FINDING THE FORGOTTEN
Emilia Hartley
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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.
Chapter One
Isabella Fox sat on the edge of the bathtub and watched a second little pink line appear on the pregnancy test. At first, it was faint. She didn’t know if the test was defective and regretted not putting down the money for a better test.
But the line began to darken until there was no room for doubt.
She was, in fact, pregnant.
“Oh,” she whispered.
Panic tried to take ahold of her, but it was chased away by another feeling: excitement. Her mother wasn’t going to be happy, especially since Isabella had recently left Tommy. After seeing the drastic difference between Trevor, Evangeline’s ex, and Casey, Evangeline’s mate, Isabella had realized she wanted to be just as happy.
Isabella’s mother would tell her to go back to Tommy, so the baby could have a proper father, but Isabella would never willingly set foot within Tommy’s vicinity again. She, Evangeline, and Nellie had packed her things while Tommy was out. Isabella had booked a motel room to buy time until she could find a proper apartment for herself, but she’d asked Evangeline to stop at the pharmacy first.
Evangeline banged on the bathroom door. “Is everything okay in there?”
Instead of heading to the motel, Evangeline had brought them back to her apartment in town. Isabella had to admit that peeing on a stick was already awkward enough. She was grateful she didn’t have to do it in a strange room.
“If you don’t unlock this door, I’m going to do it for you,” Nellie threatened.
Isabella rolled her eyes, but a smile touched her lips. She tossed the test aside and washed her hands, listening to her two best friends rattle the door.
“Well?” Evangeline asked once Isabella finally stepped out of the bathroom.
Isabella let out a breath. It wasn’t as shaky as she thought it’d be. Instead, she touched her stomach and felt a flickering hope flare in her chest. “I’m pregnant.”
Evangeline and Nellie wore guarded expressions.
“Tommy’s going to…” Evangeline began.
“He’s not going to find out,” Isabella said. She sank into a chair at the kitchen table, her heart thundering at the thought of Tommy.
She knew what he would tell her. He’d never supported anything she’d wanted. She’s turned to self-publishing romance novels because he’d never wanted her to leave the house. She hadn’t told him that she wrote romance or that she published the books, either. He’d assumed that she was writing unpublishable drivel, but all the income she made from them had helped her escape him.
Had he known that she’d been writing under a pseudonym, he would have taken her laptop from her. He would have cut her off from the world. And, if he knew she was with child, he would have forced her to end it.
The thought physically pained her.
“Tommy can never know,” she said, her voice low.
“You have our vow,” Evangeline said.
“That bastard will never know,” Nellie finished.
Tears gathered in Isabella’s eyes. They were the only reason Isabella had survived the past five years. They’d supported her and listened to her without making judgements or demands.
The door opened, and a man built like a lumberjack on the cover of one of her books wandered in. Casey sidled up behind Evangeline and bent to press a kiss to her cheek. He tenderly tugged the tip of her lavender hair before silently disappearing into the next room.
As grateful as Isabella was, she wished she could have more. In nine months, she would know a mother’s love, but she wished she could have someone look at her the way Casey looked at Evangeline.
“You can’t stay in a motel…like that.” Nellie said. “You’re going to have to find a place of your own sooner rather than later.”
Reality slammed into Isabella and left her short of breath. She gave her friends a tight smile, but the truth was, she didn’t have a whole lot of funds left. She’d paid to rent the truck to get her stuff out of Tommy’s trailer and paid for the gas. As it was, Isabella still owed Evangeline and Nellie for helping her.
She could put a book series on sale and see if it boosted her profits, but she wasn’t sure that would work.
Evangeline leaned back in her seat, looking in the direction Casey had gone. Isabella thought her friend was pulling away. Then, Evangeline snapped forward, her eyes wide and alight with inspiration.
“I have an idea,” she said. She looked to Nellie. “You’re going to hate this, but what if Isabella moves in with the guys?”
Nellie’s eyes narrowed. She crossed her arms over her chest.
“The guys?” Isabella asked. “You mean your clan?”
Evangeline had spilled all to her. She hadn’t wanted secrets to get between them. Of course, Nellie hadn’t approved, but Nellie hated everything about the dragon shifters.
Evangeline’s brows shot skyward. “Yeah! Think about it. You could live there rent free while you write. We all know Tommy won’t come anywhere near them. You’d be safe.”
Safe. Isabella hadn’t felt that in years. She’d been living on edge since meeting the real Tommy, the guy beneath the loving mask he’d worn before she’d moved in with him. Safe had been a concept and nothing else.
Now, Evangeline wanted her to move into a house owned by a guy that could turn into a dragon. With other dragon boys.
The thought should have been frightening, but after seeing how Casey treated her friend, Isabella leaned into the notion.
“I mean, you’d have to clear it with them first,” Isabella said.
