the sound of snapping teeth and tearing flesh. He swore
and sat up, hurriedly undoing the chains from his legs
before surging to his feet.
He swung around, saw the two wolves, silver and gold,
at the back of the cavern. Neva was on the bottom, but
her teeth were deep into Betise’s throat, and blood gleamed
on silver fur.
He shifted shape and arrowed toward them, hitting
Betise and sending her rolling off Neva, who scrambled to
her feet and spat out a huge chunk of hair and flesh.
Are you all right? Her mind voice was rich with concern
and caring.
Yes. Just seeing her made everything all right, though
he knew it wasn’t.
You’re bleeding. She licked his wounds tentatively,
then a rumble rose up her throat, and she nudged him
sideways, taking the full impact of Betise’s leap.
He swore as he hit the ground, though it came out
little more than a harsh growl. He rolled to his feet, saw
the two wolves tearing at each other near the cavern’s
entrance. Felt the sharp caress of electricity in the air, a
sensation that built and built until every hair on his coat
stood on end. It was similar but far stronger than the
force he’d felt building in the kitchen the night Neva had
slammed deep into his mind and assaulted him with her
fear and pain.
Shield. Neva’s warning blasted him, and he thrust up
his shields immediately.
A heartbeat later, the force in the air seemed to explode,
and Betise was torn from Neva’s body and flung out the
cavern entrance.
He shifted shape and walked towards Neva as the
changing haze rolled across her wolf shape. He stopped
beside her and slid his fingers through hers. They were
trembling, and as wet with blood as his own.
Betise lay ten feet away. She’d regained human form
and was half curled up in fetal position, her bloody body
shaking, her green-grey eyes wide and staring.
“I fried her mind,” Neva said, voice flat, emotionless.
He didn’t say anything, just wrapped an arm around
her and pulled her close. She rested her cheek against his
chest, and though she made no sound, warm tears slid
down his skin.
Over the top of her head, he saw a russet-haired ranger
holding a gun on Iyona as Savannah cuffed her. Watched
his father and brother’s kneel beside René’s still form.
Felt the surge of relief as his father looked up and nodded.
His brother was okay.
“It’s over,” he said softly.
“Yes, it is.”
He closed his eyes at the starkness in her voice. And
knew that for now, it was.
***
Neva winced as the needle slid into her forearm.
“Sorry,” the doctor said, much too cheerfully. “But I
can’t do much about it. Tetanus shots are never pleasant,
no matter how careful we are.”
She nodded vaguely, her attention more on what was
going on in the other room than what the doctor was doing
to her arm. They’d been at the rangers’ office for over an
hour now. Because of the fire at the hospital, the
emergency doctors had come to them, looking after her,
Duncan, Iyona and Betise. Only René had gone on to the
emergency room.
She hadn’t seen Duncan since they’d come here, and
she desperately needed to see him, to talk to him. Needed
to make him understand why she’d come to the decision
she had. Savannah was probably talking to him, as she
couldn’t see her sister, either. But Betise and Iyona were
visible—the older wolf cursing and fighting every order,
the younger wolf catatonic, not responding to anyone or
anything. A living, breathing zombie.
Neva closed her eyes, not wanting to see what she’d
done. And yet part of her didn’t regret it. Betise had killed
without remorse, and would have killed her and Duncan,
and anyone else who got in the way of her mad scheme.
“Don’t go lifting anything heavy for the next couple
days,” the doctor said. “And if there’s any sign of soreness
or infection, go straight to the emergency room.”
She nodded and slipped off the table, walking into the
other room. That’s when she saw her parents. She stopped
and met her father’s gaze for a moment, saw the relief and
worry haunting the green of his eyes. Her mother started
towards her, tears on her face and one hand outstretched.
Neva spun away, not ready or willing to talk to either of
them just yet, and walked down the passage to Savannah’s
office. Her sister was there. So was Duncan.
Savannah rose and walked around her desk. “I’ll leave
you two alone.” She placed her hand on Neva’s good arm,
and squeezed it lightly. Then she walked out and closed
the door behind her.
Duncan rose from the visitor’s chair. Neva let her gaze
travel up the long, lean length of him, etching it into her
memory. Though in truth, it already was. His left arm
was in a sling, and there were scratches across his
beautiful face.
He didn’t step any closer, just reached out, cupping
her cheek with his palm, letting his thumb brush warmth
across her trembling lips. She briefly closed her eyes,
breathing in the scent of him, battling the tears that
suddenly threatened her control.
