Wolf Mountain Peak Complete Series, page 111
part #1 of Wolf Mountain Peak Series
“I love you,” she let out a deep whisper ignoring the rain that pelted down around them.
“I love you, too, my calm sea,” he uttered, pressing his fingers into her skin.
“Calm sea?” Ava gave a short chuckle. “What’s that: my new nickname?”
“Yeah,” James affirmed. “You always keep your cool, even when things take a nasty turn.”
She tipped her head slightly up, longing to tease him, but when she opened her eyes, she spotted something behind him. Yet another lightning bolt tore across the sky, illuminating her surroundings for nothing more than a split second. For her though, it was enough to discover the person’s identity. It was Helena, pulling the hood of her cloak back from her head. Her wink and her broad smile answered the question she had posed to him earlier. She was the one who had disclosed all of this information to him. The almighty witch of Paxton had done what she had professed never to do in personal matters: meddle. Without much thought, Ava returned her smile. She was back in his arms, clinging to the one man who had captured her heart. “How” and “why” didn’t matter.
For her, the journey to a land of emotions was only now beginning. She would fly away with him into the stars of their love, and savor their hard-earned happiness for the rest of her life. There would be obstacles along the way, like his job, but she didn’t mind. Deep down, she believed that what they shared was much stronger than financial insecurity. Just like him, Ava wanted what she had been missing out on for more than a decade: a family. A house filled with children had been her lifelong dream. From here on out, she would build a home with him, his son, and hopefully, their own offspring. He was the epitome of a dedicated father, in the body of a Greek God. He was James Norris: the man who would go to extreme lengths for his loved ones, without any regard for his well-being; her fantasy; her mate.
*** The End ***
Book 10: A Wolf’s Peace
Sarah J. Stone
Chapter One
“We have peace. My brothers and my sister are happy with their mates, and so am I with my Julia. Life doesn’t get any better than this.”
Ray Bradford was savoring the precious gift of tranquility that had descended upon Paxton, along with his entire family and his fellow town residents. It was late-November, and their days of turmoil were being blown away, like dry leaves in the autumn breeze. The wars that had been threatening to destroy everything they cherished were over. All Bear shifters, Wolf shifters, and Vampires had been taught to stay away from them; the price they would pay for doing otherwise would be the loss of their very lives. David Hudson’s brothers had learned that when they met the pack head-on, and so did Samuel Davis for that matter. For Ray, those two cases were nothing more than a short break from their reality. Why? Because they weren’t really battles. Two bear shifters against more than twenty wolves was not a fair fight whatsoever. They had no problem disposing of them. Furthermore, a human, regardless of his connections, his money, and his bodyguards, did not exactly qualify as a formidable adversary. Ray and his brothers had been able to end them with ease. Neither him, nor his brothers enjoyed taking lives, but the Bear shifters’ recklessness had amused him. In fact, it had become one of his favorite topics over a drink, and this night in “Joe’s” diner was no exception.
“David seems like a smart guy,” he stated, voicing his opinion to Julia, before lifting his beer bottle to his lips. “So, where did his brothers get their brains?”
“Will you leave that alone already?” Julia wondered, furrowing her brow. “They’re gone. Let’s just leave it at that.”
“What the hell were they thinking, Jules?” Ray muttered, assuming a more serious tone. “I mean: two against two dozen? Did they honestly expect to win against those odds?”
“I guess we’ll never know,” Julia shrugged her shoulders. “Anyway, that night is the last thing on my mind right now. I’m going to be an aunt to another human child. I’m happy for Kate, but I’d rather if her boy was a shifter. The experience would prove valuable for me in the future.”
“What do you mean?” Ray asked, slightly leaning forward as he set his bottle down on the table.
“I love the idea of becoming a mother someday; I really do, but…” she faltered, pressing her lips together. “Shifter babies can be even bigger handfuls than human. Can you imagine our little brat shifting in the middle of the night, going God knows where? What if we upset her, and she just craps all over the living room?”
