Microsoft Word - Book 12 FINAL Read online

  "I hear we have a bunch of stuff on the plate today.” Jaden said when he stood up.

  Quin nodded and said. "Meeting, humans, we’ll be lucky if we get any time at all to actually play with our adorable children."

  Cami rolled her eyes and said to Tripp. "Yeah, yeah, whatever so will you go now?"

  Tripp finished his plate and then stood up. He grabbed his coffee and smiled. "On the way I’ll tell you the outcome in a few hours. I will not bring her here unless she checks out.” He warned and then laughed when Cami growled at him.

  ***

  Caterina stared out the window to the quaint little room the owner of the bed and breakfast let her use while she waited for someone to come to her from the New Council.

  She didn’t know why, but she wanted to be able to see them, as soon as they arrived.

  She had a feeling of foreboding that made her want to make sure she would have time to run, if the person was someone who would hurt her.

  She remembered that Adolfo promised these people would keep her safe, but she had lived for so long running. She didn’t know what safe felt like anymore. Adolfo was the only safety she knew, and he was gone now. Killed; fighting for her to have time to escape. Images of her long-time friend and companion; fighting with the vampire, flitted through her head. His beautiful fur; that she remembered petting so often late in the nights, when he would come to her to comfort her after another nightmare; covered in his own blood as it pooled on the floor below him. His large brown eyes looking up at her, saying his last good-bye and telling her he loved her, while he held that vile creature by the throat in order for her to escape.

  Tears burned the back of her eyes and blurred her vision. She wiped them away with the back of her hand and was about to turn away from the window, when a large black SUV

  pulled into the parking lot of the bed and breakfast. She waited, holding her breath as a rather tall, rather large looking man stepped out of the driver’s side.

  Caterina hadn’t desired anything to do with the opposite sex after Diavolo, but this man awakened something new in her, and she was only witnessing him through a second-story window. Part of her hoped that this wasn’t the man the New Council sent. Part of her wanted to run right now, just to get away from the feelings this stranger was invoking, even from this distance. He was gorgeous, with long dark hair, pulled back to hang behind his neck. Deep olive toned skin, full sensuous lips, strong jaw, and long-straight nose. His chest was large, stretching the t-shirt he wore impressively tight.

  Caterina had an urge to lick him from head to toe. Not even Adolfo, who was handsome in his own right, had made her feel like this just by looking at him.

  Suddenly, before disappearing out of her sight range, he looked up, as if he were looking at her. Piercing grey eyes seared into her, as if he were looking into her very soul. For a moment, Caterina felt like one of those heroines out of a romance novel, and thought she might swoon. Then she shook herself and drew the curtain back quickly, embarrassed by being caught, practically drooling.

  That’s when the nerves kicked in again, and so did her fight or flight response. As usual, she was picking flight, because judging by that man’s build, there was no way her 5’5”, size 12 build was going to stand up to him, and win. Sometimes, Caterina hated being so average. Well, no she hated it all the time; but especially in times like these when she was in a hurry to flee before the big man came to get her.

  She quickly rushed to stuff her dirty pj’s in her large purse. Thankful, that at least the innkeeper was able to find her a decent set of spare clothes, because running out in her pj’s again was just not an option. Fashionably or otherwise, she picked up her keys, while she was devising a way to sneak out some back entrance, then around the building to her little car and get away.

  Just as she was about to reach for the door knob, she heard a soft knock on the other side of the door and froze in her tracks. Crap, I’m too late!! She thought, while she stood frozen like a mime doing a routine of a running man.

  She had nowhere to run now, he was here. She couldn’t very well jump out the second-story window and hobble to her car on two broken legs. Because she knew with her luck that would be how it would happen. Nope, she was stuck. She straightened up as tall as her 5’5” height would get her, and wiped her sweaty shaky hand on her jean clad leg, cleared her throat and spoke, “Come in.”

  Was that her voice? It sounded like a mouse squeak. So she cleared her throat to say it again, but the person at the door must have had good enough hearing to hear a mouse squeak, because the door knob turned and the door creaked open slowly. It reminded her of one of those scenes in a horror film, right before the deranged murderer jumps out at the victim and slashes them into little pieces. Caterina felt the color draining out of her face for every inch the door opened.

  Finally, it stood wide open and the kind woman who ran the bed and breakfast stood there with a reassuring smile. Caterina was almost able to breathe again, until she heard the rather loud, deep growl coming from behind the woman. She looked to where the noise came from and saw the guy from downstairs glowering at her. Up close, he scared her worse, with a scar that seemed to cut into his face from his eye all the way down to his mouth. His nostrils flared, and he looked as if he were about to devour her. She watched the way he sniffed the air and how his eyes seemed to glow. Another growl came from deep within his chest, and he stepped forward, past the innkeeper.

  Just as it looked as if he were about to attack, she felt her legs give and her eyes roll back, her world went black.

  The End....NOT!

