Authors: Lia Davis
Tags: #Ashwood Falls, #Fantasy, #Lia Davis, #Paranormal, #werewolves
A Mating Dance (18 page)
Blaine laughed and kissed her cheek. “No, we are all blessed to have each other.”
They were truly mated. It was still a shock, and Blaine wasn’t sure if he’d dreamt it or not. But the bond was too strong, too real to be a dream. They belonged to one another, and together, they could overcome anything. Especially whatever the Onyx threw at them.
Cameron sat on the sofa with her legs tucked under her as she watched Graham sit in front of the fireplace with Isaac’s journal in hand. The time had come to destroy the book and the mutant formula written within the pages.
Dane got rid of the formula the Onyx had by implanting a computer virus into their network the night they’d destroyed the lab. Now all that was left was the journal.
Graham carefully turned each page, tearing out sections to set aside for an electronic file of Isaac’s life for Max and Sammie. It had been Blaine’s idea, making Cameron love that alpha male even more.
It’d been two months since they’d formed the mating bond that saved her life, and Cameron couldn’t be happier. Her males were her world, along with her two stepchildren.
Max started calling her mommy the day after the mating. The little empath, even as young as he was, knew something was different. Maybe he’d felt the connection between her and Graham and just figured it was the right thing to do. The little guy was too smart for his own good.
The first time he’d spoken the word, Cameron had cried like an overemotional mother. Blaine had said that she was such a girl in his teasing tone. She turned from mother to childish teen by sticking out her tongue, which she regretted when Max repeated it. So, yeah, she’d have to watch what she said and did around the toddler.
Sammie still called her Cam, but really, Cameron was okay with that. Sammie would go through her first shift soon; she was practically grown by shifter standards. Besides, Sammie still remembered her mother, both the good and the bad. She still held a certain mistrust of the mother figure. Trust was something Cameron had to work to gain. She’d show Sammie what it was like to be loved by a stepmother, just the same as she would with Max.
A knock on the door made Cam look at the clock. It was ten in the morning. Who could be coming over unannounced at that hour?
Blaine called out from down the hall, “It’s my father.”
A few moments later, Keegan opened the door and walked in with Luna. Their expressions carried concern, and there was something else hidden there. Cameron had to wonder if the Alphas had been arguing about something.
Cameron sat up straighter on the sofa, allowing room for Luna to sit next to her. Keegan didn’t sit; he just stood next to the fireplace watching Graham burn pages from the journal. Everyone was uncomfortably silent until Blaine came into the room, hair wet from a shower and wearing nothing but a pair of jeans.
Finally Keegan spoke. “Blaine, as my Heir, you will step into my place until I return.”
Blaine froze and stared at his father for a long moment. “You’re leaving? Where are you going? Why now?”
Keegan held up his hand in a silent command. “I have to take Addyson and the boy to a safe house. Her home is no longer safe. Some of the sentries have witnessed more rogue activity around that area of the den. Like their waiting for either Addyson or Will to make a mistake and venture out alone. I have to make sure she is protected.”
Graham broke his silence. “They want both Scribes now.”
Keegan nodded solemnly and Cameron turned her gaze to Blaine, watching the play of emotions running across his face before he replied. “She’s your mate.”
It wasn’t a question, and Keegan knew it by the way he held his son’s gaze. After what seemed like minutes, Blaine nodded. “Is there going to be a circle meeting to announce the change in power?”
Keegan nodded and walked over to sit in the armchair. “I will be moving Addyson and Will tonight. Once they are settled and a couple of sentries placed on guard, I’ll come back and perform the ritual.”
Fuck. If there was going to be a ritual to transfer the Alpha power, then Keegan hadn’t planned on coming back. She couldn’t believe it. “A ritual? Like a permanent transfer of power? You’re leaving the Pack for good?”
Keegan met her gaze. “No, Cam. I am not leaving the Pack, but I need the Onyx Pack to believe that.”
Luna cleared her throat. “I don’t like it either, Cam, but I trust Keegan. Besides it make senses in a way. If Onyx believes one of the Alphas has left, then they may start to think that Ashwood is weakening. They make a mistake and we’ll be there to knock them down.”
Cameron sagged into the sofa, and Max crawled into her lap and patted her cheek. She kissed his chubby hand and hugged him. “I’m fine, little man.” She peered back at Keegan. “It won’t be the same without you here.”
Keegan leaned back in the chair, looking way too tired. Maybe this was his out for the Alpha role. He’d ruled Ashwood for about seven hundred years. That was a long time for even a shifter to lead the Pack.
The Alpha sighed. “I’m not sure what our future holds, but if anyone can lead the leopards and come out of this war stronger, it is Blaine. With the triad bond, he’s stronger than any Alpha I’ve ever met.”
Blaine stepped forward to stand in front of his father. He clasped him on the shoulder and said, “I accept. But you will come back, even if I have to find you and drag your ass back to the den.”
Keegan smiled and stood. He drew Blaine into a tight hug and said, “Deal.”
