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“Who are you?” she asked, even
though she knew the answer already. The wolf shifter.

The Evil One.

The name came to her out of
nowhere once more.

“Yes,” he agreed as if she’d
asked the question aloud. “I am what those Druid’s called The Evil One. Not a
very creative name, I am afraid.” It seemed like he was pacing, but his feet
never reached the ground. “My true name is Conall,” he continued in a cold
monotone. “At least, that is the easiest translation.” He smiled now, a
terrifying twist of lips that froze Lana to the bone. Nothing short of evil.
“My apologies. You need not know my name. I was just trying for…what is that
human expression? Ah, yes, ‘small-talk’, I think it is.”

Why are you telling me this?

The Evil One took a step forward,
his thin lips sunk to form a disturbing frown. “How can you hope to defeat me
as you know nothing about me? I am the first. I have been a shapeshifter since
before your kind gave us a name. Eons before they could think of one. The god’s
bestowed their powers on me.”

“You weren’t the only one,” she
said before she could stop herself.

“Ah, so you have heard of me!” He
sounded rather pleased. “It is true. I was not the only, but I was the first
and best. I am the sole survivor of the first four.

“The others chose to die out or
to pass their powers on to the generations to come after them. I, on the other
hand, did not. I made myself immortal.” He stopped pacing now, turned to her,
his red eyes blazing. “I wanted to live forever. No one had the power to stop
me. Until I heard of the prophecy. And you.”

She frowned. “What—”

“What prophecy? The one that
foretold of two pieces—you and your man—that would come together to become the
only power on this Earth that could destroy me. Me!” he roared, the sound so
intense it made Lana’s ears ring and the ground shake. “Two mortals. One in her
second decade, the other barely into his third. Decades,” he spat. “A
split-second of time compared to the millennia I have lived in this world.”

Cole!
she screamed in her
head.
Where are you?

“He is…well, we will just say he
is out of the picture, shall we?”

“What have you done with him?”

“Fret not, young one. You will be
with him soon enough.”

Lana felt herself changing.
Goosebumps rose on her arm and only seconds passed before they turned into
patches of fur. Although not painful, the sensation was strange.

Seeing red, she lunged for him.
The sound that ripped from her started out as a primal scream and ended on a
growl. She swiped out ferociously, stunned to find her nails curled into claws.

She faltered for a split second,
and just as she reached her mark, he vanished, and she was back in the middle
of Cole’s bedroom, stumbling to catch herself.

Shocked, she stared down at her
hand—it was still covered in fur.

“What the hell?” she said as she
turned her hand—paw—over.

Lana!

She twisted around, expecting to
find Cole, but found the room still empty. Cole?

Silence.

Without further hesitation, she
leaped through a window for the second time in a week. This time, she hit the
ground on all fours. She wasn’t sure how she managed it, but she had changed.
Instead of landing on her hands and feet, she landed on her paws.

She moved now, faster than she’d
imagined. The breeze along her fur felt magnificent. It was a rush, a beautiful
feeling of freedom she had longed to feel. She had felt a kind of freedom with
Cole, but this…this was different. Wild. Unrestrained. Untamed.

Focus, Lana. Find Cole now,
debate shifting later.
With that goal in mind, she reached the edge of the
woods and sniffed the air as she ran. There. To her right. Cole’s scent. She
would recognize it anywhere—especially since she smelled her own mixed with
his.

Cole
, she thought, worried
she might not see him again.
I know you’re alive. You have to be. Please, be
alive
, she begged.
I love you. Know that, remember it, always.

With the cat’s great eyes, she
could see everything. Hear everything. But still, she didn’t hear Cole.

The fur on her back shot up.
Someone was there. Abruptly, she stopped, tail whipping side-to-side viciously.

She lay on the ground, ready to
pounce, and sniffed the air. The rancid, almost sickening smell didn’t belong
to Cole. But still she called out with her mind.
Cole? Is that you?

As she moved a few yards ahead,
she watched a shadow grow and step out from behind a tree. “Looking for
someone?” The Evil One jeered.

Where is Cole?
she
demanded.

