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Loving Her Scars by B.M. Griffin Published by B.M. Griffin
Copyright © 2017 by B.M. Griffin License Notes This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or
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Dedication This book is dedicated to my two amazing daughters. They are my why and because of them I have pursued this thing, this dream, that makes me happier than any mundane career ever could.
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Chapter One Adam “No! Eric, please don’t. Please!” “Shayla, Shayla, wake up.” Adam ran his hands up and down Shayla’s arms gently not wanting to scare her; desperately wanting to wake her from the nightmare which had her sobbing and begging for her life. “Nooo! Please, I’m sorry!” Adam squeezed his eyes shut. God, he wanted to hunt that bastard down and rip him limb from limb for what he’d done to Shayla. Fortunately, Eric was in prison, a fact that made getting to him especially difficult. Adam inhaled deeply and exhaled as he tried to release the anger that washed over him every time Shayla’s past came back to haunt her. She needed him calm right now because she wouldn’t be. He sat back against the headboard and pulled her into his arms. He needed to wake her from the nightmare she was reliving but he had to be gentle with her. Adam had learned the hard way not to shake her awake when the nightmares came. When they first started living together, after everything went down with Eric,
Chapter One
Chapter Two Shayla Shayla made it to work early, which gave her time to prepare for a morning meeting she had to attend. Shayla and Megan were presenting a new marketing strategy to a potential client, and the extra time would allow her to get focused and ready to make the deal. Megan was the face of their dynamic duo so to speak. She was the one who did most the speaking during their presentations, while Shayla was the artist behind the work. They made a great team, always coming up with exciting ideas. This kept the new clients coming and made them lead reps for West End Marketing & Management. They would be presenting their idea to Hall Global Inc. this morning who could potentially be their biggest clients yet. Shayla wasn’t going to let anything stand in their way of landing the contract. Shayla’s phone buzzed on her desk and she was surprised to see it was Megan calling her. Dread took her body over as she lifted the phone to answer the call. She just knew that whatever Megan was
Chapter Two
Chapter Three Adam “Hey, Shayla, I’m going to hop into the shower but I thought we could go out for dinner tonight? What do you think?” Adam looked around but he didn’t see Shayla anywhere in the main part of the house. Her car was out front so he knew she was home. “Shayla?” He headed down the hall and popped into her bedroom. Shayla laid curled up on her side, a pillow clutched to her chest, with her hair splayed out over her face. She was sleeping so soundly. She’d fallen asleep on top of her comforter, Adam grabbed an extra blanket and spread it over her, careful not to wake her up. He decided he would take a shower and order in her favorite Chinese food. Shayla never took naps, if she was sleeping in the middle of the day he knew she was exhausted. Adam made quick work of showering, threw on a pair of shorts, and went to check on Shayla. She was still in the exact same position before he showered. Unable to resist the urge to touch her, Adam reached out and brushed the hair away f
Chapter Three
Chapter Four Shayla She wasn’t sure how she did it, but somehow Shayla managed to keep her mouth shut until they arrived home. She was so confused and pissed off; her mind was running on a loop replaying the whole night repeatedly. One thing was for sure—she hadn’t been imagining the weirdness between Kevin and Jim earlier that day and it only got worse. She was completely confused by Kevin requesting to speak privately with Adam. What the hell was that about? They didn’t even know each other. The minute they got home, Shayla quickly made her way inside. She sensed Adam right behind her. As soon as she walked through the door she slammed her purse down on the counter, quickly turning on her heel to face him. “What the hell was that?” Her eyes were wild with anger. “I don’t want you working with that Kevin guy, or anyone involved in his company.” You telling me not to work with Kevin is not an answer to my question. Now tell me what the hell happened tonight because I am definitely miss
Chapter Four
Chapter Five Adam Adam’s heart was beating the inside of his chest as worry and fear that Shayla would run away from him afraid washed over him. He had to tell her the truth, there was no other way. Adam struggled with the understanding knowing and doing were two completely different things. How could he survive losing her? Adam was certain her knowing the truth would cause her to leave. This would destroy him. Adam took a deep breath speaking carefully and slowly. “The skills a mentioned having, well they’re more like powers, but most of the time they just feel like a curse. I have the ability to make my entire body light up in blue flames. When this happens, I can kill anyone with one simple bite or a tiny cut with my claws. The flames enter their body and burn them from the inside out. It is incredibly fast. They are ash in mere seconds. Because of this some of our species have given me the nickname, the Premagati, or the vanquisher.” Adam’s voice was but a mere whisper. Shayla had
