Fated for Her Wolves - Tara West Page 0,74
sure as hell hurt everywhere, though the pain only made her miss Andrei more. Of all her lovers, he was the most gentle.
She tried not to think about Andrei’s forlorn look as they drove away, but a pall fell over her. Her breaths came in shallow gasps, and she suddenly had the urge to flee. She hadn’t felt this terrified since she was trapped in the haunted forest.
She flicked on the light, then screamed when she saw a red-eyed demon staring at her. She blinked, and it disappeared.
It had to have been a figment of her imagination.
“Tatiana!” Dimitri banged on the door. “Are you okay?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but no words came out.
Her limbs felt encrusted in ice as she moved toward the mirror and placed a hand on the glass. She stared at her reflection. The contours of her face and the shape of her eyes were the same as the red-eyed monster’s, but the amber-eyed, frightened girl looking back at her couldn’t have been a demon.
A sickening feeling twisted her gut, telling her that though she’d escaped the Hoia Baciu, she’d taken part of the haunted forest with her, and her nightmares were only just beginning.
A Shifter Christmas
A Hungry for Her Wolves Bonus Novella
A Reverse-Harem Paranormal Romance
Tara West
Copyright © 2020 by Tara West
Published by Shifting Sands Publishing
First edition, published September, 2020
All rights reserved.
This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogue are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
Edited by Theo Fenraven.
AMARA AND ANNIE HAVE a lot to be thankful for this Christmas.
Chapter One
AMARA HAD A VISION of Tor Thunderfoot’s truck coming down the road even though it was miles away, the chains on its tires crunching over the hard-packed snow. Closing her eyes, she saw him gripping the steering wheel with whitened knuckles, his expression grim. He was bringing bad news. Her heart seized as she thought of Luc in Syria, but no. If anything had happened to him, her mate who was also part of an elite tracking unit in the Army, Tor’s expression would be far more grief-stricken. The bad tidings were about someone else in their tribe.
Placing a hand on her swollen belly, she thanked her child—Rone’s child—her long-awaited baby girl, for the vision. Whenever she was pregnant, her baby’s powers transferred to her, too. This little girl could see events far away in real time, playing them through her mind like a television with fuzzy reception. Though she enjoyed feeling her baby’s power flow through her, she couldn’t wait for this child to be born. She’d longed for a daughter, and the Ancients had finally answered her prayers. She couldn’t wait to braid her daughter’s hair the way her bunica, her Romanian grandmother, had taught her and dress her in pretty clothes. Hakon had already taken her to town, and she’d bought several pink and purple jumpers and a large dollhouse.
She heaved herself out of bed and waddled to the bathroom like a bloated penguin. She loved her kids, but she didn’t relish pregnancy, and she still had eight weeks to go. At least this baby didn’t feel as big as Bjorn, her fourth son, who’d weighed ten-and-a-half pounds.
After using the facilities, she joined two of her mates downstairs. Rone was frying up bacon and eggs, and Hakon was reading the morning headlines on his computer and checking through the lists of fallen GIs. They hadn’t heard from Luc in three weeks, which left her on edge. Her two oldest sons, Hrod and Alexi, were playing with wooden blocks in the living room. She was amazed at how each boy was growing to look more and more like their fathers. Hrod took after Hakon, with his broad shoulders and thick mop of dark hair. Alexi resembled Drasko, with his long, thick eyelashes and devastating smile. Both boys were always helpful, looking after their little brothers when needed, and they excelled in their homeschooling programs. Their future mate was lucky indeed.
The dogs were curled up near them, next to the warmth of the fireplace, yellow lab Buster and German Shepherd Max sharing one large dog bed and brown terrier-mix Gremlin and black Schnauzer Scrooge sharing the small one. The logs crackled on the hearth, warming the room with a soothing red glow.
Evin, her toddler, was in his