Dawn's Path: Completed Work

Chapter 65

Lori paced around the suite she shared with Keene. Talking to him over the phone was not the same as being by his side. And that was where she desperately wanted to be. She had the fleeting and terrible sense that her husband was in danger. "Keene. Can't I come?"

"No. Not yet." Keene was incredibly gentle with his new wife and usually could deny her nothing. But, this time he had to. He knew some of Roark's former followers personally and had seen the cruelty that they could inflict first hand. He wouldn't stupidly put his wife or any of his brothers in danger. And that he had been Roark's mouthpiece for centuries might not settle well with the rogues, especially when he announced his plan to rule them.

Keene would face the rogues alone and make his vie for leadership. He needed someone that he could count on to get the brothers out of the city and to safety, if things got out of hand. He would die for his cause. But, there was no reason for anyone else to. He hated to entrust the lives of his family to a rogue. But, he had no other choice. Marcus knew the layout of the city. But, Carter knew the lay of the land. He was the most likely candidate to get the brothers out in one piece. He'd hoped to be done with Carter at dawn once his message had been delivered to Eric. Apparently, that wasn't the case. Carter wouldn't like it. But, the man would do as asked if he wanted that tracker off his ankle as badly as Keene thought.

"I love you." Lori gave up begging and trying to reason with Keene. It was a waste of time and wouldn't do her any good. The man was stubborn as a mule and he wasn't going to budge an inch on the subject. "When will I talk to you again?"

"Soon." Keene made kissing noises into the phone. Lori rewarded him with a throaty chuckle and a few promises he hoped to make good on as soon as he got home. "Love you too."

Lori snapped the phone closed and sighed. She wasn't a frail thing that needed protected. What she needed was to be at her man's side. But, she was stuck. The women at the compound kept her under constant watch. No doubt at Keene's insistence. Busying her with wedding preparations and purchasing baubles for the new addition to their family. It was nonsense and utter crap. She couldn't help but worry about Keene. She could go talk to her mom or pass the time paling around with her little sister instead of spending the brotherhood's money. And that might be a good plan if, and it wasn't her mom, but her little sister, Maggie, she had, especially when Maggie got annoying, almost taken a bite out of.

Loyalty and love had their prices. As much as she longed to sneak off and claim her place at Keene's side, she couldn't. Orders were orders and they bound her tightly. Clicking the mouse, she completed her task. Selecting unbreakable dishes for Tala and her families new home. Grinning, she read the final purchase price. Spending more than what was reasonable, exactly as Janine had specified under her 'no cheap shit' rule.

Bored out of her skull and lonely, Lori climbed into bed. She was taking a break from her tedious online classes, leaving her nothing to do except follow Janine's crazy whims. She missed school and she missed her man. Hugging Keene's pillow, she fell asleep. Gripping the poor substitute for his warm body tightly.

Patrick patted Janine's side of the bed impatiently. "Come to bed," he ordered. He was proud of his wife and all that she had accomplished. Despite the near miss with the female were, she had done remarkably well adjusting to her new instincts. "I'm lonely," he pouted.

"Oh Patrick," Janine teased. "This is important." She riffled through page after page on the Internet. Looking for the absolutely right shade of beige for the bath towels. Spinning on the computer chair, she turned her attention to her husband. He looked so damned cute, sprawled out beneath the sheets. His hair was damp on the ends turning it a dark brown instead of its usual sandy color. His bottom lip stuck out in a pout, making his face look even more youthful and vulnerable.

Patrick pointed to the blue sheet tenting between his thighs. "This is more important," he whispered.

Hints of gold glimmered in his hazel eyes. His eyes did that when he was aroused. Janine smiled eying the bulging protrusion. Sex with Patrick had been taken to a whole new level since her transformation. She had no idea how much he'd restrained himself to be with her while she was human. But now he loved her with wild abandon, although good before, it was so much better now. "Looks like you're in one hell of a pre-dick-ament," she teased.

"Uh huh," Patrick agreed with a grin. Janine's lips wrapped around his erection. Soft, warm, and teasing him hard with a few strokes of her tongue. "No fangs babe." He hadn't let her do this to him since her transformation, too afraid of the sharp points and her newborn instincts to trust them around his most prized possession. But, her mouth was lush and moist, and the zings of pleasure too good to deny.

