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Books by Bonnie Vanak
Chapter 1 O nce the prey, now he was the predator, Damian Marcel thought as he hunted through New Orleans for the woman who’d tried to kill him. His destined mate, the only female he could impregnate. Jamie Walsh. His draicara.The scent of fresh river water hit like a hard slap. Damian lifted his nose to the wind, and drank in the smell of the Mississippi. His Draicon senses tasted the water, licked it with a slow, lingering caress. At last, home again.Twin feelings of joy and deep sorrow pierced him. Home no longer. This place wasn’t home. Not anymore. It was a damn tomb, sucking him under, making him scream as he tried to claw his way out.Damian tried to concentrate on the physical terrain, opening himself up to everything, resisting the instinct to shape-shift into his more powerful wolf form. New Orleans was known for the supernatural, but a werewolf prowling through the bustling French Quarter might scare a few tourists. He gave a mirthless smile.Another, sharper scent pricked. Ho
Chapter 1
Chapter 2 H is kiss shocked Jamie into immobility. It was gentle, barely a brushing of lips. Damian raised his head, his expression softened. Hysteria fled as he cupped her face with his warm hands.“Don’t scream, chère. I promise, I won’t hurt you, ma petite.”With a mere touch, he extinguished her panic. Damn it, what was this? Draicon magick?“I’m not going to hurt you, Jamie. That’s the last thing I want. I want to help you.” His expression grew fierce and intent. “But first…damn…”He kissed her again.Jamie sagged in his arms. Feeling the current sparking between them as it had on that night when they’d first met. Her head fell back as he cradled her neck in his palm. Her hands slid up around his neck, feeling rock-hard muscle beneath warm skin. Jamie hung on for dear life like a drowning woman. Tasting him as his tongue boldly invaded her mouth, flicked against hers. Challenging him in return, her tongue tangling in a duet of hot desire and lost passion. It felt as magical and crazy a
Chapter 2
Chapter 3 D amian needed answers. His boyhood friend and adopted brother, Raphael Robichaux, could help. He whipped his cell phone out of his pocket, went to punch in Rafe’s number. His finger hovered above the keypad. Dialing for help.Help that never came for his family.Oh merde, let’s not go there. But it came back, all in a roaring flood. The phone dropped from his numb fingers to the couch.Twelve years old, delirious with the power of his first change. Determined to hunt in the bayou. His father had ordered him to remain home. It wasn’t safe. Morphs were on the hunt.Damian wasn’t afraid. Hell, he could defeat Godzilla himself. Annie begged him to stay. “I’m scared, Damian. Please don’t leave me!”He’d told his little sister she’d be fine, tucked her into bed with her favorite stuffed animal. Then escaped to the bayou and run with the night. Powerful. Draicon. Hunter. No Morph can harm me. Superwolf, mon ami.Shortly after, the screams echoed in his mind.Morphs had stormed into the ma
Chapter 3
Chapter 4 I’ m dying. It couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t real. Couldn’t be real.Jamie thrust out her wrist at the Draicon she hated, the Draicon who’d warned her this was happening. A hysterical whisper bubbled up.“Don’t let me die.”It was her punishment. In trying to kill Damian, she’d succeeded in killing herself. It didn’t hurt. Painless, just this sluggish lethargy as if her limbs were turning to stone. She wanted to feel something, not this horrid draining as if she were already dead.In her computer world, Celyndra possessed incredible strength and health. Jamie regenerated fast in cyberspace. Now, her body failed.Damian sank down onto the couch. He seized her wrist, bound it with gauze on the table. Two strong arms pulled her to him. He muttered something she couldn’t understand, brushed her hair back. Jamie caught a glimpse of long canine teeth descending. Sharp. Dangerous.Damian bent his head, nuzzled her neck as if kissing her skin.He bit her.Sizzling pain screeched along her
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Chapter 5 A s Jamie went upstairs and headed for the bedroom, Damian followed. Archimedes darted past him, bolting inside the apartment.Her stomach grumbled. Fishing through the fridge, she found her usual grazing fare. Nothing looked appealing, not the leftover tofu or the brick of Swiss cheese.A craving surfaced for fresh meat. Not even horrified, she entertained the idea of something raw and tasty. “I’m starved,” she muttered, slamming the door. “Maybe some fresh crayfish. So fresh they’re still crawling.”Blood drained from Damian’s face. “How about a tender, juicy steak?”He picked up the phone, spoke a volley of rapid French.Minutes later, Raphael came over. He dropped a plastic grocery bag on the kitchen table.She peeked inside and her mouth watered. “Oh, wow. Raw cube steak!”Raphael gave Damian a look she couldn’t understand.Jamie ripped away the cellophane. Forget knife and fork. Standing at the table, she grabbed the beef and began tearing off bite-size chunks. One after anothe
