Charity's Storm (Charity Series Book 4)

by Kinney, DeAnna

  Charity’s Storm

  Charity Series, Book 4

  DeAnna Kinney

  Copyright © 2014 by DeAnna Kinney

  Published by Kinney Publishing

  Editing by Elaine Grice

  Cover design by Laura Hudson

  ISBN- 13: 978-1493691494

  ISBN-10: 149369149X

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the owner.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, places, or actual events are purely coincidental.

  Other books by DeAnna Kinney include:

  Charity Moon (Charity Series Book 1)

  Charity Rising (Charity Series Book 2)

  Raven’s Rose (Charity Series Book 3)

  Exposing Kitty Langley

  Loving Lily Lavender

  Box of Gaza

  *All of these titles are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and iBooks.

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to thank my faithful fans of the Charity Series. After receiving comments from many of you about how upset you were that the series was over, I began thinking of new story lines that might appeal to me, and voila, book four was born.

  Thank you also to my amazing beta readers, Kellee Fabre and Sydney Moore. You guys rock!

  I want to give a special shout out to an amazing fan and new friend, Haley Nugent. I look forward to reading your books someday.

  As always, if you enjoyed this story, please leave a review on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Thank you.

  A Note from the Author

  After book 3, I thought I was done with Windrake Mountain and the Drake pack for a while. I even said so. But with so many of you falling in love with Charity’s character, I thought it would be great to take a glimpse into Charity’s life before Levi, and before all the anger consumed her and see what caused it all. I, for one, wanted to see her as a sweet, happy young girl with little-to-no worries and fears, before all the monsters of make believe became real to her. But don’t worry; you will get a fair dose of furry hotness in this one, even getting to see Charity and Levi as loving parents, which was my absolute favorite part. I hope you will enjoy this backstory and continuation of our beloved Charity and her friends and family we have come to love so much.

  After the story is over, keep reading for a sneak peek at my upcoming New Adult Romance, Forever June.

  Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Prov. 22:6

  Charity Revealed

  Chapter One

  I heavily saturated my lips with my favorite raspberry ice lip balm and then pulled out all of the contents from the picnic basket, spreading them onto the extra-large blue and white checkered blanket. I glanced over at Levi who was lying on the other end, gazing up at the cloudless sky. He appeared so peaceful, and I was awestruck at the masculine beauty of him. It was something I never got used to. His wavy brown hair was wild but soft, and I could easily make out his sculpted jawline from where I sat across from him. He was so tall that his lower legs hung off of the blanket and into the grass, but he didn’t care as the fingers on his left hand played mindlessly with blades of grass. I sighed deeply in contentment. He was mine and mine alone, and yet it still felt like yesterday when he strolled confidently into my Calculus class and shot an arrow through all the girls’ fickle hearts—all but mine, of course. My heart was a brick, and I was the stubborn one, holding on to my anger so strongly that it took weeks for him to penetrate it, but I’m so thankful he was persistent. Where would my life be without the beautiful boy with the purple eyes; the boy who snatched my gum from me and then shocked me senseless by popping into his mouth on that first day? That was a question I never wanted to know the answer to.

  Sensing my ogling, Levi turned and glanced at me. He smiled crookedly and gave me a playful wink. I grabbed my chest in a dramatic fashion (no surprise there) and fell over onto the blanket, playing dead.

  “Very funny, Charity,” he said, and I heard the humor in his voice.

  I laughed happily and sat up. “Oh, you know you love it. Darrow, Deacon, and Dixon!!” I yelled toward the forest. “Lunch is ready! Where are those three stooges anyway?” I complained as I set the last of the lunch items out onto the picnic blanket. Levi smiled, put his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes.

  “Um, perhaps you didn’t hear me, my furry hotness.”

  I could tell by the way he scrunched his nose that he picked up on my sarcasm. He wasn’t as oblivious as he pretended to be.

  He opened one eye and looked up at me playfully. “Are you talkin’ to me?”

  I reached over and slapped him on the arm.

  He laughed and rose to his elbows. “Boys!” His thunderous voice echoed through the clearing causing the birds to take flight and the animals to scurry and dodge through the forest in fear.

  Suddenly, the three five year-olds came flying from the forest and into the clearing with our dog, Fang, tight on their heels. I glared at Levi in annoyance.

  He shrugged and laughed again. “I guess we know who’s boss, now don’t we?”

  I smiled a knowing smile. I never wanted to be the boss. I just liked making him think I did. It kept him on his toes. The truth is I liked it when he was taking control, but I would never tell him that. “Yeah, puppy, you just keep tellin’ yourself that.”

  The three angelic children stopped in front of me. But it wasn’t their brilliant smiles that drew my attention. It was the dog now sitting beside them. His tongue was hanging almost to the ground, a sure sign that they had run him ragged. “Um, boys, why is Fang covered in dirt?” I asked, already knowing the answer. The dog let them do anything to him, short of killing him. Fang became their shadow the moment the boys began walking.