Every head of the thirty or so bystanders turned to her when she completed her sentence. Ray lazily raised his hand to cover his eyes, biting his lower lip; but his fellow shifters were not so kind. In an instant, the diner was filled with roaring, hearty laughter. Some were clutching their stomachs, their spines flexing and extending, whereas others had leaned over their tables, banging their hands onto the surface while Julia took a few, puzzled glances around her.
“Why are they laughing?” she inquired, her voice picking up speed and her brow wrinkling in confusion.
“Knock it off boys; she’s still learning,” Ray urged, using a louder tone before he shifted his attention back to her. “Mess…” he held in a chuckle. “It doesn’t work that way. Shifter children are no different from human children for the first four or five years of their lives. Their beasts lay dormant, waiting for the proper stimulus. Whether it is joy, sadness, anger, or fear, they don’t wake up, unless that emotion is extremely powerful. Most of us feel it on our first day in kindergarten. Just like in humans, separation from our mom is very traumatic.”
“Yeah, I still remember that,” Julia said, her voice weakening and her gaze lowering. “I was all over my mother; I kept begging her not to go. I used to love her a lot back then. Now, though: I don’t care if she disappears from the earth.”
“You’re still mad at her,” he concluded, his smile wiped off of his face.
“I’ll always be mad at her,” she emphasized, staring down at her feet. “She killed my father when she cheated on him. But, that wasn’t enough, was it? She just had to lie to me about him, had to call him a ‘cheater.’ Talk about disrespect for the dead.”
Ray swallowed hard, pondering a response, but they had had this conversation too many times in the past, and its outcome was more or less the same: he was left trying to fathom her pain, and Julia ended up always declaring her disgust for her mother. She could not get over her betrayal. Parting his lips, he reached his arm towards her, unwilling to let her suffer from the memory of her mother’s actions. Before he could offer her any words of comfort, however, something drew his attention. A quick, sharp cry of agony, came from outside. Averting his gaze from her, he looked out the window across from him. Still, he was unable to see anything but darkness.
“Wait here,” he urged, rising up to his 6’1” stature. “I need to go check this out.”
“Right,” she said with a nod, her gaze locked on his face. She then proceeded to rise from her seat. “Let’s go.”
“Julia - ”
“Do you remember what happened the last time you went out to investigate something on your own?” she interrupted him, her tone firm as she intensified her stare. Much to his dislike, the answer was simple and very painful indeed. Ray had been abducted by Donna, Helena’s niece.
“Fine, you can come with,” he reluctantly agreed, moving around their table. Starting off towards the rear exit, he felt his comrades’ eyes on him. For a moment, he believed that this was one of Julia’s jokes. Yet, the seriousness in her voice compelled him to reject that notion. And, when Ray pulled the glass door open, the view outside convinced him that he was dealing with yet another ugly reality. Robert Matheson and Pete Wilcox, the two shifters charged with guarding the eastern border of Paxton, were heading towards the building. Robert had circled his arm around Pete’s shoulders, holding on to him as he staggered towards Ray. Blood had stained his green sweater. The trail it had left as it dripped down his body was visible, even in the dark.
“What happened out there, guys?” Ray asked, tension creeping into his voice. He hopped off the last few steps of the staircase.
“This,” Pete replied, opening his hand, palm outward. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The object in his possession looked eerily familiar. It was a large, purple dart, resembling the ones that Riker’s crew had been using to sedate animals, during Ray’s captivity. “I saw a flash first. The sound came later. Next thing I knew, Rob here was lying on the ground, moaning in pain.”
“Where did it come from?” Ray posed one more question, his gaze shooting up to meet his comrades’ eyes.
“Northeast: it’s not from Highmount, though,” Pete responded, maintaining a steady tone. “I saw the flash very clearly. The shooter was up in a tree, hundreds of yards away from the Bears’ town.”
“Good,” Ray gave him an appraising node. “Boys, let’s get Rob inside. I also want one of you to go notify Raul,” he added, looking up at the pack as they gathered around him on the staircase. “He needs to know about this, ASAP.”