Chapter 5
Chapter 6 A short while later, Damian sat before the brick fireplace in her bedroom, feeding a fire. Flames licked at the leather-bound book. He’d explained to her the importance of burning the book so it would be destroyed and the Morphs wouldn’t find the clue.“What did the clue say?”“The gentleman buccaneer. My father always added history into everything he did. He meant Jean Lafitte. The bar named after him is on Bourbon. The next clue is there.”“No wonder your father didn’t think you were old enough to follow the trail,” she observed. “He was waiting until you were of legal age.”“Which was more than sixty years ago,” he drawled. “I’m quite legal now.”“When are we going?”“Tomorrow, after the funeral. I want to provide a diversion to throw Morphs off the trail.”“What kind of diversion?” Jamie’s curiosity stirred.He playfully tapped her nose. “You’ll see, little one.”He stood, stretching. Fascinated, she stared at his broad shoulders shifting beneath the tight T-shirt. Damian poked at
Chapter 6
Chapter 7 I n the morning, they attended the private burial with Renee’s family.In the rented car, Damian drove on Esplanade, his anxiety kicking up a notch. At the St. Louis cemetery, he parked on the street. Tension squeezed his muscles like a wine press. His parents, brothers and Annie were buried here. His father’s pack refused to have anything to do with them, so he alone smuggled the bodies into the cemetery. In the dark of night, Damian had used magick to unseal the marble crypt and then bury them. Then he used magick to engrave the names on the marble and pen them into the record book so cemetery officials would not question the new engravings.He had never gone back, until today.Renee’s family formed a semicircle before the opened crypt. Emotion clogged his throat as Renee’s son-in-law murmured the Draicon blessing for a departed relative, and then looked at him with expectation. Damian, the Alpha, who should traditionally say a few words of comfort.Words stuck in his dry throa
Chapter 7
Chapter 8 J amie combed through her bureau. She clawed through the hateful, waist-high cotton briefs, tossing a handful into the suitcase. Archimedes, the real Archimedes, had gone home with his new owners, Renee’s family. Damian did not want to take any more chances with shape-shifting cats who might be Morphs.Laptop, secure in her backpack. Toothpaste, toothbrush, facial soap…cosmetics? Didn’t wear any.Her fingers paused on the two lacy thongs lying at the drawer’s bottom. Jamie fished them out, dangling them from her fingers. How she hated wearing embarrassing granny panties. She stroked the soft silk, staring at the electric blue and green colors. Not for her. Not with her deformity. Jamie shrugged, tossed them into her luggage.“Rafe sent the car over. Are you ready?”Damian poked his head into her bedroom. She snapped the suitcase lid shut as he came forward. Tension knotted her stomach.“I feel just like I did when we evacuated for Katrina. Like I’m never coming back.”“You’ll be ba
Chapter 8
Chapter 9 P eople packed the Laffite bar. With a hand at the small of her back, Damian guided Jamie to an empty table in view of the bar. His touch sent a shiver through her, knowing what happened earlier. Knowing where his mouth had been, the crazy pleasure he’d selflessly given her…Moisture gushed between her legs. Oh yeah, she had it bad. This afternoon wasn’t enough. More, her hormones growled.Damian looked down at her, nostrils flaring. A soft smile touched his mouth. He pulled out a chair for her.“What do you want?” he asked.You, on top of me, with all that male strength…. A blush raced across her cheeks. “Uh, whatever domestic beer they have on tap.”He returned with two filled plastic cups, handed her one. Damian sat, his keen gaze scanning their surroundings. Always alert, on guard. Intense. Arousal faded, nudged aside by sadness. His family had been slaughtered. He alone survived. What kind of ghosts haunted him?Jamie knew the feeling. She reached over, laced her fingers with
Chapter 9
Chapter 10 M usic mingling with loud male voices dragged her out of a sluggish sleep. Jamie threw an arm across her face, struggled to awaken. Glancing at the ornamental clock on the nightstand, she pushed down a groan. Eleven. She’d crashed the whole night. Had terrible dreams, about Damian, lost, alone, the haunting sadness on his face making her reach out to him, offering what little comfort she could.And the other. Wasps, hundreds of them, stinging him. The memory slammed into her. Jamie skimmed a hand over her face. She wasn’t hurt. Damian had taken the hit, covering her with his body.She used the bathroom, then picked up the brush to untangle her hair. The mirror reflected her pale face and her hair….Oh, dear God.Gray. All of it. As if she’d aged forty years in eight hours. The brush fell from her opened fingers, clattering on the counter. Jamie glanced down at her hands.Her nails were gray, as well.Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried quelling rising panic. Nothing, just nothing.
