Visions Of Paradise

by Tianna Xander

  “What kind of town is off a dirt road?” She refused to turn the wheel and leave the pavement.

  “The kind of town you don’t want others to find.” Jonas leaned closer and Milla fought the urge to lean toward him instead of away. “Maybe it’s a good thing you stopped here. We have safeguards. You’ll feel frightened—very much so. There will be mist. You’ll wonder if there’s something lurking in the mist. In fact, your brain will do its best to convince you that monsters lurk in the mist waiting to kill you. Ignore it. Just keep driving. After about five or ten minutes, depending on your speed, you’ll drive out of it and after another mile or so, you’ll see the town below the ridge.”

  Milla turned the key to the off position. The engine rumbled to a halt. As much as she wanted to trust her reading of him, as much as she wanted to trust the man himself, she just couldn’t continue to make these stupid decisions.

  Opening her door, she slid out of the truck, turned and looked back at him. “Get out.”

  “What are you doing, Milla?”

  “What I should have done from the start, Jonas. It was stupid of me to get into my truck and drive out here with a strange man. I have no idea who you are or what you want from me. Please. Get out of my truck.”

  “As you wish.” Jonas opened his door, slid out of the passenger seat and closed the door.

  Milla immediately hit the locks and jumped back in, closing her door behind her. With shaking hands, she crammed the key back into the ignition and started the engine. She had to know. She wanted to trust him, but just couldn’t bring herself to do so. Not after what Perry had done to her. She just couldn’t trust herself.

  Putting the gear in drive, she turned the wheel and headed down the dirt road. She had to know if he’d told her the truth.

  She’d driven about a mile when the feeling of dread crept upon her. It was just like Jonas described. Certain there were monsters in the mist waiting to kill her, or eat her, she slammed her foot on the gas in an attempt to get through it as quickly as possible.

  A large black panther leapt in front of her and she jammed on her brakes. Was that Jonas? Was he following her in his animal form? Could he run fifty miles per hour? She glanced out the side window and her heart almost leapt from her chest. A sheer drop off led to certain death if she lost control. She couldn’t drive fast, no matter how much she wanted to.

  Her heart raced, slamming against her ribs and she slowly stepped on the gas again. That big cat had possibly saved her life. She glanced out through the windshield, looking for the black beast. It was nowhere in sight. Had it been her imagination?

  Carefully, she eased her way down the road through the dense fog. What in the world had she gotten herself into? God only knew what lurked outside waiting to pounce on her and kill her—or eat her…and not in a good way.

  Still, she gathered her courage and kept driving through the mist, only slower than before. “If I don’t get there soon, I just might stop this thing get out and invite whatever’s in that mist to kill me and put me out of my misery. God, I’m stupid.”

  Chapter Eight

  For a moment, Jonas stood and watched as Milla turned and headed down the road to Paradise, his mouth open.

  “Shit!” Gathering his magic about him, he shifted into his leopard and leapt after her. Pouring on the speed, he caught up and overtook the vehicle barely in time to stop her before she drove over the edge of the cliff.

  His heart pounded as he sat on the edge of the woods, staring at the truck that he’d almost seen drive over the cliff without slowing. Nothing could have prepared him for the sense of panic he felt when he saw her driving so fast down the road, knowing a sheer drop off awaited her.

  He jumped in front of the truck just in time to stop her. He didn’t think about his safety. Even if he had, he would have done it anyway. He’d waited a lifetime for this woman to wander into his life. Jonas couldn’t imagine what his future would be like without her now and he didn’t want to.

  Taking to the woods, he paced the vehicle as Milla drove at a much slower pace. He smelled her fear as she pushed her way through the safeguards his people set on the road to keep outsiders from coming to Paradise when not expected. Thick mist held the safeguard in place, carrying the feel of something horrible with it.

  Strangers, attempting to drive down this road felt what they interpreted as their greatest fear, lurking in the thick, white fog. Some people felt the presence of evil while others felt the predatory eyes of animals hiding in the trees, waiting to devour the visitors.

