Walker's Run (34 page)

Fear rippled down her spine, and she struggled to repress the shiver. “I love you too, Braedyn.” Pulling back, she took his hand, and followed him to the door.

How much more death and devastation would Elan wreak before they could get him?

In spite of everything her body was going through in this moment, the heavy sinking feeling of foreboding sank into the pit of her stomach. It was the same sensation that had awakened her the morning Harlan and Elan had led the attack on Walker’s Run.

The wolf rose within her and Casey stumbled. Her thoughts cleared the haze her heat had created. “We have to go, now.” She looked into his pale gaze and saw a myriad of emotions: worry, love, pride. “We are the Alpha couple, Braedyn. Our responsibility is to this town,
our town
and its inhabitants.”

Braedyn opened the door, and they stepped outside. The snow storm from earlier had cleared. Now the night was bone-chillingly cold and clear. Casey noticed the irony of the weather and how her wolf was telling her to approach the situation.
Be cold, think clear.

This was her life now. She was the reincarnation of the Silver Wolf, the Mother of all Were’s. It was her job to stand beside her alpha husband and protect those who needed it. Now that Elan was a rogue wolf on the loose, the probability of the secret getting out about Walker’s Run endangered everyone, and not just those who lived within the sanctuary.

She narrowed her eyes and lifted her nose in the air, trying to catch Elan’s scent. “Nothing like a wolf-hunt on your wedding night is there?” she jeered.

Braedyn’s golden gaze met hers. The edge of his mouth lifted. “Let’s go catch us a Rogue shall we?”

Mel Favreaux lives in North Carolina with her two small monsters who just love to keep her on her toes, driving her to both laughter and tears on a daily basis. She suffers from Inappropriate Laughter Syndrome (IPPL) and has a dark sense of humor. Morbid fascinations with all kinds of music, swords, knives, dangerous wild animals (both exotic and domestic), and her passion for oddities help her to keep the creativity flowing. Luckily, select few friends and family completely understand her fascinations, though not all share them, but accept her for the weirdo they’ve all come to know and love.

* * * *

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Valor of a Woman

A Mainstream Contemporary Romance

Kimra Valor was a woman on a mission. To enjoy her final vacation and set in motion the events that would end her life. The brain tumor was inoperable. Her entire life had been mapped and planned out for her, now it would end on her terms.

She just wanted a week of relaxation to get her mind set for the end. What she hadn’t planned was meeting Jaren Davies and his enormous but adorable English Mastiff, Mac. In them she discovered what she’d craved her whole life, compassion, gentleness, and love.

The last thing Jaren Davies expected while on vacation was to fall in love. In Kimra’s care-free laughter and absolute passion for everything he found what he never believed existed. One week and he was done, she truly was the woman of his dreams.

Not wanting to ruin the magic they shared, Kimra kept her illness a secret. Was it wrong to want to spend as much time surrounded by love and happiness as possible?

Could she walk away and break Jaren’s heart?

Would he allow her to leave?

This heartbreaking story follows choices that are the most difficult to make, ones no one should have to make.

Preface

She wriggled her toes in the sand, delighting in its texture. For too long, she'd worked hard and denied herself the opportunity to relax. Eight years of classes and holding down two jobs to make it through had finally paid off. Now there was a nice little nest egg and a decent job.

The wind buffeted her, whipping her light brown hair around her face. The long skirt of the sundress billowed out behind her, and she shivered. Summer had ended fast, and it seemed as if autumn was going to breeze through in no time. The scent of winter was already in the air.

The sun had set. The reflections in the waters of the west were fading fast, and the purple-black shadows of twilight were trailing in. Sighing, she looked up at the stars and pulled the shawl around her shoulders.

Two days into her two-week vacation and she'd done nothing but sit on the beach with her laptop.

The wind kicked up again, and her sunhat went flying down the beach. Squealing, she turned and saw blackness when she was hit. Her entire body went numb from the impact.

“Ma'am…”

It was a man's voice, she realized opening her eyes. Her chest hurt as she struggled to draw air in.

“Are you all right?”

Her eyes refocused. The dim lights from the boardwalk shadowed his face, but from what she could see, it was a handsome face.

“I don't know, what happened?”

He cleared his throat and gave her a lopsided grin. “My dog was chasing a Frisbee, and I wasn't paying close enough attention, I'm sorry.”

“Dog? What kind of dog can hit like that?” She accepted his extended hand and sat up face to face with the largest dog she'd ever seen. The mammoth canine looked her in the eyes, rather he could have propped his chin on top of her head from her seated position.

“An English Mastiff, Mac's about two hundred and ten pounds.” The man placed his hand on top of the dog's head, and a string of drool dropped from its massive maw.

“You are a big one, aren't you?” She laughed softly. “I haven't been tackled like that since I played football as a teenager.”

The stranger stood and helped her to her feet. “I'm Jaren Davies by the way.”

“Kimra Valor.” She cleared her throat, scanning the shoreline for her hat. It was gone.

A rumble of thunder and a simultaneous streak of lightening lit up the sky. The dog whimpered and pressed between her and his master.

She laid a hand on his head. “A great big baby?”

Jaren sighed and nodded. “Yeah, the biggest, and it looks like I'm going to have to share the bed with him tonight. It's going to be a long one.”

There was another bright flash of lightening closely followed by a deep rumble of thunder. She felt the tiny hairs on her arms rise to the electricity in the air, and she shivered.

