Palm Haven Shifters: Complete Five-Part Series Read online

  Not that he’d ever given empty threats before.

  Sonya drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, wishing she felt that long-lost tingle of magic there. She’d never thought she could miss her powers so much, but times like these made her long for the security of being a full-strength witch.

  Not that she could actually hurt Diego with her magic without hurting herself. But she could… Something.

  As she turned down her street, Sonya sighed, wondering if this was a humongous mistake. Diego could be waiting for her. He could kill her.

  But she would not let him make her too afraid to go to her own home.

  Walking up the front path, cracked and weathered concrete poured over a yard of dirt and weeds, Sonya first noticed that the front door was open just a crack.

  Her heart picked up its already racing pace. Breathing became difficult as she felt herself begin to hyperventilate.

  Deep breaths. Is there anything you can use as a weapon?

  Tucked in the bushes near the door was an old rake handle Manuel sometimes used as a prop sword or staff when he played. Not much, but it was something.

  Sonya grabbed the worn wooden rod, careful not to rustle the sparse branches of the bush.

  Nervous energy crackled in her veins, but that wasn’t all: her fingertips suddenly felt alive with the intoxicating rush of magic.

  Straightening her spine, she nudged the open door with her bare toes, widening the opening.

  The sight that greeted her behind the door made her stomach lurch. Her few belongings scattered the across the floor, her furniture and walls ripped to shreds, doors torn from their hinges.

  It looked like this place had been attacked by a wild animal. Not just any animal: a wolf.

  Diego.

  Sonya’s hands vibrated on the wooden dowel with barely-contained power, struggling to get out and wreak havoc. Her mind whirled and she tip-toed into the kitchen, careful not to step on broken glass with her bare feet.

  The kitchen was empty but utterly destroyed. Cereal boxes lay in shredded tatters, her tiled floor covered with thousands of marble-shaped corn puffs. As she walked past the fridge, Sonya noticed more paper on the floor, ripped until the image was unrecognizable: one of Manuel’s drawings.

  Pure furious rage shot through her and a bolt of energy shot from her fingertips, bouncing off of the yellowed light fixture in the dining room with a sharp, high-pitched zing!

  Sonya winced and ducked below the kitchen cabinets. If anyone was around to hear her, she could maybe still surprise them. Her grip on the rake handle tightened, the wood slick from her damp palms.

  Seconds ticked by like hours and Sonya wasn’t sure if her breathing or her heart beat was louder. Surely the whole neighborhood could hear her panicked gasps and frantic pulse.

  Finally, she steeled herself to resume the search through the house, surveying the damage in Manuel’s room and then her own, feeling her anger slip into despair as she realized Diego was long gone.

  Letting the piece of wood in her hand dangle from her fingertips, Sonya left her bedroom trying to fight back tears. How was she going to explain this to Manuel? Her mother?

  Shit.

  Just as she stepped out of the bedroom, she heard a crunch like glass underfoot. In a heartbeat, she flattened herself — well, as flat as a curvy girl like her could get — against the wall and peered around the corner.

  A dark shadow moved through the living room and Sonya couldn’t see the person in the evening light. Her fingers slipped as she gripped the wood tighter, prepared to pounce.

  “Shit,” the stranger growled and flipped on a light.

  Sonya blinked a couple of times, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness and then she recognized the intruder as the man that had visited her the other night.

  “What are you doing here?” She screeched, stepping out of the shadows with her makeshift weapon brandished high.

  He whirled on his heels, holding his hands up in supplication. “Whoa, easy there. I heard Diego was back in town and came to warn you. Looks like I was a little too late.”

  The man surveyed the destruction with a deep frown and took a step toward her, “Are you… did he hurt you?”

  What was that shimmering in his bottomless eyes? Concern?

  She shook her head, lowering the rake handle as she did. “I wasn’t home. He left me a voicemail…”

  Why was she telling this stranger that?