  Once accepted into the fold, even humans wouldn’t feel the paralyzing fear set out in the mist. Driving along the dirt tract, they felt a slight wrenching and the sensation was over. Uninvited guests, however, felt the full force, urging them to turn back. Only the bravest souls made it through, and some of them now called Paradise home.

  The safeguard was the main reason he’d wanted to ride with Milla. He wanted to assure her safety by being with her, telling her she was safe and urging her on.

  His chest expanded as pride for his mate filled his heart and mind. Milla was no pushover. She was as brave as any shifter as she forced herself to continue driving through the mist even as the shrouded forest surrounded her, haunted her, attempting to force her to turn back.

  Silently, he padded next to the truck as it moved slowly forward. The mist swirled and churned around it. Animal shapes rose up out of the mist, leaping toward the vehicle.

  Milla whimpered, the sound making his leopard lift its lip in a silent snarl. He hated this. He wanted to be there for her, but she didn’t trust him. He could hardly blame her after all she’d been through.

  After a good ten minutes, she approached the end of the safeguard and Jonas leapt forward, intending to greet her as soon as she left the mist.

  Fifty feet out, he stopped, watching as her headlights shone on him. Would she hit the gas or would she realize he waited for her? Only time would tell.

  The vehicle came to a slow halt, the engine running quietly. The mist churned behind the SUV, the exhaust stirring the dense fog. Still she sat there, her hands gripping the steering wheel, her knuckles white as she stared at his cat.

  Without warning, he shifted back into his human form, deliberately taking his time to use his magic to clothe himself. It couldn’t hurt to let her see what she was getting in the bargain.

  Jonas knew he looked damned good naked and he wanted to show himself off to his mate. Something within him, most likely his cat, wanted to make sure she saw that he not only could protect her, but that he could provide for her and pleasure her. It was all a part of the package.

  When she didn’t immediately pull forward and pick him up, Jonas realized she still wasn’t ready. She needed more time and she needed to know Paradise was a real town with real families and values. Once she came to terms with that, she would either welcome them into her arms, or she would leave. Either way, he could do nothing more to influence her decision.

  As much as many of them might wish they could, they couldn’t force their mates to see things their way. Not only was it against their laws, the men in Paradise found forcing women to do anything abhorrent. It was their way—their new way—and they liked it, even if it meant losing a chance at a mate.

  Slowly, he moved out of the road and jogged toward the diner. He grinned at the sign when he approached. None of the town’s youth had accosted the sign yet today and changed the letters around.

  Poor Sarah Browning had a difficult time keeping the letters in their proper order. Usually, the letters in Beat The Clock Diner got rearranged to read something vulgar. Jonas normally found it funny. Today, though, it would have embarrassed him to have his mate drive through town and see that his nephews, or someone else, had been at work changing the sign yet again. He glanced up at the sky. Maybe it wasn’t dark enough yet.

  They approached the corner and, feeling lazy, he cut across Myrtle Connor’s yard in an effort to beat M
illa to the diner. He hoped she stopped there.

  A gunshot rang out and something sprayed the ground at his feet. “Shit!” He spun around. Myrtle Connor held a shotgun to her shoulder. The damned gun was still smoking.

  “I’d better not catch you stealing my sculptures!” She yelled across the yard. She looked ridiculous standing there in her overalls, holding that shotgun that was nearly as long as she was tall. “I told you Gibson boys to stay outta my yard!”

  “Aunt Myrtle, it’s me, Jonas. I’m not about to steal anything from you. I’m an adult. I don’t play childish pranks on people.” He narrowed his eyes as she raised the gun, pointing it toward him again. “Don’t shoot! I’m leaving, I’m leaving!” He held his hands up as he raced to the nearest point off her land and onto the road.

  Milla had stopped near where he stood. He could hear her laughing. She was laughing! Her mate was being shot at, and she was laughing about it. She had no way of knowing that it was only rock salt in Tilly Connor’s gun and she still found the whole thing amusing.