“You haven’t changed your mind?” he asked softly.
“No.” It came out little more than a tortured whisper.
He stepped closer, his dark eyes holding hers,
shimmering with deep determination. And love. “I won’t
give up on us, you know that, don’t you?”
“Yes.” The word seemed to stick somewhere in her
throat. She swallowed, but it didn’t ease the burning in
her throat. Didn’t ease the burning in her chest. “I have
no choice, Duncan, not with my father’s ultimatum. I can’t
walk away from my family.”
“Nor do I expect you to. But I intend to come back to
Ripple Creek, and I intend to make your father see that
we were meant to be.”
“My father will never accept you.”
“I won’t give up,” he repeated, his breath warm against
her lips. “You are mine, Neva. You always will be.”
He kissed her. Softly. Sweetly. Then he turned and
walked out the door.
It felt like her heart had shattered. Pain unlike
anything she’d ever felt before welled, and she raised a
hand to her mouth, holding back the sobs. Holding in the
need to cry out his name as the echo of his footsteps grew
softer, until all that was left were the caress of his scent
on the air and the taste of him on her lips.
A sob escaped. She closed her eyes and slumped back
against the desk. Tears slid down her cheeks, and she
swiped at them impatiently. She wouldn’t cry here.
Wouldn’t cry in front of her parents. Heartbreak could
wait until she was alone.
And alone was something she’d
be for the rest of her
life.
She bit her lip and pushed away from the desk.
Savannah was standing next to their parents, and all three
were standing near the exit. As much as she didn’t want
to talk to anyone right now, she had no choice but to
approach her family.
The relief so evident in her father’s expression had
Neva clenching her fists.
“It is for the best,” he said gruffly. “You deserve far
better than a man with a past like his.”
“Father, you have no idea what you’re talking about,”
Savannah said, voice sharp and impatient. “Why don’t
you just get over—”
Neva touched her sister’s arm, stopping her from
saying anything else, and met her father’s gaze squarely.
“Did you marry your soul mate?”
He frowned. “You know I did.”
“And don’t you wish both Savannah and me the same
happiness?”
“Yes, of course, but—”
“There are no buts, Father. And you’ve made me choose
between my family and my soul mate.”
And with that, she pushed past them and walked out
the door.
Sixteen
“I’m really tempted to give the old bastard a piece of
my mind,” Ari said as she plopped down in the booth seat
opposite Neva. “I mean, how dare he spout words of
tolerance to the council when he’s not even practicing it in
his own backyard?”
Neva smiled as she swished the straw through the froth
of her strawberry shake. “He’ll fire you again.”
Ari airily waved the comment away. “He’s fired me three
times this week already. We both know he can’t afford to
lose me. You and I are the only ones crazy enough to work
for peanuts.”
That was certainly true. She sipped her drink and
glanced out the diner’s window. Nearly two months had
passed since Duncan had left, and spring had truly come
to Ripple Creek. But the warmth hadn’t touched her heart.
And wouldn’t. Not until he came back into her life.
And that couldn’t happen soon enough. She blinked
back the sting of tears and tried not to think about him.
Tried not to think about the long nights of dreaming about
his touch and waking to nothing more than loneliness and
despair.
But at least not seeing or talking to him for so long
had convinced her of two things. The first being the fact
that she loved him, heart and soul, and wanted him in her
life no matter what the cost. And the second being she
was the biggest goddamned coward on Earth for letting
him walk away from her that night. They should have
confronted her parents together. Should have given them
the ultimatum to accept their relationship if they wanted
to be a part of her and Duncan’s future.
But even when her heart had been breaking, part of
her had still refused to believe love could happen so fast.
Nor had she believed the ritual they’d performed was real—
not until the next full moon, when the moon’s heat did
little more than make her ache for his caress. They were
one, now and forever, committed to each other heart and
soul.
And if her parents couldn’t accept that, too bad. She
had come to the point where she was more than willing to
walk away—except when it came to Savannah.
A hand slid across Neva’s, and her gaze jumped to her
friend’s.
“Your father is a fool,” Ari said softly. “But I’m beginning
to think you’re a bigger one. If you love this man so much,
go after him, babe. Your parents will come to their senses
once they see how happy you are together.”
Neva’s smile was slightly bitter. “It’s not quite as simple
as that.”
“Crap.” Ari leaned back in the seat and crossed her
arms. “Do you love him?”
“Yes.”