  Better yet, “Why did you care about warning me?”

  He cast his eyes toward the ground and refused to meet her gaze, so un-Alpha-like, she thought.

  “It may be my fault that he’s in town,” he said and Sonya took a step back, raising her bludgeon once more.

  “What?”

  He stepped toward her again, his hands still raised in front of him defensively, edging toward her slowly like she was some startled animal.

  “Not on purpose! There was someone from his pack… He got beat up pretty bad for trying to leave and I told him he could stay with my pack while he recovers. I think Diego followed him here and…”

  “Found me,” Sonya grit out.

  He nodded.

  “Will you please reconsider staying with my pack for your own safety?”

  Sonya’s fingers sparked with electric energy at the thought of staying with this man, his dark eyes, lean muscles, strong hands…

  She had to squash her magic down before she started picturing him naked. Why, after all of this time, were her powers choosing now to resurface? It was mildly infuriating when she couldn’t even look at this man without wondering what his kiss would taste like. How his fingers would feel raking through her hair.

  “I don’t even know your name,” she said aloud as the thought occurred to her.

  “José,” he said.

  “Sonya,” she nodded in reply.

  José took another step towards her and Sonya could smell his earthy scent — pine and fresh earth mixed with just a hint of wet dog — as he closed the distance between them. His hand covered hers on the rake handle and Sonya suppressed a little shudder of anticipation.

  “Diego’s not going to give up,” he said.

  Sonya faltered, her eyes searching his face for any signs that he wasn’t as sincere as he seemed. “I know.”

  “I can protect you both. You won’t have to run anymore.”

  She swallowed hard, her heart thundering at the idea of being free and safe. Or was that because José was so near? He made her feel things she hadn’t felt in years. A burning want, this simmering need that crackled through her veins with every breath.

  How was it even possible? She didn’t want to pursue anything with him. Or anyone for that matter. She just wanted Manuel to be safe.

  Would he be safe with José?

  He’d be with others like him. But what if they were the violent types like Diego?

  “Who was it?”

  José looked up from her lips, startled for a moment as the heated light faded from his intense gaze. “Who was what?”

  Sonya swallowed again, trying to force her heart back down from her throat to her ribcage where it belonged. “The person that was beaten and left Summer Springs. Who was it?”

  She noticed the hard line of his jaw, the subtle twitch of his cheek muscle like he was clenching his teeth.

  “His name is Juan.”

  Sonya’s eyes grew to the size of saucers and the wooden dowel dropped from her fingers, clattering to the floor as she covered her mouth, hiding a shocked gasp.

  “Is… is he okay?”

  José shrugged. “Seems to be. A friend of yours?”

  Why did she get the impression that José was jealous?

  She nodded without further explanation.

  “Please,” he said, reaching for her hand gently.

  Sonya flinched away from his touch and hated herself for it.

  “We don’t know what Diego is capable of and he seems to be on a warpath.”

  She heard
a sharp bark of laughter come from herself. “I know what he’s capable of,” she reminded José.

  A dark cloud descended over his eyes and he nodded. “You’re right. All the more reason you should consider my offer.”

  Sonya took a long look around her destroyed home and sucked in a deep shuddering breath.

  “Your son will be safer with others of his own kind. He can learn to control his wolf urges and not turn out like his father. We’ll protect you too,” he said, a little more softly this time.

  As much as she hated to admit it, Sonya had to concede that José had a point. Manuel would be better off with others of his own kind. She would feel safer with other wolves protecting him. She just didn’t know if she could handle being around so many shifters; it would be so much harder to keep her magic a secret with so many curious noses around.

  Still, no matter how she sliced it, the best option for Manuel was José’s pack.

  She nibbled her bottom lip and pondered his words, hoping she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life as she nodded.

  “I need to pack a few things… and Manuel’s at my mother’s. Oh god, I should make sure Diego didn’t find them,” her voice shook with renewed panic and José seemed at a loss.

