Dark Moon Falls: Volume 2

by Bella Roccaforte

  Lydia had nothing but confidence that her man would fight for her. But she didn’t want him to have to.

  “Lydia is mine,” growled Foster in a deeper, darker voice than she’d ever heard.

  “There is nothing here for you anymore, Mac,” she yelled.

  “I want the flash drive and the book I mailed you!”

  “What are you talking about? What mail?” Suddenly it hit her.

  Lydia recalled the package she’d received in those weeks Mac had left her after their hasty marriage. She’d left it in the trunk of her old car and had forgotten about it. Until that very moment.

  “You know which one! It’s the key to the ritual now give it back!”

  “Mac, I got rid of that car a long time ago. The engine died. It was junked.”

  “No, you stupid bitch,” he growled angrily.

  “You never told me what it was you were looking for that night! You just hit me like an animal. I don’t have anything of yours anymore. Just go!”

  “What about my little girl? You stole my daughter from me like you stole my book and the instructions that old man gave us on the flash drive, you stupid bitch. I need it to finish the ritual.”

  “The ritual? So you have the artifacts then? The dagger, the cloth, and the claw?” Foster asked, eyes wide.

  “Yes, I’ve got them! Stupid fucking Pack thinks they’re better than me! I just need the book and I will take all the strength from every Wolf I meet. Then I will challenge Elias and take over the Pack. Now, give me the book!”

  “You’re crazy! I don’t have any book,” she yelled.

  “It won’t work, Mac. The ritual is more than that. You can’t possibly contain it.”

  “I can! I will!”

  “Mac, I don’t have any book! I never did,” she tried to reason with him, but knew it wouldn’t work. He was too far gone.

  “Give it to me, you whore! It’s mine!” Mac lunged forward.

  His claw-tipped fingers almost made contact, but Foster was there to push him away. The men crashed into each other, then the front door in a tangle of limbs as they pounded each other into the mud.

  From one flash of lightning to the next, Lydia watched in horror as skin turned to fur. Foster’s Wolf was bigger than Mac’s, but that scraggly sonovabitch, yes, the same one who’d been in her driveway, was wily as ever.

  It stunned her to see this monster from her past. Shocked with the speed and length of his violent nature. Everything happened so fast, she could hardly comprehend it.

  Mac’s Wolf slipped between Foster’s legs drawing blood from his underbelly. Foster’s beautiful Wolf howled in pain. He turned in time to catch Mac’s hindleg in his powerful jaws. Snarling and shaking his head back and forth, Foster was relentless. He held on through all of Mac’s blows until one landed on his snout.

  Lydia screamed in fear for her mate. She’d been afraid of Mac before but seeing him square off with the man she loved was unthinkable. It broke through her fear. She ran to the kitchen and grabbed the marble rolling pin off the counter, turning around she saw Mac’s soaked Wolf growling at her from the doorway.

  He snapped his bloodstained jaws, dripping drool and filth onto the linoleum and she backed up a step. She knew he was going to lunge. Knew he was going for the kill. Images of her sweet baby Skylar flitted through her mind as did the only man she’d ever really loved.

  Foster. How cruel was it that she would die before she discovered just how far their love could go? The second she saw Mac lean back, readying to jump, she closed her eyes and whispered a prayer for her daughter and mate.

  Gripping the rolling pin tightly in her hands, she held it overhead. Lydia tensed waiting for the agony she knew was about to come. Only, it didn’t.

  The sound of Mac’s Wolf’s agonizing wail caused her to open her eyes. There she saw Foster, fully clothed and dripping wet with the Wolf caught up in his arms. He looked Lydia in the eyes, his own glowing silver with his animal. She nodded slightly and he twisted the other Wolf’s head, snapping his neck and tossing him in the mud behind him.

  Foster collapsed to his knees in the doorway and she rushed to him. Uncaring of the blood and mud she hurled herself at him, trusting him to catch her. And he did.

