Tessa, Vampire/Werewolf Romance, (Standalone) (Shadow Creek Shifters Book 3) (16 page)

How could Seth explain to Raphael how he felt in regards to Carrie? He never even stuck around to see Melody born or taken part in her life. He left town and only made an attempt once he came back, but by then Carrie was a complete mess and refused to allow him to see his daughter. He was fortunate, though, that he was able to gain custody of Melody, but was that Carrie’s undoing? Should he have taken Melody away from her mother? It seemed right at the time because of Jason Traxler, and he had to admit that Carrie certainly hadn’t treated Melody right. Yes, his custody of Melody had been the right thing to do. Was it possible when Carrie woke up that she would see the light at last and realize the mistake of her past need not be the way of the future?

When they arrived at Shadow Creek, Angus was walking past and stopped as they hopped out. “Carrie will be glad to see you, Seth. We’ve all been so worried. Where were you anyway?”

“Looking for Jason, but it’s a good thing I never found him since he wasn’t the person responsible for injuring her as I’ve been told.”

Angus frowned. “I’m surprised at that, too. I think all of us believed he was guilty. Who could blame anyone for going after him?”

Seth shrugged, making way for the front door. Chase was just on his way out and reared back, saying, “It’s about time you showed up, Seth. Carrie’s been worried if you’d ever come back.”

“Why is that?”

“You know Paige has been telling her how everyone was so concerned about her, but when your name was mentioned, I believe she was shocked. She even mentioned that she hoped you would come back.”

Raphael and Seth walked inside and Brendan smiled, coming over to them. “So Seth has returned from the dead.”

“I was never dead that I know of, but we’re actually here to see if Melody and Maxwell might be here.”

“I haven’t seen them, but ask Carrie, she might know. With how Melody was acting, I’m surprised she left at all.”

Raphael went on to tell Brendan how a note was left and that the children had planned to go after Jason.

“Why would they do that?”

“Melody seems to think we should have done something to Jason instead of waiting until Carrie woke up and told us who really did do it.”

Brendan massaged his chin. “What really did happen, though? Was she attacked by a wolf and just thought it walked on two legs?”

“Why are you so keen on thinking this was only a wolf, even a regular werewolf? It couldn’t be. My pack would never dream of attacking another shifter unless they came after our pack,” Raphael said. “What you need to realize now is that whatever attacked her wasn’t a regular werewolf at all.”

“I wanted to go after Jason, but I’m level-headed enough to know that it wouldn’t be a smart move, that I had to know for sure it was him.”

“The children have gone after him, and I’m not so much worrying about Jason as Earl. I had no idea that Earl was in prison for rape, did you?”

“No. I mean there were rumors, but I wasn’t sure if they were true or not. He seems to be staying on the straight and narrow since he showed back up in town, though,” Brendan explained.

“I need to see what Carrie knows. Don’t go anywhere, Brendan,” Raphael ordered. “We might just need your help.”

Seth took the stairs two at a time and was in Carrie’s room before Raphael. Seth smiled as he walked nearer to the bed, “How are you, babe...I mean, Carrie?”

Carrie was lying on the bed in a white nightgown, her blonde hair cascading over the pillows. She smiled just then and Seth’s heart actually skipped a beat. This wasn’t the Carrie of late; this was the Carrie he knew all those years before—a caring, passionate girl who loved to show him just how high she could fly in hawk form. He had admired her grace and beauty back then, and he was a fool for ever leaving town.

“Good to see you, Seth. I was wondering if you’d ever come back. Paige tells me you sat by my side when I was out.”

“So I hear you were attacked by a werewolf on two legs?”

“Yes. I’ve never seen a wolf like that, or as big. I never had a chance. I’m really not certain why he went after me to begin with. I was just walking in the woods when I came up on him. I’m not sure who was more startled. When he stood up, he was nearly seven feet tall with red, glowing eyes.”

“Was this day or night?” Raphael questioned.

“Night time. I had an argument with Jason and jumped out of his truck. I cut through the woods on my way home since it was shorter that way.”

“Why didn’t you shift to get home?” Seth asked.

“I haven’t done all that much shifting the last few years, but now I sure wish I had.”

“At least you’re okay. We’ll find who did this to you,” Seth promised. “Have you seen Melody or Maxwell here today?”

Carrie sat up straighter. “No, I was hoping to see Melody. There are so many things I’d like to say to her. Can you bring her to see me?”

“No, I can’t right now. We don’t know where Melody and Maxwell went. They left a note saying they were going to Shadow Creek. We have reason to believe that they’ve gone after Jason. We need to find them before somebody else does, like the werewolf that attacked you.”

