Prologue
Five years ago…
“He’s not going to quit, Jasmine. As long as you live in the same town as him, hell the same country or island as him, his obsession is going to continue,” Amber warned her sister. “And da is a worthless alpha and won’t do anything about him.”
It was something Amber shouldn’t have said aloud, no matter if it was true. But Jasmine agreed.
Their father had lost the drive that had made him a powerful alpha.
“Da seems to think if we continue courting, then we will find out we’re each other’s mate. Liam lied to him and told him I’m his mate. He knows we’re not mates, he just wants it to be,” Jasmine sighed. “And da seems to think marrying me off to a wealthy wolf from a neighboring pack would be a good thing.”
“More like Laim wants to marry you to challenge the alpha.”
That was something Jasmine hadn’t considered. It was easier to challenge an alpha to take over the pack if they were part of the pack. Marriage would make them part of both packs.
It was a few moments before Amber spoke again
“Our shaman has convinced da that if after two years of dating and,” Amber made a vague motion with her hands. “…you know… and you don’t have the scent that identifies him as your mate, then he most likely isn’t. He strongly suggested that he allow you to settle with another pack across the pond for a few years and see if you can find your mate over there. There’s plenty of packs from our tribe, and others, that you could visit. And, he suggested, your absence might just allow Liam to look in a different direction or a different wolf instead of you.”
Jasmine assumed there would be strong encouragements that way too and hoped they wouldn’t encourage them in Amber’s direction.
“If he doesn’t get banished first.”
“Banished doesn’t mean dead. He can still pursue you.”
She wasn’t wrong about that.
“If you were me, where would you go?” Jasmine asked.
“Somewhere in the midwest. Maybe Chicago then you can branch out from there. Plenty of wolves out there and I’m sure you’d be welcomed in any pack.”
Jasmine nodded. She was thinking the same thing. Her mother might have had family there or friends. She’d have to dig up her things to see if she could find any contacts.
It would be good to get away from everything. And if their shaman convinced her father…
“Let’s create a plan. Then maybe we can convince da to let you come visit too.”
***
A few weeks ago…
Five years. It had taken him five long years to track down where Jasmine had disappeared to and work out a plan to bring her back home.
It hadn’t been easy.
Her family had made it down right problematic for him. Her brother claimed he had no idea where she was. Her sister refused to answer him. Her dad told him it was his fault she had left the pack to join another in another country.
He thought they were all lying. She had to have been somewhere on the islands or over in Europe. She wouldn’t have gone too far away from her family.
Yet, when he hadn’t been able to track him down, he turned to other methods to find her.
Money couldn’t buy happiness but it could buy information and the best private investigators.
It took more time than he had wanted to track her down, but he should have known she’d have gone to her mother’s country.
She had been found and he would get her once again.
She wouldn’t be happy or willing to see him. He knew that. It meant he’d have to be careful so she wouldn’t suspect he had found her and was trying to secure her.
It was time to lay a trap, bide his time and bring his mate home – for good.
***
Chapter 1
The afternoon air was cool, but at least it had stopped raining. As it was, it seemed like it had been raining for weeks straight. While the ground wasn’t dry yet, it was nice enough to go for a walk through the wooded areas. Jasmine had only a small handful of children with her today due to the duties of caring for children split between other caregivers in the community, herself included. She had a few days without the children each week, other days she had them day and night, it just depended on how the schedule worked out.
She spoke softly to the children as they moved through the woods, always a few steps ahead of them to be safe. She wasn’t sure how much damage flooding would have caused, though she was certain some things weren’t going to be as secure as they had been in the past. They’d be fixed in time, but with the torrential rains of the summer, repair was not something easy to get done.
“Now, let me check the bridge, aye?” she asked, the lilt to her voice very distinct. Not that the children had much of a choice, but she asked it anyhow. The bridge crossed over a small ravine, mostly rocky, normally devoid of water, but this time it had a steady stream due to the rains.
She shifted the infant, placing him back in the carrying device she wore over her chest, speaking to him softly in gaelic as she made her way across. She didn’t like how it swayed, but it seemed to be secure, at least for her weight, and the children weighed way less than she did. She made her way back across, sending one of the older children and her assistant across first, then the rest one at a time.
