Phoenix and the Dragon, page 18
“An aunt,” Syd breathed. “I’m so happy for him.” Syd stood in the background, gripping Arthur’s hand as they watched the reunion. She wouldn’t intrude, but she would be there if he needed her.
“It is a privilege to witness such a happy moment,” Arthur agreed and Syd realized the old shaman’s dark eyes were glistening with emotion as well.
“You’ve been a great friend to me, Arthur,” she told him quietly, squeezing his hand. “You managed to keep me in the dark about all this, but still, I know you’ve guided me like I think a father would have.” She turned her head to meet his misty gaze. “If you don’t mind…that’s how I think of you. As a father figure. I never had one of my own, but if I could choose, I would choose you.”
Arthur squeezed her hand in return. “And I would choose you as my daughter, Syd.”
No more needed to be said on that subject. She’d said what she’d wanted to say for a long time and got back more in return than she’d ever expected. Now that she had some blood relatives in her life, she realized something even more important…
Blood might tie people together in the most basic way, but ultimately, some of the deepest ties could be formed by the heart, with people unrelated by blood, but bound by love. For all intents and purposes, Arthur had been her father since just after they’d met. He’d guided her like a father would. He’d helped her in subtle ways. She’d cared for him, as he had for her. He had a place in her heart that would never change.
She might have found a brother and a cousin and even a grandmother, but those relationships would take time to grow. In her mind and in her heart, she now understood that her relationship with Arthur was every bit as important as those blood ties. Some family, you were born to. Others, you chose. She was grateful for whatever benevolent deity had brought Arthur into her life and just as grateful, albeit in a different way, for Paul.
They would create a family together now—some of blood and some from those people they chose to adopt into their inner circle, and who chose them in return. She knew her life would never be lonely again. She and Paul would have a big circle that would only grow ever wider as they aged.
The future for them all looked very bright, indeed.
*
Deep under the Superstition Mountains, Hans surveyed his domain from the farthest edges of the fully awakened nest. When he’d read the signs of evil rising in the world again back in the 1700s, he’d devised this plan. Gather a hoard of riches to last into the coming centuries, and a group of like-minded kinsfolk to hide out together.
Dragon shifters had been hunted. Picked off one by one, at the time. A lone dragon had been easy pickings for bands of Venifucus mages, and they had done all they could to make dragon shifters extinct. But Hans had outsmarted them, and now, his friends and family were rising to fight another day.
The only problem they’d had over the centuries were the daring human treasure hunters who seemed to be constantly risking their lives to find gold in these treacherous mountains. He and his people had helped more than one prospector make it out alive, though their help had been unseen, for the most part.
Hans had even befriended of one of the prospectors back in the 1800s, and though he’d trusted Jacob, Hans’s decision to give the man a little gold to make him go away had been a mistake in the long run. Who knew Jacob would die with more than twenty pounds of pure gold ore under his bed or speak cryptic clues about a gold mine hidden somewhere in the Superstition Mountains?
Hans shook his head. The Lost Dutchman had created more headaches for Hans and his people over the past century or so, but he couldn’t regret helping the crafty German. Jacob had been smart enough to bring beer on his trips into the mountains, and Hans had enjoyed sitting with the fellow a few times and talking about the old country.
Jacob had spoken German, but Hans had been born in the Netherlands and had traveled widely before finding this remote part of the American Southwest. He’d been able to converse with Jacob in his native tongue, and they’d become friendly. It was Jacob, in fact, who had told Hans about Arthur, a local shaman who was reputed to be highly magical. Jacob’s talkative ways had led Hans to secure Arthur’s promise to guard the entry point they’d built—miles away from the actual nest.
After Jacob’s accidental arrival to the nest, Hans and his friends had made sure such discoveries would never happen again. They’d sealed up the nearest entrance and created the railway and entrance far away from the heart of their domain. Then, Hans had made a deal with Arthur—who had turned out to be even more magical and powerful than Jacob knew—to act as gatekeeper.
