After Dawn, What Came Next

All kids wanted to believe their parents were deeply and irrevocably in love with one another. His mom did love his dad, but it was a different kind of love than the passion one person felt for another. Her love for him was not cheap. But, it wasn’t the real thing that came from a bonding of two people on a soul deep level.

How could Tracker stand it? Knowing he was her second choice and that Shayla loved him, but the love, while enough, wasn’t everything. His mom would never settle and Ray did not consider what she had with Tracker as settling. It was more like self-preservation. Carter could not be changed. He was who he was and he was incapable of yielding his belief in his own damnation, not even for love. His mom was fire and if she had stayed with Carter, that fire would have burned out eventually.

Ray knew the feeling. There was only so much avoiding Tom and he could do before they had to face what had happened between them. Eventually, their determination not to discuss the kiss would fail and when it did, one of two things would happen. Either they would deal with it like men or they wouldn’t. Did friendship mean more than love? Could they move forward as friends without letting the awful secret of that kiss tear them apart? Ray didn’t know if he could accept Tom’s friendship with such limits. Tom had responded to that kiss. He could blame his response on drink. But, it was a lie and they both knew it.

Ray stood there with tears blurring his vision. Watching his mother kiss Carter and feeling the rush of passion through the link the three of them now shared was the hardest thing he had ever had to do. He was torn between his loyalty to the man he knew as father, the love he had for his mother, and his respect for Carter. This situation was a one way road to hell. Rage burned through him. How could his mom fall again so easily? She knew what kind of man Carter was. She knew what kind of man Tracker was. How could she do this to him and to their family? “Mom?”

His emotions ran the gamut between wanting to beat Carter’s ass for scamming on his mom when she was in such a vulnerable state and beating his mom’s ass for turning her back on the last twenty-five years. There was more at risk here than a few hurt feelings and tangled emotions. Even his own personal life had to take a backseat to the present situation. He watched his mom ball her hands into fists, clutching at Carter’s waist in debate. Yeah, he had walked in on them and there was no hiding what he had seen. If she even tried to use the old ‘this isn’t what it looks like’ speech on him. He would never speak to her again. This was exactly what it looked like. He was not an idiot. He knew passion when he saw it.

Shayla withdrew from Carter’s arms. She had nothing she could say to ease the blow of what R.J. had seen. There was no explanation that could sum it up adequately. R.J. was a man now. He knew exactly how the world worked. She wouldn’t apologize to him. She wouldn’t lie or sugarcoat the truth. And if anyone was capable of understanding the complexity of relationships, it was her son. R.J. understood the soul deep wanting of someone he couldn’t have and what a person would go through for just a taste of forbidden fruit.

Carter stepped back from Shayla. Her cheeks were flushed in a blush. She squared her jaw and faced off against her son. R.J. wisely said nothing. The expression on his face, one of mingled disbelief, betrayal, and begrudging understanding, said it all. Yes, this boy knew exactly what his mother felt. R.J. felt it too, the deep wanting of someone he couldn’t have. Carter knew he shouldn’t have kissed Shayla. But, how could he resist when she had been absent from his arms for so very long?

Carter would never do anything to hurt Shayla, but he feared he had. That kiss had turned her inside out and left her raw and exposed. It had discredited her and tarnished R.J.’s vision of her. As usual, everything was his fault. He had given her up and entrusted her to more capable hands. He was a fucking addict when it came to her. Presented with the opportunity to take a nip off the bottle he had drunk deeply and the only thing he wanted was another drink.

With nothing to say and no explanation to offer, Carter left Shayla and R.J. to deal with each other. He had two wolves to find and getting embroiled in this travesty of a family drama wasn’t going to help him find them.

Shayla crossed her arms defensively over her chest and stared at her son. He looked so much like Ramon, standing there with his hands balled into fists and such a self-righteous, indignant expression on his face. The parts of him that had been fostered by Tracker wanted to kick someone’s ass. She got that. But, there were softer, gentler parts of her son. The parts that he had inherited from her, that held his feet glued to the floor.