Janine shared Patrick's pleasure through the link of their combined blood. Tingles of desire flowed from him into her. Spurring moisture to flow between the juncture of her thighs. Her stomach muscles rippled and tightened, her core was burning with need. Responding to his ecstasy. Timing her licks and suckles she drew the release out of his body and shivered as the pleasure of it ran through her. Giving him no time for recovery, she eased her body over his erect cock and drove him deep into her core.

Patrick shuddered as the walls of Janine's core gripped and milked him for all he was worth. Impatient with working around her nightgown, he ripped through the pink fabric and palmed her breasts. Dragging her forward to lap at them with his eager tongue. Her skin was soft and smooth, heated with passion. Hungry for all of her he punctured the flesh of her nipple with a fang and drank. Her body, held tightly in his arms, rippled in pleasure as she came for him. Pride surged through him as his mind screamed out possessively. She was his woman. Roaring with joy he gave into his body's urges. Succumbing to the pleasure she gave him, he filled her with the force of his climax.

Janine sank onto the bed beside Patrick. Her man, she thought as she ran her fingers along the planes of his chest. Hers. All the bullshit they'd put each other through over the years didn't matter now. Somehow, they'd managed to work it out and they were together forever. And that only went to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt love did conquer all.

Alex paced through the halls in her nightgown. The white gossamer folds billowed around her feet making her look more like a ghost than a vampire. She was restless and couldn't sleep. In her human days, she'd be swimming in a pot of coffee by now, searching out comfort and refuge from the long night in the thick, rich, fragrant brew. She was worried about Chance. Wondering if he were somehow in danger. Worrying if the day she'd always feared had come. If the danger he constantly faced would take him away from her as it had Lucien.

Chance was a skillful and very talented warrior. He could take care of himself. At least, that's what Alex's mental dialogue told her. Chastising herself for the non-stop worry, she battled back and forth with herself. Lucien had been capable too. Had been every bit as skilled and talented as Chance and in the end it hadn't mattered. He still died. Alex scrubbed her hand through strands of chin length hair in frustration. Her fingers tangling in the fall of crimson curls around her face. Chance was NOT Lucien. Chance would not die. She wouldn't allow it. Not this time.

Surely, the fates weren't that cruel to make her suffer twice. Alex had enough of loss and of suffering. Her parents were slipping away from her slowly, day-by-day. She'd lost Lucien suddenly. Although, sometimes she could swear he was still here watching over her. He'd come back from the spirit world to give her one last embrace and they had said their goodbyes. But, some part of him lingered here. He was the breeze that gusted from nowhere and caressed her cheek. He was the trail of goose pimples that wound up her arm on an impossibly hot summer's day. He was the lyric to a song, she couldn't quite remember.

Chance was a good man. Strong and confident in Alex's love, giving enough to share her with the ghost that was Lucien. Loving her enough to accept that a part of her would never be his. The part Lucien took to the grave with him. Chance filled the emptiness left behind. He'd dragged her forward into the future when all she'd wanted to do was stay in the past. And if something happened to him, if he died, not even the brothers could stop her from joining him on the other side of death. She was a strong woman. But, she was not brave enough to face the countless years stretched ahead of her alone.

A cold chill draped over Alex's shoulders. The world spun and blackness swallowed her whole. The vision hit her hard and fast, dragging her under. A warrior, clad in black leather, long, muscular, and lethal emerged from the rolling plumes of gray mist. His ebony hair hung loosely down his back. She looked up into the mahogany eyes she knew so well and her breath hitched in her throat. He was exactly the same as he'd been the day he'd died. Wearing the same battle scarred gear. Walking with that same cocky swagger and smiling down at her with the crooked grin she'd fallen in love with. "Lucien," Alex gasped, reaching desperately for him.

"I've been watching you," Lucien said. "From the spirit plane." Alex's body was mist. Mass, space, time, nor physical form had no meaning here. And it was here, in this place of nothingness and emptiness that he could speak with her. He only knew how much time had passed, as she perceived it. And sometimes, it felt as if it had been a day, sometimes, as if it had been a century. She was happy now, but never at peace. Her worry over the things she could not control drew him to her and held him there. He was part of the cause for her worry. She could sense him. Feel him traipsing around the periphery of her life. He begrudged her nothing, especially not for moving on and getting back to the business of living.

