Read Promise of Paradise Online

Authors: Tianna Xander

Tags: #Adult, #Erotic Romance, #Paranormal, #Shapeshifter, #Menage

Promise of Paradise (2 page)

BOOK: Promise of Paradise
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“He’s never asked us to join a council meeting before.”

“The alpha has never really had a council before. I don’t know what he plans, but by his attitude, it seemed that attendance is more mandatory than voluntary.”

“Should we go and find out what it’s about then?” Gabe moved out of the way, pulled a set of keys from his pocket and locked the storeroom doors as they exited the building.

No cars moved about as they stepped out on the long, wooden porch and looked around. The beauty of the purple mountains in the distance accentuated the scent of newly mowed grass that permeated everything as the people of the town trimmed the common areas as well as their own front lawns in preparation for the faire they held every year since the takeover.

Luc took a deep breath. “I love the smell of the mountains.” He closed his eyes, welcoming the coolness of the breeze as it caressed his skin. He imagined the soft brush against his skin as that of a lover, a woman that he could love, mate and share with his best friend.

If they were lucky, she would be a little on the hippy side with large breasts and curves that wouldn’t quit. “You know, it’s too bad that we had to help so many females escape all those years ago.” He glanced at Gabe. “Do you ever think that any one of those little girls could have grown up to be our mate?”

“Every day.” Gabe sighed. “But we can’t dwell on coulda, shoulda, wouldas. It’s counterproductive. Besides, had they stayed, they would have been repeatedly raped like the rest of those who couldn’t escape.”

Luc shook his head, the guilt of their own flight from paradise riding him hard. “Every day, I feel that we should have done more and I feel the guilt of our escape weighing heavily on me.”

“I do, too,” Gabe agreed as he, too, inhaled deeply. They always found comfort in the clean, mountain air. “I missed this when we were gone.” He glanced at Luc. “But we had to leave. Staying would have been a death sentence. You know that.”

“I know. It was just too damned bad that we were all so young when Camulus’s council took over the town.”

They
had
been younger. Most of them were barely out of their teens, though he and Gabe had been a lot older than most. In their nineties, they had always followed orders. They had yet to develop any kind of alpha stance on anything. That’s what they had had their alpha for. They were brought up that way.

About seventy years ago, Camulus and his group of trained assassins slid into town and murdered the alpha family, in their sleep. At least that was what they had let them think. Then, seven or so years ago, Adam, the rightful alpha, brought his men back, took over the town and now attempted a reconstruction.

The power Camulus usurped now sat on the proper shoulders and the people of Paradise were safe once more. In the end, the men of Paradise learned a valuable lesson. That it was their complacency, their willingness in blindly following the orders of the alpha, without nurturing that gene in themselves that led to the ruling houses demise.

As a unit, they all had vowed to never allow it to happen again. Paradise was a town comprised of men who would only follow the one
true
alpha because they had all become alpha in their own right.

It was just as well. Another takeover here would be next to impossible and, after years of Camulus’s abuse, the people of Paradise wanted to keep it that way.

 

Chapter Three

 

 

They had just finished stowing the groceries Alexa bought in Nadya’s trailer when the low rumble of the trucks alerted them to the time.

“Time to go. I hear everyone starting up.” Nadya glanced over to Alexa’s trailer. They hadn’t been inside long enough for Perry to sneak in and do anything. At least she hoped they hadn’t.

The scent of burning diesel filled the air as they made their way back to her truck. If there was one thing she would miss about the life, it would be this. The smell of diesel exhaust would forever remind her of her nomadic days.

“Did our guide show up?” Frowning, Alexa covered her eyes with her hand and searched the lot through the windshield. “From what I understood, this place isn’t easy to find.”

“Yeah.” Nadya canted her head to the left, pointing at a well-built man with rich brown hair and a lovely farmer’s tan.

She glanced at Alexa as the other woman watched the man. She sat, her hands fisted in her lap, her hands trembling as her feet shuffled on the floor. If Nadya had to guess, she would say that her friend didn’t realize that her feet moved non-stop on the vinyl mat.

“Why are you so fidgety?” She frowned. “You haven’t been able to stand or sit still since you came back from the store.” If she didn’t know the jerk had stayed behind himself, she would have suspected Perry of pulling some underhanded crap with Alexa while she was away. As far as
she
knew, only
that
creep could make a woman so nervous.

