Table of Contents
Sign Up!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Thank You
You Might Also Like
Sneak Peek
One
Two
About the Author
Moon Kissed
Mirror Lake Wolves - Book One
Jennifer Snyder
MOON KISSED
MIRROR LAKE WOLVES – BOOK ONE
© 2017 by Jennifer Snyder
Editing by H. Danielle Crabtree
© 2017 Cover Art by Cora Graphics
© Shutterstock.com/ Svyatoslava Vladzimirska
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the above author of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Contents
Sign Up!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Thank You
You Might Also Like
Sneak Peek
One
Two
About the Author
Sign Up!
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1
The flickering letters in the sign hung above Eddie’s bar pulsed with my heartbeat. Somehow, the strobing neon lights had become one of the things I could always count on never changing. There was another thing I could count on when it came to Eddie’s too—Dad being shit-faced somewhere inside.
It was a given on any day that ended in the letter Y.
I leaned back in my seat and willed my heart to stop hammering against my rib cage. As much as I didn’t want to step inside, I knew I had to. There was no one else. Everyone was sick of my father’s antics, and to be honest, I couldn’t blame them. While I was sick of his shit too, I was still his daughter. We were family. It was the only reason I was here. The only reason I ever came.
I shouldn’t be here, though.
I wasn’t of legal age to drink. I was barely eighteen, but no one in Eddie’s would care. All they wanted was the town drunk to leave the bar so they could resume their night of fun without listening to him blabber about the past.
There was another reason I shouldn’t be here besides not being of legal drinking age—Alec. I should be enjoying my night with him. We were supposed to see a movie and spend time together. Yet here I was, picking up my dad from the bar for the third night this week. When would Eddie learn to cut Dad off? Why did he always let him get so shit-faced?
The door to the bar swung open, garnering my attention and revealing a lone figure in the threshold. The guy’s face was shrouded in shadows, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t need to see it to know who he was.
I’d recognize Eli Vargas anywhere.
Something about him called to me in a way I didn’t understand. A way that made me uneasy. I’d tried over the years to place distance between us, but it never seemed to matter. One way or another, we were always pulled into the same space despite how hard I tried to stay away from him.
Eli sauntered toward my car. A shiver, one that was hard to pinpoint why it occurred, slipped along my spine as I watched him draw nearer. It was always that way with Eli. My body betrayed me when he was around. Something about him spoke to a darker place inside me, a feral place. A primal place entirely free of inhibitions and responsibilities. I constantly pushed away those feelings so I could feel a sense of normalcy.
As Eli grew closer, the lamppost a few feet from where I’d parked illuminated him. My insides vibrated to life as I drank him in. Dressed in low-hung jeans and a gray tank top that showcased his beautiful muscles glistening in the moonlight, Eli was mouthwatering. Even so, my brain itched for me to place distance between us. Maybe it was because of the way my body reacted when I was in his presence—electrically charged and utterly out of my control. He’d always represented trouble to me. Any guy who looked good enough to elicit such a feeling from me by simply being in his presence couldn’t be anything besides trouble. He was the type of guy who left a string of broken hearts behind once he got what he wanted.
At least, that’s how I viewed him. Maybe I was wrong, but I wasn’t about to risk it. Not with him. Not with the way I always seemed to feel while in his presence.
Eli leaned against my car door and folded his arms across his chest. My window was down, and I waited for him to say something. His voice slipping through the night would cause a reaction inside me no voice ever should. My fingers gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. He remained mute, but his eyes were fixed on me. I could feel them. The heat of them. The pull they harbored.
It had my adrenaline spiking and stole the breath from my lips.
A loud crash came from somewhere inside the bar, causing me to flinch. It snapped me out of my head and forced me back to reality. I hoped Dad hadn’t broken something again. If so, I wasn’t sure how we would pay for it this time.
Shouting and low grumbles made their way through the thin walls of the place. It sounded as though my father was well beyond inebriated and had overstayed his welcome with the other patrons.
How much had they allowed him to drink tonight? Was it Eli’s fault? After all, he was the newly hired bartender. Which also meant I’d be seeing a lot more of him.
The stupid universe pulling us together again.
Another round of ruckus burst from inside the place. I needed to get Dad home before he got himself into trouble. While it was true my dad had issues, I was blaming tonight’s excessive alcohol consumption on Eli. He knew my dad enjoyed drinking like a fish. He shouldn’t have served him as much as he obviously had.