Evangeline waved her hand. “I’ve got this. They can’t say no to me.”
***
“No.” Gavin didn’t stick around to watch Evangeline’s face fall.
Dillon felt bad for her, but he didn’t have it in him to fight anymore. He’d already spent the night hovering over Erik while the man fought off his second beast. The day before that, Dillon had hunted Gavin down and coaxed him off a literal ledge. Damn red dragon was a menace, but Dillon was doing what he could to keep their secret safe from the humans.
“What do you mean no?” Evangeline shouted, chasing after Gavin.
The two yelled at each other from the other room, but Dillon’s attention focused on the woman she left behind. Dillon had seen Isabella once or twice, but it’d always been in passing. Now that they were alone, he couldn’t take his eyes off the golden curls cascading over her shoulders.
She’d wrapped her oversized cardigan tight around herself, so tight that she nearly trembled. Every word Evangeline and Gavin shouted at each other made Isabella shrink further into herself.
Dillon’s throat tightened. An invisible thread pulled him
closer to her, even though he was certain she would bolt at the sight of him. Everyone did.
He was about fifty pounds heavier than Casey, with shoulders that brushed both sides of the doorway when he walked through. Tattoos he’d gotten as a surly youth climbed his neck and reached up the back of his skull, making him even more intimidating.
Yet, when Isabella looked at him, she gave him a soft smile. That small gesture sent his heart pattering. He responded with his own, dumb grin.
“You look awful tired,” Isabella said, her brows folded by her concern.
Dillon paused, unprepared for her kindness when she was clearly the one hurting. “I’m pretty busy.”
She nodded. “I can see why. Is it always this loud here?”
“Sometimes Gavin screams at Erik, but that’s never quite as loud as when Evangeline visits.”
“I swear, she’s never known fear in her life,” Isabella muttered.
Dillon wanted to tell Isabella that she was wrong, but he didn’t want to frighten her away with horror stories. If he told her about the night of the fire and how terrified Evangeline had looked, then little Isabella would run away for sure.
He wanted her to stay. She was soft and beguiling, a breath of fresh air after living with these prickly guys for the past month.
“Do you know how to cook?” The words left him before he could stop. “Because I’ve eaten nothing but hamburgers for a month, and I think if I ever see another hamburger I’m going to die.”
He was never this talkative. His beast, silent and steady as always, shook itself and fixed her with an inquisitive stare. It was Dillon who felt off kilter around her.
Isabella laughed. The sound banished his exhaustion. He found himself standing upright and grinning.
“I can make all sorts of food,” she told him. “Italian is my favorite. I like making itty bitty meatballs.”
Dillon nodded, turned on his heel, and marched toward the sound of arguing in the living room. Evangeline had her arms crossed over her chest. Gavin was red in the face, probably infuriated that the human woman would not budge.
“The human girl is staying,” Dillon announced.
Gavin and Evangeline stopped yelling at each other and turned to stare at Dillon in unison. Gavin was the first to break past his shock.
He pointed a finger at Dillon. “You don’t get to say what goes on here. This is my house.”
Dillon shrugged, undeterred. This place needed a feminine touch. There were too many holes in the walls and the furniture was starting to smell like ground beef.
The air around Isabella smelled sweet and green, like a flower that hadn’t yet been plucked. He marched back to her and sucked in a breath of fresh air.
“Now that it’s been determined, would you like help bringing your things inside?”
Isabella blinked at him. She slowly let go of her cardigan. Relief hit Dillon as he watched her relax. He knew it was partly because of her confusion, but he would do anything to chase away her fear even if it meant confusing her every chance he got.
“I’m pretty sure Gavin said no,” Isabella said softly. “I can’t go against what he said. You’re being very kind, but if I’m not welcome here…”
Gavin stormed back into the kitchen, his hands clenched at his sides. “You can move in.”
Isabella balked. Her surprise slowly turned into a grin.
She bounded across the room and threw her arms around Gavin’s neck. Dillon’s beast snarled, a sound that slipped out of him and into existence. Gavin gave Dillon a funny look then pushed Isabella away. The distance between his clan leader and the human woman eased some of the tension that had snuck in between Dillon’s shoulders.
Gavin continued to stare at Dillon as he backed out of the room.
“You need to take my side in arguments a lot more,” Evangeline said, poking Dillon in the chest.
He raised a brow but said nothing. That wouldn’t have worked if he fought with Gavin like she did. Dillon’s silence was the only reason anyone listened to him. If he kept his thoughts to himself, then it seemed more important when he finally did speak.
He’d learned this the hard way, his voice always lost. No one in their previous clan had ever listened to him, so he’d learned to shut up and deal. Dillon had put his head down and done what he could to survive until Zander sent him on this mission with the others. Dillon hadn’t wanted to do it, but he knew Zander wouldn’t listen to his complaints.
