Violet's Shadow Read online

  Violet’s Shadow

  By Jennifer Kacey

  Violet’s Shadow

  Copyright 2015 Jennifer Kacey

  Edited by: Heather Long

  Discover more titles by Jennifer Kacey

  At www.JenniferKacey.com

  Smashwords Edition

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite e-book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  ISBN: 978-0-9970141-0-5

  Formatted by IRONHORSE Formatting

  Dedication

  To You. For finding me. And loving me. And keeping me safe…

  Violet’s Shadow

  By Jennifer Kacey

  Violet’s spent her whole life searching for where she belongs. When she finds it and her shadow comes to life, it’s only the beginning.

  Two weeks alone in a secluded cabin is music to Violet’s ears, until she sees a shadow in the forest with red glowing eyes. Red eyes she’s seen in her dreams for as long as she can remember. Eyes that make her want to forget the rest of the world. But she doesn’t believe in fairy tales anymore.

  Rayden was sent to protect her. To keep her safe. Nothing more than to guide her as she transitions into a Shadow and takes her rightful place in the pack. What he finds instead is the mate he’s been unwilling to search for and a passion so fierce he’ll never be able to walk away.

  Violet’s spent her entire life aching to belong and she finally finds it in the pack of Shadows she is destined to join. Everything she’s ever wanted in life and love is finally at her fingertips if she’s brave enough to embrace…her Shadow.

  The past. The future. Truth. Lies. Nothing is as it seems when two shattered hearts are finally given the chance to heal.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  About Jennifer Kacey

  Other Titles by Jennifer Kacey

  Chapter One

  Violet Clare slammed the flimsy wooden door to her cabin, then threw the lock. It was somewhere around an inch of steel away from comforting. Retreating while keeping her eyes trained on the only entry point, she strained to identify what she could do to avoid the inevitable if the animal wanted in. With only moonlight illuminating the single room she tried to convince her heart to evac out of her throat and settle into a more subdued rhythm. Instead, it had a mind of its own, and continued on the Jesus, Mary and what the fuck gravy train it was currently joy riding atop.

  It was out there. Chasing after her. She’d seen him. Not him. It. A shadow. Or a wolf. Both?

  At least she thought it was a wolf. But wolves weren’t so damn big and they sure as hell weren’t born with red, almost glowing eyes…

  Remove the almost part.

  Emphasis on the what the fuck part.

  “It’s just a dream,” she whispered, trying desperately to stop shaking. “Only another dream. And I’m going to wake up. I am.”

  Shaking her head didn’t work. Squeezing her eyes shut did nothing but freak her out more.

  Beyond the cabin, in the shadows of the huge pine trees—no from the shadows of the trees—a wolf had appeared. Watching her. It was like something out of a children’s book. Not moving a single muscle, but she knew every fiber of his being was ready to…what?

  Pounce. Attack. Seduce?

  “Heheheheeeheheeee—” A high-pitched giggle, the love child of her frayed nerves and anticipation, bubbled out until she slapped a hand over her mouth.

  Holy nut house, Batman! Her mother had told her for as long as she could remember to get her head out of the clouds. Fairy tales weren’t real, and the sooner she learned to live in the real world the better off she’d be. At twenty-five, she still couldn’t seem to get that one right.

  If someone needed a random prediction of the future she couldn’t control? She was their girl. For as long as she could remember, she experienced foresight—visions, which came true. Every. Single. Time. She’d been hiding her freaky ability since the first time she’d made the mistake of telling her mother something she knew was going to happen. When her predictions came true, her mom had been furious. Violet’s backside still stung when she thought about how angry her mom had been. Scared even. So she’d tried to act the part. Perfect daughter. Perfect student. Perfect employee. Living a lie in the real world? It didn’t fit her so well. Never had.

  But what if her dreams were true? She shook her head again as she continued to retreat from the door. Not possible. It’s just not possible. A wolf with red eyes appearing right outside a cabin she’d rented and only one other person knew she was at.

  The travel agent promised her a remote, picturesque, secluded getaway located in the middle of a protected forest in East Texas. Perfect for a couple weeks of rest and relaxation in the summer where nature walks abound and it was almost expected to sunbathe for hours—all described in the brochure. Didn’t say anything about creatures stalking her in the forest or appearing out of thin fucking air.

  “It’s beautiful there,” the travel agent had told her as she’d booked Violet’s flights from where she lived in Destin, Florida. “It will be a trip to remember. Fresh air, sunshine, and you’ll be surrounded by wild flowers.”