  If you missed out read the rest of the series in the Denver Pack by Jana Leigh Alpha's Mate

  Tey's White Wolf

  Devon" The Beta's Double Trouble

  Cloe: Two for the Bite of One

  Reggie: A Wolf's Changing Heart

  Blaine: A Wolf's Second Sight

  Lacy: Seeing Double

  Jordan's Misunderstanding

  Trinity: Heart of the Shifters

  Argus: Accepting the Challenge

  Trace: Following His Destiny

  Other books include:

  Dangerous Series:

  Dangerous Trio

  Dangerous Two

  Dangerous Finale

  Dangerous: Working Against the Clock

  Playing With Zack

  Killing Jared

  Watch for the new series THE CHOSEN'S WAR

  This is a continuation of the Denver Pack, with a twist. New creatures will arise and new allies made with the New Council as they take their place at the head of the magical world.

  Prologue

  Lightning crashed and thunder boomed as the wind pelted large spears of rain against her already sensitive and broken skin; but she couldn’t stop running if she wanted to stay alive. Day was quickly turning to night and she knew he would be after her soon.

  Her tears were washed away by the harsh rain and her sobs could barely be heard over the loud thunder. She thought this would at least be one blessing because the storm would make it harder for him to hear her and to catch her scent. Perhaps there was a god after all.

  But she quickly pushed that thought away when images of her parents and her little sister flashed before her eyes. Their horrific screams as he tortured them and broke their bones. Then the ill silence as they lay lifeless in a pool of their own blood, while he stood over them with their blood dripping from his mouth. His eyes had a bright red glow to them and, oh god, those teeth, no they weren’t teeth, they were fangs. The man was a vampire.

  No, she could not let the images stall her, she could not break down and give up; she had to keep running. There, a cave that she could possibly hide in until the next day, she knew he wouldn’t be able to chase her in the day so it would be her only saving grace.

  She ducked in to the cave and ran as far in to its darkness as she could. Something large and hard caught her feet and she tumbled over it; face first, on to the dirt floor.

&
nbsp; Just as she started to push herself up, she heard it; at first soft then ever growing rumbling of a growl. She turned her head and saw the large yellow eyes looking back at her. Oh no, that wasn’t a rock she stumbled over but a large animal, possibly a bear.

  It came closer to her as she lay still watching it as best she could in the darkness. She felt its muzzle on her, sniffing her. Then she didn’t feel anything at all, she couldn’t even see its eyes. Did it leave? Then suddenly a man’s face was in front of hers.

  Thankfully, not the face of her captor, but his eyes glowed yellow and he looked just as evil.

  “Chi la sono?” Who are you? Is all she heard of his snarly voice before her world went black.

  Caterina sat up in her bed abruptly. Sweat poured from her brow and her lungs burned as she gasped for air. She looked around at her surroundings, not remembering where she was at the moment. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness, and when they did, she saw that she was in her room, safe and sound.

  A thud against the window made her jump, but when she looked over, she saw it was just a tree branch hitting the glass because of the strong wind brought on by the storm.

  Her body shivered as the word storm entered her consciousness. Caterina hated storms; they always brought the memories back. She hated to remember, she always tried to push the thoughts away. It was better for her that way. But when it stormed, especially at night, her dreams would force her to relive everything all over again.

  Caterina pushed the blankets off her and swung her legs over the edge of the bed to stand. She walked in to her small en-suite bathroom and went to the sink to splash her face. As the cool water hit her skin, the images in her head began to fade. Finally, after the shaking stopped and she felt she had washed away all the sweat and tears on her face, she stood straight and took a look at herself in the mirror. She did this to remind herself that she was not that same girl five years ago. She was not a scared child running for her life from some horrific monster. She was safe and she was strong, thanks to the help of her best and dearest friend. She knew if she had not met him that night she would be dead by now, or worse, a slave to that horrible man. No, not a man, but a vampire. If she had not run in to his cave, she would have never been saved from the vampires clutches. Adolfo was the very best thing that had happened to her.

  Without Adolfo, Caterina would not have lived, she would not have escaped. He kept her hidden, deeper in that cave, until the following day. Then he ran with her, to the nearest train station and acted as her body guard as they got as far from Italy as they could. They had taken a plane to America, thanks to Adolfo having money to do so. He had explained to her that he didn’t live in that cave but in a house not too far away from it. That cave was on his property and he sometimes liked to go there just to rest as his wolf. He said he had been running the woods when the storm started and it was closer than his house so he went in to the cave to wait it out. Apparently, Adolfo was well enough off, because when they got to America he supported them as they moved from state to state.

  Caterina hated the moving, but they had to, because where ever they stopped just for a while, it seemed a vampire would turn up wanting Caterina. One time she had actually gotten an explanation from one of them before they tried to drain her and ultimately died when Adolfo ripped them to shreds. It was something to do with her blood; there was something special about it that called to them. Caterina often wished she could remove that ‘special’ part of her blood so the vampires would leave her alone and she could live in peace. But that wasn’t possible.

  Caterina left the bathroom and crawled back in to her bed. She sat there staring at the window, wondering when it would be that she and Adolfo would have to move again.

