by Astrid Cielo
Wesley grabbed his phone and dialed Caleb’s number. He got the voice mail.
“Damn it,” he said as he realized he would have to pay a visit to Cougar Creek and its alpha.
Chapter 23
Caleb startled awake, but he met
nothing but silence. He lay silent for a moment listening for what could’ve woken him up. When he heard nothing he
relaxed. Miranda snuggled closer to his chest, and he smiled. Tomorrow she would start her first day as a teacher, and he would return to work. Things would be normal for a change. Caleb had worried that Essence would want to be the alpha female, and while he liked her, his cougar wanted Miranda to be his alpha female.
He knew that, deep down, though she would never say it, Miranda wanted to be alpha female because she truly cared. But he’d seen that she would have stepped down, so that Essence could keep the status.
Miranda had changed his life so much in the course of the time he’d known her.
From the beginning, he’d been smitten with her, and each day just kept getting better. Caleb drifted in and out of sleep, not quite making it to the blissful unconsciousness of REM sleep. The smell of smoke made him sit up. Miranda made a noise of distress and sat up, rubbing at her eyes.
“What is it, Caleb?” She inhaled deeply, confirming what her senses probably already knew but did not want to accept as truth. “Is that smoke?”
Miranda’s panicked statement spurred him to action. He jumped from the bed and opened the bedroom door to a sea of flames. Miranda screamed, and Caleb closed the door.
“Come on, Miranda,” he said as he threw the chair in the corner at the window, shattering the glass. Caleb grabbed the comforter from the bed and spread it over the window then motioned for Miranda.
“When you get out, run to Amanda’s house and call the fire department.” Miranda looked around in a haze of panic, and Caleb grabbed her chin to force her attention on him. “Miranda, I need you to stay with me, okay?”
Miranda nodded, and Caleb repeated his instructions. When she nodded her
understanding, he hoisted her down to the ground. He walked to the bedroom door and cursed when his hand burnt on contact with the doorknob. Caleb grabbed a few clothes for them both then jumped out of the window himself, landing gracefully on his feet.
He’d started to run to catch up with Miranda when her scream caused his blood to run cold. “Miranda!” He saw her first, and the fear in her big brown eyes worked his cougar into a frenzy. As he got close enough to see what had caused her to scream, Caleb couldn’t believe it. His almost white-blonde hair shined in the moonlight, and his green eyes glowed, but what held Caleb’s attention was the gun he held pointed at Miranda’s head.
“Daryl, what are you doing?” Caleb asked as calm as he could.
The man flashed a smile that showed his extended canines. Caleb had gone to school with Daryl, and they’d grown up together. Much like he had with Aspen, he and Daryl had drifted apart when Daryl went to the fire academy and Caleb went to the university to study architecture.
When he returned, he never rekindled their friendship, although he always spoke to him in passing.
“You took my mate, Caleb. Now I’m
going to take yours,” he said softly as he played with Miranda’s hair.
Miranda looked at Caleb, pleading with her eyes for him to save her. Caleb tensed, preparing for a shift, because when Daryl slipped up he was going to take him out.
“I don’t understand, Daryl. Who’s your mate?”
“You took Brenna, so now I’ll take your precious Miranda.”
“You and Brenna are mated?” Caleb
asked incredulously. No one had told him that. If they had, he would have planned for repercussions from her mate.
“She and I have been mated for about two years now and now I don’t have her, because of you.”
Caleb watched and waited. He prayed for the man to make a mistake, giving him the opening he needed to end this threat to his mate.
“Daryl, she killed my parents. Surely you can see that she needed to be
punished,” Caleb said, and instantly regretted it when Daryl hit Miranda with the gun. She cried out and Caleb’s gut clenched in fear and anger. His cougar came a little closer to the surface, watching and waiting for that opening.
“You think that matters? Let me ask you, Caleb. If your mate decided someone had to die, and did so without mercy, would you love her any less?” Caleb stared at Miranda, her tears making him want to tear this man into pieces. “Answer the question!”
Caleb couldn’t lie because he understood where the male was coming from because, had the roles been reversed, he would move heaven and hell for his mate.
“I would do anything for Miranda, but you aren’t helping your mate. Instead, you’re terrorizing mine,” Caleb’s claws extended and retracted as his agitation grew.