  His mate was a bloodthirsty wench. He grinned. “Gods that turns me on a lot more than it should.”

  “Don’t let me catch you cutting across my property again, Jonas. The next time I’ll aim for your ass and it will take Doc a week to pick it all out of those sexy cheeks.”

  Jonas shuddered. Myrtle Connor thought he had a sexy ass? “That was definitely something I did not need to know.”

  Chapter Nine

  Milla rolled down her windows and unlocked her doors as Jonas approached her. She could have driven off, but she knew it would only make matters worse. Something told her laughing about his situation wasn’t really the best thing to do, but she couldn’t help herself.

  It had been just too funny to sit and watch the gun-toting little old lady draw down on him. Somehow, she knew the older woman had no intention of shooting him for real. Maybe it was the look in her eyes or maybe the woman was the first person that she had ever read from this distance. Whatever it was, she knew that the other woman had no intention of harming Jonas.

  Still, the incident had gone a long way toward forming a trust between them. Jonas could have easily taken that gun from the woman and made her eat it. He was fast. Blurring fast and nothing could have stopped him had he decided to take his anger out on the woman.

  Instead, he’d gotten off her land, obeying her like a little boy. Who was the woman to him that he would cow-tow to her wishes so easily?

  “I thought you were a goner there, for a minute,” she said with a laugh when Jonas opened the door and slid into the passenger seat.

  “Aunt Myrtle would never hurt me for real.” He grinned. “She scared the hell out of me when she shot that salt at me, but she missed.”

  “So you weren’t worried because she’s not a good shot, then?”

  “Oh, no. She’s an excellent shot. If she’d wanted to, she could have hit me with that rock salt and I’d be a howling bastard right about now.” He shook his head with a laugh. “Occasionally, she picks some poor, unsuspecting sap and makes an example out of him for whoever it is she thinks is stealing her ice sculptures in the winter.”

  “Oh. I see.”

  “I don’t think you do.” He smiled. “But that’s okay. I’ll explain while you drive the rest of the way to the sheriff’s office. It’s right over there.” He pointed at the building three blocks away with the squad cars sitting out front.

  “It all started with Tilly coming here to live with her mates. Unfortunately, they died in the battle that made Paradise a hell. She never had the chance to marry her men. They hadn’t mated when they died, but she couldn’t bear to leave here. She kept saying that this was where she was meant to be, mate or no mate.

  “Aunt Tilly has used many things over the years to help dispel her grief. One of which, is chainsaw ice sculptures. She makes a few every winter and gives them to the people or place that inspired them.” He paused and rubbed the back of his neck. “She thinks someone in my family is stealing them because we’re…we’ve always been…hell raisers, to say the least.”

  He gave her a lopsided smile that would have had her melting into a puddle had they been standing. Instead, her panties grew damp and her face grew warm.

  “So you guys have been taking her works of art? Shame on you!”

  “We haven’t.” He shook his head. “For one thing, I’m too old for that shit and for another, the males in my family don’t steal. They play pranks.” He glanced at the diner as they passed and grinned. “You’ll see what I mean if you stay here long enough.”

  “Hmm…” Milla didn’t know what to think. He admits he’s not quite human, but a shapeshifter. Then he tells her that he has an aunt who’s human. “So are you human or not human?” She glanced back at the large house and tiny woman who sat on her rocker with her shotgun across her lap.

  “Why do you—” He followed her gaze. “Oh. Tilly isn’t really my aunt. She’s kind of like everyone’s old spinster aunt that they care for. You know what I mean.”

  “Of course I do.” Milla swallowed the lump in her throat. Was that how she would turn out if she stayed here? With no one to love and no family, would she eventually become the towns adopted maiden aunt who everyone felt sorry for and tolerated? She wasn’t sure she wanted that.

