Damien took a step back from Hayley. “Are you willing to give your life for hers? Even after what she did to you?”
“Yes, I would protect her from you to save what humanity you have left.”
The yawn of the stairwell door was the final warning. Death was coming.
Damien rushed past him and ran through the double doors to the elevator hallway. “Guess I’ll have to find other toys to play with. Goodbye, nephew.”
Shots fired the moment Damien closed the door behind him.
Kaden rushed away from the door as a spray of bullets spewed through the door. He swooped up Hayley into his arms and ran for the penthouse’s nearest room.
“Is there a safe room in the penthouse?” he asked her.
She shook her head, her eyes wide. “He came out of nowhere…”
“I know…” He shushed her.
“Please don’t leave me. I’m so sorry…” she begged. “Don’t let him kill me.”
“You don’t have to say you’re sorry.” Kaden cringed on the inside. He was bitter, but he wasn’t a cold bastard. “Don’t worry; I’ll wait in hiding until the Bakers show up.”
Her white-knuckled grip on his arm loosened. “Thank you.” She shuddered. “Your uncle kept screaming about a woman named Luba. Cameron never told me about what his father did…” Her voice broke, but she kept going. “What he did. Cameron had been there the night that man’s wife was killed. Did you know that? I guess we reap what we sow, right?”
He stared at her for a moment and the meaning of those words hit him in the gut. What would he reap from what happened tonight?
Time stretched out to the point where Kaden couldn’t wait any longer. Cyn and her brothers were still downstairs. Had she found Ty and escaped unharmed?
“Goodbye, Hayley.” He didn’t look at her, but the least he could do was be civil.
By the time he reached the elevator hallway, there was no one there. The hallway was empty again. More bodies. More dead. None of them was his uncle. Uncle Damien’s scent went down the stairs. As tempted as he was to follow, he promised Hayley he’d watch over her until the Bakers showed up.
He sighed.
This wasn’t how today was supposed to go.
His phone buzzed in his pocket from a text message: Are you all right? I’m safe. I love you.
Relief filled him for a moment. He wasn’t all right, and he wondered if he would ever be. But Cyn was safe. The pack was safe in Montana. For that, Kaden would always be grateful.
Epilogue
Three Months Later
Kaden jerked awake and clutched the side of the bed tightly. For the past three months, he had been waking up in a cold sweat as the memories from the Cottonwood Club Hotel slammed into him. He closed his eyes in the dim room and fell back into his recurring nightmare, seeing Uncle Damien closing the doors, hearing the shouts and screams that filled the air as he took Hayley’s hand and hid her away in the penthouse bathroom. He tasted the death lingering in the air as he returned to the door and burst into the hallway.
Only to find an empty room. More blood. More bullets. More bodies that led to the staircase from whence he’d arrived. His uncle had led the men away to save him, but now there was more blood on the floor: blood that belonged to Damien.
His heart raced in an offbeat manner as he was hit by the very real possibility that his uncle was dead. That his uncle was lying in a heap somewhere in the hotel. That he was dead just like Bastian.
Before his breath turned into a wheeze, the woman lying next to him touched his cheek. I’m here, the caress seemed to say. You’re not alone, the comforting kiss to his forehead implored. Cyn cradled him close and whispered words that chased away his nightmare.
He wasn’t alone. Whatever guilt plagued him could be driven away. Whatever sadness lingering in his body could be purged. As long as Cyn was next to him.
Morning arrived in Montana and the cool May breeze through the closed curtains brought scents from what would be a wonderful day.
He strolled over to the window and opened the curtains. Cyn groaned and placed a pillow over her head.
“Just two more hours, Mom,” she mumbled.
Beyond their house lay three more houses. Real ranch homes. The beginnings of a new town hidden near the Tobacco Root Mountains. There wasn’t as much forest out here where the pack had settled, but beyond his field of vision, there was nothing but rolling hills and a stream carving a path through the landscape.
This place was theirs and it was home.
The sound of a knock on the front door drew him from his reverie.
Cyn’s head darted up. Her black hair was pointed sideways. “Did I hear a knock?”
“Yes, you did.”
He wasn’t expecting anyone this morning, so he quickly walked to the door. After what happened with the Ceruleans and the Baker pack, everyone was on guard. There weren’t any sounds or scents, so it could be any number of people. Maybe one of the pack members.
Kaden opened the door and stopped cold. “Now this I didn’t expect.”
Right in front of him was a tiny oak chair, about big enough for a toddler to sit in. A breeze from outside weaved through the chair’s ornate carvings of hounds and brought the scent of pine resin to Kaden.
Pine resin. Handcrafted furniture.
The pleasant thought made Kaden smile.
From behind him, Cyn rushed over to the tiny chair. A note had been tied with a red ribbon. The penmanship was easy to decipher:
Kaden and Cyn,
For when the time comes in the future, I’d like for you to put this chair to good use. My sweet Luba wanted me to make this, but I never got a chance.
There wasn’t a signature, but he knew very well Damien had crafted the chair. He tried to follow his uncle’s scent, but Damien’s trail led off the porch and disappeared out into the wilderness.
“Will he return?” Cyn asked wistfully.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and she leaned against him. The wolf within him was at peace. “He always does. Love has a way of bringing people to the place where they belong.”
“That it does,” she whispered.
The End
THANK YOU!
Did you enjoy Windham Werewolves? I hope you did! I had a blast writing this serial so you could follow Cyn and Kaden’s adventures.
Would you like to know when I plan to release my next book? Be sure to sign up for my newsletter on my website, follow me on Twitter, or like my Facebook page.
Did you like the Windham Werewolves serial? Leave a review! Reviews help other readers find books. I appreciate all reviews, whether positive or negative. Want to read more werewolf stories? Check out my Hadley Werewolves series.
Other titles by Shawntelle Madison
COVETED SERIES
Natalya Stravinsky:
Collected (Prequel Novella)
Coveted
Kept
Compelled
Aggie McClure:
Bitter Disenchantment
Tessa Dandridge:
Repossessed: The Warlock Repo Man Chronicles
HADLEY WEREWOLVES
Bitten by Deceit
Bitten by Treachery
Bitten by Vengeance
WINDHAM WEREWOLVES
The Hunter’s Moon
The Hunter’s Alpha
The Hunter’s Pack
The Hunter’s Clan
The Hunter’s Mate
FANTASY BOOKS
Taming the Viking’s Dragon
YOUNG ADULT BOOKS
The Immortality Strain Series
Under My Skin
Shawntelle Madison is a Web developer who loves to weave words as well as code. She’d be reluctant to admit it, but if pressed, she’d say that she covets and collects source code. After losing her first summer job detasseling corn, Madison performed various jobs, from fast-food clerk to grunt programmer to university webmaster. Writing eccentric characters is her favorite job of all. On
any given day when she’s not surgically attached to her computer, she can be found watching cheesy horror movies or the latest action-packed anime. Shawntelle Madison lives in Missouri with her husband and children.
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