Enticed (The Brazil Werewolf Series Book 3)
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Authors: Amanda K. Dudley-Penn
Enticed
Amanda K. Dudley-Penn
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my husband, David Wayne Penn. Thank you so much for your support. I would also like to thank my daughter, Constance Desiree Dudley for always helping me. I would also like to thank my son, Joshua Lee James Penn who has always taught me to notice the small things in life. I want to give a big thanks to the beautiful model of this book, McKenzie Zandi. Thank you so much.
I would like to thank my siblings, James Alan Matthews, Joshua Cole Edward Matthews, Michael Lee Dudley, Kara Desiree Wallace and Amber Dean Dudley and also my adopted siblings, Robert Sanders, Chrystal Ambrose, Hopi Laliberte, Connie Sanchez and Sandra Morris. I would also like to thank my sister-in-laws and brother-in-laws, Roxanna Matthews, Corie Matthews, Joe Wallace, Alvin Craig and Robbie Pressley, Carl and Amanda Penn, Carolyne Graves and Chance Frazier and Harold Fuller. You are all awesome. Thank you for your support. I would also like to thank my father, Eric Ray Dudley. Thank you for just being my daddy. I would like to thank my mother, Melinda Kaye Hirjak. Thank you for giving me life and also to my wonderful step-father, Paul Hirjak. Thank you for always being supportive and loving me and I would also like to thank a woman who is like a second mother to me, Tammy Laliberte. I love you so much.
I would also like to give a special thanks to my mother-in-law and father-in-law, Lee and Bell Penn. Thank you so much.
I would also like to thank my grandparents, Mildred Lucille Hardy and Charles Ray Russell. I love you!!
I would also like to thank my aunts and uncles, Anthony Russell, Terry Russell, Jason Russell, Amy Russell, Peggy Martin, Ronnie Sellers, Gary Dudley, Becky Dudley, Karen Williams, Vickie Edwards, Jim Edwards, David Dudley, Connie Sekulich and Chip Sekulich, Kenneth Matthews Sr., Antoinette Triolo and Brenda Rollings.
I would also like to thank my cousins, Tanner Eads, Michelle Baltimore, Logan Dudley, Josh Campbell, Bryan Dudley, Brittanie Tyler, Traci Weddington-Coble, Candace Weddington, Jason Weddington, Dena Fly, Christopher Ray, Terry Martin, Steve Martin, Jessica and Tyler Dennis, Buffy Russell, Valerie Russell, Ryan Russell, Christopher Brian Russell, Rebecca Grieshaber, Catareena and Emily Taber, Jaycee Russell, Christel Metcalf, Shae Hill, Autumn Brown, John Matthews and Kenneth Matthews Jr..
I would also like to thank my wonderful models for The Brazil Werewolf Series, Constance Desiree Dudley, Lacy Thomas, Mckenzie Zandi, Tami Flerl, Alexis McGregor, Lexie Millner and Kara Wallace. You are wonderful little werewolves.
I would like to thank my friends, Lou Erin Smith, Mandiey Hill, Dana Stanley, Anna Nicholas, Trenton Carmon, Cindy and Jason Fryman, Valerie Rose, (Who is also like another mother to me), Nikita, Bob Ramirez, Robert Harry, Bob Rosso and Jennifer Willis.
Last but not least, I would like to thank Bella and Josh’s teachers and aides, Mrs. Cathy Terry, Mrs. Becky Teman, Mrs. Mary King, Mr. Larry Dantic, Mr. Kenneth Thomas, Mrs. Perez and Mrs. Jennifer Gorman. Thank you all so much!!
I dedicate this book with so much love to my youngest daughter, Isabella Kaylee Penn. Thank you for always being proud of me and asking me if I’m done with my book. Thank you for being the unending fountain of energy and love that you are. You are beautiful, Baby girl and I love you so much.
Darkness…I had been afraid of it as a child. It represented everything evil and every monster I had ever feared. I didn’t contemplate that anything would ever match the terror I experienced when cast in its shadow. I was wrong.