  “Do what you need to, I’ll start cleaning this up, okay?”

  Sonya nodded, tears springing to her eyes as she dialed her mother’s house with shaking fingers.

  “Hola?” Estrella answered and Sonya heaved the biggest sigh of her life.

  “Hi Mama, I’m so sorry I got tied up with the new job. Is it okay if I come get Manuel in about fifteen minutes?”

  “He’s already sleeping,” Estrella said with a biting edge to her voice.

  “That’s okay, I won’t wake him,” Sonya answered, thanking the powers that be for the small miracle of not having to answer her son’s questions tonight.

  And that was how she found herself in the Wolves’ Den.

  José drove Sonya and a sleeping Manuel to the edge of town, a forested area set back from the road with a long private drive that ended at a massive lake, surrounded by a village of sorts.

  Sonya had no idea that something like this even existed in Palm Haven. Summer Springs certainly didn’t have anything like this. Wolves there lived in hovels, trailers, under overpasses — Diego didn’t take care of his pack like José clearly did.

  “Is everyone here… I mean… are you all…?”

  José put his rugged SUV into park and leveled Sonya with a serious gaze, something warm and comforting shining back at her.

  “We’re all wolves, yes.”

  He must have seen her cringe just a little because he took her hand in his, not letting her snatch it away this time, and squeezed it gently. Reassuringly.

  “I promise you, no one here will give you any trouble and if they do, they’ll answer to me, do you understand?” José asked her.

  Sonya nodded, ignoring the quiver in her womb as his dark hooded eyes bored straight into her. Manuel gave a yawn from the backseat before clutching his stuffed rabbit and drifting back to sleep.

  “I don’t know how to thank you,” she whispered, eyeing their joined hands. Why did it feel so natural? So right?

  “How about you come see the place I’ve got set up for you?”

  Sonya didn’t know why his prospect surprised her. She hadn’t really thought about where they’d be staying past ‘in the midst of a pack of wolves’. She hoped José didn’t want them to stay with him. Didn’t expect her to…

  He opened the door of the vehicle and gently scooped Manuel into his arms, cradling him without rousing him as if he’d done it a hundred times. That sight alone was enough to make Sonya’s insides quiver with desire.

  But she couldn’t go there. She needed to focus on Manuel. On keeping him safe. On helping him adjust to this new home — hopefully their last new home for a while.

  “That over there is the clubhouse,” José said in a low husky tone that sent shivers down her spine. He was only trying to keep from waking Manuel up, but the rasp in his voice made her magic stand up at attention. “You’re welcome to use it any time. There’s a pool, a playground, offices, whatever you need. It’s at your disposal.”

  She didn’t know what to say, so Sonya simply nodded and followed José around the perimeter of the lake. Every so often he’d introduce her to a passer-by and she was actually pretty impressed to see how civilized most of the pack members seemed to be. Before too long, her worst fears started to subside. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a terrible thing. Maybe all wolves weren’t as bad as Diego.

  Her magic was certainly enjoying all of the raw masculinity and sex exuding from the wolves. Shifters, both male and female, had incredible sex drives and her powers couldn’t help but reach out in an attempt to tap into the sex magic in the air.

  Sonya had to rein it in. If she couldn’t keep a handle on her magic her cover would be blown. The wolves would never allow a witch to stay in their midst.

  It wouldn’t matter that she wasn’t Coven. It wouldn’t matter that she hadn’t practiced in years. Pack mentality would take over and she would be a goner. Where would that leave Manuel?

  She shoved her hands in her jeans pockets to hide the electricity that sparked from her fingertips as José headed up the walkway to a cozy little ranch-style house.

  He pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door without ever jostling Manuel.

  “I’ve had the kitchen stocked for you and there should be everything you need, but if you find something I’ve missed, don’t hesitate to find me,” he said.