Movement through the windshield caught her attention and she looked up. Putting the truck in gear, she eased her foot down on the gas pedal. “And we’re off.”

After driving for about fifteen minutes, they followed the leading vehicles down a small, dirt road.

“What kind of town is this?” she asked Alexa as she scowled through the windshield at the
Krazy Kart
ride in front of them.

“I was just wondering the same thing.”

“Look at that.” Nadya leaned forward, peered over the steering wheel, and pointed. “There’s this low-lying fog covering the ground everywhere but the road.” She bit her lip. “Isn’t that weird?” She had never seen anything like it before and she’d driven roads from Alaska to Mexico.

“I noticed that, too. It’s almost as though it’s parting for us.”

It did. Nadya shivered as the strangest feeling started overcoming her. Something didn’t feel quite right.

“That’s just crazy, right? I’ll bet the heat from our engines caused it to dissipate on the road. Not too long after we’re through, it will most likely cover the road again.”

That seemed as good an explanation as any, Nadya supposed. No matter what explanation they came up with for what caused the odd phenomenon, it still wouldn’t make it any less disturbing.

“It’s creepy.” Goose bumps covered her arms and she shivered. “I almost feel as though there’s something out there in that fog, waiting for me. Like it wants to hurt me.” She glanced over at Alexa’s pensive expression and shook her head. “Listen to us.” She laughed. “Next, we’ll be imagining vampires in capes who tell us,
I vant to dring your blood,
with horrible B-movie accents.”

“I know what you mean,” Alexa replied with a laugh.

Nadya glanced at her, unconvinced. Her friend might have laughed, but she certainly wasn’t convincing anyone that she wasn’t scared out of her wits.

The fog felt thick, evil, and it was all she could do to keep the truck on the road. She gripped the wheel, her knuckles white, her fingers aching with the strain of her death grip on it.

After what felt like an eternity, but was more like twenty minutes, they finally left the hovering mist and stared at the beautiful valley below the road.

Farms dotted the landscape, surrounding the town in lush fields of grass, and grain. Cows lowed in the distance and she could see the slight breeze bending the waves of wheat and grass, stretching out before them.

Ten minutes later, she saw a little restaurant as they pulled into a parking lot on the outskirts of the small town. “Look.” She pointed. “A diner.” She brought her truck and trailer to a smooth stop in the vacant lot next to the building. “Oh, my god!” She slammed the gearshift in park. “Is that who I think it is?” She turned the key and pulled it from the ignition, opened her door and hurried out.

Since the woman was on the other side of the truck, Alexa reached Milla seconds before Nadya. They all squealed as they pulled their missing friend into their arms and hugged her to them with all their might.

“Are these friends of yours?” a stranger asked.

Nadya bristled as she glared at the man who seemed too familiar with her friend. Who did he think he was, interrupting their reunion?

“Yes.” Milla turned to the man with a smile and a nod. She brushed her tears away with her forearm.

She hoped to God that those were tears of joy, because that man was in some deep shit if he was the one that made her friend cry. If
he
was the culprit, Nadya would castrate the bastard with hacksaw and two ramekins.

“Perry’s going to shit a brick when he finds out you’re here.” Alexa grinned and pulled her tight again.

“I’m sure he already knows,” Milla said dryly. “You guys have been on my trail since I left. I’m sure it was no accident.”

Turning, she smiled up at the tall man next to her. He was large,
very
large, and handsome, but that didn’t mean anything. Perry was tall and handsome and the Neanderthal knew it.

Still, Milla looked happy, not frightened, and Nadya relaxed a bit—but just a bit. She assessed the man who stood with his arm around Milla’s waist and stared down at her friend as though she hung the sun and the moon for him. She relaxed a little more. Could a man who looked at a woman like that, hurt that woman? She doubted it. Perry never looked at anyone with anything less than contempt. Perry was an asshole, but then, she’d known
that
from day one.

“Maybe, he knows, maybe not. It doesn’t make me any less glad to see you.

“In fact—” Alexa made a show of sizing the man up before she leaned forward, lowered her voice and whispered, “I have a few questions to ask. I’ve been thinking about leaving the carnival, myself.”