Soon after my twelfth birthday, I learned to fear something else even more. My father and mother transitioned into werewolves in front of me. I feared them and when I learned that one day I would transition into the same monster, I began to fear myself.
Again, I imagined there would be no greater fear than that until I turned sixteen. A human boy showed interest in me and we moved the next day. As we raced away from him, my mother told me that to fall in love with a human would bring danger, not just for me but for the human too. However, we were allowed to have relations with other werewolves but that was limited to the werewolf we married. To ensure that, we were promised at birth. My betrothed and I would marry soon after my eighteenth birthday. I never thought that my worst fear would be a date but it was.
I tried to ignore it but my birthday loomed before me. On my eighteenth birthday the fear became worse than I had ever experienced as we began our trip to my birthplace of Timbly Mountain, Colorado. Once there, I would meet a man I had never even seen a picture of but within a few days would marry. The only thing I had learned about him was his name…Luc Brazil. Still, he managed to represent everything I feared...The darkness, the unknown and the absolute fear of myself.
Even with those fears I still didn’t fight it. No matter how frightened I was, I had to face the betrothal. Besides, no amount of kicking or screaming would do any good. I couldn’t run away. I had nothing to survive on. There was no other option. I would have to marry him.
So I acted calm even though I wanted to break. I wanted to scream or cry but instead of giving into the emotions slamming through me, I did the only thing I could. I stared out of the window of the living area of the motor home as we passed through town after town toward my soon to be husband. I masked my terror with the most emotionless face I could manage and stared at everything outside the window, trying not to give into the panic.
I stayed there staring out of that window all night. The first rays of dawn were cast upon the sign announcing our arrival in Colorado. The first bit of emotion I showed since leaving our last home in Leos, Tennessee were the tears which rested in my blue eyes before I blinked allowing them to be released.
It was then that my mother showed her presence with a gentle caress of my blonde hair as she whispered to me, “I realize how hard this is. It was hard for me too but it worked out wonderfully for us. I love your father and he loves me,” she said in a soothing voice. I turned to her with wide eyes.
Somehow, I hadn’t thought of my parent’s engagement but they must have also been promised to one another at birth. It was hard to imagine that their marriage had been arranged. It didn’t seem that way. I pursed my lips unable to say anything.
My mother smiled and pushed her brown hair behind her ear with a shaking hand. Eyes the exact shade of blue as my own darkened with understanding, “Like I said, I realize how hard this is. It would be easier for you to understand if you asked your father the reason we began to betroth our children. I think then you might understand more.”
I nodded, gazing at her for a long moment before I rose and walked toward my father. I saw his handsome face in the rearview. He looked much younger than a father of an eighteen year old girl should with the same pale blonde hair as my own but his eyes were a deep green. Most times they sparkled with mischief but as I walked to him they dulled with a deep, dark pain.
“Your mother sent you to me?” He asked, giving me a sidelong glance as we began to enter the middle of a small town. Two story buildings in neat rows with large windows displaying goods faced us. I turned back to him uninterested in the town before me.
“Yes,” I said as I sank into the passenger seat and turned to face him. He swallowed nervously.
“She sent you to me to find out why we betroth our children,” he said, returning his gaze to the road. He shifted before he began to talk once more, “The truth is that our family’s choice to betroth our children is my fault. It started with me.”
“What do you mean?” I asked blinking in shock.
He hesitated and then, sighed long and mournful. When he spoke his voice was hoarse, “When I turned sixteen, I neared transition. Other werewolf families believed in betrothal but mine didn’t…Not then. I fell in love with a human girl named Adelaide. She was sweet and kind and…innocent.”
My mouth fell open. I couldn’t imagine him with anyone besides my mother. They seemed as if they had been together since the beginning.
My father shifted again as I composed myself. He glanced at me before turning back to the road and speaking again, “I became ill and Adelaide wanted to comfort me,” he said, swallowing hard, “I transitioned for the first time in front of her. It happened so quickly that my parents didn’t even know what was happening. So, I was alone with Adelaide…a human. She screamed a scream that still haunts my dreams. Her terror surrounded her. I wasn’t able to control myself and I…killed her.”