  His tone was all business, but that didn’t stop Sonya’s thoughts from conjuring images of him naked. She thought about what those mischievous lips could do to her nipples and her insides melted.

  She shook her head. Being around all of these shifters was going to be way harder than she thought.

  He followed her as she went into the smaller bedroom and laid Manuel in the toddler-size bed they’d managed to provide. She didn’t know how they got all of this furniture on such short notice, but maybe that was one of the benefits of pack life. Did the Coven do things like this for one another?

  She felt his presence so close to her as she tucked her son in. Sonya thought at any minute she would feel José press his body against hers. She wanted to feel his desire against her needy flesh, she craved his touch and her lips itched with the desire to kiss him.

  She shook her head again, closing her eyes tight for a moment. Alpha sex magic was even stronger than everyone else’s. She wanted it. But she didn’t want it for those reasons. The witch side of her wanted it, but she couldn’t risk messing this up for them.

  She turned to José, ready to tell him that she wasn’t interested when she realized that he was on the other side of the room, just watching her, not nearly pressed against her as she’d imagined.

  They left Manuel’s room and Sonya closed the door quietly.

  “Thank you for your generosity,” she said, tears welling in her eyes again, “I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t…”

  José placed a finger on her lips, shushing her. His hand dropped.

  “That’s what wolves do. We protect our kind.”

  She stepped nearer to him, looking up through her lashes. Her eyes half-closed with desire and her hip cocked to the side seductively.

  “If there’s anything I could do to repay you,” she heard herself purr.

  Had she really just said that? Her blood felt molten in her veins. She couldn’t turn off the insistent burn of lust coursing through her.

  José’s eyes widened and he took a step back.

  “No need to repay me,” he said.

  Her heart ached at the rejection and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. She was practically throwing herself at him, for what? Because her magic wanted it?

  Thankfully, he left the apartment before she could do something she’d regret.

  Sonya sighed and slumped against the door, cu
rsing herself. Her nipples were hard and sensitive against the scratchy fabric of her bra. Her insides quaked with need and liquid warmth pooled in her center. She was all kinds of hot and bothered and there was nothing to be done about it. She wanted José, but was it for any of the right reasons? She guessed not with the way he’d turned her down. He probably thought she was some random slut throwing herself at him that way.

  She nibbled her lip as she tried to figure out how she was going to rectify the situation.

  It took her far too long to realize that she shouldn’t be trying to rectify it. Any attempt she made at fixing it would only make her look more desperate. It was best to just let it go and forget it happened. José clearly wasn’t interested and, Sonya reminded herself, she was in no position to get involved with someone.

  She peeked in on Manuel once more before heading off to bed herself. Time to start adjusting to this new life.

  And stop thinking about the sexy Alpha that she should have absolutely nothing to do with.

  Chapter 6

  JOSÉ

  He left Sonya and Manuel after waiting to hear her lock the door behind him. Diego would have a hell of a time getting into the Den undetected, but locks were still a good idea.

  As he walked back towards the clubhouse, José wondered if he’d made a colossal mistake in bringing Sonya and her son here. His wolf felt calmed that they were so close, soothed by their safety, but also restless.

  Restless because all he wanted to do was mate with her. To claim her, mark her, and be with her forever.

  That last part scared the hell out of José, but the wolf within him seemed unruffled by the prospect of eternity.

  Though he didn’t know what he was going to do with her yet, José was glad to have Sonya there. When he found her place destroyed beyond recognition, he feared for the worst. The stench of fear cloaked the air in her tiny house, but there hadn’t been any blood.

  If he’d smelled Sonya’s blood, José didn’t know if he’d be able to resist shifting right then and there. For some unknown reason, the wolf seemed convinced that they were meant to be together.

  At first, he headed toward the clubhouse, but as his thoughts wandered, so did José’s feet. Soon, he found himself off the beaten path, deep in the woods, with damp soil underfoot, just begging for him to shift, to run through the trees, to howl at the moon and chase rabbits in the night.