Chapter Five
Chapter Six Adam Adam was getting frustrated with Shayla’s friend. Shayla had not been kidding when she said Megan saw things in black and white. He’d shown her his wolf’s eyes and she just laughed. His elongated teeth had done nothing to convince her either. “Megan, he’s telling you the truth,” Shayla told her friend. Megan rolled her eyes and laughed again. “Shayla, I love you but sometimes I swear you can be so dense. Can’t you see what he’s doing?” “What the hell are you talking about?” Adam was losing his patience and getting irritated with Megan’s snarky attitude. He didn’t know what he problem was. They’d always gotten along before. He wouldn’t say they were friends, not like her and Shayla were, but now she was acting as if he was a nuisance. Megan looked at him with pursed lips, then turned back to Shayla. “He’s in love with you. He has been as long as I’ve known the two of you. From everything you have told me about Kevin’s behavior it is obvious the guy is interested; your f
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven Adam “Adam, what is she doing here?” Adam and Shayla ran into Jared as soon as they walked into Mike’s house. Adam had sent Mike a text letting him know he had something important to discuss with him before Shayla insisted on coming with him. He hadn’t bothered giving his pack alpha a heads up about Shayla because he already knew how Mike would respond. Jared’s greeting when they walked through the door only solidified his expectations. Before Adam could respond, Shayla stepped in front of Jared and gave him her two cents. “I’m here because what he needs to say involves me and that asshole Kevin Hall.” Adam knew Mike would not appreciate such bravado from Shayla, but that didn’t stop him from smiling and feeling incredibly proud she’d found the courage to take charge around a man she didn’t know. Jared was a pretty intimidating guy standing at six-four and built like a solid wall of muscle. He knew she was afraid. He could hear the quiver in her voice as she spoke, this w
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight Shayla Shayla kept her eyes open as she sat in the car waiting for Adam to come back out. She was still in a bit of shock that their coming here and asking for help had led to this. Adam had tried to warn her but she wouldn’t listen, and now someone was going to die because of her. They might not have asked Jared to challenge Mike for his role as the pack alpha, but they were to blame nonetheless. He challenged Mike because Mike refused to help her and Adam. The best outcome she could hope for now was that Jared would be the one to come out on top. Still, even that result wasn’t one she could be happy about because it would mean that Mike was dead and she didn’t want anyone getting hurt over her. It felt like hours were passing by as she sat there waiting for Adam to return, but her phone told her it had barely been fifteen minutes. Shayla thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye to the left of the car, but when she turned to look in that direction all she s
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine Adam Adam’s skin was crawling. The last thing he wanted to do was take Shayla anywhere near this S.O.B. especially at the guy’s request. What was he up to anyway? He held Shayla’s hand as they made their way down the stair to the basement where the guy was being held. The logical assumption was Kevin had sent the guy to deliver a message, but something in Adam’s gut told him that wasn’t the case. When they approached the cage and the prisoner came into view Shayla pulled her hand from his, covering her mouth with both hands as she cried out, “No!” The tears running down her face were instantaneous. “Hello darlin’,” Eric said. He had a sickening smile plastered on his face as he addressed Shayla, and he moved as close to the front of the cage as he could get without touching the bars. Adam was torn between needing to comfort Shayla and wanting to rip Eric’s head off. How was he here? He was supposed to be locked up for the foreseeable future for attempted murder. Flashbacks
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten Shayla Shayla could hear so many voices. It sounded like somebody was having a party while she tried to sleep. “Ugh, so loud,” she mumbled in her sleepy haze. She felt soft lips being pressed against her neck and opened her eyes. It was dark in the room but she could see everything. Even though she couldn’t feel anything on her face, she was sure this was what looking through night goggles would be like. She rolled over and came face to face with Adam. He gently pushed her hair back from her face, and leaned in placing a soft kiss on her lips. Shayla noted that this kiss felt different from before—more intense. Shayla brought her hands up to the back of his head and twined her fingers in his hair at the base of his neck as she deepened the kiss. Adam groaned into her mouth making her sigh. Shayla had the overwhelming desire to get closer to him so she wiggled her body as close to him as she could get. She felt like her body was on fire and she needed Adam to put it out, but