It had been a good plan, but its time had come to an end with the rising of the phoenixes. Now, all bets were off, and it was time, once again, to fight.
Hans grinned as he looked at his army of dragons.
Those who served evil wouldn’t know what was coming for them.
*
Thank you for reading Phoenix and the Dragon. If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review. Phoenix and the Dragon is part of the Lick of Fire collection. For more information on other books in the collection, please visit the Lick of Fire website.
Following is a short excerpt from The Jaguar’s Secret Baby, the next book scheduled for publication in about a month. It is the third in my Jaguar Island series under the Howls Romance imprint. A werewolf and a jaguar meet and the results are…incredibly cute!
A complete list of all of my books, separated by series, follows. You can also check out my website at WWW.BIANCADARC.COM. Or you can sign up for my new release list to be alerted when new books are released.
EXCERPT FROM THE JAGUAR’S SECRET BABY
© 2018 Bianca D’Arc. All Rights Reserved.
Prologue
“Who is the father?” Tracy’s father demanded.
He might be Alpha of the Big Wolf Pack, and therefore the owner of Big Wolf Airport, Big Wolf Barbeque, where she worked, and mayor of Big Wolf, Texas, but she was his daughter and he couldn’t really compel her with his dominance. They were too much alike. She was a dominant female in her own right and she’d long ago, grown accustomed to her father’s bark. He would never bite one of his own for something like this, so she knew she was safe, which gave her the strength to deny his command.
“I’m still not telling you, Dad. Now, if you want your first grandchild to be born without medical assistance, just keep doing what you’re doing. Otherwise, I came downstairs to call the midwife.” She made her way slowly toward the phone.
She should’ve had her cell phone by her bed, but she hadn’t been thinking clearly these last nine months. Doing stupid stuff had become the norm ever since she’d discovered she was pregnant. Pregnant and unmated. At her age. As the result of a one-night stand. Could she get any more pathetic?
Okay, it had been the best one-nighter of her life, but still… Pregnancy shouldn’t have been the result. He wasn’t even a wolf! It shouldn’t have been possible to be so damned fertile across species like this, but the little person clamoring to get out had other ideas.
“You mean it’s coming now?” Her father’s face paled.
She would have laughed if a contraction hadn’t hit her just at that moment. She leaned against the kitchen island and grit her teeth as she growled low in her throat through the pain. That seemed to set her dad in motion. He grabbed the phone and dialed the number for the Pack’s healer. She heard the conversation in the background as the pain stole her breath and made her want to howl. The important thing was, her father was getting help. When the pain eased, he was at her side, loving concern on his face.
“They’re on their way,” he told her in a soothing tone. “Now, can you walk, or shall I carry you back to your room? I assume that’s where you want this to happen, right?”
She nodded and leaned heavily on him as they went out of the kitchen together, but the staircase was beyond her. Her steps faltered and her father picked her up, as he had when she was little, and mounted the stairs with her in his arms. He didn’t put her down until they had reached her bed. He deposited her gently on the covers she had prepared. Her bed was covered in toweling with plastic underneath so she wouldn’t ruin the mattress.
Aida had helped her gather the necessary supplies and would—Goddess willing—see her through this birth. Aida was the midwife, mated to the Pack’s healer, Giuseppe. They were both on the way here, according to her dad, but she really only needed Aida. They’d been talking about this for almost nine months—ever since Tracy realized she was pregnant—and they’d been making plans the whole time.
Aida was the mother Tracy no longer had, and she probably couldn’t have handled this situation half as well without her guidance. Aida had been close to Tracy’s mother and had stepped in to help when Tracy’s mom had died in a terrible accident. Tracy still missed her vibrant, vivacious mother every day, but it was good to have someone like Aida around to help.