“He is somewhere. Here, possibly there.”

I’ll find him. You won’t beat
us, you bastard
.

“Think so?” The Evil One stepped
closer. “You will beg for mercy that will never come before I am finished with
you.”

I wouldn’t waste my breath
begging for something you know nothing of
, she spat back. She would not
give him the satisfaction of pleading for her life.

“You take on quite the bravado
when I am in my human form, woman. Shall we see how your bravery stands against
my other form?” he asked, a mirthless smile reaching his mouth. His red eyes swirled
with black as he transformed into the tawny wolf.

Is this better?
He circled
her.
I can smell your fear. It smells delicious.
With no response to
this, the wolf leapt at Lana, teeth bared.

She didn’t move fast enough, even
in cat form, to avoid the wolf. It landed on her, barely missing her throat as
his mouth came down on her shoulder. Howling in pain, she kicked out, pushing
him to the side.

Blood welled from her wounded
shoulder, and Lana in tiger form rolled over and got to her feet. The wolf immediately
began circling her again, snarling. Her own blood dripped from his mouth.

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you not
to play with your food?”

Cole!

Surprise flickered on his face,
but he recovered quickly.

I love you, Lana, she heard in
her mind.

Thank, God. I love you, too.

Cole walked to her, laid a hand
on her head briefly before changing into his own tiger form.
Let’s go, you
evil bastard
.

She prowled around the pair as
Cole leapt for the wolf, going for the jugular. The wolf was too fast. He
easily sidestepped Cole and went for his side, yellow fangs bared.

Lana howled and ran forward, the
pain in her shoulder forgotten as she tried coming between the other tiger and
wolf.

Get away, Lana!
Cole
yelled in her mind. She ignored him as her mouth came down over the wolf’s
back, trying to pull him off Cole.

He was powerful, stronger than
she imagined, and not easily moved. But finally, he released Cole’s side, only
to turn on her instead.

The wolf made another lunge for
Lana, and though Cole moved quickly, jumping at the wolf, he wasn’t quick
enough. His nails scraped down Lana’s side, even as Cole knocked him out of the
way.

Lana knew they were going to die.
The Evil One was simply too powerful for them to fight. A surge of anger
quickly replaced the flood of despair she’d felt.

No! She loved him too much. She
couldn’t lose him, not when she’d just found him. He’d become so much a part of
her life, a part of her heart, body and soul. She wouldn’t give up that easily.

In that instant, she knew how to
defeat him, knew they could. They had too much to lose if they didn’t.

She moved quickly now, holding
the wolf down with one huge paw, baring her fangs and clamping them down hard
on the neck of the wolf. The high-pitched growl from the wolf sounded inhuman,
but not animal either; like no other sound she’d heard before, but still she
didn’t let go.

Cole, help me!
she
pleaded.

As he pounded over, she saw the
questions in his eyes.
Link with me
.

The tiger followed suit, laid his
paw over Lana’s and bit into the wolf’s neck, his teeth ripping at flesh.

Lana felt something as it raced
through her body. What that “something” was she didn’t know. But in the next
moment, the wolf’s shape began to shift back into his human form.

Neither Cole nor Lana released
him. “This is not possible!” he screamed, then said no more.

With his teeth still lodged into
The Evil One’s neck, Cole dragged him away from Lana and shook him violently.
Only when The Evil One’s neck snapped did he release him.

Lana heard the snap and winced.
She sat now, exhausted.

“When two become one and one
become two. When two are linked. Power is true. Your love is what saved you, my
children.” Though Lana didn’t see her, she heard the voice just as if she was
standing beside her. Her mother. It was different from hearing Cole in her
mind.

Lana looked into the green eyes
of the tiger. Her mate, her lover. The father of her unborn child
. Did you
hear?

The tiger nodded.
I heard.

Both watched in silence,
astonished as The Evil One’s human form shifted again to form the wolf, then
vanished into ash.

Lana’s eyes met Cole’s. By silent
agreement, they both shifted into their human forms.

Cole caught Lana as she started
to fall. He lifted her into his arms and held her tightly against his chest.