  “You okay?” He asked.

  His voice was rough with his animal and he was still trying to catch his breath, but she understood him just fine.

  “Yes, you?”

  “I’ll heal,” he smirked and took the rolling pin out of her hand.

  “Were you going to attack a Wolf Shifter with this?”

  “Uh, yeah, I was.”

  His laughter was rough and rang out through the rain and wind. She squeezed him tightly to her chest. Joy that they were both there and whole rang up inside of her like Sunday bells in a churchyard.

  “For you, I’d fight Dragons with a toothpick,” she laughed back and kissed him deeply on the mouth with everything she had inside her.

  “You crazy, wonderful, amazing woman. I love you so damn much,” he said and kissed her back.

  Epilogue

  “Hey, Pop, the baby pooped again!” Skylar yelled to where Foster was grilling a rack of spareribs and a couple of burgers for supper while Lydia was resting inside.

  The birth of their son, Gabriel, had been rough on his mate, but she was recovering nicely. A little side effect of having a Shifter as a fated mate was sharing in some of the healing aspects of his nature, as well as increased longevity. Still, she’d been in labor some twenty-eight hours before their stubborn little pup came into the world and that was only two weeks ago.

  Skylar was taking to the new addition with a reasonable amount of suspicion. She’d been sort of uncertain about keeping the newborn once he’d arrived.

  “His face is squished. Is he gonna live in the hospital?” She’d asked after Gabriel was born.

  “Well, no honey, remember the nursery your Pop painted with all those animals and the crib he built? That’s for your brother,” Lydia had answered.

  “Hmm. Well, he can stay in there, but no brothers allowed in my room,” she’d returned.

  All pretty typical behavior, or so her teacher at the Pack school had said. When was Ms. Conway ever wrong?

  Now that the baby and Lydia had both been home for a while, he’d noticed a change in Skylar. She seemed more fond of the baby than she’d been at first and that was precious as far as he was concerned. She was going to be an amazing big sister. She already was.

  He could hardly believe he was a father to two wonderful pups. That all the trouble he’d had in his life had now resulted in the most pure form of happiness he’d ever felt. And it was all due to Lydia. She was a miracle in more ways than one. She was his reason.

  “Pop!”

  “I’m coming, munchkin. Don’t wake Mommy now,” he said.

  He took the meat off the grill carefully. Rare and a little bloody, the perfect temperature if you asked him. He placed it on the table, covering it with a lid and took a look around at the refinished deck and the yellow and cream striped awning Lydia had wanted installed. It was pretty.

  Most things she chose were pretty. She really enjoyed shopping and fixing the house just right, making it theirs. She was so careful with spending money he almost had to force her hand. He chuckled to himself as he pictured her face when he showed her their new joint bank account.

  Foster had more money than he knew what to do with, but the first thing he wanted to do was give it to her. Of course, his budget conscious wife wouldn’t hear of it. She set up a not-so-rigid allowance for them and the house. He’d done his best to stick to it.

  So what if he spoiled her a little? She deserved it. Just look at all she’d given him! A mate and a family. A real home. For the first time in his life Wolf and man were content. All because of Lydia.

  God, he loved her. His Wolf was content now that she and their family were safe from the threat of Mac and his rogues. Elias along with Levi had managed to hunt down his partner. They
’d found the artifacts and garnered a confession that went a long way in clearing Foster’s name.

  Lydia’s old car was history though. The attempts they’d made to find it at the town where it had died ended at the local junkyard. The owner figured it had been crushed right along with the book and flash drive that sorry excuse for a Shifter had wanted.

  Good riddance as far as Foster was concerned. No Shifter should ever try anything like that rogue had wanted to try. To steal another’s powers was akin to murder. The thought made him shake with rage. That bastard had been willing to murder his mate. He was glad he was dead.