He said nothing. She said nothing. They both loved each other and Tracker too much. They knew each other too well. And though this secret might eventually come between them. It was one they would keep. The telling of it would do nobody any good and would cause nothing but pain.

Ray caved first. He crossed the room and took up his mother into a tight embrace. He could keep her secret. He could forgive. He understood. He too, like his mother, had such a capacity to love. Carter was her love. Tracker was her life. And Ray understood the difference between wanting what you could not have and being completely content with what you had.

Shayla sheltered in her son’s embrace. His forgiveness of what he had witnessed meant the world to her. Her baby boy…was there ever such a man as he? So kind and understanding and so loving? She was so proud of him and ached for him that he should know such pain as she felt. Carter was a part of the both of them and always would be. He was in R.J. and in her interwoven through their souls.

What mattered now wasn’t the past. Finding Phoenix and Danni, getting them home safe and sound was the only important thing. Love was secondary to life. Sometimes the only thing you had to cling to were the few rare seconds worth of love you had the joy of experiencing and you had no other choice but to make it last a lifetime. Long ago she had chosen life over love when she had chosen Tracker as her mate and nothing, not even a few stolen moments with Carter, was going to change that. “I’ve been a very lucky woman in my lifetime. I’ve known three great loves, but your dad… Tracker and me, you don’t need to worry.”

“I don’t, mom. I don’t. I understand. I really do. Tracker loves you. I love you. Carter loves you. Maybe, he loves you too much. A greedier man would take everything from you. Carter loves you enough to let you go. But, mom, are you sure you want to go?”

In that question, R.J. pretty much summed up the war waging in her heart. Loyalty and passion fought on both sides of the battlefield. To Tracker she owed her loyalty and her very life. To Carter, he had always been her passion. Carter would tear her to shreds till there was nothing left. Tracker was life, nourishing her. “I have to. I’ve been here before, R.J., and the choice was not an easy one to make, but it is one I don’t regret. It is a fool’s errand to pine away for what you cannot have. A wise person grabs onto what they’ve got and makes it enough.”

“Tracker is enough?”

“Tracker is everything.”

















































Chapter 78

Starr stomped her foot impatiently and stormed through the impromptu wedding chapel. “I want that wolf,” she pouted. She had dozens and dozens of white roses shipped in from every conceivable location she could find. So many preferred artificial flowers these days. Getting her hands on so many of the real thing had been no small trick. But, then again, it wasn’t everyday your twin sons got married and she had spared no expense. Her darling Sebastian was filling in as the priest and would pronounce her sons married. The union of flesh would be the body and the blood, the salvation.

Sebastian’s plan hadn’t failed entirely. He simply hadn’t made good on his word. He said it was impossible to get their hands on the wolf. The two he had captured were perfect for her sons. But, for her husband and herself she wanted only the very best. The Great Father and Queen Mother were not simply going to hand over their blood. And their little daughter was the next best thing. How dare the Great Father keep from her the thing she wanted most? Especially when he had it for himself. He was part wolf and part vampire. He had the gifts of both through his wife’s blood. He had created life from a mere spark.

Starr wanted that for herself. Angelica, her little daughter, had been changed but not created. For almost thirty years, her little girl had remained exactly that, a little girl. How many mothers would want that for their children? To hold them in their arms forever and never let them grow up? It was a curse. Starr saw that now. A rose should be allowed to come into its full bloom before being plucked. She had not made the same mistake with her boys. She had raised them into men before sharing her gift. Her arms were empty. Angelica had a child’s body and a woman’s heart. Her darling little girl did not crawl into her arms anymore for comfort. Her little girl despised her for what she had done. Her boys were obedient to her to the death. They would marry these wolves and drink deeply. And they would fill her arms with grandchildren, real, live grandchildren and then, she would be happy again.

Sebastian had a bigger vision for the wolves. He promised her once it was done the Great Father would come around. He promised her the two of them would be revered as visionaries of the future. They would be mother and father of a new race and they would people the world with their offspring. Any old wolf would do. But, she wanted the purest blood she could get to begin this journey into the future.

