Healing in Paradise Read online

  how I feel about you and this house,” she said to Tilly. “I can’t stay in that room now. It’ll give me nightmares. Hell, no wonder I had nightmares of someone kidnapping me when I was little.

  Someone basically had.”

  “I promised your parents I would see you to safety. They even taught you all how to find me, should anything happen to them. It was Oriana who called me and told me what happened. She should remember everything. Even,” she paused,

  “what happened when your parents died.”

  “I’m not sure I want a blow by blow of my parents" murder,” Anna said as she leaned to look around Tucker. “Um…I don’t mean to be rude, but you are rude.” She pushed his shoulder.

  “Would you please go join your friends? You’re making me nervous staring, at me like that.”

  Actually, he was making her horny, but she would never admit to that. Hell they all looked good enough to eat. Her gaze kept straying over their faces and uber-buff bodies. They looked like the type of man she would have ended up with before her accident. Now…she’d be lucky if a troll would have her.

  Stop it. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.

  Anna gasped and held her hand to her throat.

  Her gaze darted around the room, looking at everyone. What was the matter with her? She was 56

  going crazy, that’s what was wrong. The station psychologist told her she needed to talk about what happened. That not sharing could have adverse effects. She wasn’t kidding! Hearing voices in her head was one of the worse things she could think of. So now, not only was she scarred on the outside, she was scarred on the inside.

  Stop it! Blake jumped to his feet and glared at her. “You are not going crazy. You are hearing a voice in your head. It is mine.” He gestured to Nina. “Did you know that you and your sister were betrothed nearly at birth? She was promised to Adam.” He waved at the man on whose lap Nina rested. “You can see they are happy.

  Somehow, your parents and his knew they would make a good pair.” He took a deep breath and raked his fingers through his hair. “Now ask me to whom they promised you. What man in Paradise has waited for your return, hoping you would be the one he was destined to mate while keeping the promise made by his parents?”

  * * * *

  Blake watched as the realization dawned on her face. “You. They promised me to you, didn’t they?”

  How could they? How could my parents be so backward and ancient as to betroth a baby to someone?

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  He must have heard her thoughts, because he answered her. “Don’t forget that they betrothed your sister as well. They wanted to do so for all of you, but they couldn’t find the right males in Paradise to do so. They didn’t do so lightly. They consulted with the town’s seer before doing so.

  That is probably why your sister’s union has worked out so well.”

  “But she has two mates.”

  “Yes she does,” he agreed readily. “However, Nick is her mate by Adam’s consent, just as Ryder and Tucker would also be your mates by my consent if you would have us.”

  “I don’t believe you’re asking me to agree to um…to mate with three men I’ve just met. What about my scars?” She deliberately brought his attention back to her imperfections…and he knew it “Don’t they turn you off?”

  He just gave her his practiced lopsided grin.

  “Honey, nothing about you could turn us off. It doesn’t matter that you’re the most beautiful woman we have ever seen. Adam and Nick have been the most envied men in town for quite some time. Ask anyone if you don’t believe me. Still, what matters most to us is your scent. You smell like nothing I have ever scented before and I would die happy if I could wallow in your scent for one night.”

  “Oh, what a smooth talker.” She looked at Nina 58

  and laughed. “He would die a happy man for one night spent in my arms.” She thinned her lips and narrowed her eyes. “I’m not falling for that crap.

  One night in my arms, my ass.”

  Blake loved the way her eyes flashed when she got angry. She had spunk and fire and he wouldn’t have it any other way. “If you won’t believe that, then believe this. Every day we spend apart will get harder and harder for all of us until we come together with violence.” He gestured to the men behind him. “We don’t want it that way.

  We want it to be a beautiful thing for you.

  However, with you being a full shifter, now that you have scented us, your beast will demand its mates. The el calor will soon be upon you and you will find it something very difficult to ignore.”

  Nina hopped of her husband’s lap and hurried over to her. “No one is saying that you have to accept this all tonight.” She gave Blake a look that could freeze Lake Okeechobee, then turned her attention back to her sister. “You don’t have to go live with them tonight. You can stay here with Tilly or you can come stay with me or with Kaylana.” She leaned forward. “Fair warning though. Kayla is still a newlywed. It could prove rather embarrassing for everyone.”

  Blake suppressed a bark of laughter. That was an understatement. Ryder had once caught the three down on the lake not five-hundred feet from 59

  the beach. Had they been any closer, the kids may have discovered them. As a matter of fact, Ryder had had to shoo a few away who thought their moans were a personification of their bigfoot legends.

  “Of course we don’t expect her to jump in bed with us tonight.” He turned to look at Anna. “I only wanted to let you know what to expect. You can run from us, but the mating heat will either bring you back or cause distress.”

  “Mating heat? Mating heat? Are you saying that I’m going to go into heat like…like some sort of animal?”

  “You are some sort of animal. Haven’t you been listening?” Ryder jumped to his feet. Not one to be left out for long, he paced in front of their mate.