Once they were all waiting on the other end, she started making her way across. A little more than halfway across she heard a snapping sound and paused in her movement, trying to track it down. It was behind her, that was certain.
A minute later another loud, almost ripping snap sounded and she cursed, and held the child closer to her, moving at almost a run for the other end.
Another pop and the bridge swayed, knocking her to her knees. She scrambled, clutching the child to her chest as her world tumbled against her. Wrapping her fingers of her free hand on plank of the bridge she held on for dear life. As the bridge swung down, then slammed against the ravine wall, painfully jolting her. The babe was shrieking against her, and so was she she realized as she tried to collect herself. Several thuds against the rocks later and the broken bridge swayed in the wind, her hold slipping on the board. Catching her breath, she hollered for one of the older boys to go get help and for the assistant to get the rest of the children away from the bridge. The sound of feet hitting the ground was heard as the boys ran to get help.
A couple minutes passed, she realized how much her whole body hurt, especially her arm that was holding on to the bridge. The baby was still crying in her arms.
“I’ll protect you sweetheart,” she murmured to the child, hoping she would be able to do so.
Her eyes went down to the ground below. The water was a bit away. If she fell –which was inevitable she knew she couldn’t hold on for long– she’d hit the rocks. The best she could provide with her small form was padding for the child. He’d be shook up, perhaps a bit bruised, but not as bad as she was going to be.
She vowed to herself not to scream, not to scare the children at the top. Feeling her fingers slipping from the board, she muttered a fervent prayer to the goddess before she fell. A muffled thud followed by the baby crying was all that was heard.
***
James was working with one of the pack members to cut up one of the downed trees in their back yard when his ears picked up the frantic calls of some of the younger boys in the pack. Pulling his gloves off, he moved to the gate and moved into the front yard, calling to one of them and motioning them over.
“Miss Jasmine is in trouble,” one of the boys said.
“Bridge collapsed..” the other boy added while trying to catch his breath.
James frowned at the words from the two boys, not quite understanding what they meant.
“Okay. Slow down a bit. What happened?” James asked.
“Miss Jasmine was crossing the foot bridge. You know, the one that is held up by ropes? She was on the bridge when it came loose.”
“She was holding on to one of the boards and told us to get help.”
James cursed in gaelic under his breath. He knew the woman’s name, and while he wasn’t extremely familiar with her, he could put a face to her name. Perhaps more important than the face was the fiery red hair that framed it that he recalled more than anything else.
“Stay here,” he told the boys. “I’m going to get some of my things and see if we can help Miss Jasmine, okay? I need you to show me where she’s at.”
When the boys nodded, dropping to the grass to catch their breath, he’d move across the street to his house, tapping a code into the panel on the garage so it would open. The gloves would be tossed on one of the counters as he methodically gathered items he thought he would need.
Pausing in his gathering he would go to the garage door and whistle to get the boys attention. Seeing him wave for them to come to his house, they would run over.
“I need one of you to go get one of the medics and see if he can get someone else for help as well then guide them to where Miss Jasmine is. I don’t know how badly hurt Miss Jasmine is, but it would be good if they can bring a backboard, neck brace and anything else they think we might need. Tell them I’m bringing my emergency medic bag as well.”
James was hoping he would get there first, assess her and hopefully she wouldn’t be that bad off. It would all depend on how far she fell and how she landed and if she landed well or if she landed on hard rocks. Not knowing which bridge collapsed, it was hard to say how far she fell or if she would have fallen into water or not.
One of the boys nodded, running off to track down one of the medics as he requested. Wanting the other boy to feel useful he had the kid come over to him, showing the bundle of rope then showing him how to wear it while he put things in a backpack: rappelling gear, a couple bottles of water, the medic kit, and a blanket. He pulled on a different pair of gloves He would toss the boy a bottle of water, telling him to drink it while putting the backpack on his shoulders, closing the garage door as the boy lead him to the site, taking off at a jog following, keeping track of landmarks and damage as they ran..