Running as fast he could, he ran
back to the house and placed her on the bed. He turned, intent on going for
supplies, but an urgent voice inside his mind stopped him.

Link!

He shook his head and glanced
down at an unmoving Lana. Link? What the hell did that mean now?

He ran a hand down her cheek.
“Help me, Lana. Tell me what to do!”

Lana’s eyelids fluttered open.
“We have to link—to touch,” she said weakly.

Cole climbed into the bed next to
her and held her. He felt his own strength flowing into her, but he never felt
weakened by it. In fact, he felt stronger.

Color returned to Lana’s face.

“I don’t understand,” he
whispered, running a hand down her cheek gently.

“It was always us, Cole. We had
to come together. We were the only thing that could destroy him,” she said, her
voice still feeble.

“You really are a shifter.”

Lana smiled at that. “Thank your
son.”

He tilted his head at that. “My
son?”

“’Two become one’,” she repeated.
“The two of us became one when we made love.”

“And one became two now that
you’re pregnant,” he finished, realization dawning.

“I didn’t understand until near
the end, after we were already fighting him.”

“And then you linked,” an
unexpected voice said.

Cole and Lana both turned their
heads. Next to the bed, Lana’s mother, stood, a serene smile on her face.

“Mama! You came back.”

“You’re safe for now, Lana,”
Laura Summers said soothingly. “As is your son.”

“I really am—”

“Going to be a father? Yes, you
are,” Laura supplied as she smiled down at the pair. “You’ve fulfilled your
destiny. In time, your son will fulfill his. Be good to each other. Cherish one
another.”

Tears began to fall down Lana’s
cheeks silently. “You’re leaving me again?”

“It’s time. I couldn’t help it, I
had to wait until I knew you were safe, Lana, but it’s time for me to move on.
Embrace your gifts. They have served you well.”

Lana shook her head. “Our gifts
caused your death.”

“No,” Laura said. “The Evil One
caused my death. He wanted to keep me from warning you.”

“It’s not fair.”

“No, perhaps not, but it was
still my time, Lana. It’s destiny.” She smiled, and all the love she felt for
Lana shone through. “Just as your meeting and then loving Cole was fated to
be.”

Lana grabbed Cole’s hand. “I do
love you. With all of my heart.”

Cole smiled at her. “And I love
you, darlin’.” He looked at Laura. “We’re getting married. I think, under the
circumstances, that I’ll accept a ghost’s blessing.”

“And you have it,” Laura said.

Lana laughed. “You might ask me.”

“And give you a chance to
refuse?” He shook his head. “Not a chance, darlin’.”

“Are you coming back, Mama?”

“There’s always a chance,” she
said vaguely. “But know that I’m always watching out for you. I’m always
looking over you. All three of you.”

“I’ll miss you.”

Laura put her hand over her
heart. “I’m always here. Be happy, my child.”

In the next instant, she faded
away, leaving no trace that’d she’d ever been there.

When Cole looked at Lana again,
tears still spilled down her cheeks, but she wore a smile on her face. “I think
I like my future mother-in-law.”

“I’ll miss her.”

“Of course you will. You’re
supposed to. But I’m sure she’ll be there for you if you ever need her.”

He’s right
, Laura’s voice
echoed in their heads.

Cole laughed. “See. What did I
tell you?” He brought her hand to his lips, kissed it. “So, Lana Summers, are
you going marry me?”

Lana smiled. “How can I refuse?
Our son will need to control his gifts, won’t he?”

Cole sobered. “I love you so
much, Lana. I know this happened…‘fast’ is an understatement, but I can’t think
of another way to say it. I think your mother was right. It was meant to be. We
were meant to be.”

“It was,” she agreed. “Good thing
I like wild animals.”

§§§

He watched—contained for now,
without form. But it would not be long. The Evil One smiled.

The End

Be sure to look for Book 2 in the summer of 2012

Read a sneak peek of HOLDING THE
LINK. Book Two in the Prophecy Series and a sneak peek of THE STORM WITHIN,
available now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other online retailers.