Fate's Way (Salutem Book 4), page 1
Contents
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Come and join me!
Fate's Way
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
To Breathe Again
Mate of Mine
Take a Chance
Broken Promises
Thank You
About Megs
Books by Megs
Contact Information
Fate’s Way
By
Megs Pritchard
Book 4 in the Salutem Series
Fate’s Way
A Salutem Novel Book
Copyright © 2019 Megs Pritchard
www.megspritchardauthor.com
Edited by Rebecca J Cartee
Cover design by JC Clarke at The Graphics Shed
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods. It is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot legally be loaned or given to others. For permission requests, write to the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblances to the actual person, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
WARNING
This book contains explicit M/M sexual scenes and strong language.
Dedication
No matter what life throws at you, you always try. Love you.
Come and join me!
Thanks for your support and if you want more information or sneak peeks, join my Facebook group and sign up for my newsletter.
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Fate’s Way
Alekzander Krawowski hated humans. He despised the very air they breathed. Humans had killed his friend and Alek wanted nothing to do with them. One day in Sam’s Coffee Shop he ran into his mate—a human.
Was fate or whatever it was having a laugh at his expense? No way was he mating a human, not even when his entire body was pulling him towards the man. Nope, wasn’t going to happen.
Rhys Monahan had been living in Salutem after his sister mated a shifter and they’d moved there. Rhys got the surprise of his life when he was knocked to the ground and stared up at the gorgeous shifter. He felt the pull, the connection and knew what it meant. What Rhys couldn’t understand was why Alek hated him so much.
Could Alek move on from his past and embrace his future?
Chapter One
Cyan Dubois walked into the Salutem Council meeting and wearily sat down. The meeting was in progress, and as he looked at his brother, Indigo, he caught the look he sent them.
They all agreed the increased patrols were working, or seemed to be at least, as there had been no further attempted kidnappings from in and around Salutem. However, that wasn’t stopping the scientists and soldiers from hurting those already in captivity.
Tension was rising within the committee; the sense of helplessness was visible for all to see. Frustration was boiling over, and now they were arguing about how they were going to find and free the captured shifters.
Hunter Blanchard and his mate, Carter, had been unstoppable in their hunt to find where they were being held. The Council was using that information and had been steadily hitting those locations, but it was soul destroying. For every site they managed to find living shifters, there was another that had been abandoned, only the dead left behind.
Clarke and Marco knew only too well what those held were going through. The soldiers had kidnapped Marco and had almost gotten away before Marco’s mate, Clarke, had found and stopped them.
They were all going around in circles; while they were all on board with the plan to stop these elusive men and women, no one could agree how to execute it.
I’m getting a headache.
Cyan smirked at Indigo. You wanted to take over when Viridian stepped down.
I thought I could help.
Stubbornness is a part of our nature.
Couldn’t they be less stubborn? We can’t keep having these meetings and getting nowhere, arguing over the same details. Our people are suffering, dying while we sit here all safe and secure, arguing over insignificant particulars. How many shifters do we need to take? How many weapons do we need?
Maybe you should overrule them. You are the mayor after all. We chose you for a reason.
Indigo arched a brow at Cyan. And how would that help? It would cause the Council to fracture, and the damage might be irreparable.
Cyan rubbed a hand over his face. He just wanted to go home to Alex, his mate. He hadn’t seen him in several days, and he missed him. Cyan was part of the new Vampire Council, and even though he was honored to be a part of it and enjoyed being involved, there were times he’d rather be at home cuddling Alex.
You’ll get there, Indy. Let me know what you need doing, and I’ll be there.
Going home?
Cyan nodded, which caught the attention of Brian Sterling, one of the Council members. “Cyan. How did it go?”
Cyan smiled wearily. “Good. Everything’s on track. The Council is effective in stopping dissension. Jacques won’t have the laws broken again. He certainly won’t allow humans to be used as blood slaves.”
Jacques Matthias was the Vampire King and also Council leader. During the previous King’s reign, and under the old Council’s rule, blood slaves had been kept by the vampires, breaking their own laws. The old King had been power mad, deciding vampires should rule the world, and had plotted for years to achieve that.
Jacques had been a blood slave, so had an intimate knowledge of the devastation the old King and Council had caused. It was helping Jacques to free the slaves that had led Cyan to his mate, Alex, a former slave.
If it wasn’t for Jacques and Rescue, Inc. stopping him, the King might have succeeded, and Alex would have been lost to Cyan forever.
He owed Jacques everything, so when he’d asked him to attend Council meetings, it hadn’t occurred to him to refuse.
“Jacques won’t put up with any shit. Is he coming over soon?”