Chapter Two
Baffled by this unexpected event, Ray stared at his injured comrade while Amy and Breanne tended to his wound. By no means was it fatal; after all, whoever had done this, had not used an actual bullet; but for Ray, the mere sight of the dart was enough to bring back horrific memories from his imprisonment. Having spent several days, helpless, chained to the bars of his cage, Ray couldn’t help but vividly remember his anguish and despair. Julia had done her best to assist him in suppressing those memories, but now, he was having a literal flashback. Images of humans in lab coats, walking in and out of the room he has being held prisoner, with syringes in their hands came back with a vengeance. None of them paid any attention to his pleas. Instead, they carried on with their work, hardly exchanging a word with him. To them, he was nothing more than a monster in human form: an animal that had to be contained for their safety; a beast that could only be controlled if it remained shackled.
Less than ten minutes later, Raul barged into the diner, his gaze locking on Rob. The wounded shifter had put both of his feet up on a chair, facing the entrance, with his back leaning against the wall. The Alpha was not alone. As usual, Helena was right behind him.
“Son of a bitch,” he groaned, taking a few, long steps towards him as Amy wiped the blood off the wound. “A dart did that?”
“Yep: it’s right there on the table,” Ray informed him, folding his arms across his chest.
“God damn…” Raul grumbled, shaking his head sideways. He picked up the dart. Rob’s blood had been smeared all over it, reaching all the way down to its lower end.
“It went in almost all the way,” murmured Ray.
“The level of penetration, and Pete’s account both suggest that a high-caliber rifle was used,” Helena interjected, stepping beside the Alpha. “I just don’t understand why someone would use a dart, instead of a bullet. Rob is still conscious, and a wound - even this deep - will heal in a matter of hours.”
“That’s because they were not trying to kill him,” Raul said, speaking his mind and tossing the dart back across the table. “Rob, it looks like someone is trying to send you a message. Who do you think it might be?”
“I don’t know, boss,” the guard sighed, tipping his head back. “I haven’t had any beefs with anybody in a long time.”
“This guy is saying ‘I can kill you from a mile away,’” the Alpha stated with a touch of discomfort in his baritone while he leaned over towards Rob. “The weapon he chose tells me he’s human. He could have put a bullet in your head, but instead, he preferred just wounding you. Who is it, Rob?”
“I don’t have a goddamn clue!” The guard cried out in a voice riddled with frustration, glaring up at Raul. “I’m the victim here, and you’re giving me the third degree?”
“We’re just trying to help,” the Alpha muttered, leaning back.
“With all due respect sir, if you really want to help me, get out there and find him,” Rob suggested, lowering his tone while Amy continued caring for him by applying clean gauze across the wound.
“Yeah, because I’m sure he’s still up in that tree, waiting to have a chat with me,” Raul remarked, irony dripping from his tongue. “He’ll be miles away by now, you idiot.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to look,” Ray spoke, taking a short step towards his brother. “Sure, he won’t be there, but we could find his trail.”
“Fair enough,” the Alpha said, nodding at the same time. “Dean, Ray, come with me. Helena, you can go home if you like,” he went on, turning to the witch.
“And miss this?” she exclaimed, her lips curled into a sweet smile. “You must be joking. We haven’t been out in the forest together in months. Plus, Cliff is not getting off from work for another three hours.”
Helena’s attitude was no surprise to Ray. She might have appreciated the peace - it had given her the necessary time to focus on her relationship with her mate - but he could see the longing for adventure in her eyes, whenever anybody brought up her feats. She would start talking about them with such passion that everyone else kept their mouths shut, and listened closely to her.
Moments afterwards, the four of them set out into the cold night. The feel of the icy breeze on Ray’s skin was something he would certainly not have chosen. An indoor discussion would have been a more comfortable option; yet, it would fail to yield any results, other than speculation. If the Bradford’s had any hope of discovering the shooter’s identity, they would not do so by chattering by the fireplace. No: this required more immediate measures.
