Triumph (Wolves 0f Gypsum Creek Book 2) Read online

  Triumph: Wolves of Gypsum Creek

  (A Paranormal Romance Story)

  Serena Meadows

  Copyright ©2018 by Serena Meadows - All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

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  Chapter One

  ***Danny***

  Danny threw the last two squash into the bushel basket and stood up to stretch his back before reaching down again to pull the vine from the ground and throw it into a pile a few feet away. He’d been repeating the same process for an hour, but the squash patch was finally finished, so he took a few minutes to catch his breath.

  Taking a deep breath of the crisp fall air, he thought he detected the smell of snow, but it was still only September, much too soon for snow even this high in the mountains. He’d lived in these mountains his entire life, and knew that they could be fickle, warm and welcoming one minute then dark and threatening then next, but that only added to their charm.

  Looking around him at the trees and undergrowth that had just begun to put on their show of fall color, he knew that he’d never leave the Appalachians, that this is where he belonged. His confidence in his future hadn’t been this sure only a few weeks ago, but after defending this land and the people who lived here with his life, he now knew that he was completely intertwined with them.

  What his future held, he wasn’t sure, but for now, he was happy to let life take its course, even if there was a part of him grieving the loss of his family and friends. For a second, he let the doubt he’d been struggling with surface, wondering if he’d made a rash decision, but then he heard Jessie’s voice from across the field.

  “I don’t remember saying you could take a break,” Jessie called.

  “Well, since you’re not paying me, I don’t see what difference it makes,” Danny said, a grin on his face.

  Jessie's face became serious, “You know, if you want to go home, I’ll understand. I’m sorry things turned out this way; I would never have asked for your help if I’d known that it would come between you and your family.”

  Danny could hear his father’s words echoing in his head, couldn’t help but go back to that night nearly a month ago. He’d come home after defeating the wolf-shifters from the city to find his father furious with him, beyond reasoning with.

  “You turned your back on me, your family, the town, and your friends when you went up there to help that werewolf,” he’d screamed at Danny as soon as he walked through the door.

  “But thanks to us, the wolf-shifters are gone, and I guarantee you they won’t be back,” Danny protested, a note of pride in his voice.

  “So, you’re proud of yourself for deserting us and siding with that monster. You know what he’s done; just wait until a full moon and you’ll be sorry,” his father said, shaking his head, a disgusted look on his face. “He won’t be able to control himself now; he’ll go crazy, just wait and see.”

  Danny shook his head, “He has control; he shifted without a full moon.”

  His father whipped his head around and looked at him. “That’s even worse. I don’t want you going up there anymore; stay away from Jessie Rayburn. He’s a danger to all of us, and that’s never going to change.”

  “You’re wrong,” Danny said, his heart sinking at the thought of not seeing Jessie and Sophie again. “You can’t make me stay away from him; I’m a grown man.”

  His father had narrowed his eyes at him as soon as the last word was out of his mouth and he’d known then that the fight to follow was going to be bad. But instead of shouting at him, his father had very quietly said, “Pack your things and get out.”

  Now a month later, he still wasn’t sorry that he’d made the choice he had. Swensen’s mountain was a nice place to live, and Jessie had quickly become the brother he’d never had. If at times he missed his family, it was a sacrifice he’d chosen to make. Someday, they’d see in Jessie what he and Sophie saw, but until then, he’d make a life for himself here with them.

  Realizing that he hadn’t answered Jessie, he said, “I’m happy here; I’d like to stay for as long as I’m welcome.”

  Jessie slapped him on the back, “Good, now let’s get this squash into the barn so we can go see what Sophie made for dinner.”

  ***Kara***

  Kara put her head down and closed her eyes, wishing she could block out the sound of the radiator hissing. She’d crossed these mountains plenty of times over the past few years but never driven up into them as she’d just done. Clearly, her car wasn’t any happier with the trip than she was.

  Flexing her fingers, which had still been gripping the wheel, she opened her eyes and turned her head, afraid to see where she’d ended up. Hoping she wasn’t about to see one of the thousand-foot drops she’d just navigated out her window, she picked up her head and looked down.

  Sighing with relief when she saw that she was parked in the middle of a small meadow, she turned her head to watch the steam escaping from under the hood of her car. She knew that she should get out and open the hood, but it was taking all her strength not to burst into tears.

  When she’d taken the turn-off for Gypsum Creek, she’d had no idea that the nice, two-lane, paved road would soon turn into a single-lane dirt track that shouldn’t have even been called a road. As it snaked into the mountains, getting narrower the higher she climbed, the car began to complain, the temperature gauge rising.