Chapter 10
Chapter 11 T hey found the number of paddle-wheel revolutions on the Natchez, then returned to the house later that afternoon. When he gave her another mysterious cocktail, she knew it was his blood, but drank it. Grayness fled her nails, but not her hair. Damian insisted on her resting. He had to leave for a while with his brother Etienne, but Etienne’s wife, Cindy, and their children would be in the house. She’d be perfectly safe as nothing unwanted could get inside, Damian assured her.Then he’d told her his family dined formally at seven. Jamie felt a yawning pit open in her stomach. Family dinners. No way.She fell instantly asleep on the soft, acre-wide feather bed. What seemed like hours later, something tickled her nose.Blinking, she slowly awakened, feeling more energetic. A small, delicate face came into focus. Lips were pursed and blowing air toward her.“Ana, stop it. You’re gonna wake her up and it’s her naptime,” warned a childish, somewhat stern voice.“But she looks like fu
Chapter 11
Chapter 12 T he command was a husky whisper. His palm was warm, his fingers long with neatly pared nails, the fingertips callused. Jamie slid into his arms, barely clearing his chin. She rested her cheek against his broad shoulder. Damian’s body heat radiated through the silk shirt. Beard stubble shadowed his jaw. He’d shaved. She knew because she’d seen him do so. But now he clearly looked…A little wilder. Jamie swallowed hard. His scent invaded her senses. Would he surrender to instinct and finally claim her? The power in his muscled body warned her how strong he was. What would stop him from taking her? She couldn’t.Damian stopped, looked down at her.“Hey,” he said softly. “Remember what I said? I will never force you. You have nothing to fear from me.”“Except you stepping on my toes,” she replied lightly.He laughed and slipped his arms about her midsection, hard against his body. Jamie felt her feet leave the ground. She glanced down in amusement as he set her down.“So much for tha
Chapter 12
Chapter 13 T hey hunted for the next clue in antique shops the following afternoon, searching for a bust of Napoleon with the marking 111. The number was the same as the revolutions on the Natchez. Lemon polish scented the enormous antique shop. Jamie gazed upward at chandeliers dangling crystal teardrops. Oriental rugs covered the original wood floors. Heavy oak and mahogany tables and chairs arranged in discreet settings gave the interior an elegant look.Somewhere had to be a Napoleon bust. It was the last shop they explored. Before they’d left the house, Damian agreed to her suggestion to signal the others upon finding the statue and returning later to purchase it and defray suspicion.She had steeled herself against the temptation to remain in Damian’s arms last night and let his immense strength support her. Instead, she’d slipped away, sleeping downstairs. Each day she grew dangerously close to letting him into her heart and luring her into his pack and his purpose.Jamie turned ba
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Chapter 14 P ride filled Damian as he studied his female after the loving, her hair mussed, her body limp with dazed pleasure as he helped her slide off the table. He pictured her at six, with cute pigtails tied with red ribbons, maybe a baseball cap to counter the girly-girl image. Jamie, hugging her cat, her gray eyes innocent and then clouding over with horror as her uncle took away her only friend. A deep growl rumbled from his chest. If the bastard wasn’t dead, he’d hunt him down and serve him his ass on a platter. With a sprig of parsley as garnish.They left the shed discreetly, but Gabriel glanced up. He grinned, poked Etienne.“Interesting place, that potting shed. More than flowers have been planted there,” Etienne remarked, sliding a hand around Cindy’s nape. She looked at him, blushed.Damian tucked Jamie’s hand into his, murmured an excuse about retiring. When they were inside, Jamie stopped and plucked at his sweater.“It’s not just sex, is it? Or is it, because I’m the only
Chapter 14