  “It was Deacon’s idea to try and bury him, Momma,” Dixon said, his expression oozing with innocence.

  I peered at Deacon, and he shrugged.

  “Uh huh, sit,” I said, my voice laced with slight amusement.

  The three boys plopped down and sat Indian-style on the blanket, and I passed each one their plate piled high with sandwiches, specially prepared by our chef Barney, and Doritos, their favorite. I scolded one of them with just a glance as he passed Fang a chip, who swallowed it whole without chewing, and then proceeded to cough and hack for five minutes.

  I passed the boys some wipes to clean their hands, Levi said the prayer, and then everyone chowed down. I looked around the blanket in contentment, starting with Levi. He was so handsome, even his loud eating like a deprived cannibal, and the mustard that dribbled from the corners of his mouth, didn’t detract from his gorgeousness. I then peered at the adorable boys who stole my heart over five years ago.

  Each one was completely unique in his own way. Darrow, the oldest by six minutes, had curly blonde hair and my crystal blue eyes. He was our tough one, never complaining, and strong as an ox. Deacon had wavy, brown hair and purplish-blue eyes like his father. He was our mischievous one, always getting himself and the others into trouble. And Dixon had straight black hair and beautiful green eyes like his Papa Joseph. He was the shy one with a sweet and gentle spirit. He confessed his wrong doings before we even knew he had done anything wrong. I had heard that most triplets were supposed to be identical, but my boys weren’t. No one knew why. It was just another mystery in the world of wolves. Eli joked and said it was because I didn’t have triplets, I had a litter, and all pups in a litter were unique. He’s such a doof. But somehow, despite their
array of coloring, they all looked like Levi, and all three had his adorable dimples. I felt sorry for the girls whose hearts would be broken by those amazing Drake dimples.

  “Momma?” Deacon asked, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt.

  I rolled my eyes and handed him another napkin. “Yes, baby?”

  “Um, how come you don’t have a daddy? Uncle Hector said he died. Is that true?”

  I froze. The question caught me off guard. I knew it would eventually come up and I would have to tell them about my dad someday, but I didn’t think it would be this soon. I had actually been having dreams of my father recently and found myself thinking a lot about him.

  All three boys stopped eating and looked at me with eager anticipation. Levi, sensing my alarm, spoke up in my defense. “Well, you see boys, your momma has a hard time talking about that. But Hector was right, he is dead and he has been in Heaven since way before you were born.”

  “But I wanna know what happened,” Deacon whined.

  Levi’s voice took on a sharp edge. “That’s enough. Your momma will tell you that story when she feels you are ready to hear it.” Then his voice, and his gaze, softened. “Okay?”

  Deacon lowered his head but agreed. “Yes, Daddy.”

  Levi rubbed my arm reassuringly, and I really appreciated the gesture. I smiled back at him, but the memories where already returning without my permission.

  The rest of the day was glorious as was every day that I spent with my amazing family, but the images of the horrible night my father died kept periodically entering my thoughts. That was the night that changed everything for me, turning me from a sweet, innocent young girl into an angry and fearful one. And it wasn’t something I liked to think about, much less talk about.

  That night, as I tossed restlessly in my sleep, my father came to me in my dreams. He was sitting on the side of my bed in my childhood bedroom, and he was smoothing my dark locks back from my face like he always did when I was little. “Daddy, I miss you,” I said to him, my eyes filling with tears and leaking onto my pillow.

  “Shh, I know, Sunshine. I miss you too.” His expression was sympathetic. Did he really know what losing him did to me?

  “Why did you have to leave me? Why didn’t you just stay with us?”

  “I know you can’t understand this, but I had to do what I did. But know that I love you very much, and I’m so proud of the woman you have grown to be. You have a great family, better than I could have ever wished for you. And this Levi…” he motioned beside me, and it was then that I realized that Levi was asleep beside me. I smiled as I noticed the protective way his arm was wrapped around me.

  “This Levi is a great man. I couldn’t have chosen a better one myself.”

  “But, Daddy, you do know he’s a werewolf?”

  He nodded.

  “Does that disappoint you?”

  He grinned and took hold of my hand, and although I knew this was a dream, I could somehow feel my dad’s touch like it was real.

  “I know all about this man,” he began, “and he’s not just a werewolf, he’s the alpha of his pack, and now your pack. He is the father of your children. He loves you more than his own life, and more than the lives of all the others he protects. He will always take care of you. You will never have a need that he will not try to meet. I know you miss me, but you did just fine without me, because you’re strong, Charity. You’re a survivor. If I had not left you, you would have never been with Levi. He was drawn to you because you, unlike all the other girls, hated him. Because of your anger and dislike of him, Levi was intrigued by you, and your anger has protected you. Can you say that you would give it all back to never have lost me?”

  “How can you ask me that?” I turned to peer at Levi sleeping deeply beside me, and knew I could never give him and my family up. Never. But I still missed my dad.

  “You see, Charity, everything happens for a reason.” He squeezed my hand tightly. “I think it’s time you talk to someone about what happened the night I died. You need to finally put this behind you. Tell someone you can trust with your life, someone who would never hurt you, someone who will comfort you.” Again his eyes flashed to the sleeping Levi.