A few moments later Keegan and Luna left, and the three of them sat in silence, absorbing the news. They would be the first triad, as far as she knew, to lead a Pack. The real shocker was that Keegan was leaving. Sure he’d be back, but he was leaving.
It felt…wrong.
Max scooted off her lap backwards until his feet touched the carpet. Slowly he made his way to Blaine, still standing next the fireplace. The three year old stopped in front of Blaine and peered up at him. Blaine looked down, smiled a crooked smile and raised an eyebrow. Max tried to mirror the expression, but couldn’t get the eyebrow thing to work. His tiny brows waggled as he tried to get only one to rise.
Blaine burst out laughing and scooped Max up into his arms. Max laughed then, too, and he threw his arms around Blaine’s neck. “Daddy makes a good Alpha.”
Cameron’s chest tightened and her vision blurred. Max called Blaine daddy.
Blaine walked over and sat down next to Cameron. She snuggled against him and kissed Max on the cheek. She could feel Blaine’s whirling emotions through the mating bond: sadness, happiness, and worry. They were a storm slowly building inside him.
Graham discarded the journal for now and came over to sit on the other side of Blaine and Max. Sammie crawled up beside Cameron and hugged her close. They sat there, silent, content, and family.
They were a family.
“I love you all. If there is anyone who can rule those leopards it’s us.” Cameron broke the quiet.
Blaine draped his arms around them, drawing both of them close and kissing her, and then Graham on lips. “I’m glad I have my new family to help keep me sane threw it all.”
The End
Coming soon in the Ashwood Falls series, the Alpha gets his story in Surrendering to the Alpha
Lia Davis is a mother to two young adults and two very special kitties, a wife to her soul mate, a paranormal romance author, graphic designer, and co-owner to Fated Desires Publishing, LLC. She and her family live in Northeast Florida battling hurricanes and very humid summers. But it’s her home and she loves it!
An accounting major, Lia has always been a dreamer with a very activity imagination. The wheels in her head never stop. She ventured into the world of writing and publishing in 2008 and loves it more than she imagined. Writing and designing are stress relievers that allow her to go off in her corner of the house and enter into another world that she created, leaving real life where it belongs.
Her favorite things are spending time with family, traveling, reading, writing, chocolate, coffee, nature and hanging out with her kitties.
Also from this Author
Now Available
Ashwood Falls
A Mating Dance
The Divinities
Coming Soon
Ashwood Falls
Surrendering to the Alpha
The Divinities
The Dark Divine
Looking for a shifter paranormal series that’s sure to make your day? Try out Lia Davis’s
A Tiger’s Claim
.
As the Alpha’s only daughter Shayna Andrews has always been treated like a rare gem, protected like royalty, and she’s suffocating. Her longing to be independent has driven her to sneak out one evening after dinner. After relishing in being able to run free without an escort, she finds herself face-to-face with the enemy, miles from home, and nearly loses her life until a lone wolf comes to her aid.
Travis Hunter’s main objective is to destroy the Onyx Pack—a group of drug using, murdering rogue shifters. His seek-and-destroy plans are put on hold when he rescues a female from a brutal attack. The beautifully exotic tiger shifter, Shayna, stirs a passion he thought died with his long-lost mate.
When Shay’s first heat cycle slams into her, Travis has no choice but to submit to her needs—and his own. But there is always a price to sleeping with the Pack princess. Not only will he have to face her Pack, Shay and Travis will now have to deal with that fact that their mating is beyond a simple night and could have consequences more than either of them had thought. And when Travis finds out Shay wears the enemy’s brand, things will go from bad to worse.
Warning: One alpha female who doesn't take no for an answer, a wolf with more on the line than just his heart, and a combustible attraction that's sure to cause more than one sweaty night.
Have you tried Carrie Ann’s other series, Dante’s Circle?
Her Warriors’ Three Wishes is now available
Humans aren’t as alone as they choose to believe. Every human possesses a trait of supernatural that lays dormant within their genetic make-up. Centuries of diluting and breeding have allowed humans to think they are alone and untouched by magic. But what happens when something changes?
Ambrose Griffin is older than most, if not all, civilizations. As each year passes, he submerses himself into his training, only relaxing around his protégée and friend, Shade. After losing his wife and children in the last Angelic Wars, he guards his heart and has no desire to share it with another.
Bookkeeper and romance novel enthusiast, Jamie Bennett dreams of being swept off her feet by a white knight. However, her life is no romance book. Since meeting Ambrose—a sexy, delicious angel—she’s been twisted inside out and doesn’t know why. Things are happening that she can’t control and now her life is in danger.
Balin Drake is stuck in hell, literally. His life of refusing to take souls, even though it’s part of his demon nature, has caught up with him. He’s dying and now must search for his true half, but even a mating may not save him. When he meets the two people who could fill that part, he’ll need to fight for something he hasn’t felt in over a century—hope.
Warning: Contains a rigid angel who needs a certain sexy woman to help him unwind, a book keeper who finds herself the creamy center of the best cookie ever, and a demon who has a certain taste for pressing them both against walls.
Table of Contents