My gaze drifted to Eli, ready to tell him that. A smirk, which caused my lower stomach to heat, twisted across his beautiful face, and my mouth went dry. Thoughts vanished as though they’d never existed.
I pulled myself together. It was something I’d learned to do at the drop of a hat while in his presence. Why was he grinning like that? Was he glad I was here? Suspicion built inside me. Had he allowed my dad to get beyond shitty on purpose? He did know I had plans with Alec tonight. I knew
he’d overheard us the other night when Alec was dropping me off. Eli had been sitting outside his parents’ trailer. I wondered if this was his way of sabotaging my date tonight. Even though Eli and I had never been an item, it still seemed like something he would do. He didn’t like Alec. In fact, he’d told me more than once he thought I was wasting my time with him.
A tiny part of me thought he might be right, considering Alec was human, but I’d never admit it.
I popped open my car door and forced myself out. Eli took a step back, giving the door room to swing wide, but the smirk never left his face. The bright green of his eyes captured my attention, pulling me in like always. Eli had an otherworldly eye color I had never witnessed on anyone. There was something mysterious and beautiful about it.
“Mina Ryan,” he muttered in a sultry, low voice that caused goose bumps to erupt across my skin. “Look at you, all dressed up like you have somewhere to be.”
Butterflies burst to life in the pit of my stomach, but I forced myself to ignore them. To ignore the effect Eli Vargas had on me entirely.
I was dressed up, but it wasn’t for him. It was for Alec. He knew it, too. The cocky glint shimmering in his hypnotic eyes let me know.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said as I slipped past him toward the bar. The scent of stale cigarettes lingered in the night air the closer to the door I came. The place was supposed to be non-smoking indoors, like every public place in town, but no one ever obeyed that law. There was even a sign posted behind the bar, but it didn’t matter. People smoked when they drank in Eddie’s; it was a fact. “Just tell me where my dad is.”
“Feeling a little feisty this evening, I see.” He followed me toward the bar closer than he should. I swore I could feel his hot breath tickle the fine hairs along the back of my neck. It made me want to rip my ponytail out to block the sensation; it had my knees going weak.
I glanced over my shoulder at him. “Wonder why.”
Eli’s gaze dipped to the gravel of the parking lot. Did he feel bad now? “He’s at the end of the bar.”
“Thanks.” I swung open the screen door and stepped inside.
My eyes scanned the smoke-filled, dimly lit place as I walked farther in. A variety of sympathetic and pissed-off looks were tossed my way. I knew it was because some felt bad for my dad while others felt bad for me. There were also those who wished I would have come earlier so they could enjoy their night escaping their demons without my dad interrupting.
Deep down, though, they all knew that was also the reason my dad was here. He was escaping his demons. Didn’t that make everyone here doing the same a damn hypocrite?
Dad used to be one of Mirror Lake’s best mechanics, but a freak accident when I was twelve nearly cost him his life. Instead, it had left him crippled. The doctors had said he would never walk again. He’d be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life, but what they didn’t know was my dad wasn’t an average man. He wasn’t your average human, either.
Neither was I.
The Ryans came from a long line of something special. At least that was how Gran always described it. I’d always thought of it as something different, not special. In a place like Mirror Lake, being different isn’t exactly uncommon. I guess I should be thankful.
That something special healed my dad better and faster than the doctors thought possible. He became a medical mystery in their eyes. A miracle. His spinal injury healed in a couple of months, not entirely, but enough for him to walk again, albeit with a limp. At least he wasn’t wheelchair-bound like they’d thought he would be. The something special in our blood hadn’t healed his pain, though. That’s what crippled him most. He quickly became addicted to the pain medications they had him on, eating them like candy while trying to dull his pain to a bearable level.
It never lasted long.
He’d eat a handful and then complain an hour later he was still hurting. The doctors couldn’t understand why his body metabolized the medication so quickly, but we all knew. The something special in our blood could be seen as a curse in my dad’s case. It was because of it nothing lasted in his system as long as it should. Gran said there were alternative medicines he could take to alleviate his pain besides the death pills the doctors prescribed him, but he refused to try anything else.
Instead, he turned to alcohol.
He’d told me once, when I’d asked why he drank so much, if he drank enough he couldn’t hardly feel anything.
I’d cried for him that night.
It had been six years since the accident. Six years since he’d let the alcohol and pills take over his life. Six years I’d watched both do more harm than good.