  I smiled and nodded, and he returned such a warm smile that it brought a strange comfort to my spirit. Yes, Levi was my rock, the one I could tell anything to. And that is just what I planned to do.

  The next morning, we ate breakfast together as a family like we always did, and then dropped the boys off at their kindergarten class in the C Wing. Once we entered our living quarters, and after my second, amazing good morning kiss, which made my ears ring and my knees knock, I pulled him down onto the bed beside me.

  “Levi, I’m ready to tell you everything now.”

  His eyes became serious, searching, as he rubbed his thumb along my jaw in a soft, comforting caress. “You don’t have to do this, kitten. The boys got you thinking yesterday. It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me until you’re ready.”

  I knew he was worried about me. He always did, but he was nothing if not patient.

  I touched my hand to his cheek, stroking it gently. “I appreciate that, puppy, but I’m ready now.”

  His purple eyes closed, enjoying my touch, and when they opened again, they almost glowed. “Are you sure?”

  I nodded. “Absolutely sure.”

  We got ourselves comfortable on the bed with pillows stacked behind our backs. I saturated my lips with my familiar lip balm, took a deep breath, and began the long and hard ordeal of telling him things I had never had the strength to tell a soul, not even my best friend in the whole world, Ashley.

  “Well,” I began, “I used to be very sweet.”

  Levi suddenly coughed into his hand.

  I smacked him in the chest. “Are you gonna listen or not?”

  He laughed softly, lifting his hands up in defense. “I’m sorry. Please tell me the story.”

  I studied his mischievous grin, but then his gaze turned serious. “Please. I’ll behave. You have my word.”

  “That’s more like it. I’ll try to get through this. It was the stormiest time in my life, and it changed me forever. This story begins when I was fourteen…”

  Chapter Two

  Ten years earlier…

  “Charity! Hey, Charity, wait up!” Ashley called as she ran to catch up with me. We were both late for our health class, and I had never been late to any class so far, and I wasn’t gonna start now.

  “Hurry, Ash. And take off those ridiculous shoes, or we’re gonna be late.”

  She giggled and pulled the heels off as we sprinted down the hall toward our last class of the day. We made it into the classroom just as the bell was ringing. Whew!

  I liked my health class. I guess it was okay learning about my health, but what I really liked was studying Kevin Hayes who sat right in front of me. I couldn’t tell if he liked me back, but he was awfully cute to look at, and he smelled really good, like peppermint and honeysuckle, a strange combination I know.

  “So, is your dad picking us up after school today?” Ashley whispered to me from two desks over.

  I nodded as I sat my chin in my hand and went back to watching Kevin. He was scribbling something down in his notebook. I leaned in, trying to make out what he was writing, when my elbow slipped on a piece of my paper causing me to fall, not so gracefully, to the floor. I grabbed at my desk for assistance but only succeeded in taking my book and notepad with me. The class all snickered. I quickly jumped back into my seat, and I could feel my face heating and turning a deep shade of red. This always happened to me when I got embarrassed, which was more often than I liked to admit. It didn’t help that my teacher had to make a comment, as if being embarrassed wasn’t bad enough. Sometimes I really wish I was one of those people who didn’t give a rip-roaring rapid what people thought about me.

  “Um, Miss Bell, are you having trouble keeping your derriere glued to your seat?” Mr. Campbell asked as his unibrow furrowed in anno
yance.

  I grimaced and stirred uncomfortably. “No, Mr. Campbell.”

  “That’s what I like to hear. Now class, let’s begin.”

  I rolled my eyes and glanced over at Ashley. She was looking at me and covering her mouth to hide her laughter. Some friend.

  I glared at her, but I knew we would both laugh about it after class. And I was right.

  After class, Ash and I took our time as we strolled through the courtyard and made our way toward the front of the school.

  “Holy mudslide! Did you hear the thud my big butt made when I hit the floor?” I asked her.

  Ashley gasped and covered her mouth like she was about to explode. Then she said through strained laughter, “No, but I felt the earth shake.”

  Ash and I loved to tease each other. After all, if we couldn’t laugh at ourselves then where was the fun in that? She especially liked to make fun of my curves. And, of course I liked to make fun of the fact that she didn’t have any.

  We were both laughing hysterically when my dad pulled up to the curb in front of the school to pick us up.

  I tamed my laughter long enough to climb into the car and give him a peck on the cheek, enjoying the smell of his familiar Old Spice aftershave. Then we burst into a fit of giggles again.

  “What’s so funny, girls?” my dad asked with amusement in his voice. He looked really handsome on this day, with his dark gray suit and blue tie. I could see why my mom fell in love with him. As handsome as he was now, I knew from pictures that he was extremely handsome at age twenty-two when they fell in love.

  “Oh, Mr. Bell, it was priceless. Charity fell out of her seat in health class while staring at a guy. It was so funny.” Ashley laughed again.