“Yes, both he and Miguel. They’ll be here in a month or so. We still have a few former slaves here recovering, so he’ll want to check on them.”
“I like him,” Brian said. “He’s a good man.”
“He is, but he has his hands full.”
“Has Hunter or Carter dug up any new information we can use?”
“No. The info we did manage to get hold of is starting to prove unreliable. I think they know we’ve managed to breach their systems, so they’re changing locations. We need to hit them now while we still can.”
“We’re just discussing that.”
“I’ll leave it up to you then.” Cyan stood and stretched. “I’m going home to Alex.”
With a final glance at Indy, Cyan left. Hope that helps.
Me too. Thanks, Cy.
❊❊❊
Rhys Monahan walked down Main Street toward Sam’s Coffee Shop. He was hunched up, the cold penetrating the thick coat he wore. The snow crunched underfoot, but luckily the sidewalk had been gritted.
Cars and trucks drove by slowly, the snow turning to slush on the roads. Decorations lined the shops, and everyone he met smiled or waved. Rhys smiled as he walked past. He’d been living in Salutem for six months and loved the town. His sister, Ray, had mated with a shifter, which was how he’d found out they existed. Boy, had that been an eye opener.
It had been just the two of them after their parents passed away, and they had always been close. Ray was older than him by fifteen months, and she’d taken on the responsibility of running their home while he finished school. She’d thought nothing of giving her up chance of college and finding a job to support them. There was nothing Rhys wouldn’t do to make her happy, so when her mate found her, and she said she was moving, she’d begged Rhys to come with her, and he’d agreed.
They spoke every day and met up every other day. Rhys had wondered how Brody, Ray’s mate, felt about it, but then he’d met Brody’s family. He was one of four, and they’d welcomed him with open arms.
Every Sunday he had lunch with them. It felt strange at first; he’d gotten used to it being just the two of them. But that hadn’t lasted long. He was soon a part of their family, and while Brody’s parents didn’t make up for the loss of Rhys’, it helped to fill a small part of the void left in his heart after losing them.
He missed them. His parents had been amazing people. They spoke to everyone regardless of their ethnicity, religion, or sexuality. They said those things didn’t make a person—a person’s actions spoke louder. So naturally when he’d told them he was gay, it hadn’t bothered them in the slightest.
He didn’t regret moving to Salutem at all. Even though he was human, he was generally treated no different than anyone else. He’d made friends with shifters and humans alike and even knew a couple of vampires.
Not everyone though had been friendly, and at first, Rhys couldn’t understand the hostility until Brody had explained that those shifters had probably lost family or friends at the hands of human hunters. That was the reason they had signs all around town and the surrounding forest that hunting wasn’t permitted.
And then there were the scientists or whoever it was they claimed to be; they certainly weren’t scientists in Rhys’ eyes. You didn’t do the things they had done to a living, breathing person. Just because a person could change forms didn’t mean they should be hunted, kidnapped, and tested until the scientists finally killed them.
It still boggled Rhys mind that people could change forms, and he’d adjusted to it but not the abuse. Fuck no. Shifters wanted the same things humans did: a family, a home, a job to pay the bills. To be happy and loved.
Rhys arrived at Sam’s and knocked on the door, waving when Sam saw him. When Sam let him in, he banged his feet on the mat and shivered.
“Cold out today, Rhys.”
“Freezing.”
“Coffee before we start?” Sam asked.
Rhys nodded and smiled at Sky when she walked in from the back carrying a tray of muffins. “Morning, Sky.”
“Hi, Rhys. Bet you’re awake after that walk.” She smirked as she put the muffins in the glass bakery case.
“A little? I think my nuts are trying to crawl back into my chest!”
Sky laughed, and Sam shook his head. “Here’s your coffee. Five minutes till we open.”
“And the ravenous horde descends,” Sky said, a smile on her face.
“With one of your brothers first in line.”
“Cyan probably. He always buys something for Alex. It’s nice.”
Sam mimicked throwing up but then smiled. “He has a good mate.”
“He is, and Alex deserves to be treated after everything he’s been through.”
Rhys nodded. He knew a little about Alex’s past as a blood slave to the vampires. He also knew Rescue, Inc. and some of the shifters who had helped free the slaves and bring about such a monumental change. The previous King had been replaced by Jacques, a former slave himself, and he’d created a new Council that was a mix of vampires, humans, and shifters.
Rhys had met Jacques and his mate, Miguel. Jacques often came to Salutem to see how the former slaves were. It had always puzzled him how Jacques, a vampire, had ended up a slave, but then he’d found out it was because of Jacques’ sexuality.