  “We all suffer from it already. Like a cat who needs to mate, you will get waves of it. Every time a wave hits and you do not mate, another will come until there is no way to differentiate between the episodes.”

  “I am not a cat in heat!”

  Blake held up his hand. “This is getting us nowhere.” He looked at Adam for help. Everyone looked to him when in doubt. He always seemed to have the answer. It surprised Blake when he gave a slight shake of his head and a shrug. Damn.

  No help from that quarter after all.

  “We will leave and when you are ready, seek us 60

  out. That is the only way I can think of to gain your trust.” He turned to Ryder and Tucker.

  “Come on. You heard me. We must give our mate time to adjust.”

  “What if she chooses to leave?”

  Blake looked at Ryder and answered his question. “We will cross that particular bridge when we come to it. Come on. Let’s go.”

  He wasn’t sure if this would help matters any or not. Though, one thing was certain. Arguing with her was not furthering their cause. The only thing they could do, was woo her the only way they knew how.

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  Chapter Five

  Two days had passed with no contact from the three men and Anna found herself wishing they would come over. Oh, she still didn’t believe what they said about her being in heat, but something was going on inside her.

  She couldn’t stop thinking about the three jerks.

  What would she do when she left here? What if she couldn’t stop wanting them, yearning for them? Hell, she didn’t even like Blake. He was the biggest jerk she’d ever met and she’d known some colossal jerks. Some fire-fighters, at least the ones she worked with, tended to think of themselves as better than everyone else because they risked their lives on a daily basis. It didn’t matter that police officers did as well and most of them seemed to be nice guys. Military men were usually good, too.

  She didn’t know where humility went in the guys she worked with, but it was definitely lacking.

  The diner was packed today. It seemed like 62

  everyone wanted to see the new resident freak.

  They didn’t eat much, they just sat and stared at her. She wondered if they came to see her scars or if they came to see Nina’s twin. Whatever their reasons were, there still were a lot of people popping in and out for a small-town diner.

  “Excuse me. Are you Anna McWerty?”

  Anna turned to face a young man about eighteen. She had almost said no. Then she remembered that McWerty was the name she was born with and nodded. “Yes. I guess that’s me.

  Can I help you?”

  “I have a delivery for you. Should I bring it in?”

  “A delivery?” She frowned. “I didn’t order anything.”

  He just smiled. “This was ordered for you.

  Would you follow me?”

  Anna followed him from the restaurant and gasped. “You can’t take that inside. What would I do with it? How would I get it home?”

  Sitting in the back of the boy’s pick-up was the largest stuffed animal she had ever seen in person.

  The huge panda took up almost the entire bed of the truck. She put her hands over her mouth and tears came to her eyes. “Take it back to whoever sent it. I can’t accept it.”

  She wanted to. God knew she wanted to take that panda into her room, sit it against the wall and stare at it. She never knew why, but she had 63

  always loved pandas. The only person who could know that was Nina. How she remembered after all these years was a mystery.

  “You have to take it back to Nina.”

  “Ma’am. I don’t think this is from your sister and besides, if I don’t deliver it, I don’t get paid and I’d really like ta get paid, if you don’t mind.”

  Damn! Anna sighed. “Okay, but you’ll have to take it over to Mrs. Connors house. You know the one, don’t you?”

  “Yes, ma’am, but if you don’t mind, I’d much rather leave it here.” He twisted his hat in his hands and swallowed.

  His Adam’s apple bobbed in his skinny neck.

  He may be thin now, but Anna could see that he was growing into a devastatingly handsome man.

  God help the girls around here. Half of them were probably in love with him already.

  “You see, Mrs. Connor doesn’t really like me and my brothers. She thinks were stealing her ice sculptures but were not. If I show up on her front porch, she’s liable to take her chainsaw to me.”

  Anna didn’t think that was likely. Myrtle Connor was a tough old bird, but she was also a big softy. She’d lay odds that Tilly knew they weren’t responsible already, but perpetuated her accusations with the hope that it would keep the culprits off guard if they thought they weren’t under suspicion.

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  “Then will you take it to my sister’s?” She was going to kill the person who put her into this situation.

  “Yes, ma’am. Neither of your sisters have anything against me.” He smiled. “I just need you to sign here, stating that you’ve accepted it.” He handed over a clipboard with a delivery form on it.

  “Just so you deliver it to Nina’s and let her know it’s for me and that you don’t dare take it to Mrs. Connor.” She smiled as she handed the clipboard back. “Thank you. And for the record, I don’t think you’re taking the sculptures either.

  Maybe I can convince Tilly of that.”

  “We’d appreciate that, ma’am.” He climbed into his truck and left.

  “So, that was one of the notorious Gibson boys.” Grinning, she shook her head. Anna didn’t know how, but she knew none of them were responsible for the missing sculptures. The boy may be guilty of playing a prank or two, but he didn’t strike her as the thieving type. Turning, she made her way back into the diner.

  “Are you Anna McWerty?”