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven Adam Adam watched Shayla leave the room itching to go with her, but he could tell she needed a minute to herself. Her absence removed the distraction that had kept Jared from ripping him a new one, and when he turned to face his friend Adam resigned himself to the lecture that was coming. Jared’s back was rigid, his bulky arms were crossed over his chest, and the scowl on his face would make young children cry for their mothers. “You told someone else about us? Adam, what the hell were you thinking? Shayla I understood—she was in danger—but you can’t just go around telling everyone the two of you know. It puts us and them in danger if they can’t keep their mouth shut.” “You think I don’t know that? I wish I’d never had to tell Shayla, but Kevin fucking Hall took that choice away from me when he decided to use her as a bargaining chip hoping to make me his personal assassin. Unfortunately, that move also put Megan in danger because they were both supposed to work with him
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve Shayla Megan still had the door locked just as Shayla had instructed her to do, so she knocked and called out to her friend to open the door. “Hey, Megan, it’s Shayla.” She heard feet shuffling over the carpet, then the sound of the lock being released. Megan slowly opened the door, peaking through the crack like she was making sure it really was Shayla, then snatching the door wide when she caught a glimpse of Shayla on the other side wearing absolutely nothing. Megan reached out, grabbing Shayla’s arm, and yanked her inside. She quickly shut the door and turned her surprised stare back on Shayla. “What in the hell are you naked for?” Shayla was already digging in her dresser for something to put on. She looked back at Megan. “I got hot.” She saw Megan roll her eyes before she turned her attention back to her dresser and pulled out all of the necessities: panties, bra, t-shirt, and shorts. Megan sat on the bed just staring at her while she got dressed. When she was done
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen Adam “Are we going?” Shayla asked. “Yeah.” Adam didn’t want to go back to Jared’s to discuss strategy with the pack. He wanted to stay home and make love to his woman all day. He thought back to their shower earlier that morning when he made love to Shayla while he held her up and pinned against the shower wall. Damn she was beautiful when she came. “Hello, earth to Adam.” He glared at Megan and pulled Shayla in for a scorching kiss. When he released her lips, they were both breathing harder and he smiled at her then kissed the tip of her nose. “The two of you should come with a warning label,” Megan said. Adam turned to look at her, his eyes drawn together and his jaw set as he ground his teeth together to keep from lashing out at her—he didn’t want to piss Shayla off. “If I’d known that one night together would turn you both to mush I might not have encouraged it.” Adam had an insult on the tip of his tongue, but Shayla was faster. “Jealousy doesn’t suit you, Megan.”
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen Shayla Shayla waited for Adam to turn around and face her. He was pissed, there was no doubt about that as he stood there, fists clenched with his rigid body shaking with the effort it took him to hold his anger in. She could still hear his thoughts, too. Jared had really blind-sided him. He’d expected his friend to be on his side and demand she stay out of the fight. Jared’s declaration that he believed she should fight was like a slap to his face, and the pride he’d felt a few moments earlier at being named Jared’s beta had turned sour. Shayla knew he was convinced Jared had only given him the title to soften him up before he stabbed him in the back. Although Shayla completely understood why it seemed that way to Adam, she knew that it wasn’t the case. Jared had known he was going to make Adam his beta before their argument about her fighting ever came into question. She knew this because Adam’s thoughts weren’t the only ones she could hear, but that was something he
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen Adam Adam checked his watch for what had to be the hundredth time since he left Shayla in the basement alone with Eric. Fuck! What had he been thinking? He made his way to the door, again, but this time before he could put hand to knob the door flew open and an obviously pissed off Shayla nearly knocked him over when she came running through the door. He grabbed her before she could send them both to the floor. “They’re coming!” she said. His skin was crawling. His bonded wolf fighting its way to the surface with the need to protect her. “Shay, what happened?” “There’s no time, Adam. They are coming here, now!” Adam’s brain required a few run throughs of her words before comprehension finally kicked in. “Shit! I’ll send someone down to guard Eric. We need to find Jared right now.” Adam tugged her arm, but Shayla didn’t budge. When he looked at her like she was crazy she said, “Eric’s dead.” There was a disconnect in her voice he’d never heard before, but one that he kne