“Does he love you?”
“Yes.”
“Then what else is there to worry about? Go get your
man, and to hell with your parents.”
“My father swore an oath to the moon that I’d be
evicted from the pack should I continue my relationship
with Duncan.”
Ari stared at her for a moment, then cursed softly. She
knew, as Neva knew, that such an oath was binding to all
members of the family. If she walked away to be with
Duncan, she’d never be able to talk to her sister again.
And that was something she wasn’t willing to lose.
“Moons,” Ari commented. “What a mess.”
“That it is.” And she didn’t see a way out of it. Not
without putting Savannah in the middle.
I’ll never be in the middle of it. The strength of
Savannah’s mind voice told Neva she was close to the diner.
Because I’m on your side, completely and utterly. You finally
ready yet to do something about this whole situation?
More than ready, Neva replied with a smile. With her
twin by her side, all things were possible.
The bell above the door chimed as the door opened.
Savannah walked in, dragging their mother in behind her.
If the look on Nancy’s face was anything to go by, she
definitely wasn’t here by choice. Neva glanced at the clock.
No wonder. She was missing her weekly facial.
Nancy’s scathing glance took them in, then swung back
to Savannah. “What the hell are you doing?”
“What I should have done a month ago.” The scar above
her sister’s left eye looked as angry as her expression. She
thrust their mother into the booth next to Ari. “You move,
Mom, and I swear to the moon, I’ll shoot you.”
With that she spun and marched toward the kitchen.
Ari chuckled softly, a sound she quickly smothered as
Nancy glared at her.
“This is your doing, isn’t it?”
Ari’s eyes were dancing with mirth as she held up her
hands. “Nothing to do with me, honest. But you know, I’m
damn glad someone is doing something. You and the boss
seemed content to sit back and watch your daughter die
of a broken heart.”
“Ari—” Neva warned.
“You’re fired,” her mother said over the top of her voice.
“Yeah, right.” Ari sniffed and crossed her arms.
Nancy slid out of the booth and pointed an imperious
finger at the door. “Leave now.”
Ari glanced at Neva, a smile playing around her lips.
“Call me. And good luck.”
“I’ll probably need it.”
Neva crossed her arms and watched her mother slide
back into the booth, but she didn’t bother saying anything.
Even though she’d been back working at the diner for the
last month, she’d barely exchanged a civil word with either
of her parents since the night she’d let Duncan walk away.
She saw no reason to change that until Savannah came
back with their father.
Her mother obviously had no such inhibitions. “If
you’ve ended up hurt, you have no one to blame but
&n
bsp; yourself.”
“You’re right,” she bit back. “Because I let him walk
away from me rather than having the courage to confront
Father’s edict with him by my side.”
Her mother blinked. “Have you lost all the sense we
bred into you? Why on earth would you think someone
like Duncan Sinclair would ever make a suitable mate?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the fact that we’re soul mates?”
“Men like him don’t have soul mates. They have lovers,
and plenty of them. It’s the sex that has you hooked, Neva,
nothing more.”
“If this is just sex, then I sure as hell can understand
why the dance is so popular.” Though her voice was flat,
she had to thrust her hands under the table to hide the
angry trembling. How dare they not trust her enough to
know her own heart?
“Don’t be crude,” her mother replied stiffly. “A man
with a past like his is not the sort of man we want—”
“And what of your past, Mother? Or has that been
conveniently forgotten?”
Her mother’s face went white. “What are you talking
about?”
But the fear in her widening eyes suggested she knew
exactly what Neva was talking about. “Dad doesn’t know,
does he?” she said, suddenly understanding.
“I don’t know what?”
Her father’s voice was sharp as he stopped in front of
the booth and glared at the two of them. Savannah stood
behind him, arms crossed and expression severe. Neva
had a feeling she fully intended to stand there like that
until this whole mess was sorted out.
“About mother’s double standards,” Neva replied.
“About how it’s all right for her to be given a second chance,
and not Duncan.”
“It all happened a long time ago,” Nancy said, her face
white, lips trembling. “I was only a teenager.”
“So? Duncan wasn’t much older. And nothing he has
ever done has led to someone’s death.”
“What are you talking about?”
She met her father’s stony glare and let the anger finally
boil over. “We’re talking about double standards. You stood
up in front of the council yesterday and supported the
Sinclairs right to the moon dance, stating no harm had
ever come from it in all the years of it being here in Ripple
Creek. Yet in private you state the dance is little more