The sound of a baby crying was heard long before they made it to the bridge, growing louder to his ears as they got closer. Even in human form they still had the hearing and some of the ability to smell of the wolves they were when they shifted. He smelled the blood spilled as he approached the group of children with the assistant.
“When the other lad gets here with the medics to assist, please take the children to your home. I believe Miss Jasmine may not be able to watch them for a little while,” he said softly to the other woman with the group. She wasn’t a wolf, but she smelled of a wolf, so she was mated to one. The young woman nodded, gathering the children and encouraging them to move further out of the Alpha’s way.
James walked toward the edge, looking over, spying the woman’s form probably 30 feet below, probably closer to 35. He would find a tree to wrap rope around, tying it securely before taking his backpack off getting the belaying clips, hooking them up.
“Could you get two of the older children to see if they can find a path down into the ravine on this side of the bridge? We will need to bring her and the baby up and I don’t think climbing back up with either of them will be the best option. If they find a path, have them show it to the medics before you leave, please,” he would ask as he moved toward the edge of the ravine, tossing the rope down behind him.
Receiving a nod from the woman he would begin his descent, not at all going slow because the woman did not appear to be in good shape to him and he didn’t want to lose another wolf, even if this time it was a complete accident.
Halfway down, he looked over his shoulder and called her name. As he breathed in, he got a desirable hint of vanilla and musk along with the scent of her blood – an odd combination. The only movement and sound he could hear was from the screaming child squirming on her chest. Poor thing had to be scared out of its little mind. James continued his decent, making it down to her in a short amount of time, her scent amplifying as he got closer. He ignored it for the time being, he didn’t have time to worry about that.
James could already tell her leg was broken, he just wasn’t sure how badly, and there was blood on her jeans. There was some blood he could see behind her head which was turned to the side on the rocks she had landed on. He wasn’t sure how badly hurt she was but she was still breathing which meant, he hoped, she would be able to be healed.
James knelt next to her, checking her pulse, which was steady before figuring out how to remove the child from the contraption she wore. It took him a little bit of time, but finally he got the baby out and into his arms, checking him over before holding him against his chest, bouncing him and trying to soothe him until he stopped crying. By that time the kids found their way down and to him, the baby had stopped crying and he was able to hand him over to the kids to take back up to the top to the assistant, and asking them to show the medics how to get down to them as fast as possible.
Once they were gone, the backpack came off and ended up on the ground next to Jasmine so he could search through the medic bag to find the splinting kit he needed for her leg as well as the ace bandage to hold it in place. He said her name a few times, gently shaking her shoulders hoping for some sort of response from her, to no avail, which was probably for the best since he needed to set her leg.
Getting a pair of scissors out of the backpack he cut the leg of her jeans open and remove it. A small section of bone had pushed through the skin and she was bleeding, though not badly which mean she had avoided anything major or she would have bled out already.. James would carefully straighten her leg, checking her knee then removing her shoes to check both ankles which only seemed to be sprained. Still not getting even a whimper of pain out of her, he checked the length of the bruising and swelling leg finding the two places where the bones were broken. Since she was unconscious he set the first break then the second one before bandaging the open wounds on her leg then applying the splint.
As he finished wrapping the splint carefully around the leg he smelled and heard the two medics making their way toward him. He would give a glimpse over his shoulder, inclining his head to them before rising to his feet. He was glad to see they had gotten the message about the backboard.
“We drove out here with the Jeep, James. What do we have?” Drake asked as he got closer. James was glad to see Drake was there. Having an army medic on hand was always a good thing. He would extend his hand to shake Drake’s first then Jackson, moving with them so James was standing just a bit away from her head.
“Wolf, early thirties, named Jasmine. She’s one of the caretakers of young in the housing development,” he offered as explanation, looking to the bridge above them that had collapsed. “She was on the bridge with a baby boy in her carrier when it collapsed. Must have held on until her fingers slipped and she fell. Unresponsive. Leg was broken in two spots. Multiple contusions, lacerations and sprains. Definite head injury, possible concussion. Uncertain of other injuries. Wanted to get the leg set while she was out.”
