Beckoned (The Brazil Werewolf Series)

I dedicate this book with love and affection to my beautiful daughter, Constance Desiree Dudley. Thank you for supporting me. I love you and I’m so very proud of you. Thank you for helping me to dream.

Acknowledgments

I would like to give a special thanks to my husband, David Wayne Penn, who has now helped me through two books and my daughter, Isabella Kaylee Penn, who still asks me if my book is done yet. I would like to thank my son, Joshua Lee James Penn, who still teaches me to unravel the mysteries of the small things. Thank you for always being an unending fountain of support. I would also like to thank my siblings, Amber Dean Dudley, Kara Desiree Matthews-Wallace, Michael Lee Dudley and James Alan Matthews and especially to my baby sister Rosa-Ann Ruth Dudley for allowing me to use her pictures to create my cover. I love you all so much. Also a special thanks to my “brother” Robert Leighton Sanders and my “sister” Sandra Morris-Pressley. I want to thank my sister-in-laws, Roxanna Steele Matthews, Corie Green Matthews, Carolyne Graves and Amanda Johnson-Penn. I would also like to thank my brother in laws, Joe Wallace and Carl Penn and of course, my soon to be brother in law, Zachary Stafford. I would also like to thank my mother, Melinda Kaye Hirjak and Step-father, Paul Hirjak. Also, I would like to thank my step-mother, Melinda Dudley and my mother in law, R. Bell Penn and my father in law, Lee Roy Penn. I would also like to thank my Great aunt, Peggy Russell-Englant and my aunts Connie Sekulich, Becky Dudley, Amy Russell and Vickie Edwards and my cousins, Traci Coble, Catareena Taber and Valerie Russell, Rebecca Greisenhaber and Christopher Russell. I would also like to thank my grandmother, Mildred Hardy. Also, I would like to thank my uncles, Terry, Anthony and Jason Russell. I would also like to thank my friends, Nikki and Robert Ramirez, Bob Rosso, Robert Harry, Ann Kubicek, Raven, Mendy Nicholas-Millner, Alexis Millner and Alvin Craig, Tammy Laliberte and Mandiey Hill. A big thanks goes out to someone I love like a sister. To Christina Turrentine and especially, Hopi Lalibete-Craig, thank you for reading my book and helping me in the process of writing it. I love you all.

Prologue

My breath rushed in and out of my lungs, caressing my eardrums as the air entered and exited my body. The sound calmed me in the complete darkness. I listened until all of the air escaped through my lips before allowing the other sounds to come, softly at first and then, rising to their normal tones. The chirps of crickets and the rustle of branches and leaves moving against each other rose until the air around me became alive. My mind hummed as awareness of one fact entered my thoughts...I was not in my bed.

I forced my eyes open and my heart sank as I saw the evidence of the one thing I did not want to be confirmed. I had been sleepwalking…again.

I touched my chest with one hand. I could feel my heart beat a calm and steady rhythm beneath the tips of my fingers. I was surprised to find myself completely calm especially since I couldn’t help but to wonder if I was going crazy. Walking in my sleep five times in a month would certainly be proof of my insanity, wouldn’t it? Worse than worrying that I was going crazy was the distinct possibility that one day I would walk into my death, all while dreaming. I shivered with the thought.

I pushed the fear away and instead, looked around trying to determine my surroundings. My eyes widened as I looked up to find darkness lit with a moon so full that it seemed close enough to touch. Dry, brittle grass pushed uncomfortably into the soles of my feet.

I glanced around cautiously. My eyes landed upon a large forest on the far side of the field in which I stood. I had been walking toward it. Fear struck my heart causing it to suddenly beat harder in my chest. The thought of waking up in the middle of the dense trees with all manners of wild animals around me caused me to tremble.

I broke my gaze with the forest before fear could completely consume me. I had to find safety and I had to stay calm. Instinctively, I turned to see the motor home in which I had lived with my mother for all of my eighteen years sitting in the motor home park five hundred feet behind me. My eyes widened. I could not remember walking so far away before. The fact I had, caused the fear I had pushed back to rise up yet again, giving credence to my worry of harming or killing myself.

I inhaled again, trying to slow my breathing and not give into the unease prickling at the back of my neck. I winced as the heat of the Texas summer scalded my nose, making me wrinkle it slightly. Sweat broke out on my skin and began to soak through my nightgown as I carefully began my trek back to my home. I tested each step hoping not to receive any grass burrs in my bare feet on the way.

I had only moved a couple of paces when I paused. I frowned, thinking I had heard…something. I held my breath as I listened, tilting my head to the side. I stood very still as I strained to hear.

“Aurora,” a voice whispered so lightly I thought I might have imagined it floated through the air. I strained my ears further as I scanned the area around me. I seen no one standing near. I frowned looking around again and only confirmed that no one was around me. Maybe I was going crazy.

I shook my head; sure I had imagined the voice, especially since they had whispered my name. No one knew me except for my mother and the voice did not belong to her. It had been too deep…too masculine.