Ice settled into my stomach as I watched a tear fall down his cheek. My sweet father had killed before. The fear of what I was capable of flooded through me and I understood with a sick realization the need for the betrothals. I gazed into his face not wanting to hear anymore but he continued with the story anyway.
“My family took me to one of the families whose traditions included betrothal and made a deal with your mother’s father. Your mother and I married shortly after her eighteenth birthday, three years later. We were strangers but we learned to love each other. Before your birth, we made the decision that you would be betrothed. When Luc’s mother and father approached us, we accepted,” he said, through his tears, “I hope that you understand that we do this so you don’t have to live with the guilt that I do. We did this to protect you and…them,” he said, sweeping his hand toward the town before he wiped the tears from his cheek. My mother caressed his shoulder with a gentle touch of her hand and he covered it with his own.
I swallowed over the lump in my throat as I nodded, “I do understand, Daddy,” I whispered.
“Then, you will marry Luc?” He asked as he met my eyes.
I swallowed over the bitter lump in my throat as I blinked one more time. I wanted to say no but I understood this was for the best. I straightened my spine and nodded my head. A tear slid from my eye and down my cheek.
“I will,” I whispered as my heart trembled. Like the other fears, this fear I would have to face. At least now, the reason for my betrothal had been revealed.
The Meeting
I stayed in the seat next to my father during the rest of our journey. I tried not to show a reaction when the sign announcing our arrival in Timbly Mountain came into view but my father still reached over and grasped my hand in his trying to give me reassurance. I glanced at him in time to see his strained smile and I tried to return it even though I was afraid. I couldn’t face him for long and was thankful when he turned back toward the road allowing me to stare out of the window once more.
We passed a town with more shops in the same two story fashion as the other towns we had traveled through but these were painted brightly in different pastel colors and they fit in one very long row against the mountain face. I couldn’t deny that it was quaint and beautiful.
Still, I tensed as the row of town shops ended and the mountain began to show signs of descending into fields and homes. I had realized we were close even before my father pointed at a motor home park which was located across a large field at the base of the mountain. There was a forest on the other side and the back.
“That’s the motor home park that Sophia and Gavriel own,” he said, smiling almost wistful.
“Sophia and Gavriel?” I asked as I tried to conjure their names from my memory.
“Luc’s parents,” he said and then, caressed my cheek before smiling, “They’re going to love you.”
I opened my mouth to speak but I was interrupted by the long, mournful cry of a wolf. I turned glancing out of the window and my blood froze when I saw a pack of over thirty wolves stalking our motor home. Their scent surrounded us and instantly, I inhaled. A frown crossed my brow. The scent was different from ours but worse, there was something wrong with it. I inhaled again and realized the reason. Their scent mixed with the aroma of human blood.
“Daddy, are they part of Luc’s family?” I asked, hoping that the warning sliding through me was wrong but my father’s face had paled considerably telling me that it wasn’t.
“No, Mary Jane,” he said with a worried frown, “They aren’t. They are from another family…one that doesn’t like ours.”
I glanced out of the window with wide eyes as they began to move closer and closer to our motor home, “If they don’t like us, why are they here?” I whispered as a tremble worked through me.
“We’re being attacked,” My father said through clenched teeth as he stared out of the windshield, pushing the motor home to stay ahead of them.
“We’re being…what?” I asked, blinking rapidly as I glanced out toward as the wolves tried to run alongside the motor home. Another tremble worked through me as I peeked back at my mother who had begun to scream into a phone that had lost signal. Tears burned my eyes as I realized she was pleading for help.
My father’s voice caught my attention again and I turned to him hoping that he had a solution, “Mary Jane,” he said, glancing at me with wide eyes, “You’re going to have to be brave and do everything I ask you to.”