  She’d finally pulled over when the steam had gotten so thick, she couldn’t see where she was going. Now she was going to have to face what was under the hood of the car, face the fact that she was stalled out in the middle of nowhere with little prospect that someone might come along to help.

  Since she’d turned off the main highway, she hadn’t seen a single car, hadn’t even seen a house where she might find some help. She had no idea how far it was to Gypsum Creek, but she knew how far it was back to the main highway and there was no way she’d make it before dark.

  Opening her car door and stepping out, she crossed her fingers and hoped that the car wasn’t as bad as she thought. But when she threw open the hood and looked at her steaming radiator, she knew that the car wasn’t going to move again without some repairs.

  Her heart sinking, she stood there staring at the steam escaping from a broken hose and cursed herself for not taking the road slower. She knew how fragile her old car was, but she’d been so nervous driving up the steep, twisting road, she’d been unable to make herself slow down.

  The road should have been her first clue that she was making a mistake; she should have just turned around and gone back to Nashville, taken her chances with her stepfather. But after two years of running from him, she was too exhausted even to contemplate a face t
o face meeting with him, so she’d continued up the road.

  It had been two years since her mother died, leaving her alone with her terrible secret, a secret that now seemed her best hope to escape her stepfather. But now she wasn’t so sure; all the signs seemed to be telling her that this was a bad idea, that she should just leave Jessie alone and figure out a way out of the mess she was in on her own.

  Her mother had made her promise to find Jessie, to tell him how sorry she was for what she’d done and at the time, it had seemed like a simple request. But then her stepfather had learned what she was, and things had gone from bad to worse in a matter of weeks. In the end, she’d fled from him, and her promise to her mother had faded from her mind, only resurfacing when her attempts to hide had failed her time and time again.

  She’d been so tired of running, tired of always looking over her shoulder. For years she’d been crisscrossing the country, looking for someplace to hide from Sebastian. Sleeping in her car when she had to, working minimum wage jobs for gas and spending money, afraid to stay in one place too long.

  The last time his men had tracked her down, she’d barely managed to get out of town before they found her. As she was driving away, frantically trying to decide where to hide next, she remembered Jessie and the little town her mom had told her about.

  She drove without stopping until she got to Nashville, then splurged on a hotel room and slept for eighteen hours. When she woke refreshed, her plan solidified in her mind, she got in the car and headed into the Appalachian Mountains. But standing there staring down at her steaming radiator, she realized that she should have made better plans, should have bought a few supplies at least.

  Unable to hold the tears back any longer, she let them lose, knowing that fighting it any longer was just using up her strength. She rested her hands against the car and leaned over, letting her tears drip and the sobs wrack her body until she felt the frustration begin to fade.

  Taking a deep breath, she began to make a mental list of what she should take on her hike back to the main road when a deep voice said, “Looks like you’re having some trouble.”

  She screamed and jumped back a few feet, adrenaline pulsing through her body. Sure that some of Sebastian’s men had caught up to her, she turned to flee, but then the man who’d spoken said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I guess you couldn’t hear me over the hissing.”

  Her brain registered that it wasn’t Sebastian or his men, and one look at the man told her that he wasn’t a threat to her. “Who are you?” she asked, still wary of the stranger.

  He smiled at her and said, “I’m Danny. I live around here.”

  She studied him for a minute; he looked like he wasn’t much more than a kid. His red hair and freckles made his green eyes stand out, but all she could see in them was kindness, and she relaxed.

  Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she said, “You live around here?”

  Danny smiled, “Well, not exactly here, but a few miles from here in Gypsum Creek.”

  Relief poured through her, “Oh, that’s where I’m going. Is it far?”

  “Not too far,” he said, then looked her up and down. “Are you going to visit someone?”

  Kara wasn’t sure she wanted to answer but didn’t see a way out of it, “An old friend of the family,” she finally said, giving him as little information as possible. “But now I’m stuck here.”

  Danny stepped around to the front of the car and looked down into the engine compartment. “Looks like you busted a radiator hose.”

  Kara nodded. “I took the road too fast for my old car,” she said, stating the obvious but not sure what else to say.

  He looked at her, then back at the car. “I could give you a lift into town; there’s a garage there, and they might have a new hose,” he offered, but she could tell that he didn’t really want to.

  “Oh, that’s okay, I can walk if it’s only a couple of miles,” she said, walking around and opening her door. “Thanks for stopping though.”

  He looked torn, then squared his shoulders and said, “I can’t let you do that; come on, I’ll give you a ride.”

  When she didn’t move, he said, “I’m perfectly harmless, I promise.”