  “It’s not like that, Milla.” Jonas reached over to cup her cheek, dropping his hand before he made contact when she flinched away. “Mel and I want you here for purely selfish reasons that we’ll explain later.”

  Yeah, for sex. It was easy to get sex from frustrated old maids who hadn’t had a good orgasm in more years that she would care to admit.

  “It doesn’t matter what it is, Jonas. I agreed to give Paradise a chance and so I’m here.” She pulled into a parking space on the road in front of the sheriff’s office and put the truck in park. Pulling the key from the ignition, she opened her door and slid out of the driver’s seat. “Are we going to see the sheriff, or what?”

  “It’s not Merrick that we’re here to see.” He gestured to the building next door. “That is where the alpha’s office is. We need to talk to him, get his permission for you to stay here indefinitely.”

  “Why do I need his permission? This is a town, isn’t it? Does he rule here like some despotic emperor?”

  “You misunderstand. He is the reason Paradise is what it is today. He led the rebellion against the Tudra, the people who held the entire town prisoner. He is the rightful alpha and deserves our respect.”

  Milla straightened her spine and brought herself up to her full height. “I don’t give respect to anyone. They earn it.” She practically growled the words.

  The sound of hands clapping drew her attention and Milla glanced up the steps to the building. Two men stood there. Tall and dark, they exuded authority.

  “Hello, alpha. This is the woman I talked to you about.”

  “It’s nice to meet you.” The man strode down the steps two at a time and held out his hand, clearly waiting for her to take it.

  Milla hesitated. She didn’t want to take his hand when he didn’t know. It was one thing to read two strangers on the street but if what Jonas said about this man was true, he could very well decide her fate.

  “I—uh—” Milla bit her lip and wiped her sweaty palms on her legs. “I shouldn’t take your hand before—”

  “It’s okay.” He smiled down at her from his impressive height. “Jonas has told me all about your abilities. I think they would be an asset here in Paradise. However, I feel that you won’t fully trust us until you read their leader and, well, that would be me.”

  “Y-you’re sure?”

  “Positive. Take my hand and do your worst. Though I must warn you, the things in my head aren’t all pretty.” He glanced at the man who stood next to him. “Anything pretty you find in there will be our mate’s doing. She’s beauty personified.”

  Reaching out, Milla gingerly took the man’s hand. Images
raced by her, battles he fought, good and evil raking each other with claws and digging deep. Milla took it all in, the blood and gore, the horrors of battle and when she pulled her hand from his, she stared up at the man with awe.

  “You’re some kind of hero, aren’t you?”

  “No. I’m just a man. A man with the sense of what is right and what is wrong and a healthy dose of unwillingness to cross the line between the two.”

  “I can see that.” She nodded and turned toward Jonas. “Is there a motel where I can stay?”

  “Take her to the lodge, Jonas.” The alpha smiled down at her. “I’m Adam Greer.” He turned to the man who stood at his right. “This is my beta, Nick Hill. Welcome to Paradise. We hope you make a good life here.”

  “She will if Mel and I have anything to say about it,” Jonas said softly.”

  “Oh, so that’s how it is, huh?” Adam laughed. “You and Mel have finally put your differences aside?”

  “Uh…not exactly. We still need to hash that out.” Jonas looked uncomfortable. Milla could have found it funny if it hadn’t been so confusing.

  The alpha looked to his second and laughed. “This is going to be either hilarious or sad. I can’t wait to see which.”

  Jonas took Milla’s arm and led her back to her SUV.

  Milla tilted her head. “Just what in the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  They had just finished dinner in the diner when the first of the carnival trucks rolled into town. They pulled into the vacant lot next to the diner and piled out of their vehicles.

  Swallowing thickly, Milla pushed through the door and headed for her truck. She needed to get to the motel before anyone saw her.

  She’d almost made it when she heard the squeals of two familiar voices and closed her eyes. “Poop!”

  “Poop?” Jonas asked with a chuckle.

  “Be quiet.” She glared at him from the corner of her eye. “I’d hoped to avoid these two.”