Shadow Falls: A Sensual Werewolf Romance (The Wolves of Shadow Falls) by Mary Andrews Read Free Book Online Page A

could a man who not so long ago seemed meaningless without his master suddenly betray her like this? To distance himself from his master and the rest of the pack like a rouge wolf, now come to help the man he seemed to once despise. Did he feign to distrust me back in the mine to protect his own agenda? Perhaps he was afraid that if he revealed his true intentions to betray his master then, that would in turn betray him.
    We had no time to dwell on our indifference. Aislen and the kids were in terrible danger and they had to be rescued. Storm and I shifted to wolves again; we needed the ability to sniff out clues that would lead us to Aislen. Our noses caught unto a scent coming from the basement, it was another wolf and it was close to death. The closer we got to the basement the more familiar the scent got to me and I realized it was my mother. She lay wasted on the cold basement floor, bleeding from a ghastly wound in her neck. It seem like she tried to shift so that she can heal but her efforts were failing her. I could smell death looming over her it was assured by the odor that emanated from her limp frame. Her body had not morphed fully, because she lacked the strength, her upper half was wolf but the lower half had pale human legs extending from her hips.  I could hear the beat of her heart slowly dying as I approached and I knew I was on the verge of being orphaned. I rushed to her side instinctively licking the blood around her neck to clean the wound, but she used her last ounce of strength to send me a message that it was too late. In my mind a scene unfolded. I saw Despina standing outside the front door, disguised as a little girl, she appeared to be injured.
    Aislen’s motherly instinct made her reach out to the child inviting her into to tend to her wound, but as the child crossed the threshold she grew tall and Aislen gasped when she realized who she had just invited into the house. Before she could turn to the kids, Despina held her in an unbreakable gaze turning her into a zombie like puppet. By the time my mother got to the door, it was too late, Aislen could not be stopped. My mother tried anyway and her actions angered Despina who spun around, grabbing her throat and squeezing her hands in until the bones collapsed inside her skin forcing her to choke on her own blood. Despina seemed to enjoy the agony that she was putting her through then she bit into my mother’s neck ripping away a large chunk of her flesh before casting her aside to die. My mother crawled into the basement and tried to change so that she could heal, but it was too late. “I love you” her eyes confirmed as the lids slowly closed shut and her heart slowed to a halt. I had been orphaned, first my father died at the hands of a hunter, then my grandmother to a heart attack, now my mother was taken away from my by a mad demon. I struggled to grasp the idea that it was that simple take three people. As I recalled the warning I received two years earlier, part of me expected to see the house in ruins. He said not only was Despina coming, but the pack as well. But the house seemed almost undisturbed except for the open door and the cell phone on the counter. The bitch must have known, I would not be at home, she must have been watching us all this time.
    I shifted and knelt beside the cold remains of my mother cradling her paw in my hand and vowed to destroy Despina or die trying. I knew that she had to be destroyed else our suffering would never end. Now she had Aislen and my children and I was determined to save them, but with Storm by my side, it was two against an entire pack of wolves led by a mad queen who for moment seemed indestructible. Without Aislen I felt complete desolation, I had to get her back to safety. I had to rescue my family; there was simply nothing else to live for. Our love was unbreakable, everlasting and would endure through eternity. For the moment my enemy had succeeded in taking her from me, but I was