The empty borderlands between the lands of the spirit and the physical were a place where neither the living nor the dead were meant to inhabit and he didn't have much time. He reached down, cupping mists instead of feeling the warmth of her cheek against his fingers. So many times, he'd wished he could touch her again, just once.

"I thought you said you couldn't come back?" Alex muttered softly. Reaching out to touch his cheek, her fingers passed through the misty shape of him rather than resting on the firmness of flesh and bone. He wasn't real. He wasn't here in physical form. She could look at the likeness of the man she'd loved. But, she could never touch him.

"I can't." Nervously, Lucien glanced over his shoulder. The wolves, the guardians of the borderlands, would be coming for him soon. The beasts were no more real than he was. They were mist. Shadows. But, so was he. And in that, they were equals. They'd nip at his heels, shepherd him back to where he belonged. Or at least as close to where he belonged as he'd allow. He wasn't crossing. Not until he was sure. "This is as good as it gets, Alex. I'm a ghost. A shadow. A dream. A vision. Nothing. I sense your worry. And I can't stand to see you suffering so."

"Suffer?"

"You worry so much, Alex, about all the things you can not change. About your parents. About Chance. About me." He crouched and reached out an ethereal finger to trace the path of a tear down her cheek. She shivered as his finger passed through nothing but the mists. He still loved her. Always would. And he'd be here waiting, at the side of the river for her to come. Alex had no concept of time. How unimportant it truly was. She saw things the way the living did and not as he did, from the land of the dead. Forever wasn't that terribly long to wait.

Alex nodded in agreement. "Yes. Chance and I have never been apart this long before."

Lucien scowled and shook his head, his expression chastising. Alex could tell the lie if she chose. But, he knew just as well as she, the true cause for her worry. "No, you're worried that he'll suffer my fate. That he'll die in battle as I did." He longed to touch her. His fingers ached to feel the smooth, ivory, skin of her cheek against them. He stared into the depths of her brown eyes. Eyes alight with love for him and glistening with tears of regret and fear. She broke his heart.

Reluctantly, Alex agreed. "I knew what I was getting into when I married another warrior. But, I don't think I could do it again. Losing the both of you would be too much. My parents...soon. Lucien, they're going to die."

Lucien longed to wipe away the stray tear that rolled down her cheek. "Chance senses your worry. Your fear and your worry over things that might happen could cause them to happen. Your emotions distract him. Confuse him. He's doing what he loves, Alex, just as I did. He's there with you. I wish it were I there instead of him. Trust me on that. But, there are things that simply can't be. And no amount of regret, or tears, or worry can change them. Quit wasting your time worrying and enjoy what you do have while you have it."

Being so close to her. Smelling her scent, the very essence of summer blossoms, made him curse and damn the rogues that defeated him in battle and sent him here. The afterlife was everything the myths and legends foretold. But, it wasn't the heaven he'd found in her arms. Eternity paled in comparison.

Alex gasped as realization over what she was doing sank in. "I could accidentally get him killed."

Lowering his arm and closing his eyes, Lucien nodded. The scent of wolf filled the gray plumes of mist. He had only seconds left. "It was my time, Alex. But, it is not Chance's. Use your link. Fill it with all the happy loving thoughts you have for him. Use them to bring your warrior home."

Alex cried freely and dabbed at her tears with her sleeve. "I'll try," she said meekly. "Lucien," she grabbed for his arm and fell into the mists that were him. Running her fingers through thin air. "Can you hold me, for a minute," she pled.

A pained expression clouded Lucien's features. "I cannot," he answered. "Alex, you have to live. And there is no going back for us." She had a new life. And she needed to be free to live it. As much as it pained him to deny her and let her go, he had no other choice.

The pounding of paws racing across the misty forests accompanied by the throaty growls of the wolves filled the air. "Alex, I must go."

"Lucien, I love you," Alex cried out desperate for just a few more minutes with him.

"And I you. Forever." Lucien blew a kiss and smiled when she pretended to catch it. Holding her fist and the trapped kiss to her bosom.