My lips pursed together when I spotted him sitting at the end of the bar.
“Bout time you came back, Eli,” Dad slurred. His bloodshot eyes bypassed me and landed on Eli. “Need a refill.”
“No. You’re done. Let’s get you home,” I said as I stepped to his side.
“Mina, my little Mina Bena,” he slurred, finally having noticed me. His face erupted into a large smile as I draped his arm over my shoulders. “You look so pretty tonight. Doesn’t she look pretty, Eli?”
My cheeks heated. I refused to make eye contact with Eli. I didn’t want to see the smirk I knew would be plastered on his face.
“All right, Dad. Come on,” I said as I tried to force him to stand. This was going to be harder than usual. He’d had way too much to drink tonight. His limbs were practically made of rubber.
“That she does, Mr. Ryan,” Eli surprised me by saying; I hadn’t expected him to answer. Especially not with something that sounded so genuine.
My gaze flicked toward him. I’d only meant to glance at him for a split-second, but his eyes were trained on me from the other side of the bar. The same genuine sensation I gathered from the tone of his voice had somehow found its way to his eyes. It swirled within their depths. The sight of them startled me. I held his gaze longer than I should. My grip on my dad loosened, and he fell to the floor.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry! Are you okay, Dad?” I bent to help him up at the same time I noticed Eli jump the bar. His fingertips grazed mine as he reached to help my dad to his feet, causing that same strange electricity to fizzle across my skin that always seemed to happen each time we touched. I jerked my hand back, releasing the hold I had on my dad for the second time. This time his head hit the leg of the barstool he’d been sitting on. Dad erupted in a fit of laughter as my face became impossibly hot.
What was wrong with me tonight?
“Here, let me help.” Eli grabbed my father by the shoulders and lifted him to his feet. He was strong, there was no doubt, but I wasn’t a damsel in distress. I could take care of my dad. Hell, I had been for the last few years.
All I needed was for Eli to keep his distance. It was when he was too close, and paying more attention to me than he should, issues spurred.
“I don’t need any help. I’ve got it,” I muttered as soon as Eli had my dad standing again. “Thanks for calling me. Next time try not to serve him so much alcohol.”
“Not a problem, and I’m pretty sure he’d already been drinking when he came in.” Eli grabbed my dad’s cane and handed it to me. I could barely release my grip on him long enough to grab hold of it and tuck it beneath my arm. While my dad wasn’t overweight, he was a big guy. At six foot, he towered over me. Granted, I was all of five-foot-two, but he also had at least a hundred pounds on me.
Regardless, I’d helped him out of this bar more times than I cared to remember.
The first time he’d called me from the bar asking if I would pick him up, I’d been fourteen. Scared shitless didn’t even describe how I felt sitting behind the wheel when I drove over, but I liked the feeling of someone counting on me. Someone needing me. Especially family.
Maybe that was my issue, my own inner demon. I cared more than I should about those I loved.
“How did he get here?” I knew he hadn’t driven. His truck was still at home. I co
uldn’t imagine him walking the distance either. It was a good six or seven miles. Then again, I wouldn’t put it past him to try. He was nothing but determined when he had his mind set on something.
“He came in with Herschel Ammons a couple hours ago. Both of them looked like they were drunk as a skunk. Herschel tried to leave, but I took his keys from him and called Betty Sue. She got him about thirty minutes before you got here. If I’d known you were going out on a date or whatever, I would’ve had her take your dad home, too.”
I had Dad start walking toward the exit, leaning on me as we went. It felt like every bone in my right shoulder was being crushed by his deadweight, but I refused to let Eli help.
“Cut the crap. You knew I was going out tonight,” I snapped, flashing him the best go-to-hell look I could muster while carrying my dad’s weight.
“What if I did?” A devious grin spread across his face. “What are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing. I’m sure if I did, you’d like it too much.”
“No truer words have ever been spoken,” he said with a wink.
I pushed the screen door to the bar open and eased my way out with Dad still in tow. He had practically passed out on me and was of no assistance whatsoever. He muttered something about my mom, and I knew that was why he’d drank so much tonight. He’d been thinking about her again. No doubt blaming himself for why she’d left us.
The thought of her boiled my blood, giving me the added oomph I needed to get him to my car.
“Can you at least let me open your door for you?” Eli asked from somewhere behind me. I hadn’t realized he’d followed me out.
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