  Chapter Two

  ***Danny***

  The last thing Danny wanted to do was go into town, but he couldn’t leave this woman stranded on the side of the road; it would be getting dark soon. If he was lucky, he could just drop her at the garage and leave her to Jack to sort out. Jessie wouldn’t be happy when he found out that he’d gone into town in the shiny blue truck that no one knew he owned, but he didn’t have much choice.

  “It’s not far to town. I’ll take you to the garage and Jack can help you get your car sorted out,” he said, hoping she’d agree.

  She studied him for a minute, then shrugged her shoulders, “Okay, I guess that would be okay. Thank you.”

  He gestured to where the truck was parked behind her car. “My truck’s right there,” he said.

  “Just let me grab my purse,” she said.

  When they got to the truck, he opened the door for her and waited for her to get in. As she climbed into the truck, her arm brushed his, and a strange feeling washed over him. It felt like a mild shock of electricity, leaving goosebumps on his arms and a tingling inside him that he’d never felt before.

  A bit surprised by the feeling, he sucked in a breath and stood motionless for a second until the feeling passed. Then he shut the truck door and walked around to the driver’s side and got in, stealing a glance at the woman seated in the passenger seat and wondering what he’d just felt.

  They drove in silence for a while, but the longer the silence lasted, the more nervous Danny started to become, so he said, “I don’t think you told me your name.”

  The woman studied him for so long, he began to wonder if she was going to tell him, but finally, she said, “Kara, my name is Kara.”

  Her voice was soft, but it did something to him deep inside, something that he liked but had never felt before. Feeling his heartrate pick up and his palms get sweaty, he took a deep breath, but it didn’t help. All it did was make him realize that she smelled good, like the sugar cookies his grandmother used to bake, and his body began to tingle.

  To distract himself, he asked, “Who are you here to visit?” Then when she didn’t answer right away, he added, “Gypsum Creek is a small place. I might know them.”

  It took her a few more seconds to answer, “An old friend of the family: Jessie Rayburn.”

  When all the breath came whooshing out of his lungs, she looked over at him, concern on her face. “Are you okay?”

  He nodded, not sure what else to say. Jessie didn’t have very many friends, and none that he knew of away from Gypsum Creek. But he hadn’t known about the truck he was driving, so it was possible that the woman was telling the truth.

  “Does he know you’re coming?” he asked, thinking that Jessie would have said something about having a guest.

  “No, it’s kind of a surprise,” Kara answered after another long pause.

  Danny was silent for a long time, wondering who the woman really was and what she was doing in Gypsum Creek. Their recent troubles with the moonshiners popped into his mind; he was sure that they wouldn’t be back, but it was highly suspicious that this woman had suddenly shown up in town looking for Jessie.

  It crossed his mind that she might be a spy, sent by the moonshiners to find a way to get back at them, but then he saw the look on her face when they drove into town. She looked at one side of the street then the other, her mouth slightly open in surprise.

  “Is this Gypsum Creek?” she finally asked.

  Danny knew what she must be thinking and couldn’t help but smile; he’d seen this same reaction before, so he drove down the middle of the street. “That’s the post office,” he said, pointing to a tiny building. “And over there is the general store and the diner. Down the street you can see the school and just on the other s
ide is the garage.”

  Kara looked up and down the street again, then said, “I thought it would be bigger; I mean the way my mother described it…”

  Her words trailed away, so he waited for her to continue. When she didn’t, he said, “It was bigger once, but there’s nothing to keep people here.”

  She nodded, “I guess that happens.”

  Danny had a million questions he wanted to ask, could sense that there was more she wasn’t telling him. “Did your mother live here?”

  Kara nodded. “Once, a long time ago,” she said, then was silent again, lost in her thoughts.

  When they reached the garage, she didn’t move at first, only stared up at the sign. He got out of the truck and came around to open her door, that same electric feeling spreading through him when she took his hand to jump down.

  Jack came out of the open bay door before they had even gone three steps. “Danny, where did you get that truck? Living up on Swensen’s mountain must be agreeing with you,” he said, then when he saw Kara, his eyes got big and a huge smile spread across his face. “Who’s this?”

  Danny felt his face turning red and hoped that Kara didn’t notice. “This is Kara; her car broke down on the other side of the old Morgan place. Looks like a broken radiator hose; think you could go take a look at it?” he said, cursing his red hair and fair complexion.

  Jack looked disappointed, then looked over at the truck, “Where’d this come from?”

  “It belongs to a friend. I’m using it to move some furniture,” he said, glad that he’d thought the lie up on the way into town.