  Would she ever get used to that name? “Uh, yes.” What now, a giant stuffed lion? She liked those, too.

  “Here.” He handed her a long box and she frowned. “Just sign here please.”

  65

  “Shouldn’t you have your victims sign before you foist whatever item you’re carrying off onto them? My hands are full now.” She walked over to the counter and set the box down. “These damned deliveries are going to get me fired.” Though no one seemed to complain as she opened the box to see what it was she was to sign for.

  At least a dozen red long-stemmed roses filled the box. The accompanying note read. Roses the colour of red stand for passion. We feel that for you and so much more. Come to us when you’re ready. We will be waiting.

  Anna thinned her lips. They were awfully sure of themselves, weren’t they? She wanted to throw the box back at the deliveryman, but she loved roses and refused to part with them. If those idiots wanted to spend the money on her, who was she to stop them from gifting her with her favourite things? Her thoughts went back to the giant panda and she sighed. Now at least she knew who the culprits were for that.

  Turning, she yanked the clipboard from the man’s hands, signed the paper and shoved it back at him. “There you go. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do. She picked up the box of roses and made her way to the bar and the door to the kitchen.

  “Excuse me. Excuse me, miss,” someone called from near the entrance.

  66

  “What now?” Did someone have a giant stuffed monkey complete with fake poo to throw?

  Monkeys weren’t something she secretly loved, but damn. Could things get any more bizarre today?

  She turned toward what appeared to be another deliveryman. She’d turned just enough for him to see the left side of her face. She was tired of everyone staring at her. This guy could just bite her if he’d come to see her scars.

  They aren’t there to gawk at your scars, but to gawk at the alpha female’s twin sister.

  Well, they’re still gawking, dammit. Anna let out a huff of disgust when she realized she just answered Blake through some sort of strange mind link. She was not getting sucked into the man’s delusions.

  “It is you!”

  Anna watched the man lift his arm as though in slow motion. Her brain didn’t register he held a gun. It didn’t even click that she was a target until after she heard the gunshot and felt the burning pain in her upper chest. It wasn’t a killing shot, but it hurt like hell. She watched the man bolt from the diner as she slid to the floor, a bloodstain blossoming on her pretty blue uniform.

  Anna! Stay down. We’re on our way. We aren’t that far.

  Tucker’s order startled her. She didn’t know he 67

  could talk to her, too. Hell, she’d never experienced any of this before she came here.

  Perhaps this trip wasn’t as good of an idea as she’d first thought. After all, she’d found out her life up until now had been nothing more than a big lie, she had found out she was supposed to be some sort of animal, in heat no less, and now she’d just been shot.

  “Coming to Paradise was definitely a bad idea.”

  * * * *

  Ryder burst through the door first. Enraged that someone would try to hurt his mate, he scanned the diner, looking for another threat and searching for his mate who lay on the floor in a heap, unconscious. They would certainly have to take her to the doctor this time. There would be no getting out of it.

  His heart had leapt to his chest when he felt the pain as the bullet tore through sensitive flesh that had just finished healing from her other trauma.

  Another male, one of his friends, approached to help.

  “Get away from her!” He growled the words, his voice distorted. He couldn’t help it. His beast wanted nothing more than to defend and protect its mate. It was a wonder he was this much in control. Blake was nearly out of his mind. He’d 68

  shifted as soon as they stopped, to follow the scent of her attacker. It wasn’t hard to follow the scent of burnt gunpowder. Blake would find him if he hadn’t hopped into a car and left Paradise.

  His gut told him that was just what happened, but he couldn’t think about that now. He knew he had to get her to the doctor. She’d lost a lot of blood—too much blood.

  He looked up at his friend since childhood.

  “I’m sorry, but my mate is injured.”

  The other man just held up his hands, palms out. “Then take care of her. I hold no grudge.” He stepped back.

  Ryder picked Anna up and headed for the door. “Someone call Doc Parker and tell him were on our way.”

  It didn’t really take long to get to the doctor’s house, but it seemed to take forever. He glanced over at his unconscious mate and wondered if Tucker and Blake had caught her assailant. He wanted to contact them, but knew if they were close, he could endanger them.

  He pulled into the doctor’s front yard as close to the door as he could get. If the doc complained, he’d pay to have the man’s yard landscaped. Right now he didn’t give a damn about anything but getting his mate the help she needed as soon as possible.

  Throwing open the driver’s door, he ran up the 69

  porch steps and pounded on the front door. Mrs.

  Parker opened the door, her son behind her with a gurney. “Cable called from the diner. He said you were bringing in a gunshot wound.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Thank God his friend didn’t hold a grudge. “It’s my mate. Someone shot her in the diner.”

  “Oh, my!” Mrs. Parker placed her hand on her chest. “Who would do such a thing?”

  “That’s what Blake and Tucker went to find out.”

  “I like that new boy, Tucker.” She gave him a sly look. “Wasn’t it you and Blake who brought him fully over?” She hurried over to the truck.