A baby born of her womb…Starr pressed her hands to her flat belly pretending to feel the swell of life inside. The Great Father should have agreed to Sebastian’s appeal to him. He should have shared the gift he held in such secrecy. If he had, her sons could have chosen more agreeable wives. As it was, force was the only means they had of forcing the wolves into compliance. Once the two she-wolves had their bellies swelling with the next generation. Then they’d see their sacrifice was for the greater good. Once she held a son or a daughter in her arms. Then Sebastian would see she was right to wait for Cat and no other.

Starr was a beautiful midnight. Her dark hair flowed in a velvet curtain over her shoulders. Her silk skirts fluttered with each movement of her curvy body. She was a harried mother busy with the preparations for her sons’ wedding. He didn’t know a damn thing about religion. Whatever visions he might had held about God had abandoned him long ago. The two of them had sought refuge amongst the brotherhood during the dark days. The brothers had willingly taken them in without a second thought. Looking back, Sebastian wished they had taken their chances in the world instead of hiding at the compound. Starr had been content with her art and shopping for pretty trinkets before then and for a time, afterwards, when they had chosen the Guardians instead. But, it was the children, the human children of the donors and then the children of the pack that had led her to the obsession to have one of her own.

He wanted his wife happy. Angelica was a mistake. The twin boys he had stolen out of their cradle for her had only compounded the error. The Great Father didn’t have the right to govern the gift of the wolves. Sometimes, it took force to convince a man to see the light. No, Sebastian didn’t know a damn thing about God. But, he did know quite a bit about death. Death was the only thing he did know. His wife was a child of dream and fantasy, so close to the verge of insanity. The only contentment she had was his vision of the future. The children they would birth that would soon enough take over the world.

Change took time. They would have to hide for a while longer. Gradually infiltrate their offspring into the world of man until the humans simply fizzled out of existence. It had happened in the past. The United States at one time had been a wild land and look at it now, leashed by convenience and law. The old yielded to the young. It was the way of things. A new day was coming and his dear wife and he would usher it in.

The brothers would find them. It was just a matter of time. Sebastian had done what he could to lead the Guardians and the brothers away. Once the deed was done and the seed of his sons ripening in the women’s bellies. Then he would reveal his plan to the Great Father. Carter would kill him and Starr and probably his twin sons and the she-wolves. But, the Great Father was a man of justice. He would kill no one after seeing that there was no way to undo what had been done. And then, the new day would begin.

Jackson and Jefferson were simply following their father’s orders. The she-wolves were captives. The only two that would pay would be him. Sebastian had kept quiet about that. He knew his vision of the future would cost him his life. But, it was a small price to pay for the bigger picture of the future he envisioned. He understood true immortality. One lived on, not by waking up day after day, but through their children. If he could capture Cat, take from her the gift of her blood and create life. Then Starr would be safe. Starr would become a mother and the Great Father would never separate a child from its mother. The Great Father might spare his life too, for the sake of the child. But, Sebastian wasn’t counting on it. Even if the Great Father did spare him. Carter would be waiting in the wings to take his life when the opportunity arose.

For now, his Starr was happy. She fluttered amongst the flower arrangements like a humming bird. She wanted her sons married in a traditional way. She wanted the ceremony and all the trimmings. As a husband he always tried to give his wife what she wanted.

Angelica slipped out into the night. Jealousy raged through her heart. Her brothers were getting married. Tonight they would know the pleasures of the flesh. It wasn’t fair. She had been trapped in this little girl’s body for almost thirty years. Sometimes, her petite exterior served her well. Hunting was easy when the hunter appeared more defenseless than the prey. She hated her mother for making her what she was. She hated her father for allowing it. Most of all though, she hated herself. She would never grow up. Never. She had a woman’s desires and a woman’s heart beating inside her child body.

She had sampled the wolf blood thinking the magic it contained would transform her into a woman. Tasty as the crimson drops were, it hadn’t. She was still and would always be a child. Her twin brothers ate from their mother’s hand. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t. They got everything and she got nothing but frilly dresses and the trappings of a little girl. She was not a little girl though her body said differently. She would rather die than spend one more second trapped in this body. The Guardians would definitely help her out. But, if she died, she wasn’t going down alone. She was taking her family to hell with her and she knew exactly how to do it.