Milla smiled. “It’s a freeing experience.”

Reaching out, Alexa drew her in for another hug. “Aren’t you going to introduce us to your new friend?”

“Oh!” Milla blushed. “I’m sorry. Alexa and Nadya, meet Jonas. He’s one of the first real gentlemen I’ve ever met,” she said with a grin. “Though, there are a
lot
of real gentlemen in this town. I’ve only been here a short while, and I’ve found that out already.”

“Ladies.” Jonas grasped the brim of his hat with his thumb and forefinger. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He smiled at Milla. “I don’t want to cut your reunion short. Would you like to stay here and have dessert while I go find Mel?”

“Mel? Who’s Mel?” Nadya asked at the same time Alexa voiced the same question.

“He’s another friend.” Milla led the way to the diner. “And you’re not going to believe who he looks like.”

Nadya didn’t care who he looked like as long as he or his friend didn’t hurt Milla. If they did, they would both suffer the same painful fate.

 

Chapter Four

 

 

“So what do you expect us to do at this council meeting of yours?” Gabe asked as he leaned back in his chair.

Adam Greer, Alpha of their odd clan, sat behind his desk, his expression grim. “I expect you to participate in it.”

“In a council meeting?” Luc snorted. “What the hell for? We aren’t council members.”

The look on the alpha’s face didn’t help Gabe relax at all. “I have a feeling we’re about to become members.” So much for relaxing. He sat up in his seat.

“You’re a very astute man, Gabriel.” The alpha gave them both a thin smile. “The town elders have made it perfectly clear that it’s well past the time that I put a council together. I’ve chosen you two, among others, to take a seat at the table.”

“How many members will be on this council?” Luc asked as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

The alpha didn’t know it, but that was one of Luc’s agitated poses. Gabe wasn’t surprised.
This
was a surprise and it wasn’t necessarily a welcome one. They were too busy to take a seat on the damned council.

“The town charter says that there needs to be at least eight different seats on the council. By different seats, it means eight different families. I’ve chosen you two, Mel and Jonas along with others whom I think will meet the criteria set forth in the charter.”

“We meet…criteria?” Gabe asked skeptically. “What in the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you own a business here in town and there are at least two of you. A lone shifter can’t sit on the council. If something should happen to him in a crisis, his seat would remain empty. Mated pairs are the requirement because in the absence of one, we have the other.”

“Not when we’re on vacation.”

“If you’re on vacation, you can still be reached, you idiot.” Adam shook his head. “Being on vacation only means your seat here in Paradise remains empty. You would still have a voice in any decisions because we would call you and have you submit your vote remotely.”

Great
. So no private vacations with their mate, if they ever find one. He glanced at Luc. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know why you’re asking his opinion. I’m not
requesting
you two to take a seat on the council. I’m
assigning
you a seat. If you don’t like it, tough shit.” Adam leaned back in his seat and glanced at his second and triad mate, Nick Hill. “You’ll back me on this?”

“You know I will, Alpha.” Nick stared them down, his gaze intense. The man might be the alpha’s bitch, but he was also the head enforcer in Paradise. Second to only the alpha, Nick Hill pulled a lot of weight. He also shared a lot of the collective magical power of Paradise with the alpha pair.

All of the people of Paradise held magic within them. It was enough to dress or undress themselves at will, call down the power of the gods and goddesses if needed, and to veil the town and its people from the world. They could, and did, on occasion, perform miracles with that power.
Those
were the times that Gabe couldn’t have been more proud to be who and
what
he was.

You
will
accept a seat on the council.” Nick stared them down. His gaze was so intense that Gabe turned his head to the side and tipped his head back, exposing his throat. Luc did the same.

“Yes.” They both said at the same time.

“Just so you know, neither of us has any idea what a council member does,” Luc added.

Adam gave them both a tight-lipped smile. “Then you don’t have any preconceived notions, do you? You’re both a blank slate. You’re both people whom I can train to be what I need you to be.” His chair creaked as he sat forward. “What I need right now are men sworn to be the protectors Paradise needs. We’ve been informed that there could be someone on their way here who could rock our very existence.”

BOOK: Promise of Paradise
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