The moon and the stars cast their light upon Lockhart forest, painting narrow paths ahead of them while Ray, Dean, Raul, and Helena left their hometown behind them. Walking alongside his brothers, the youngest of the lot decided to share his burden. A confession would not send the memories away, but it was guaranteed to make him feel lighter, at least to some extent.
“Guys, I’ve seen this kind of dart before,” Ray’s voice tore through the silence. He paused, ducking under a low-hanging branch. “It was back in the science facility when I was being held.”
“Those darts are pretty common, Jr. ,” Raul claimed, tossing a swift glance down at his brother. “I’ve seen them in Shandaken hospital, too. They hired a new vet recently. The other day, Monica introduced me to her. She’s got dozens of those. Don’t worry; this may have ‘human’ written all over it, but I don’t think it’s got anything to do with you. Rob is the one who got shot. He’s responsible. He’s just too scared to let us know what he’s done.”
“Pups…” Helena sighed, shaking her head in disapproval. “They will never learn how to read body language. It’s quite simple, and yet, they choose to believe preconceived notions. Rob is not hiding anything from you, Raul. He maintained eye contact with you, and he sounded genuinely frustrated. I’m not certain this is about him.”
“Then why was he targeted?” the Alpha asked, brushing past a towering cedar tree. “They could have shot Pete, too. Why didn’t they?”
“That remains to be seen,” Helena stated, turning with the brothers onto a wide path. “For the record, I don’t like this at all. Human weapons can wreak havoc upon the valley. They are precisely what I was meaning to avoid, when I ended my relationship with Cliff. We need to get to the root of this as quickly as possible.”
“That, and a bunch of crazy scientists, running experiments on us,” Raul added to the witch’s statement, a smile of bitterness spread across his face. “I was more worried about them, to be honest.”
“Raul, if there’s another ‘Riker’ behind this, I’m going to need a favor from you,” Ray declared, turning his head to the left to face his brother. “Leave him to me. Let me rip that motherfucker to shreds.”
“I will, kid,” the Alpha assured him, his eyes glinting with amusement. “I was planning on releasing you first, before I engaged him. I wanted us to kill him together, but I ran into that son of a bitch outside.”
“I can understand your frustration, young one,” Helena assumed a stiff tone, absentmindedly bypassing a sizeable pile of brush. “God knows how much you suffered in that building, but you can’t let that experience haunt you forever. You need to let it go.”
“I’ve been trying, Helena,” Ray spoke, his voice dropping down an octave. He shifted his gaze down to her. “This just…” he paused; “... reminded me of the whole thing.”
At that moment, a pungent smell flowed in through his nostrils, causing his blood to freeze in his veins. It had been a while since he had last been assaulted by it, but it was much too familiar for him to mistake it. The stench of death, and its noxious strength, indicated the presence of a vampire in the area. Ignoring the unease that brushed across his senses, Ray lengthened his strides while they all closed in on a clearing between two, massive, balsam fir trees. He curled his fingers into fists, while the determination to destroy yet another wretched creature spread within him like wildfire.
“Ray, wait!” Helena urged, raising her tone as he jogged towards the gap. Still, he was in such proximity that he could not stop. The young shifter stepped out of the path and into the clearing, feeling his adrenaline coursing through his system. The sight that greeted him made his stomach churn. Eight deer lay dead, spread out on the ground before him. The animal closest to him was facing in his direction. It had two puncture wounds on its neck. A mere, upward glance informed Ray that the unfortunate deer had been dragged out into the clearing. The trails of blood were gleaming in the moonlight. Nevertheless, the site of the slaughter was of minor importance. What really mattered was the fact that they all bore clear evidence of vampire attack.
“Holy crap…” Raul whispered, starting towards another deer to the right, “...more vampires?”
“Wait, this doesn’t make any sense,” Dean finally broke his silence. He glanced down at the bodies around him and shook his head, saying, “Bloodsuckers don’t use human weapons.”