Miranda closed her eyes, and then the change was upon her. She went from a five-feet-tall female to a small mouse that scurried away from the man holding her.
He’d never been so happy that she was a mouse than at this moment. Caleb
released his cougar just as a shot fired.
Caleb’s cougar felt a burning pain in his flank, but it disregarded it as he pounced on the man who intended to kill his mate.
Daryl had changed as well, and now
they were in a battle of claws and teeth.
Caleb’s cougar swiped, and Daryl’s cougar dodged. Caleb watched and waited, a growl rolling from his lips, as the other male circled him. Daryl pounced and caught Caleb off guard, his teeth and claws sinking into his shoulder. Caleb cried out and rolled in an attempt to dislodge the other male. Caleb moved to his feet and attacked the other male, showing no mercy as it strived to inflict as much damage as he could with claws and teeth. A swipe to his flank, a bite to his shoulder, and another bite to his front leg had Daryl limping.
Caleb’s vision began to waver, the loss of blood taking its toll on him. The only thing keeping him upright was the will to keep Miranda safe. Daryl made his move, and this time Caleb dodged and caught the other male by the throat. Caleb’s rage shouted for him to rip the throat out of the male who had touched Miranda, but his human side kept him from doing so. He waited until the cat stilled beneath him, a sign of submission, before he relieved pressure but not his hold. A little squeak let him know Miranda was alive. He watched as she scurried away to call the fire department no doubt.
By the looks of the smoke billowing around them, it was too late to save the house. However, at least the fire
department could put out the blaze before it spread to other houses. Wesley’s voice drew his attention from Daryl and he turned to face Wesley.
“I’ve got him, Caleb. You’re bleeding.
Change back so we can assess the
damage.”
Caleb stepped away from Daryl with one last growl of warning and allowed the change to take him. He cried out as the adrenaline faded to be replaced by pain.
“What the hell happened?” Wesley said, taking in the scene.
“I know absolutely nothing about the members of my pride apparently. Brenna is Daryl’s mate.”
“What?”
“I didn’t know, or this wouldn’t have happened,” Caleb said, looking down at his wounds. The one to his side would
probably need stitches, but thankfully, the bullet just grazed him.
“Brenna didn’t have a mating bite,”
Wesley said. Caleb looked at the male in confusion. “When we process someone in the jail, they have to undress and redress in front of an officer. Daphne was the lucky one in that, but she didn’t say anything about a mating bite. She would have mentioned that. There’s nothing like an enraged mate when their other half is thrown in jail.”
Caleb stood, though it hurt like hell, and walked over to the injured cat. “Change back, Daryl. We need answers.” Daryl looked up at him before complying, his breathing becoming labo
red. “I thought you and Brenna were mates.”
“She wouldn’t let me mark her because she said she wanted to be alpha female first. We aren’t true mates, but she is still mine. I lo-”
Wesley grabbed Daryl by the neck. “So let me get this straight. You and Brenna were dating. She states she will not proceed with the mating until she becomes alpha female so you decide to speed things up with the fire at Miranda’s. You had to know she wasn’t home.” Daryl looked up at him then to Caleb.
“I thought I saw her in the bed, so I doused the outside of the house and lit the match. I didn’t realize until later that she was with Caleb.”
The wail of sirens could be heard in the distance, and Caleb sighed in relief.
“How did you know to come here?”
Caleb asked Wesley.
“Brenna confessed that she didn’t start the fires, and I believed her.” Caleb looked at him with suspicion, and Wesley chuckled before saying, “All right, she got me suspicious. Something didn’t sit right with the whole case so I thumbed back through the photos. I saw a cougar watching from the tree line in one of the photos. Seems we got lucky with that.”
“How did you know it wasn’t Brenna?”
“Because it was a male cougar, and
besides, I wasn’t positive that the cougar was guilty. But I figured I’d better let you know ASAP that someone in your pride could be gunning for you and Miranda. By the way, where is Miranda?”
Caleb heard her voice a second later and turned to find his mate flying toward him.
Caleb opened his arms, and she pounced on him. She kissed his face and ran her hands over his body. He clasped her face between his hands and kissed her on the lips. Despite her tear-stained face, she was still the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“I was so worried,” she cried as she clung to him.
Caleb held her close, and when the fire trucks arrived, Wesley grabbed Daryl.
