passing out in fear is a big-ass gorilla leaning over her.”

  Zane knew his dad was right. He carried her swiftly through the hallway, punched in the buttons for the security door, and brought her straight to his tree. Leaping up, he grabbed a thick branch of the artificial tree and pulled himself and his mate up into the canopy. He held his mate close as he climbed toward his home, which looked like a rustic wood cabin built against the thick trunk, his mind narrowly focused on keeping her safe. He wished he knew her name, and that they hadn’t met under such terrifying circumstances, but those feelings were overshadowed by the sense of rightness that filled him. He’d found his mate. It didn’t really matter what else happened, his soul was finally complete.

  Tugging the covers back from his bed, he laid her down gently. She was beautiful; lushly curved, with long, brown hair and a natural scent that made him wild. The pink top she wore was torn, and underneath, a white tank-top rode up her stomach. He bent, inhaling the scent from her skin. She smelled like sweet cream and looked like an angel. He couldn’t believe how fortunate he was to have found his mate at last.

  Pulling her tank-top back into place, he released his hold on his beast and shifted back into human form. Grabbing clothes from a drawer, he dressed quickly, never taking his eyes off his mate. He removed her shoes so she’d be more comfortable, and then drew a light blanket over her to keep her from getting chilled. The front door opened; he knew it was his dad and the band. Casting one final glance at his mate, he strode from the room.

  Neo, Patton, and Win sat on the couch while Atticus paced.

  “She’s not awake yet,” Zane said. He stood next to the couch, one ear tuned to the bedroom in case she woke.

  “Her name is Adriana Stephens,” his dad said, handing a purse to Zane. Zane took it, finding it saturated with her scent. “I had one of the lions bring me her purse from the security office. She came with a friend named Celeste, but she also found a mate in one of the lions, so she’s with them. She was told that Adriana found her own mate and that she was spending time with you. Eventually, she’ll want to see her friend, but for now she’s being distracted by her mate.”

  Zane smiled. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

  “Jupiter.”

  Jupiter was a big male, and one of the two lead security guards for the park. The lions were very protective of their people, so Zane knew that Jupiter would keep Adriana’s friend safe.

  “Let’s not change the subject,” his dad said. Zane held Adriana’s purse tightly and tried not to think about how aroused her scent made him. He knew his friends would be able to tell by his changing scent, and he’d rather not have them hanging around when his mate woke up. “Tell me what happened.”

  Zane exhaled, clearing his mind of his anxiety over not being at Adriana’s side. He explained the events as they’d unfolded, leading him not only to his mate but also to injuring the wolf alpha’s son.

  His dad rubbed his jaw with his fingers. “I don’t understand why Jesse would attack a human.”

  “He saw me react to her and heard my claim, then he turned on her,” Zane said.

  Neo shook his head. “Ever since we stopped him from groping that human in the bar last summer, he’s had it out for us, especially Zane.”

  “There’s no reason for our people not to get along. Not only that, but it doesn’t make sense for Jesse to turn on Adriana. First, it’s against our laws t
o injure innocent humans, and second, he also partially shifted in front of her. He broke a lot of laws,” Atticus said.

  “Zane shouldn’t be punished,” Win said. “He was defending his mate. I think he showed a considerable amount of restraint in only throwing that asshole into a tree. I would’ve wanted to tear his arm off.”

  “I agree. We could scent her fear from several yards away. Regardless of Jesse’s feelings about Zane, it’s also against our laws to harm a mate. They’re precious and to be revered and protected, not toyed with and brutalized,” Patton said.

  Atticus nodded. “Amadeus is going to forward the dashboard camera footage to me as soon as he downloads it, but I have no doubt you’re all telling the truth. Jesse clearly saw an opportunity to screw with you and took it. You harmed another shifter, but it was in defense of your mate and that nullifies all else.”

  Neo stood. “Do you need anything for your mate?”

  “She might need medical attention when she wakes up,” Zane told him.

  “We’ll let Doc know. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks.” Zane grinned.

  His band left, leaving him alone with his father. “You’ll have to appear before the council, and so will Adriana, but it will only be to verbally corroborate the camera footage. I’m positive you won’t be held accountable for your actions, but Jesse sure as hell will be.”

  Zane shook his head. “We’ve never really gotten along, but I don’t understand why he’d act like that.”

  “Jealousy, perhaps. Tend to your mate, and call if you need anything.”

  Zane nodded and shut the door after his dad left. The tree shook a bit as Atticus leapt to his own home. Turning to the kitchen, Zane opened the refrigerator and looked at the contents, eventually pulling out some cheese and ham. After arranging chunks of cheese and meat on a plate with crackers, he heated a mug of water in the microwave and put a tea bag in it to steep for a while.

  He carried the tea and plate into the bedroom and put them on the nightstand. Adriana was still asleep, and he bent over, listening to her heart beating. The sound was soothing, a balm to his soul.