“We need to get some cover quick, this is coming in fast.” He folded up her chair and she grabbed the laptop, trying to shield it from the torrent. The sound of rain as it started down the beach rapidly approached as they ran for the covered gazebo on the boardwalk.

Mac woofed a deep, whispery sound as he sat down and nuzzled her hand.

Kimra patted his head, marveling at how wide it was. Mac leaned into her, and she stumbled under his weight, but managed to hold her ground.

Jaren grinned and shook his head. “Looks like Mac's found a new friend. I promise he's really a gentle giant. He still thinks he's a tiny puppy.”

“Something tells me, he was
never
a
tiny
puppy.”

“He's only two years old, so he still
thinks
that way.”

The rain roared around them. The lights of the boardwalk flickered under the onslaught.

Kimra peered down the beach. “I wonder how long this will last. My bungalow is about a twenty minute walk from here.”

“If you can handle about a hundred yards in this, mine is right over the dunes,” he offered with a nonchalant shrug.

Turning, her gaze caught on the enormous beach house behind them. “
That's
your place?”

“Well, it's my father's actually. I've got it on timeshare for a couple of weeks. Everywhere else I checked into freaked out once they saw Mac, and we're pretty much a package deal.”

She watched the grin spread across Jaren's handsome face. His hair was the same shade of light brown as hers. A little long on top, but trimmed around the back. She was sure the wind had played just as much havoc with her medium length locks as it had his.

Another crack of blinding lightening and an even louder peal of thunder shook the boardwalk beneath their feet. She felt Mac lean into her and whimper as she struggled to remain upright.

“Let's make a run for it.” Her words were carried away as sand blasted her face. Closing her eyes against the torrent, she felt a tug on her arm. They were running through the rain. Unable to contain her laughter, she hugged the laptop close to her chest as they ran up the dunes and stumbled down the other side, heading toward the back door of the beach house.

Mac slid to a halt on the porch and shook his coat. Jaren groaned, fumbling with the keys to unlock the door. He pushed open the door and held it for her, grabbed a thin blue blanket from a hook on the wall, and began to dry Mac as he stumbled through the door.

Jaren smiled, pulled the blanket away, and pointed to the rug. Mac lumbered over and wiped all four feet; then glanced back up at him, mouth open with his tongue hanging out the side.

Kimra laughed. “He's so adorable.”

“Only when he wants something. He's letting me know he wants water now.”

At the mention of liquid sustenance, Mac woofed once and licked his lips.

“Oh, a trade off? Give and get?”

“Pretty much.” Jaren ran a hand through his hair. “We're both soaked to the skin. I might have something you can slip on, and I can put your clothes in the dryer if you'd like to hang here and wait out the storm.”

She shivered and realized they were both dripping on the floor. The wind kicked up outside; the windows rattled. With a sigh, she realized it would be a while before she could attempt to venture toward her bungalow.

“Yeah, that sounds like it would be for the best.” Kimra smiled as she tried to pull her sand coated hair back from her face. “I don't want to mess up the floors though.”

“Okay, hang on.” He dashed away, gliding across the hard wood floors. A door opened and closed, and then Jaren came back holding out a large plush towel.

Wrapping the towel around her, she felt a little better about the billowy sundress that was nearly see through now that it was soaked. Lifting her eyes to his, she caught him staring at her not so well concealed breasts. His cheeks reddened. He glanced away and cleared his throat.

“Let me see if I can find you something to put on.” He motioned for her to follow him into the kitchen.

“God I'd never leave the kitchen if I had one like this,” she murmured as her gaze traveled over the double ovens in the wall.

“Yeah it's not half bad. I feel like a dummy in here though. I don't know what half of the appliances do,” Jaren admitted, following her gaze.

Kimra grinned, hearing Jaren's stomach rumble and realized she was hungry as well. “How about I show you how to work a couple of them after I get a shower?”

His face lit up with another dazzling smile as he opened a bedroom door and began rifling through the closet. “That sounds great actually. Mac and I had been going down to Sandy Bottoms and eating out on the deck. That won't be happening tonight.” He stepped back from the closet with a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt. “Sorry, it's either this or a robe. I figured you'd be a little more comfortable with pants.”

“Thank you.” She gratefully accepted the clothes and followed him into the bathroom.

“Towels are in the cabinet there. Help yourself to anything else you might need,” Jaren said as he backed out of the bathroom and closed the door.

Shaking her head Kimra remembered his blush when he realized she'd seen him staring at her. Running her fingers through her sandblasted hair, she let the towel fall and peeled out of her soaked clothing. She wrung out her clothes and set them in the bathtub, while she turned on the water in the shower stall.

This was turning out to be an interesting evening.

Jaren set a fresh bowl of water down for Mac and leaned against the counter, thinking about the strange and beautiful woman in his shower. He mentally berated himself for gawking at her, but it had been quite some time since he'd been in the presence of a woman as beautiful as Kimra. He was lucky she wasn't screaming for the cops the way Mac had trampled her.

“You know Mac; you can't go running over beautiful women on the beach. You could get me sued. I could've been charged with assault with a deadly weapon, big guy.” He scratched the dog behind the ears; then strode back toward the downstairs bedroom where he stored some clothes.

Grabbing the towel off the foot of the bed, he began to towel dry his hair. Leaving the towel over his head, he unbuttoned his jeans. He slid them down, but hearing the gasp from the hallway, jerked them back up.