Caleb and Wesley were both in agreement that Daryl’s transgressions should be dealt with by the Council. By this time the whole pride stood watching the firemen douse the flames. Essence and Zackary insisted that they stay at their house. Miranda fell asleep in his arms, and he placed her on Essence’s couch. He pillowed her head in his lap and thanked every lucky star out there that he still had her here to hold.
Epilogue
One Month Later...
“Miranda, what do you think about these plates with these glasses?”
Miranda wanted to run and hide from the force that was her mother. Life had returned to some semblance of normalcy, with the exception of her mother’s
incessant wedding planning. What the hell did she need a wedding for anyway?
Miranda sat down next to her father, who’d taken up residence in a corner of the bridal shop, and laid her head on his shoulder. “Dad, I don’t want to get married anymore,” she pouted. Her father just laughed and continued to read his newspaper. “Why doesn’t she just choose what she wants, and I’ll show up? It would be easier that way.” Her father folded the newspaper carefully before turning to regard his daughter.
“Miranda, you’re the youngest daughter and she had a hard enough time letting you leave after you got the job here in Pinewood Creek. Besides, Cassie didn’t let her throw a wedding. Humor your mother, okay, sweetie?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Oh, there you are, dear. Come and look at these glasses,” her mother said, sweeping through the department store like a hurricane. The day went on and on like that.
Four hours later – and what seemed a lifetime – Miranda jumped out of the car and watched as her mate and soon-to-be husband bent over to pick up a piece of wood. She bit her lip as the jeans he wore tightened over his buttocks. She closed her eyes and prayed for patience. She couldn’t very well jump him in the middle of the construction zone. Miranda was surprised that he wanted to build the new house next door to his childhood home.
But it seemed that he’d come a long way since she’d met him. Then he stood upright, and his shirtless back glistened with sweat, each muscle straining as he carried the wood to Zackary.
“Well, isn’t he a fine specimen?”
Miranda’s mother said, her hand shielding her eyes from the sun.
“Oh my God, Mom. Are you sure we’re related!”
Emma Sullivan laughed as she followed her daughter into Caleb’s childhood home.
When she’d asked why they didn’t just stay there permanently, he’d said while he could live in it for a brief while, he did not want to live in it forever. Miranda understood since each room held so many memories for him. He’d already promised it to Aspen.
The Council was set to meet in another month to decide the fates of Daryl and Brenna. Miranda was secretly pleased with this since the pride members who’d
volunteered to check out the Fair Oaks Pride were set to leave next week. She hoped that they could shed some light on why Brenna had done what she did.
Teaching was everything she’d dreamed it would be and then some. She felt fulfilled by sharing her knowledge with those in her class. She’d even lucked out and gotten a couple of pride kittens in her class. It worked out really well when the children acted up; she could get the kittens to settle with just one look – being the alpha female had some perks – and
eventually the rest of the class. She was learning something new every day.
Miranda smiled as Caleb wrapped her in his arms from behind. Could anyone get any luckier? Caleb followed her into the house where she ogled him as he drank down a glass of water. Something about the way his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed made her hot.
“Where’s my little sister?” The baritone voice floated through the house, and Miranda squealed in excitement as she ran and jumped into the arms of her big brother.
“Whatcha doing, mouse?”
“Andrew!”
He spun her around before putting her down to meet Caleb. Of course, they had to do the whole stare-down thing, but eventually they were talking guy stuff.
Miranda stood back and watched as her new family and her old family mingled.
She thought she couldn’t be any happier as she placed a protective hand over her abdomen.
About the Author
Astrid Cielo is a Mississippi girl who enjoys a variety of things. By night, she is a nurse in her local ER, and by day, she is spilling her imagination out on paper.
Astrid began writing when she was a child her stories featuring a variety of
characters. When she was in high school, she wrote her first completed story and was published twice in poetry anthologies.
Gathering her courage, Astrid self—
published her first book, Surrender Serenity, Salin’s Salvation, Book 1 and enjoyed every minute of it. Now she balances her time between being a nurse (which she loves) and writing down the scenes that play out in her mind. She also plays World of Warcraft (which all of her friends think is weird)!
Astrid would love to hear from you!
You can contact Astrid at:
[email protected]
Check out her blog @:
astridcieloauthor.blogspot.com
Visit her website @:
www.astridcielo.com
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Document Outline
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
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
; Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
About the Author
Also Available by Astrid Cielo
Chapter 1