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen Shayla “Noooo!” Shayla saw Jim aim the rifle in Adam’s direction, but she couldn’t get to him stop him from pulling the trigger. It was like everything moved in slow motion, yet she still couldn’t get to him fast enough. Jim had come out of nowhere and aimed what must have been the world’s largest rifle at Adam. She launched herself in his direction, taking out anyone who stood in her way. Jim made his way to Adam’s body, and as Jim looked down at Adam she saw him smile in triumph. An image of Eric staring down at her bloody, broken body popped into her mind and Shayla screamed. She threw all of her power into getting to Adam and removing that smile from Jim’s face. Jim turned her way, the barrel of the gun pointed straight at her, but she didn’t hesitate. Shayla launched herself at Jim, his gun going off as he fell back when she slammed into him. Some part of her felt the sting of the bullet but her focus was on getting to Adam. Jim didn’t stand a chance against her, t
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen Shayla Shayla stared out the window of her prison. Maybe she couldn’t call it that since she knew she could leave if she wanted to. Kevin was no match for her. It was just that every time she thought about someone else getting hurt, or her having to kill someone else so that she could survive, her already broken heart sunk further into the pits of her stomach and she felt like retching. She kept replaying the night their pack fought over and over in her mind. So many people were lost on both sides. She kept seeing Eric’s face when he realized what was about to happen to him, then she relived the moment when he turned to dust—when she turned him to dust. It wasn’t that she cared for Eric, no, he’d made sure of that years ago, but she had never imagined that taking another life could come so easy to her. In reality, the act of taking his life had been exceedingly easy and that scared her more than anything. She had convinced herself at the time that it was necessary, bu
Chapter Seventeen
Epilogue Adam “Adam, the door’s locked.” Adam grinned when Shayla’s voiced popped up in his mind. “Use your key, Shay.” “Adam.” He could hear her eyes rolling. “If I had my key don’t you think I would’ve already done that.” “Maybe you shouldn’t have rushed out this morning.” “Some of us have careers we’re trying to salvage, and being late isn’t a part of the deal. Dammit Adam, would you just get your ass down here and open the door.” Adam laughed. “Alright, I’m coming. Calm down before you burn the house down or something.” “Adam.” He opened the door right before Shayla brought her fist down on it again and she stomped passed him through the door, then came to an immediate stop. There whole pack was there, Megan included, and the room was decked in flowers and little twinkling lights from floor to ceiling—he’d have to thank Joanna and Kelly again later. Shayla’s hands flew up to cover her mouth and when she turned around her eyes were glistening. Adam dropped to one knee and held up th
Epilogue
Coming Soon from B.M. Griffin Aurora Aurora is the leader of the underworld. She is unlike anything humans have ever heard of. She is neither vampire, werewolf, witch, angel, nor demon...she is everything in one. When Aurora meets Gregor, a human, she winds up saving his life when he’s suddenly attacked. Defying all laws against it, she brings Gregor to her home in the underworld. Aurora and Gregor are both drawn to each other like something powerful is pulling them together. However, there is a great war coming and it’s Aurora’s duty to protect not only her people, but the humans of earth from evil creatures known as the Shaitan. The Shaitan’s numbers have magically grown and they put everything into getting rid of Aurora and her kind so they might rule the earth. In the end, Aurora and Gregor must accept their fate and come together if they stand a chance against the Shaitan.
About B.M. Griffin Bonnie Griffin, (a.k.a. B.M. Griffin), is currently working on her second book Aurora which will be coming soon. She is a happily married mother of two wonderful daughters and they are her why. Bonnie is from a small town in North Carolina, US. Reading and writing have long been Bonnie’s passion, and she is excited to pursue that dream. Follow B.M. Griffin Online Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/b.m.griffin Facebook: www.facebook.com/bmgriffinauthor Twitter: @AuthorBMGriffin Blog: www.authorbmgriffin.com
Thank you Thank you for purchasing and reading this book. If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review on book-related sights and e-book retail platforms. Readers and authors rely on reviews, and your feedback is valuable and appreciated.
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