"Forever," Alex said. The gray mists swirled and thickened. Engulfing her in blackness. Hot gusts of breath blew across her cheeks and the cold, neutral colored tile bit into her back. She woke, thrust back into reality, ripped away from Lucien's gentle presence.

Chance wanted nothing more than to unhook the cell phone strapped to his belt and give Alex a quick call. She worried so much about him every time he went out on patrols. But, he was a warrior and had a job to do. Following Carter to the high rise and making sure he got out of it in one piece. Chance was about to go in after Carter when he emerged from the high rise. Looking like he'd met death and shook his bony hand. Not good.

A sense of joy and happiness flowed into Chance's mind, pushing away his concern for Alex and enabling him to focus on the mission. Drawing on the strength of her positive emotions, he followed Carter, sticking to the shadows and out of sight. He had no idea where the man was going. Carter's path through the city seemed more random than one with a destination in mind. Carter was supposed to meet up with Keene when he finished at the high rise. Instead, he wandered into one of the classier hotels on the east side and took the elevator up to the top floor. Chance didn't push it. He didn't press the man for information. It appeared Carter had been under enough pressure for one night.

Chance stood on the other side of the closed door to the suite, that given the heavy scent of rogue in the air, Carter had inhabited for quite sometime. Nice to put an address with a face, he supposed. The shower kicked on. Chance could hear the spray of the water against the tiles through the walls. And Carter climbed inside. Odd, that Carter would choose now to take a shower. But, guessing what Carter might have encountered in that place, it just might make sense. Although, there were some things soap and water couldn't wash away. And Carter might have encountered a few of those very things.

Bored to tears with keeping out of sight and how long Carter stood in the shower, Chance vowed that as soon as his shift was over he was going to call Alex. He'd tell her how much he loved her and missed her. And maybe, if she were in the mood, they'd have a little phone sex. His cock grew stiff and intolerably hard, fully on board with the plan. And at least the idea of it, occupied his mind while he waited.

Chapter 66

"Lance. You didn't have to do this." Angel ran her hands playfully through his hair. Her heart pounded as she eyed the black, velvet box in his hand.

Lance looked up at Angel. Yes, he did have to do this. He knelt on one knee at her feet proposing. "I want to do this the right way." He snatched the box away as her fingers reached for it. "I haven't asked you yet," he chastised. Gathering a deep breath he opened his mouth to recite the carefully practiced words. But, in his excited state, he forgot them. "Angel. You know how much I love you and how badly I want you to be my wife."

"Yes." Angel beamed. He opened his fingers resting the ring box on his palm for her to accept it. Trembling she took the box from him and cracked the lid open. The ring glittered up at her. Dazzling her with rows of round diamonds surrounding a large square chocolate colored diamond in the center. The diamond's facets reflected hues of canary and gold, and rich deep brown. "It's beautiful."

"The stone reminded me of your eyes," Lance confessed. He took the ring from the box and slid the buttery, yellow gold band onto her left ring finger. In her eagerness she grabbed him so tightly that she squeezed the air out of his lungs. "I take it that you like it? And that's a yes?"

"I love it," Angel gasped. Planting a kiss on his lips. Toppling over they landed on the floor, arms and limbs in a tangle. Not that Angel minded. Eagerly, she stripped off her clothes. Reveling in the hungry glint in Lance's eyes. Quickly, he joined suit. Lying naked beside her. "I love you," she said.

She couldn't quite grasp that in a few short weeks she was going to be a bride. She tingled in excitement. And she quaked in fear. Filled with mixed emotions. She loved Lance with all her heart and she knew that he was the only one for her. It was just that she still had more than a few niggling doubts that she was the right one for him. She had to bury these doubts for once and for all. She had to let go of the past and drag herself kicking and screaming into the future. "Take me out to the bluffs."

"Now?" Every fiber of Lance's body ached with need. But, his woman's needs came first, now and always. Stifling a moan he reached for his pants and pulled them over his hips. Forcing his erection behind the zipper, he finished dressing. Angel was already dressed and fishing under her pillow for the tattered journal and the scrap of charred wood.

"Ok. I'm ready." Angel clutched the journal and the useless hunk of charred wood in her fist and took a deep breath. She could do this. Move forward. It was time at last to let go. In her deepest hearts, she wanted her future, more than she wanted these tattered remains of her former life.