  “Wild flowers my ass,” Violet murmured as she finally hit the far wall. Being jarred out of her inner monologue, she ran clammy hands across the wood behind her. A weapon wasn’t forth coming along the wall as her heart got good and comfy on its seat on the holy shit train to Freakoutville.

  Violet slid down the wall and wrapped her arms over her knees, seeing nothing but the pair of bright red eyes following her all the way to the cabin as she’d sprinted for the only structure within fifty miles. Out for a walk to get some fresh air, she’d caught a whole heck of a lot more nature than she’d planned on. God she had felt the gaze on her like a caress. Her body had responded as if someone had licked her up the middle. Her breathing grew labored, her nipples pebbled and wetness coated the lips of her pussy, preparing to be penetrated clear through to her soul. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as if she’d had someone seducing her for hours. A lover dedicated to showing her what it was going to feel like when she came so hard reality fell away and the only thing left was her desire staring at her with those red eyes. The same red eyes she’d been dreaming of
for the entire twenty-five years she’d been breathing. She’d known them forever. Which was why she’d run. Terrified he was real. More terrified he wasn’t.

  Fear and desire fought for dominance inside her and she had no idea how to process either.

  She closed her eyes, tucked her hair behind her ears and held her breath, straining to listen. Rationalizing came next and she hoped going crazy had some kind of user’s manual or flow chart like the five stages of grief.

  Step one. Run through the forest at night like a crazy woman. Check.

  Two. Embrace the crazy person laugh. Check.

  Three. Sit in a dark cabin, hiding from the boogeyman and rationalize everything that happened in the last few minutes, ending with the assertion you most certainly are not crazy?

  Yes, it had been dark out, and yes, she had partaken in a glass of wine with dinner, but she wasn’t crazy.

  Double. Check.

  This was supposed to be the vacation of a lifetime so she could find some direction. Figure out what she really wanted to do with her life, but her focus was shittier than a fertilizer convention. And now there she sat, huddled in the corner, wondering what she could use for a weapon. Damn. Not the best time to remember her cell phone didn’t work out there either.

  A couple weeks alone in the wilderness to take stock of her life was supposed to be uneventful to downright boring so she could decide what she was going to do when she got home. It seemed destiny had arrived a few days early to get the lowdown on the here and now.

  Well, the here and now was about to pee herself if—

  Her inner Oprah went mute when a faint creak sounded right outside the door. Someone or something had just stepped onto the porch.

  Yesterday it could have been the wind or a bunny. ‘Cause bunnies are soft and cuddly and a bunny didn’t eat people, right? But her current circumstances were so not yesterday.

  A louder snort echoed outside, followed by another creak and a dark shadow passing across the small crack under the door.

  “I’ve waited for you for years and when I find you, you run?”

  What. The. Hell.

  It was as if someone spoke right inside her head.

  A weapon, she admonished herself and swallowed hard. I should have grabbed a weapon before pulling my game of hide and don’t seek. The knives in the kitchen were barely sharp enough to cut wind and her only gun, a .22 meant to kill snakes, was still sitting on the porch where she’d left it that afternoon. She felt as if something had been watching her since she arrived nearly a week ago. But she hadn’t been afraid. Not until tonight when she’d seen him. Boy it sucked to be right sometimes.

  Earlier that morning, during a few minutes of her cell picking up coverage, her mother had freaked out when she learned where Violet was. Even going so far as to tell her it wasn’t safe. Violet laughed it off, which was tricky via text. Now look at me.

  Had her visions helped her to know this was coming?

  No.

  Did the dreams she’d had for two decades with a creature who looked just like the shadow outside count?

  Hell no.

  The door rattled as a heavily muscled body brushed against it. A scream died in her throat when nails clattered against the worn wood of the porch, then scrambled to the side of the house.

  And then nothing.

  Had it been scared away?

  Distracted by a squirrel?

  “Stay inside. Do not come out no matter what you hear.”

  Well…duh. Internal sass helped her cope with the rich timber of his deep voice in her head. A few seconds later, the crunch of gravel sounded on the main road as a vehicle drove past the cabin.

  People!

  Violet rushed to get to the door, unlocked it and threw it open so she could flag down whoever was on the road. She stepped past the threshold as the door bounced off the wall and two things happened simultaneously.

  Fifty yards away brake lights faded down the road to No Helpsville, and a snarl lit up no more than three feet away to her side. Something sounding a lot like a chainsaw on steroids moved closer, but she couldn’t turn.

  As if she’d stepped in wet concrete, her feet rooted to the floorboards. The snarl grew louder and closer, and she could feel the menace of the animal stalking her. Some kind of survival instinct kicked in automatically. Don’t run. Standing still was the key to keeping her insides firmly on the right side of her body. Or did that only work for bears?