I nodded, trying to push away the terror that was rising in my throat to choke me, “I will, Daddy.”
He nodded, causing a tear to fall down his cheek. When he spoke, his voice trembled, “When we get to the entry of the motor home park you’re going to have to jump and then, run. Get help,” he said but even though I had agreed to do as he said, I had begun to shake my head.
“I won’t leave you,” I said, grabbing his shirt as I gazed up at him with pleading eyes.
“You told me that you would do what I asked,” he said reaching over and throwing open my door.
“What about you and momma?” I asked, glancing back into her terrified face before turning back to my father.
“You’re our only chance. They will kill us all if you stay,” He said, raising his chin determined, “This is the only way to ensure that we get help.”
I stared at my father pained but finally, I nodded. My father spoke once more, “We love you, Mary Jane,” he whispered, “No matter what happens, remember that.”
“I love you too, Daddy,” I cried, glancing out of the door frightened. I swallowed as we got closer to the entrance. I didn’t know if I could jump. I was afraid.
My father must have sensed my fear because as soon as we approached, he pushed me with all of his might, causing me to fly from the passenger side door. I landed on gravel, shredding the skin of my right shoulder, arm and side in the process. A rock slammed into my head, causing me to inhale with the sharp pain of its impact. I blinked dazed as I turned toward the road and watched as the motor home came to a stop. The wolves surrounded it and a man walked forward. His hair was blonde but a bit more golden than mine. Though he smiled, there was something evil in his silver eyes.
I swallowed hard as my shoulder throbbed. I took a deep breath as I realized that if I stayed where I was they would find me. Worse, the more time that passed, the more danger my parents would be in. I turned slowly and saw the first motor home a hundred feet away. Grass as tall as me stretched from ten feet beyond me to the lot where the motor home stood. I had to get there.
I stood grasping my arm as blood began to soak what was left of my shirt. I had expected the werewolves to turn toward me the instant I stood but they didn’t see me. Instead, their focus was on my parents. Dizziness took me and I had to fight the need to give into the darkness.
My head pounded and my eyes and limbs were heavy but I forced myself back toward the grass. I nearly sank to the ground in relief but a look toward my parent’s motor home pushed me forward. The man had dragged my mother and father from the confines. A hard punch to my father’s face caused me to wince.
“Where is she?” The man with the blonde hair screamed at my father. Tears burned my eyes as I forced myself to turn and inch toward the first home in the park. I tried to be careful and not make any noise because if I did the werewolves would come for me. I swallowed as I made my way through the dew covered grass. Heat from the soil rose around me as I pushed myself further. Finally, I was far enough away to break into a run undetected.
I took a deep breath fighting the drowsiness and the pain from my shoulder and head and ran the last ten feet to bang on the door of the home. No one answered and I nearly cried in frustration and fear. A howl broke through the air. I froze as I sensed eyes on me. The wolves had spotted me. I trembled afraid to move but voices broke the trance. I had to get to the owners of the voices.
My heart pounded causing the dizziness to worsen. I ran with my head down. The sound of paws against gravel got closer and closer. Tears blurred my vision as my body weakened further. I pushed myself not willing to give up until I slammed into something hard. A sob broke from my throat as I began to sink to the ground. I wasn’t able to run any further.
Strong hands grasped my waist pulling me upward. I blinked in surprised as I realized that I hadn’t run into something but someone. I forced my head upward and gazed up into the most handsome face I had ever seen. Vivid green eyes peered down at me in concern and curiosity. His hair was a mixture of brown, gold and black and cut short. The scent of a werewolf surrounded me, comforting me enough to be able to speak.
“My parents…They’re being attacked,” I said, panicked as I glanced over my shoulder toward the road. I couldn’t see the motor home any longer but another wolf’s howl broke through the air much louder than before.
I turned back to the man and for the first time, I realized we weren’t alone. A woman stood near with her full lips parted in shock. Her eyes were kind and caramel brown with striations of sea green which were striking against her olive toned skin. She was about my mother’s age and stepped forward as if to protect me. Others from the park were beginning to surround her.
