Destined for Harmony by Leia Shaw Read Free Book Online

in his ears when she’d finally come had been worth it.
    By g od, she was a responsive, passionate little thing. Intelligent and witty, soft and sweet. After the kiss they’d shared two nights ago, there was no doubt she was his. His mate. To protect, to treasure, to love, forever. He hadn’t known having a mate could make him feel so…alive. He craved her like he craved the moon.
    The possessive streak of a mated werewolf male had come roaring to the surface that morning when she’d left his bed . The thought of his mate working alongside men – most of who were werewolves – eight hours out of the day nagged at him. He’d held her down before she’d left and marked her again. She’d rolled her eyes and threatened to kick his ass in the training ring. The adorable threat had made him want to tie her to the bed and have his wicked way with her again.
    Cute? He shook his head. Since when did Sorin, pack beta and son of Ivander, the Romanian clergyman of the Fier pack, ever use the word “adorable?”
    To obey authority invites the Lord’s favor. To questi on authority invites His wrath . How many times had his father said those words when Sorin was a child? Ivander believed himself to be the divinely appointed wrath of God – one to mete out justice in His name. And Sorin had been on the receiving end of those lessons – and the rod – far too often.
    The child in him rejoiced at Harmony’s innocent defiance – whi ch wasn’t really defiance, he was coming to realize, just a proud desire to stand up for what she believed in. He’d almost hesitated when she’d asked him, again, to join the fight against vampires. But he’d told her that it was forbidden. His heart gave a satisfied leap when the spitfire determination burned in her eyes. She wouldn’t give up. Not like his mother.
    His last memory of his mom made a lump of sadness lodge in his throat. A woman, broken, stripped down to nothing. Emotionless, vacant from years of repression.
    I know what love isn’t , Harmony had said only a few nights ago. It isn’t control.
    “ Sorin, my man,” Luke clapped him on the back. “What are you thinking about so hard? I can see steam coming out of your ears.”
    “Nothing,” he mumbled to his friend.
    Luke shrugged then left to stand in line for food.
    A child – about six or seven years old – caught his attention standing by a nearby stream. A tree had fallen over it , creating a small footbridge for someone with good enough coordination to cross. But that child was so small. Sorin scanned the area for the boy’s parents.
    He found Paul, his father, sitting calmly at a nearby table. Sorin approached him, gesturing to the boy now hesitantly placing a foot on the tree. “You gonna do something about that?”
    Paul looked at his son then back down at his food. “He’ll call me if he needs help.”
    Careful not to sound like a worried mother hen, he said, “It looks like he’s gonna try to cross it.”
    “I would guess so. His brother’s been doing it all day. I think he can make it. If not, it’s not a far drop to the water.”
    Sorin’s looked back at the boy. “The current can be fast.”
    “He’s a strong swimmer. And I’m here if he needs me.”
    He couldn’t calm the pounding of his heart as the little boy moved slowly, step-by-step, across the tree. He breathed a sigh of relief when he made it to the other side.
    The boy beamed then looked at his father. “I did it!”
    Paul yelled back, “I knew you could.”
    The boy went happily along and Paul finished his dinner, completely unfazed by the harrowing event.
    Love empowers.

Chapter 6
    Death had a distinctive odor, no matter the cause or being. Harmony walked along the edge of the forest, heading in the opposite direction of the bison carcass in the meadow. The gray wolf pack must’ve taken it down last night. Poor bison but the wolves needed food in their bellies to last the winter. Death was a natural part of her world.
    Streaks