Only here, among the other misfits, did anyone listen to Dillon. That was why he stayed up late with Erik and went searching for Gavin now that Casey had a mate to spend his time with. Dillon gave up everything he had to keep this clan whole because they were everything to him.
He wasn’t sure how much he had let to give, though. Sure, the clan listened to him, but they didn’t do much else to help. Dillon always made sure that he looked like he had his shit together. It wasn’t hard when he didn’t have any outward problems like Erik and Gavin. On the inside, though, Dillon could hear the wind echo through him.
All he had left was his disinterested beast. Not a drop of Dillon remained, and he wasn’t sure how to refill it.
He hoped having a pretty lady around would help. Even if she ended up falling for Gavin.
His beast didn’t like that idea. It snarled and gnashed its teeth, making his head throb. He bore the pain and kept the beast’s complaints locked deep down inside. He didn’t want the creature making a mess of this. If the beast got too rowdy, then Isabella would run for the hills.
That meant he needed to keep the others in check, too. Since Erik was spending more time at the bar, he wouldn’t have to break up too many fights between Erik and Gavin.
Evangeline spun toward Isabella. “I’ve got to get back to work, but I can drive you and Dillon into town for the moving truck. Is that okay?”
Isabella blinked, her lips pressed into a tight line. While she looked like she might cry, she still nodded and followed her friend out.
He stayed a few steps behind, trying not to scare the little human woman. He worried that she would fall apart if anyone here looked at her funny. She seemed to be holding together by a few frayed threads. His beast demanded that he fix her, but he didn’t know where to begin. He didn’t even know if it was his place.
For all he knew, this blonde had fallen into their lives for Gavin’s sake. Dillon hated the idea. Gavin was too rough and angry for her. She needed someone who could protect her. Dillon would have gladly been her shield against the world in exchange for a few sweet smiles.
And maybe some meatballs. Spaghetti sure sounded nice.
Chapter Two
Isabella watched as Dillon got behind the truck’s steering wheel without being asked. She let out a breath and released some of the nervous energy that’d been building in her chest. She hated driving this beast. It was far too large for her. She felt like she would run some poor pedestrian over or tip it off a sharp curve going up the mountain.
He eyed the cage on the bench seat between them. Persimmon eyed Dillon, too. The bunny’s ears twitched until she gave up and nestled into a sleepy bundle.
“Rabbit?” he asked.
“Her name is Persimmon. Tommy’s ex left her at his place. He wanted to let his friend’s dog have her, but I begged him to let me keep her. I had to be the one to pay for her food and take care of her, but I didn’t care so long as she was alive and well.”
Dillon grunted, but Isabella couldn’t decipher what the sound meant. He didn’t seem upset, but every now and then, his attention would flick between her and the grey bunny. Isabella shifted nervously in her seat.
“She’s cute.”
She buckled herself in, then pulled her purse close, dug through it for a piece of candy, and handed it to Dillon.
“You said you were sick of burgers,” she said. “I’d treat you to lunch for being so nice, but I can’t afford it right now. Can I offer you a rain check?”
He gently plucked the candy from he
r fingers and yanked it between his teeth until he was left with nothing but the wrapper in his fingers. His touch was surprisingly tender for a man with such massive hands. Each finger was about the size of a roll of quarters.
“You don’t owe me anything.”
She twisted her lips. No did anything for free. If she didn’t find a way to pay him back, then the imbalance would fester between them, and she didn’t want that. Dillon seemed nice. Already, he was gentler than any other man she’d ever known.
“Sometimes, I wish I was more like Evangeline,” Isabella said. “She’s got so much spark and spunk. You know? It was like fate threw curve balls at her because it knew she could handle them. I feel like fate threw them at me just to laugh. I can’t do anything quite like she can.”
Isabella had always looked up to her friend. Perhaps that was why they’d made so many of the same mistakes. Isabella had blindly followed in Evangeline’s footsteps in all the wrong ways. While her friend had a business and a sexy new lover, Isabella had this truck full of her crap.
Most of it was stuff she’d picked up on the side of the road over the past few years. The only things she felt like she could call her own were the plants she’d propagated. She’d nurtured them from little plant pieces into beautiful specimens. Now they were rattling around the back of the moving truck without fresh air or sunlight.
While Isabella knew she’d made the right decision, she couldn’t help but worry about her future. Sure, Gavin had agreed to let her stay at the cabin without rent, but she didn’t know how long that would last. And, in nine months, she would have a crying baby. Neither she nor Evangeline had mentioned that she was pregnant.
The guys wouldn’t want a baby around. They wanted to drink beers and have fun. Isabella and her child would only ruin their mood. Which meant she needed to find her own place sooner rather than later. She didn’t want to be seven months pregnant and moving all this stuff all over again.
“You look sad,” Dillon said, breaking her out of her thoughts.
Finding The Forgotten (Rogue Dragons Book 2) Page 1