“Melody can’t go anywhere near Jason, and especially Earl. It’s not safe!”

“That shouldn’t be a problem since the cabin Jason was left by his father was burnt to the ground. I have an idea that they might be dead.”

“Just because there was a fire is no reason to believe he’s dead,” Paige stated. “He probably just left town.”

Brendan approached Paige. “Left town?”

“Yes, you know, like your neighbor Jonathan.”

“Are you talking about the man who murdered my brother?” Raphael asked.

“Yes. Retaliation has a way of happening with someone like Jason who abuses women. Sure he didn’t beat up Carrie this time, but ask her how many other times he has?”

Carrie looked down. “Too many to count, but he was the only man who wanted me in town. It’s not like I can be that picky.”

“I’d much rather be alone than be with the likes of Jason Traxler,” Paige said.

“Easy for you to say, Paige. You’re a vampire.”

Paige laughed. “Oh, and what man has ever been interested in me?”

“I thought Clayton was,” Brendan said.

“Me being a vampire was too big of a deal for him.”

“It’s too bad he found out who you were and that Tessa was also a vampire. He told the sheriff about you both.”

Paige gasped. “That bastard. You can’t just undo something like that. If anyone else in town finds out—”

“You don’t have to tell me.” Brendan sighed. “He believes Tessa was responsible for murdering those sheep.”

“Trust me, no vampire would do that. From what Carrie has said, it has to be a full-blood.”

“Full-blood!” Brendan said. “Highly unlikely. There aren’t any full-bloods in Wyoming, for one, and it wasn’t the full moon when Carrie was attacked.”

“Dr. Evans told us there might be hybrids, full-bloods that have mated with the half-blooded,” Raphael informed them. “They would apparently be able to shift without the need of the full moon.”

“That would not be a good thing,” Brendan said.

“We have to think about the possibilities, though,” Raphael continued. “The children are looking for Jason and as Paige has said, I think he’s been dealt with. I might not have been able to see his remains, but I certainly could smell the blood on that strip of land. We could hope that when the children get there, they’ll come back, but there is something out there attacking women. There’s a woman at Silver Creek who wandered on to our property. She was also attacked, and Maxwell was helping her without our knowledge. Luckily, the children confided in her where they were going. We have to find them before it’s too late.”

Maxwell made it to the far reaches of Silver Creek and was faced with an obstacle in the form of a very large hill. Would he be able to scale it without the ATV turning over?

“What are you waiting for, Maxwell?”

“That’s an awfully big hill.”

“Don’t be such a chicken.”

“You won’t say that if the ATV can’t get up that hill and it rolls over on us.”

“All you have to do is get a good running start. Do you want me to drive?”

“No, I was just saying.”

“Well, quit talking and start driving up that hill.”

Maxwell made a turn and circled back so he could attempt the running start. He still worried if they’d be able to get up the hill, but the last thing he was going to do was let Melody drive. He had to man up, and it was as good a day as any.

He revved the engine and powered the ATV forward, racing up the hill. As they made it to the top, the front wheels flew up but instead of toppling them over, the machine flew to the top. He braked a bit when they went down the other side, but only briefly.

“Woohoo!” Melody screamed in his ear. “That’s a way to get up the hill. Go, Maxwell!”

Maxwell felt the rush of adrenaline. His heart was sure racing on the way up, but once he cleared the ridge, he felt the best he ever had. He faced his fears and nothing bad happened. Well, with Melody’s prodding. Once he was down the hill, he followed the trail, which led through the broken fence, leaving Silver Creek behind them.

* * *

Tessa stared at Mira. “Who are you, really?”

Mira stiffened. “I don’t know what you mean?”

“You appear at Silver Creek out of nowhere. Where did you come from?”

“I-I…nowhere.”

“Nobody comes from nowhere. Everyone comes from somewhere. I came to Shadow Creek from Wisconsin when my friend Katlyn found a job here.”

Mira stood up. “I-I should just get back to my cabin now. I’m sorry I bothered you.”

Tessa stared Mira down then said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything. I just can’t imagine that you didn’t know you came to a ranch that is owned by werewolves.”

“I’m sorry you think I’m hiding something, but sometimes it’s better to keep some things to yourself. They’re looking for me and when they find me, they’ll do more than just drag me back this time.”

“What are you talking about now? Who is after you?”

“The werewolves. I think you call them full-bloods here.”

“They can only shift on the full moon.”

Mira laughed. “That’s a myth. Perhaps you should talk to your Dr. Evans and I’m sure you’ll find out that’s just not the case.”