  She slowly faced her death, only to discover the wolf wasn’t looking at her at all. He faced the tree line in front of the porch and positioned himself between Violet and the steps leading down to the yard.

  “So what do we have here?” sounded from the absolute empty expanse in front of them. “A pretty girl out all alone and nothing but her dog to protect her?”

  One big ass guy seemed to materialize from the trees themselves. Two equally big ass dudes flanked him. If their arrival hadn’t been creepy enough, the fact they were completely naked should have tipped the scales well toward the funny farm.

  Nerves made her a bit snarky. Apparently, this situation was no different.

  “My dog looks like he’s about to take a hunk out of you, so why don’t you turn around and go back and play in the woods where I don’t have to watch your swinging dingle berries.”

  They stopped twenty feet off the porch and it sounded like an honest to God growl came out of at least one of them. A growl. Like a dog.

  “What the heck is going on?” Violet couldn’t help thinking out loud. She wanted to take a few more steps to the side to grab the gun, but didn’t want to risk tipping them off. “This is private property, gentlemen. Heavy emphasis on the private part.”

  The one in the center sneered and seemed to try seeing through her clothes. His cock jerked, and she was pretty sure she threw up a little in her mouth.

  “Get. Off. This. Property.”

  After several moments of tense silence, she opened her mouth to tell them how long they had before she filled them with buckshot, but a voice inside her head left her reeling. “Go in the cabin and lock the door. I’ll handle these assholes and then I’ll take care of you for running from me tonight.”

  Violet whipped her head around. The wolf spared her nothing but a glance before the hair on his spine raised and his growl vibrated the air. Not a great time for things below the equator to wake up and take notice how sexy his voice in her mind had been.

  “Did you hear me bitch?”

  Startled, she looked over in time to see one of the men clear the porch. He lunged at her with arms big enough to resemble tree trunks. She fell to avoid what surely would have been a painful blow, grabbed the shotgun and leveled it at where his head should have been.

  The thunk of a skull hitting the porch steps echoed in the still night. The wolf had him on the ground and he wasn’t moving. The pure black animal sprang toward the next guy closing on her. The wolf caught a glancing blow on the shoulder right before he sank his teeth into the other guy’s thigh.

  The man in his grasp? Huge. And he tossed him off the porch as if he weighed nothing.

  Violet leveled the shotgun at Mr. I Am An Island and fired off a round beside his foot. To his credit he didn’t even flinch.

  “I don’t know who you are or what the hell you think you’re doing, but I have no problem killing the next bastard who makes a move toward us. I want you off my property in the next sixty seconds or Mr. Smith and Wesson here will get to have an up close and personal with you and yours.”

  The wolf stalked over and took a ready stance next to Violet’s leg, never taking his gaze off the three men who were about to meet their makers if they didn’t put a hustle on the get-gone instructions.

  He felt warm and strong against her jeans-covered thigh, and a race of awareness skittered up Violet’s spine.

  A moan from the guy with teeth marks in his thigh pulled her out of the Wet Dream 101 lecture she was attending. She focused on the one man still uninjured, clearl
y the one in charge, who made his way to his buddy impersonating an unconscious lawn sculpture.

  “He can’t protect you all the time.” He glared at the wolf. “Mathias has been waiting for her.”

  The menace lacing his words made her pause more than the words themselves did.

  “Protect me? Who are you?”

  “Yours isn’t the only pack who know about her,” he said, ignoring her and her question.

  The second guy hobbled his way toward the woods when the supposed leader picked up Mr. Nighty Night and threw him over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. “We’ll be back.” He turned to go, muscles rippling as if he were about to come out of his skin. “Shadow,” he grunted with a less than concealed sneer in her companion’s direction.

  Mr. Naked walked into the tree line on the far side, entering the forest about ten feet to the left of the other guy. Without another backward glance they just disappeared. She looked down to face her unlikely ally, and found his teeth bared and hackles raised.

  This time he was looking most squarely in her direction. And he did not look pleased.

  “What nightmare am I in and how do I get off the ride?” Joking sounded like a good idea. Well…other than the whole talking to a large predator with extremely pointy teeth part.

  “Go inside.”

  The words were inside her head again. “You’ve really got to stop doing that,” she said out loud as she continued to stand there. “I don’t normally hear animals talk in my head and it’s kind of freaking me out.”

  The Shadow bristled and stalked forward. Violet finally backed over the threshold, flipping on the light right inside, which chased away the shadows. Well. All but one of them apparently. Stepping away from the door, a different kind of anticipation assaulted her.