  As for his own case, Foster had received a formal apology from the courts and a newspaper article with the information that he’d been falsely imprisoned in every national and international paper. As somewhat of a celebrity in art circles, he’d taken the high route and accepted the apology while also donating a million dollars to the appellate teams of other Shifters who’d been imprisoned falsely.

  It had felt right at the time and he was still standing by that decision. He’d been lucky. Others weren’t. Simple as that.

  The sound of the wind filtering through the woods that surrounded their house brought peace to his Wolf. Foster inhaled the scent of pine trees and good cooked meat that permeated the air. Life was good. He had more than he’d ever dreamed.

  “Pop!” Skylar’s voice cracked through his reverie and he smiled widely before walking inside to wash his hands and tend his son.

  He looked down at Skylar patting baby Gabriel’s head gently and his heart swelled with pride. These were his children, he realized and had to choke back a tear as he lifted the baby and brought him to the changing table.

  “There you are, squirt,” he cooed to the baby.

  Foster wrapped him up in a blanket when he was all clean and walked him over to the door that connected the master bedroom to the nursery in the large house they’d bought in Dark Moon Falls.

  He and his mate had spent much of the past eight months renovating the place and making it theirs. He was more than proud of the end results. It was a home now, not just a house and it was full of love.

  Lydia seemed to know the moment he was there. She turned around and opened her beautiful blue eyes as she reached for their son.

  “Hi Mommy!”

  “Hi Skylar, you being a good girl?” She turned her head and kissed their daughter before the pup could scamper off. It was tough for her to sit still at this age, but that was normal for most children her age, little Shifters especially.

  “There you are,” she whispered to Gabriel and Foster smiled at the pair of them.

  He watched with his heart in his throat as she opened her nursing gown and fed their child from her breast.

  “I never get tired of watching you do that,” he said and stroked her soft curls as she tended their son.

  “Mm,” she smiled, “he’s perfect, like his sister. Looks like his Pop though.”

  “You think?”

  “I do.”

  “Speaking of I do’s,” he said dropping to one knee beside the bed where she sat holding their son. He held a certain blue jewelry box out to her.

  Lydia gasped looking from the box to Foster and back again.

  “I can’t open it. I’m holding Gabe.”

  “Here, let me,” he said fighting his grin as he displayed the diamond ring.

  He was an artist, but he’d never designed jewelry until now. The three carat diamond sat imbedded in a thick band of white gold so as not to scratch her or the baby.

  He’d had both their initials etched inside with a small apple blossom underneath and an eternity symbol on top. The diamond itself was perfect, classic, like her, and surrounded on either side by two colored stones, one for Skylar and one for Gabriel.

  “It’s the children’s birthstones,” she gasped and Foster smiled. He figured they could always add more if they had other children.

  “Do you like it?”

  “I love it!”

  “Well?”

  “What?” She said eyes wide as she looked at the ring, then at the baby, to the door where Skylar scampered off, and finally, back to Foster.

  “Will you marry me?”

  “Yes, I will!” She laughed and Foster expelled the breath he didn’t know he was holding.

  On the heels of his formal acceptance into the Dark Moon Falls Pack, he’d just gotten the best answer he’d ever heard in his life. Lydia had agreed to be his wife.

  “Mine,” he growled playfully and kissed her head, placing his ring on her finger.

  “Pop! Are we gonna eat dinner!” Came a shout from the other room.

  “Better go feed our girl,” said Lydia.

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be back to tuck the little guy in when I’m done and I’ll bring you a tray.”

  “Alright,” she smiled and waved with her ring sparkling in the soft sunlight coming in through the open windows.

  “Lydia?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Thank you,” he began, unsure of how to articulate what he was feeling. He saw his future in her eyes and his heart firmly in her hands. The image humbled him, kept him striving to deserve her.

  “You are everything to me and I will spend the rest of my life loving you,” he vowed.

  “I love you too,” she said and his heart threatened to beat him to death. He’d never get tired of hearing her say that.