Chapter 15 W ind whipped her hair as she clung to Damian on the back of the Harley. Fields gave way to a dense canopy of hardwoods, cypress and live oak. Beside the one-lane road ran a winding ribbon of murky water. The smell of fresh water teased her senses. She buried her head against Damian’s broad back.With his art expertise in antiques, Alexandre was combing over the painting, but still hadn’t found the next clue. Damian’s frustration was apparent, but today he’d set it aside for the family gathering.Finally they turned onto a dirt road. They rode for about two miles until reaching the end. A clearing about seven acres wide and long, peppered with trees, opened before them. On one side was the bayou. In the middle of the clearing was a charming two-story gray house with white shutters and a wide porch.Damian brought the bike to a stop before the house and parked amid a cluster of cars and motorcycles. Jamie dismounted and pulled off the helmet. She smoothed down her wool pants, st
Chapter 15
Chapter 16 I n the formal living room, Alexandre, Raphael, Gabriel and Etienne waited for them. Seeing their expressions, Jamie clutched Damian’s hand. Something was very, very wrong.The painting of a wolf standing by a cabin in the bayou rested on the cocktail table.“What took you this long?” Damian demanded.“I actually found the clue yesterday.” Alexandre exchanged glances with his brothers, his expression as foreboding as an executioner’s. “We met, and decided…it was best to keep the news from you, and not spoil Jamie’s party. We wanted her, and you, to enjoy the time together.”Fear unfurled in her heart. This was going to be bad. Damian gave her hand a comforting squeeze, but she couldn’t stop trembling.“When I separated the canvas from the frame, I found this.”Alexandre handed Damian a small piece of wood with a tiny carving of a heart. He dropped her hand, took and sniffed the bark.“Cypress.” Damian’s fingers trailed over the wood. “I recognize the scent. He hid the book in the o
Chapter 16
Chapter 17 “Y ou really shouldn’t have done that.”The deep male voice sounded accusing. Jamie struggled to open eyes that felt glued shut. Her body was dead weight, arms and legs felt as if lead pumped through her veins. She tried to raise her head, but it took too much effort.She sagged backward, surprised at the softness beneath her. Bed. She was lying with a pillow under her head. Vaguely she remembered waking up, Damian wiping soot from her face, Damian taking her into the shower and washing her tenderly.Damian laying her in bed as she fainted again.“I’m sorry. I’m really—God you have no idea how sorry I am.”With tremendous effort, she opened her eyes. Damian stood by her bed, hands on hips, legs splayed apart. Alexandre faced him. Two vivid blue eyes stared out of a face still blackened with smoke, making him look almost comical, if not for the misery etched there.Damian hugged his brother. Alexandre looked as if he fought off tears. He pulled back.“Dai, there has to be an answer,
Chapter 17
Chapter 18 D amian stared at Jamie lying supine on the ground. Her pallor was gray. Even the whites of her eyes had taken on a shade of dull slate. Her soft lips were turning to granite.Raphael, Gabriel and Alexandre gathered around him.Unbearable pain shot through him. “I love you. I can’t let you go.”“You must!” Jamie spat out the words with difficulty. “You must. It’s…the only way to r-release my spirit…from the spell. The ritual of departure.”Her anguished gaze met his. “Please.”Damian closed his eyes in an agony of indecision for the first time in his life. How could he bear to lose her?“You’re…losing me already,” she whispered. “Please. Don’t let me…go…like this. I’d rather be dead.”He saw into her thoughts. Didn’t want to leave him mourning. Numb and forever grieving. Having her nearby, a stone statue he silently worshipped. Wasting his life, abandoning his pack, searching for miracles to bring her back to life in his arms. His memories of Jamie haunting him until he turned into
Chapter 18
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