Angelica caught the scent of wolf and vampire deep and sweet beneath the stink of the city. Her mother was so preoccupied she hadn’t noticed her escape. Her father was too busy plotting and scheming to notice she had slipped out. And as for her brothers, maybe it was wedding night jitters that had made them so careless. But, they, in their dereliction of duty, had practically handed her the keys to the door. Angelica played the part of the little girl she was supposed to be to the hilt. On more than one occasion, pretending to be a demented child had saved her life.

She no longer wanted this life. She wanted justice done. She wanted that bitch of a mother of hers to pay and her father and brothers to pay too. Her mother would pay for what she had done to her. Her father would pay for allowing it to happen to her. And her brothers would pay simply because they had gotten the one thing she would never get. The she-wolves would pay for their beauty and curves. Angelica was going to burn her mother’s world to ash and everyone and everything she loved was going to burn with it.

Skipping the way a carefree child would, she tracked the lingering essence of wolf and vampire through the streets. Her frilly skirts flounced around her knees. The patent leather shoes shone dully in the rings of light cast down onto the streets. Secured by a large pink velvet bow at the nape of her neck. Her golden curls bounced across the small of her back. She was a vision of childhood loveliness, a very pretty little girl that was supposed to grow up to become a beautiful woman. She couldn’t even dress like a little girl of this modern age. Her mother provided clothing out of another era, laces, frills, fine satins and linens, velvets, and shiny shoes. Angelica could kill the woman for that alone.

Angelica skipped around a corner onto a vacant sidewalk. She sniffed wrinkling her nose. There was more than one wolf and if the sweetness of the scent was anything to judge by, at least one brother accompanying them. She giggled, the little girl lilt echoing through the cavern of brick and concrete. She was little, light and fast on her feet. Angelica made certain the brother clad in black and the wolves, two males, saw her before she took off running. She intended to hand her family over to them. But first, she wanted to have a little fun.

Cole blinked and shook his head, then blinked again. He must be losing it. Too much time away from Maggie and the woods must be getting to him. He couldn’t have seen what he saw. Shrugging and frowning in doubt, he turned to David and the two wolves accompanying them on the hunt. “Did I just see what I thought I saw?”

Nausea bubbled in David’s gut. Who in the hell would do such a thing to a child? Judging by the fading sound of her shoes clicking against the pavement, the little girl was about two blocks away from them by now. An easy chase. “You did.”

“What the fuck?” Daniel sniffed the air. His nose confirmed what his eyes had seen. A child vampire… a little girl decked out in lace and frills. The eerie sound of her giggles echoed in his head. The mission had forced Catcher and he to call a truce. Nothing mattered beyond finding Phoenix and Danni. Whatever their personal issues were. They had put them to the side for now.

“A child? A child vampire? I thought such things were forbidden?” Catcher withdrew a blade from his belt and palmed the hilt in his fist. His omega nature knew no limits in regards to age or sex. He would kill whomever he had to if it meant finding the missing women. He had no time for Daniel and spared no thought for Fallon. Not now. Later he could deal with his personal conflicts. Now his only focus was on Phoenix and Danni.

“Uh huh, they are,” Cole answered.

Angelica scrambled up a fire escape and hopped onto the roof of a dilapidated building. “I know something you don’t know,” she shouted in a teasing sing song voice. The wolves and the vampires didn’t know what to make of her. She giggled at their shock over the sight of something like her. Hanging over the ledge, she peered down into the empty streets. This time of night, in this part of town, not even the criminals came out to play. This was the beating heart of the city and it belonged to the paranormals. “Catch me if you can.”

Catcher shed his outer skin as easily as changing clothes. His wolf would not only catch the thing…whatever it was…but eat it for dinner once he had gnawed the truth out of the marrow of her bones. The harsh scent of vampire made for too easy a trail to follow. The wolf inhaled and trotted after the scent, leaving the vampires and his brother wolf to follow on his heels.