Sighing, Rhys shook his head and washed up, then put his apron on to get ready to serve the first customers of the day. Sure enough, when he looked up, he saw Cyan waiting.
“Morning, Cy. Usual?”
“Morning. Please, but can I have a chocolate chip cookie too?”
Sky walked around the counter and hugged her big brother. “Hey. You buying something extra for Alex?”
“He drove to Morefield on his own yesterday.”
Sky grinned. “He did? That’s great. He’s doing so much better now.”
“He is, and how about you?”
Sky waved the question away. “I’m a Dubois. It’ll take more than a kidnapping to screw me up.”
“But?” Cyan gave her a pointed look.
“The therapy sessions help too, but I know I was lucky because my family saved me.”
Rhys looked away, giving them a moment of privacy. He caught Sam’s eyes, and they smiled at each other. Sky had been kidnapped by the scientists, and it had taken her family many frantic months to find and free her. He’d heard talk of a mate too but didn’t know much about it. He knew she had one, but that was all.
“How’s Ezra?”
“He’s better. He’s working at the school as a TA.”
“I heard. We need to celebrate, get the family together. Will he be up for that, Sky?”
“Yeah, he will. He’s so much better than when you rescued him. I never told you—”
“And you don’t need to.”
Rhys coughed and turned back to Sky and Cyan with his order. “Sorry,” he mumbled, not wanting to interrupt.
“Thanks, Rhys. I’ll get these back to Alex.”
“Tell him to pop in later when I’m on break.”
Cyan rolled his eyes but nodded. “Will do.” He handed over twenty dollars, kissed Sky on the cheek, and then left the shop.
“He’s a good brother.”
Sky smiled. “He is. They all are.”
“Right, you two. Back to work.”
They dealt with the morning rush, handling orders for coffee, muffins, and cakes. Sam had started a small breakfast range that was selling well, and Rhys had mentioned opening a little earlier for those who had jobs delivering goods. Sam was looking into it, and if he decided to try it out, it would be up to Rhys to arrange.
It was more responsibility but nothing he couldn’t handle. The fact that Sam listened to his staff and took their comments and suggestions on board was a change. The last boss Rhys had was an ass. No one’s idea was good enough—unless it came with his name attached.
“Wow,” Sky muttered.
“What?” Rhys looked up but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“He never comes in here.”
Rhys furrowed his brow and asked, “Who?”
“Alekzander Krawowski. Let me deal with him.” Sam stood by the counter, making Rhys step back.
When Sky pushed him farther back, he stopped and stared at the man who’d walked in. Maybe he didn’t like humans. Not the first time he’d dealt with it at work.
“Alek. What brings you here?”
“Coffee machine broke.” Alek grunted. “Coffee, black.”
“Please,” Rhys muttered under his breath.
Next thing, he was being dragged over the counter. Sam was shouting at Alek, who had grabbed Rhys, trying to get him to let go. Sky was screaming at Alek too, hitting his arm to get him to release Rhys. The customers still in the shop were shouting too as Sam tried to pry Alek’s hands off.
Rhys grunted when his back hit the floor, and every muscle froze when Alek crouched over him and sniffed his neck.
“Fuck, no,” Alek growled.
Rhys swallowed and muttered, “I’m really not that tasty.”
Alek growled and lowered his face to Rhys. “A fucking human.”
“Yep, that’s me. A lowly human. Not good for anything.” He swallowed and almost whimpered when he caught sight of Alek’s fangs.
“Fuck my life.”
Chapter Two
“Fuck my life.”
Alek growled. He fucking hated humans, lowlife pieces of scum. Fucking trash and now this one turned out to be his fucking mate. Still crouched over the human, he pulled him up and growled in his face, but part of him was ecstatic, and Alek hated the human even more.
The human stared up at him, his face devoid of color and his eyes comically wide. Alek glanced at the name tag. Rhys. His mate’s name was Rhys, and he was a fucking human.
Sam pushed him back, forcing him to move away from the human. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Alek stabbed a finger at the human still lying on the floor. He refused to call him mate because he wasn’t going to mate with that piece of shit. “Him.”
“What have I done? I don’t even know you.” Rhys stared up at him.
“You exist.” Alek glared at the human and smiled sadistically when he saw him swallow.
“Leave him alone,” Sam ordered.
Alek glared at the human, his eyes glowing, then spun on his heel and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. “Fuck my life.”
Pulling up the collar of his coat, Alek growled under his breath as he stormed toward his truck. “Motherfucker.”
He could feel the need to go back clawing at him, and he ignored it. Just because he’d found his mate didn’t mean he was going to do anything about it. Rhys could die for all he cared; there was no fucking chance he was touching that fucker, let alone having sex and biting him.