I took another step and stopped again, feeling as if there were a million eyes on me. The hair on the back on my neck stood at attention. I shook my head and began to tell myself how ridiculous I was being. Nearly as soon as the thought entered my mind a new sound filled the air, making me forget the voice that had called my name. In that moment, all of my nightmares entered my mind again. A mournful howl of a wolf rose so near my heart tripped over itself. Fear sent a chill down my spine as I turned and looked toward the forest. Dozens of glowing orbs shined between the trees. I swallowed, trying to push the metallic taste from my mouth. The appearance of two grey wolves proved that this was real. There was no way I was mistaken. I was in danger. I could die.

“Aurora!” I stiffened as I turned to look over my shoulder.

This time, the voice calling my name did belong to my mother. She stood within the doorway of our motor home in her nightgown. Fear was marked in her voice as she called for me again. I trembled as I turned fully around and seen how impossibly far away she seemed. I swallowed as I said a prayer that would only be answered if I were able to reach her before the wolves reached me.

I took a deep breath as I lifted my foot to move forward. Every muscle tensed. I was tempted to run but I forced myself to take slow and steady steps. I swallowed hard because with each step I took, the howls were getting closer and closer. I had to force myself not to turn to look at the two wolves behind me because I knew if I did I
would
run and I didn’t want to tempt them to hunt their prey anymore than I already had.

I closed my eyes as I stood ten paces from my mother so I wouldn’t look into her face and quicken my steps. It seemed to take forever but I finally reached my mother’s outstretched hand. She grasped me and pulled me in through the door as quickly as her small frame would allow. She straightened as she stared across the field. Her face blanched in terror as she looked past me, opening her mouth as if to scream but nothing came out. Only a single tear fell down her pale cheek.

“Emilian,” she whispered as a tremble shook her.

I frowned at her confused and turned to see a man standing ten feet away from us. I stared into eyes the same silver color as mine. Shock radiated through me as my gaze traveled to his hair…black also like mine. There were other similarities too…the full lips, the long, straight nose and the high cheekbones…all like mine.

“Close the door,” my mother said on a strangled cry, but I continued to stare. I felt something secret trying to make itself known but staying just out of reach of my understanding.

My mother yelled with more authority, “Close the door, Aurora!”

Something in her voice broke the spell I was under and I blinked rapidly, breaking the trance I seemed to be under. The man must have noticed because he began to run. I had no knowledge of what he intended to do and I didn‘t want to find out. I reached forward and grabbed the door handle pulling it closed and locking it a second before hearing a resounding thud on the other side of the door.

My mother jumped and then, quickly made her way to the driver’s seat and landed in it as another thud shook the door. Another blow would break it down but a moment later, I heard the engine of the motor home roar to life. I turned my head toward her right before being thrown forward as she sped away from the man and the wolves.

Slowly, I rose feeling dazed as I carefully made my way to the passenger seat and sat down, buckling myself in. I looked at my mother with so many questions rising up in my mind but as I took in her face, I could see that I would have to wait for answers because for the first time in my life, fear shined in my mother’s eyes.

I frowned as I looked into the side view mirror meeting my odd silver colored eyes…eyes that I shared with this man…a man that my mother knew but was a stranger to me. Slowly, I looked back at my mother realizing that she had said his name…Emilian. I swallowed as I wondered why she had been frightened of him.
Who was he?

I looked back into the side view mirror, seeing the similarities between him and myself again. I gazed into my eyes and trembled as a dark suspicion rose causing me to close my eyes to block out my reflection. Maybe I didn’t want to discover who he was after all…

Chapter One

Family

Hours passed before my mother seemed to calm. During that time, my mind returned to the man who looked like me. Even though I had seen him for only a moment, his face was etched into my mind. The fact that my mother knew him made me even more curious about him. I couldn’t help but to wonder who he was. My mind whispered the only clue that I had to his identity. The name my mother had whispered…Emilian.

I frowned as I remembered the look on her face as she said his name. She had been terrified. I swallowed as I wondered again why. Had he hurt her? My blood chilled at that possibility. I trembled as his face rose again in my mind, knowing that he could have harmed her but again, seeing our similarities and shying away from the idea.
Who was he?
More importantly,
Did he have a connection to me?

I shook my head, pushing the thought away because it disturbed me more than my mother’s fear. It made me terrified because my mother might have lied to me and worse than that, it made me afraid of where I came from. It made me afraid of who I was.

Slowly, I looked at my mother, hoping that I would find her calmer. My heart dropped when I seen that she still drove with her blue eyes fixed on the road as if forcing her gaze away from me. She was rigid and every now and again I would see her tremble. It was almost as if looking at me would break her.

“Momma,” I whispered, brokenly. She stiffened as I finally gained her attention even if it was reluctantly. She turned, looking at me with wide blue eyes. Tears still stained her face and I found the sight caused a lump to form in my throat preventing me from speaking right away.

Her chin trembled as if the sight of me would cause her to burst into sobs again. Instead, she took a deep breath, closing her eyes before looking at me again.

“You should lie down until we arrive,” she croaked in a voice so different from the one I had known my whole life. The softness was gone. Only fear and deep sadness remained.

I was so focused on her voice that it took a moment to finally register in my too full brain what she had said. I blinked as I absorbed her words. She already knew where we would be moving. That had never happened so quickly before. In the thirty times we had moved since my birth, I couldn‘t remember one that had taken less than two weeks to plan.