  She wondered why Adolfo would put up with her and go through this mess with her for so long. The vampires weren’t after him; he could just walk away and never have to deal with them again. She knew it wasn’t because he was in love with her. They had tried being a couple once when things were a bit more peaceful for a time. But they soon found that they were not meant to be more than friends.

  She would ask Adolfo many times why he stayed with her for so long when it would have been better for him to let her go. He would always answer, “Because you are special Caterina. I look at you and I see something that I have never seen before. I feel that because of you that one day life will be better for all of shifters, humans, and us alike. I look at you and I see hope.”

  Caterina snorted, hope, there was nothing hopeful about Caterina’s situation. There was only doubt and uncertainty; but no hope.

  She lay down on her pillow and stared at her ceiling for a while. She wondered if Diavolo still hunted her. She remembered when she met him. She was working at a small café in her village and she was just cleaning up and closing for the night when he entered it. He didn’t seem so evil when she first met him. Actually, he was quite charming and handsome. He took her on a few dates and they always seemed to have great fun together. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out why his parents would stick him with such an awful name as devil. Until things changed, he asked her to come away with him; to live with him in his home in Umbria. Caterina had told him he was moving too quickly and she was still in school. She didn’t want to leave her parents because they were both disabled and unable to fend for themselves. She thought he would understand, but he became angry. Then one night he showed up at her house and attacked her family. That is when she saw the reason he was named devil. He slaughtered her family, drinking their blood as he did it. Then when he was done he said, “There, now you do not need to care for them anymore and have no reason not to come with me.”

  He really gave her no choice after that; he just took her to his castle right outside Umbria where he imprisoned her in one of the rooms during the day. It wasn’t a dungeon where he had her, it was actually quite a beautiful room and comfortable. His donors, as he called them, would be her servants during the day, bringing her food, clothing, anything she needed really. But during the night, Diavolo would come to her and rape her, taking her blood. She didn’t understand why he was doing this to her, but he would often say she was the key. The key to what? Even now, she didn’t know what exactly she was the key to.

  She knew when he would come to her, he would say it didn’t work and that maybe he needed just a little more blood. Then he would take her blood again while he forced himself on her. He wouldn’t really have to physically restrain her to do it, just use some sort of compulsion and she would do whatever he wished. However, after a while, Caterina had given up and would allow him to do as he wished without even using the compulsion.

  Then one night he came to her in a rage. He said he didn’t understand why it wasn’t working and he was tired of waiting. He beat her and drained her within an inch of her life, before he left her to die on her bed. The servants had come in the morning and seen she still lived. They tried nursing her back to health as much as they could, then helped her escape the castle before nightfall.

  Caterina often wondered what happened to the servants; no doubt, he probably killed them all for helping her escape.

  A large crash down stairs had Caterina jumping from her bed and rushing out the door to see what it was. When she got halfway down the stairs, she stopped, frozen where she stood. There in front of her was a grueling seen. Adolfo was fighting with a vampire holding him down as much as he could. But, unlike the other vampires Adolfo had destroyed for her safety, this one was strong enough to push Adolfo off of him.

  Adolfo flew off the vampire and hit the wall on the other side of the living room. Then it stood and faced Caterina. That is when Caterina felt all the blood rush out of her head and terror claw at her insides. There, standing before her, was none other than Diavolo.

  He rushed toward the stairs and got to the first one before Adolfo tackled him back down. She watched the fighting because she couldn’t get her body to do anything else.

  She was struggling to comprehend how he
had found her. She and Adolfo had always been so careful not to leave a trail, but here he was, fighting with her friend, trying to get to her again.

  What was she going to do now?

  Adolfo’s howl brought Caterina out of her terror filled thoughts. She saw that he was now under Diavolo, while Diavolo was twisting his arm back trying to break it.

  “You will not keep me from her wolf.” Diavolo snarled as he twisted Adolfo’s arm back further. “She is mine and always will be mine.”

  Suddenly Adolfo turned on Diavolo and somehow got the vampire under him again.

  “She is not yours, vampire.” Adolfo growled in to his ear, “I will kill you before I allow you to take her.”

  Adolfo started to change in to his wolf. His face elongated and his claws came out. He pushed the vampire further in to the carpeted floor.

  Then his eyes met hers, “Caterina, run. Go to the New Council as we have talked about doing. Go there and they will keep you safe. Run now, Caterina, and never look back.”

  At first, her legs could not move, but then she found herself flying down the stairs. She picked up her purse, car keys, and the plane tickets that were sitting on the table next to the front door; then she opened the door to run out.

  She looked back at her long time friend and guardian to see that he had now fully changed and was holding the vampire down by his teeth around Diavolo’s throat.

  Adolfo looked up at her and their eyes met. She saw then something she had never seen in his eyes before. She looked at his side and saw the blood that was matted in his fur and dripping from his side. She knew in that moment that Adolfo knew he would not survive this fight; that he would not be able to go with her and protect her anymore.

  Tears fell from her eyes as she looked in to his again. “I love you, Adolfo.”

  He just growled his response, but she knew it was him telling her he loved her too.