Tracy’s father didn’t leave her side, looking around to see what he could do to help prepare, but there wasn’t anything. She’d done it all last week and had only been waiting for the signal that the little one was ready to meet the world. It felt like it wouldn’t be long now.
“Tracy, sweetheart,” her father said, sitting at her side and pushing her hair back from her brow. “Who did this? Who’s the father?”
Stubborn Alpha wolf. Tracy smiled. “Why? So you can go hunt him down and shanghai him into mating with me? Dad, this isn’t 1850 anymore.” She named the year her father had been born and rolled her eyes.
“A man should be there for his children,” he insisted. “At the very least, he should help support the pup.”
“I don’t need his money.” She shook her head. “And I don’t need his interference.”
Dawning realization broke over her father’s face. “Sweet Mother of All. You haven’t even told him!”
Tracy grimaced. She’d debated a long time over whether it was better to let her father think poorly of her child’s father or reveal that she hadn’t tracked down the perpetrator and told him about the impending birth. She’d just let it ride, not really knowing what to do, and hoping a path would reveal itself. Well, it looked like the revelation had just taken place and she wasn’t altogether sure it was a good thing. Now, it was solidly her fault that the baby’s father wasn’t here. Tracy felt a little guilty, but really…it was an impossible situation.
“Is he even a wolf?” her father asked now, his tone aghast. He’d been eyeing every male in the Pack with suspicion for the past few months, but it hadn’t done him any good. The father wasn’t a Pack member. “Is he even a shifter?”
She could give him that much, she figured. “Yes, he’s a shifter, but no, he’s not one of ours. And that’s all I have to say on the matter.” She gasped as another pain hit and grabbed her father’s hand.
He didn’t say anything more until the contraction had passed.
“I’ll accept that,” he told her, his eyes narrowing and his dominance a palpable thing in the room. “For now.”
Tracy gulped, but Aida bustled into the room and shooed Tracy’s father out. Giuseppe was waiting in the hallway and Tracy saw him put a friendly arm around her father’s shoulders before guiding him away from the bedroom. Giuseppe would keep her father distracted while the women got down to business.
Goddess help them all.
*
Two years later…
“Em, honey, come back here,” Tracy called after her adventurous daughter, who was running off yet again, pushing through the forest of people’s legs, in the front lobby of the restaurant. It was one of her favorite games, and the Pack indulged her a little too much, in Tracy’s opinion.
Emma was out of sight and Tracy sped up to catch her wayward two year old. She spotted Em, stopped against the legs of a man, clinging to the poor fellow like a burr. Thankfully, everyone present was Pack. At least, Tracy thought they were all shifters, if not all members of her Pack. Though…there was a tantalizing new scent at the edge of her perception.
With all the wolves waiting to be seated—a party of fourteen had just come in from the airport and wanted to sit together—it was hard to discern the new shifter scent, but as Tracy drew nearer to her daughter, the scent became sharper. It was familiar, somehow, and her inner wolf sat up from her lazy doze in Tracy’s mind, and started to look around through Tracy’s eyes. Something was…
The Pack members parted before her, revealing her daughter, clinging to a man she hadn’t seen in a little more than two years. Closer to three, actually.
Hank.
Her baby’s father.
The baby he didn’t know about.
Hank looked up, a happy smile on his face that he’d been giving her daughter when the crowd hushed. Their eyes met and his smile got even bigger. He was pleased to see her, but would he be so pleased once he realized she was a mother now, and not free to play with him the way she had years ago?
She gritted her teeth against what had to be done. “Emma, honey, let the nice man go and come to mama.” She bent down to catch her little scamp who abandoned her new friend as soon as her mother caught up with her.
Emma tucked up close to her heart, Tracy looked up to meet Hank’s gaze. He was crestfallen for a split second before he pasted a congenial expression on his face.
“Hi Tracy,” he said, his deep voice hitting down deep in the place where her wolf howled in welcome. “Long time, no see.”
“Hello, Hank.” She couldn’t say anything else. Emotion nearly choked her as she stood, lifting her baby girl in her arms.