  “Mine.”

  “Yours.”

  The end.

  Discover more about Dark Moon Falls by visiting the publisher’s site here: http://hotboxpublishing.com/

  & Don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter here: http://hotboxpublishing.com/newsletter/

  About the Author

  Hi! I’m C.D. Gorri, Steamy Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy/YA Author, Creator of the Grazi Kelly Universe. I am proud to be a Smashwords USA Today Happy Ever After Hot List Indie Author! I’ve always been an avid reader, and I have a profound love for books and literature. When I’m not writing or taking care of my family I can usually be found with a book or tablet in my hand. I live in my home state of New Jersey with my husband, our children, and our dogs, Dash and Chewie.

  I’m a busy mom of three and finding time for leisurely reading was never easy, so I write stories that are fast-paced, yet detailed with satisfying conclusions. If I thought making time to read was difficult, I was in for a huge surprise when I started writing, but now that I started, I can’t picture myself doing anything else! I love writing powerful women and strong heroes who face relatable problems in supernatural settings! I plan on increasing the GK Universe with each and every story I publish. You can follow me on social media to keep up to date on all my new releases and events!

  Thanks for reading!

  Del mare alla stella,

  C.D. Gorri

  Connect with C.D. Gorri

  Follow me here:

  https://www.facebook.com/Cdgorribooks

  https://twitter.com/cgor22

  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/c-d-gorri

  Visit my website to find out more about my supernatural world also known as the Grazi Kelly Universe!

  https://www.cdgorri.com

  *Sign up for my newsletter and get the latest on my releases, giveaways, freebies and more:

  https://www.subscribepage.com/cdgorri

  Other Titles by C.D. Gorri

  Click the links below for more paranormal romance by C.D. Gorri!

  Macconwood Pack Novel Series:

  Macconwood Pack Tales Series:

  The Falk Clan Tales:

  The Bear Claw Tales:

  The Barvale Clan Tales:

  Purely Paranormal Pleasures:

  Zodiac Shifters:

  The Maverick Pride Tales:

  Dire Wolf Mates:

  Shake That Sass: Sassy Ever After: Dire Wolf Mates Book 1

  Dark Moon Falls II:

  Foster (as seen in Dark Moon Falls II anthology)

  Coming Soon:

>   Polar Outbreak: The Barvale Clan Tales #2

  Conall’s Mate: A Macconwood Pack Novel #6

  Taming Magic: The Angela Tanner Files #3

  Purrfectly Caught: Paranormal Dating Agency: A Maverick Pride Tale #3

  Purrfectly Timed: Paranormal Dating Agency: A Maverick Pride Tale #4

  Purrfectly Trapped: Paranormal Dating Agency: A Maverick Pride Tale #5

  Breaking Sass: Dire Wolf Mates Book 2

  Josh

  Skye Jones

  Josh

  A wolf shifter who lost everything, and a woman who gave everything up. Finding each other could be their salvation…or their curse.

  Joshua Steele fought for his country and returned home to find his pack torn apart, his family destroyed, and his home devastated. All he has now is his little sister. After everything she’s gone through, he swears to protect her at all costs. He can’t do it alone though, so he seeks sanctuary within the pack in Dark Moon Falls.

  Rebecca Lang is a woman on the run. She escaped from England to Dark Moon Falls to flee from her abusive ex-boyfriend. Seeking only solitude, she hides on the outskirts of town, making a living selling her paintings online. Then she meets wolf shifter, Josh. Rebecca finds herself falling hard and fast, but she’s keeping secrets. Ones that could prove deadly. When Rebecca’s secrets bring danger tearing into Dark Moon Falls, Josh is torn between protecting his sister and saving the woman who stole his heart.

  1

  Rebecca

  Rebecca stood back, the brush balanced in her fingers, with another clenched between her teeth. She stared at the painting, moving her head first one way, and then another.