“He said if full-bloods mated with half-bloods and created offspring, they’d be capable of being as deadly as full-bloods, but also able to shift at will.”

“Your doctor is hiding something he doesn’t want anyone to know.”

“How do you know all of this, about our doctor or what we call the other kind of werewolves?”

“They know more than you think, and it won’t be long before there will be an all-out war in Creeksboro for dominance.”

“The full-bloods want to take over?”

“Yes, and they’ve already begun. They’re much closer that you think,” Mira warned

Tessa’s heart beat loud as she stared at Mira, the movement beneath her skin, her eyes with a red tint. She was one of them!

“Why Maxwell? What are you planning to do to him?”

“It’s written that a crippled boy will destroy the full-bloods in their native land.”

“Why didn’t you kill Maxwell then?”

“His death isn’t what we want. We want to use him to get the pack and all the other shifters in Creeksboro to surrender it to the full-bloods.”

Tessa’s head was reeling, her fangs growing longer. “What about the humans?”

“They’ll be exterminated like the vermin they are. It’s about time we rule the Earth as it should be, but you can’t win Rome in a day.”

“You sure play the victim role well. So they’re not really after you; you’re here to lead Maxwell into their hands.”

“I wasn’t sure he was the one at first and I had planned to take him back with me, but now it’s too late for that. Everything is as it should be, though. Maxwell’s father is dead and there’s the missing mother. I imagine he even thinks I’m her. It was important to attack somebody who was close to one of the children. Melody’s mother was a chain reaction. I came here to take Maxwell, but Melody’s insistence that they leave in search of the human played right into our hands. The children are headed right to the full-bloods.”

“And where does that leave us then?” Tessa didn’t wait for an answer before she attacked Mira. They rolled on the floor and Tessa breached the tender skin of Mira’s neck. However, before she was able to rip it clean away, Mira began to shake. Her limbs extended, fur came into view, and her head changed to that of a werewolf, one of the biggest Tessa has ever seen. She swiped at Tessa, but she easily ducked, missing her blow. Racing out the back at full-speed, Tessa found herself outside and in full daylight. She knelt and instead of burning like would happen in a vampire movie, she was just fine and under a tree, which canopied overhead. She was concealed from direct sunlight and quite alive.

Before she was able to contemplate the whys or how comes, the werewolf raced toward her with a barrage of teeth and claws. Tessa jumped just as she was almost upon her. Mira ran headlong into the trunk of the tree and whirled, realizing her miss. She snarled something fierce with a deafening howl, which seemed to shake the ground they stood on.

“Bring it on, you ugly beast,” Tessa taunted. She could clearly see the blood at Mira’s neck, dripping from her fur. Tessa knew she had at least hurt her enough to create a sizable injury. She had to find a way to sink her teeth into her once again before she had the chance to finish her off. This wasn’t something Tessa had ever envisioned, fighting for her life. All she could think about was if she didn’t win the battle, she’d never be able to save Maxwell and Melody, and all of Creeksboro, from the full-bloods. She still felt one with the humans and didn’t want anything to happen to any of them. This might just be the first of the battles to come. Everyone in town deserved to live, and the full-bloods would make shifters look no better than barbarians.

Mira sidestepped on her way over to Tessa. She managed to swing at Tessa and connect with her jaw. She went down with Mira on top of her, nails raking down Tessa’s arms. She left her neck too open for Tessa, though, and she wrapped her arms around Mira and sunk her teeth into her. That time she didn’t simply bite her; instead, she drank a portion of her blood. Mira’s werewolf eyes widened and the redness within them faded. She rolled off Tessa and panted heavily for a few minutes before the light left her eyes and she was quite dead.

Tessa fell to the ground. She had barely hurt Mira and yet she was dead? She didn’t understand it, but she’d certainly ask the only person she could. She walked back inside, dragging Mira’s prone body behind her. She dropped her in the center of the floor, and Tessa, on a whim, dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt with a hoodie. She pulled up the hood and found a pair of sunglasses. She stared at her hands for a moment, but slipped them inside her pockets after she had put on a baseball cap.

There was nothing sane about going out in the light of day, but she recalled that Paige had done it before, so why couldn’t she? Of course, Paige had also told her that she used a big floppy hat, but after careful inspection of the weather outside, she realized it was overcast. She didn’t plan to go far, just to the main house to alert Palina about what she had learned.

She slowly moved out the door with her head down to conceal her face. It was one of the biggest tests of her life. Would daylight kill her, or would she be able to venture out in it? She sprinted toward the main house at a much faster pace than she ever had been able to do. She felt pumped and the blood raced in her veins, her heart soaring.