“Anyone see how she landed?” Drake asked as he knelt next to her, checking her neck, trying to tell if it was snapped at all. It was impossible to tell at this point. “To be safe, we’ll assume she has a spine injury and get her neck in the immobilizer before we get her on the board.”
Jackson was already opening the immobilizer and moving to the other side of her to slip it under.
“James, help me lift her head while I keep her neck stable so we can get the immobilizer on her,” Drake asked. When James squatted next to them and put his hands under her head he would nod to Drake. “On three. One. Two. Three.”
They would lift her just enough to get the brace under her and strapped around her neck. James hands came away from her head covered in blood. He wiped them off on his jeans without a thought until he heard a whimper from the woman.
“Jasmine?” Drake asked, a small flashlight in his hand, hoping to check her eyes if she opened them. “Can you hear me?”
“Ow,” came the tiny reply from the woman. They all knew she was in pain. Then she did answer the question. “Yes.”
“Can you open your eyes for me?” Drake asked. When she did he didn’t even need the flashlight to tell she had a concussion.
“We’re gonna get you on a stretcher and get you out of here Jasmine. Before we move you where does it hurt?”
She didn’t answer at first, her hand hesitantly moving, touching her chest and a look of fear and panic crossing her features. James realized she must be looking for the baby she had been carrying and sat down behind her head reaching for her hand to stop the panicked motions. If she was hurt she didn’t need to be moving
“I checked him over and got him to your assistant. She’ll get him home to his parents,” he reassured her, watching the panic fade from her features at his words. That was exactly what she was looking for. “We need to worry about you now. Can you answer Drake’s question for me?”
“Everything hurts,” she answered honestly. It was obvious she couldn’t focus on any of them so she closed her eyes. “Leg and head hurt the worse.”
“Not surprising. Your leg is broken and you have a concussion. What else hurts? Does your neck hurt at all?”
Jasmine would try to shake her head but was unable to so finally answered no after a few seconds, then added. “Chest hurts.”
“Hurts when you breathe?” he asked, knowing they would need x rays to check for broken ribs.She nodded at the question. “Okay Jasmine. We’re going to move you to the backboard we have and strap you in. I’m expecting it to hurt like a bitch when we move you. Scream if you need to. We’ll have to carry you out and it may be a bit rough going. Okay?”
James brushed hair away from her face, looking into her pain-filled eyes as she said yes to Drake’s question.
“We’ll take care of you Jasmine. You’ll get through this and be stronger for it,” James told her as he got back to his feet, ready to help however they needed it.
“If Drake and I lift her, can you get the board underneath her? That should result in the least amount of pain,” Jackson offered as he looked her over again.
James nodded as he moved to get the board, positioning it right next to her as the men shifted positions. Jackson straddled her legs, his hands going under her thighs since he couldn’t pick her up by her lower legs. Drake moved to her shoulders and positioned himself as well. James knelt next to her ready to shift the board under. Again, Drake counted and on three they lifted her, making her cry out in pain before her eyes rolled closed again and the board was beneath her. James moved out of the way as they strapped her to it. Minutes later they would be carrying her down the path to the way up they had been shown.
“We’ll need to take her to [NAME’s] clinic to get x-rays done, a cast on her and a few other things checked out. She’s a wolf, she’ll heal, but it will still take time,” Drake explained to James as they walked. “Does she have any family to take care of her?”
“I don’t think so. She came over and joined the pack from Ireland,” James answered. “When she wakes up again, we can ask her. If not, she can stay at my place and I’ll care for her.”
Drake inclined his head to James at the statement of taking care of her.
“Do you want to go with us to the clinic or meet us there?” Drake asked, knowing it would be difficult to get him in the Jeep unless he sat next to Jasmine in the back of the vehicle.
“I’ll meet you there,” James answered. “I’m going to run ahead and get the Jeep opened up for you to get her in. Temperatures are dropping and if she’s not already in shock, she will be soon.”
Chapters will first come to Ream Stories and then eventually be published to Amazon. If you are interested in reading this series, join any of the Shifters tiers or the combination Sentinels and Shifters tiers to read it before it goes to Amazon.