Emma was getting big, but Tracy was a wolf. She could easily carry Emma, who clung to her neck, though she turned her head to look Hank. Her big blue eyes watched him curiously.
“She’s yours,” Hank said, unnecessarily. “Congratulations on…your mating,” he finished somewhat lamely. She didn’t hear joy in his words. Or, maybe, she was reading too much into his tone. Maybe she was hearing what she longed to hear.
“I’m not mated,” she revealed on a deep breath. “But I do have the love of my life, as you see.” She bent to kiss Emma’s soft cheek and the child giggled, the sound filling the empty places in Tracy’s heart, as it always did.
Hank looked confused, but he hid it after a second.
“I was wondering, if you haven’t already eaten, would you—and your daughter—like to have lunch with me?”
Brave man to ask her to share a meal in a lobby filled with her Pack mates. They all knew he was a cat. He smelled feline and ferocious, she’d always thought. Forbidden.
Cats and dogs didn’t mix. At least according to her father. But she’d liked the way she and Hank had mixed during their stolen night together. She’d liked it a lot.
And the little girl wriggling in her arms was proof of that. Tracy opened her mouth to answer his question when a wave of shifter magic caught her unawares…
Hank was caught completely flat-footed by the gorgeous baby girl in Tracy’s arms. She was a joyful child and the mischief in her eyes spoke to something in his own soul. He’d been charmed when the little beauty accosted him in the crowd, but then his emotions had swung into chaos when he realized the child was Tracy’s. If Tracy had found her mate and started a family, then any hope he had of renewing their relationship had just gone up in flames.
Then, his emotions had been tugged in the other direction at her claim that she was still unmated, though she was a single mother. He admired the strength in her voice as she spoke her truth. Tracy had always been a powerful woman, and he’d enjoyed coaxing her into playing with him. They were both strong shifters, but together, they didn’t have to compete for dominance. They could just…be. Together.
It had been wonderful while it lasted. An all too brief affair. He’d tried for the past two years to get back to her, but his duties to his Alpha had kept him far away.
He dug up the nerve to ask her to have lunch with him. He wanted to know everything that had happened in her life since they’d last met. He wanted to know where the child’s father was, and if he was still in the picture. He wanted, more than anything, to have some place in Tracy’s—and now Emma’s—life. As much of a place as she’d let him have.
He was waiting for her answer when a magical wave reached out to him, catching him unawares. The child…the child was emitting shifter magic in a familiar pattern he had experienced a few times on Jaguar Island, now that Mark had gathered their people together and there were little baby jaguars running around the place.
But Hank had always thought wolves were quite different. They didn’t usually start shifting until they hit puberty. Didn’t they? And yet… There was no denying the magic coming from the little girl now struggling in her mother’s arms. She wanted to be put down, and even before Tracy had released the girl completely, a golden shimmer enveloped the child.
Clothes fell away and a little furry body lay within the drape of the child’s dress. It struggled its way out, the entire crowd in the busy lobby now watching in silence, waiting to see how she would emerge. Something significant was going on here, but Hank barely registered their surroundings except to note that nobody seemed intent on harming the girl or interfering with her shift. He read the crowd as curious. Maybe overly so. But not dangerous.
Then the little girl’s head emerged from under the fabric and…she was golden with little black spots. She was…
Sweet Mother of All! She was a jaguar.
To read more, get your copy of The Jaguar’s Secret Baby by Bianca D’Arc.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bianca D’Arc has run a laboratory, climbed the corporate ladder in the shark-infested streets of lower Manhattan, studied and taught martial arts, and earned the right to put a whole bunch of letters after her name, but she’s always enjoyed writing more than any of her other pursuits. She grew up and still lives on Long Island, where she keeps busy with an extensive garden, several aquariums full of very demanding fish, and writing her favorite genres of paranormal, fantasy and sci-fi romance.