The closer she drew to the main house the more energized she felt. She didn’t seem like the same Tessa she’d been earlier. It had to have been the blood she drank. How did she manage to drop that huge full-blood with minimal effort and only a few bites to her neck?

She hammered on the door of the main house and a surprised Palina ushered her inside.

“Since when can you go out during the day? Isn’t that against the vampire code?”

“It’s lucky for you that I’m able to. Maxwell is in trouble, so is Melody and that’s not all.” Tessa then told her how Maxwell had found an injured woman and was helping her, that she was really a full-blood and came there to take him back to the others. “I think she only told us where the children went to get Raphael off the ranch and away from his pack. She claimed that Maxwell would one day destroy the full-bloods in their homeland, if you can believe that.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. Maxwell will eventually create peace among all the werewolves. That goes against what some of the full-bloods might want. He must be a real threat to them if they were trying to capture him. I never heard the part that he’d ever destroy them. It sounds like the full-bloods have gone out of their way to paint a completely different picture.”

“The children are headed to danger, but I need to speak to Dr. Evans pronto.”

“Raphael and Seth will find the children. Find the good doctor and ask him what you will. You can catch up with them later.”

“Good. The doctor knows more than he’s saying, and I have to find out what it is before it’s too late. But what about the pack? Will they be safe with the full-bloods lurking so close?”

“What about town, will you be speaking to the sheriff? What you have learned from Mira will be of interest to them. We must protect our humans.”

Tessa frowned. That was more than she had expected to do. She really didn’t want to delay looking for Maxwell and Melody. She just had to hope that Raphael and Seth would find them before they got into any real trouble. But she had to remember they were shifters and weren’t helpless. Of course, full-bloods were quite strong and vicious, but their bigger size might make it possible for the children to hide where they couldn’t get to them. Also, Melody being a red-tailed hawk shifter would be able to flee and report back about Maxwell’s location. Yes, she had to think that otherwise she’d go straightaway to find them. She knew Raphael would find them before it was too late.

“How will I get into town? I see the children must have taken the ATV.”

“Only one of them, but I’m not sure where the other one might be. There’s a Jeep in the garage. I’ll call one of the men to bring it around for you to use. Please, do what you can to save Maxwell. He’s important to the future of all of us.”

* * *

Maxwell crossed the road going to the north. “Get off the main road,” Melody said. “We’ll be spotted for sure.”

“You want me to go through the woods?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure? That doesn’t sound safe. From all the talk of full-bloods of late, what if we run into one?”

“They can only shift on the full moon, which is past, Maxwell. Hurry up before a car passes and tells your uncle or my dad.”

He revved the engine and made his way on to the trail, which led through the woods and between two ranches. He was very carefully as wildlife was plentiful in the area and he didn’t want to risk hitting a deer. Then more than ever Maxwell wished he had told his uncle where Melody had wanted to go. He couldn’t help feeling nervous that they might find trouble around the next bend. Maxwell relaxed when it was clear sailing for the ATV as it flew down the trail.

“Make the turn on Mill Creek Road,” Melody demanded.

They cleared the tree line and roared up the road. When they were about to pass a convenience-type store, Melody told him to pull in. He skidded to a stop, scattering dust and debris, hopping off and following Melody inside. When the bell over the door rang, a man came out of the back.

“Hello there, children,” he greeted them.

Melody made a face at him, no doubt about the ‘children’ reference. Melody didn’t see herself that way at all and that was right to a point. Shifters weren’t like other children; many could be quite deadly if they chose to be. Luckily for the moment, neither of them had to go into self-defense mode.

Maxwell watched Melody who pulled out two sodas and brought them to the counter. The man rang them up and Melody handed the man the money. She then asked, “Is it true Jason Traxler has a cabin near here?”

“You’re the second person in some days who has asked about that, but I’m not sure why you’d be doing so. It’s not safe for two children to be roaming around, especially with shifters lurking around. I know the government tells us not to worry, that they mean us no harm, but how would I know for sure?”

“You don’t say,” Melody said. “Shifters aren’t my worry, really. I’ve never met one, in the woods or not, that ever bothered us. I can’t say the same thing for humans.”

The man gulped. “I see. Well, Jason isn’t the kind of man anyone should go near, especially little people such as yourselves.”

“Actually, I like Jason,” Melody began. “He dates my mother and told me to come out to the cabin so I could go fishing.”

The man’s bushy brow rose. “I see. Well, in that case, if you go down the road a spell…” He gave them the directions and Maxwell and Melody were back on the road after they put the sodas with their belongings. Melody wouldn’t even let him take more than one drink, claiming they’d need it for the remainder of their trip since she wasn’t certain how long it would take.