“My God,” she whispered and then, nearly yelled as the shock gave way to panic, “She’s Mary Jane Lee!”
The man holding me up nearly dropped me in surprise as he stared down into my face. Tears of frustration slid down my cheeks.
“Please,” I whispered as the dizziness slammed through me again, “My parents.”
“We’ll help them,” the woman said as she began to yell orders. Darkness began to cloud my vision and I couldn’t stop it this time. The man who held me up dipped down to lift me, cradling me against his body so I wouldn’t fall to the ground.
The woman still yelled out orders but it was the last thing she said that caused me to want to fight the darkness, “Luc, take her home and tend her wounds.”
I tried to open my eyes to look at the man she talked to…the man who was my betrothed but I didn’t need to because the man who held me answered.
“I will take care of her,” he whispered. The determination in his voice caused me to believe him. I went limp in his arms, allowing the darkness to take me.
**********
My head spun as I awoke to the sharp pain of a needle against the skin of my head. I frowned as I realized that I must have hurt myself worse than I thought. Tears filled my eyes as I gazed up to find Luc wielding the sharp piece of steel. His handsome face tightened in apprehension as he pushed himself to finish the task. A tear fell down my cheek as he pushed the needle through my skin once more and a low hiss sounded from between my teeth.
“I’m sorry,” Luc whispered as he caressed my face with the back of his fingers, “I don’t want to hurt you but it has to be done or you’ll bleed out.”
The guilt on his face caused my heart to clench and I wanted to say something to soothe him but the pain and the dizziness was too much causing me to fall into unconsciousness again.
I don’t know how much time had passed when I was pulled from the darkness by the woman’s voice who had been giving orders during our last meeting. Her voice held a seductive quality that made me want to wake up but still, I fell once more into blackness.
More time passed in the darkness with pieces of sentences and garbled words entering my brain here or there but all failed to rouse me. It was a soft caress against my cheek which finally caused me to awaken.
When I opened my eyes I found Luc sitting in a chair near the bed, gazing at me warily. A magazine was in his lap. I frowned as I wondered if I had imagined the caress. He wouldn’t have been able to move back to the chair that quickly. At least, I didn’t think he would have been able to.
“You’re awake,” He whispered as he rose, causing the thought to fade. He tilted his head as he studied me concerned, “Are you still hurting?”
I moved my arm and when I felt no pain, I shook my head, “No,” I whispered as I blinked and gazed around a bedroom which was richly decorated but still obviously part of a motor home. I turned my gaze back to Luc, “How long have I been asleep?”
“Two days,” he said as his eyes swept over me, searching for truth in my claim of wellness. When his eyes returned to mine, I couldn’t help but to stare. His eyes which had seemed to be a bright vivid green at first were actually a mixture of two shades of green…emerald and sea. They were beautiful made even more so by the long, thick eyelashes which surrounded them and the olive tone of his skin.
I blinked and then, shook my head as I focused on his words, “Two days?” I asked as panic slammed through me, “My parents…”
He swallowed visibly and there was a stiff silence before he shifted, “Hold on,” He said, looking down at his feet, “I’ll go get my mother. She wants to speak with you.”
I frowned as he left the room and I tried not to assume the reasons why he seemed so uncomfortable. Still, my heart began to pound harder and faster as I waited. A metallic lump settled in my throat. Though tears threatened to come, I pushed them back. To cry would be to admit that something was wrong.
A few moments later, the woman who had been giving the orders the day of the attack walked into the room. A frown marked her face and sadness and concern darkened her eyes.
“Mary Jane,” she whispered as she sat on the edge of the bed and faced me, “My name is Sophia Brazil,” she said and then, nibbled on her bottom lip nervously as she glanced toward her son, “And this is Luc.”
“He’s my betrothed,” I whispered and she nodded. Luc’s eyes swung upward, meeting mine in surprise. It was obvious that he hadn’t realized that I understood who he was.
“I wanted to tell you who we were so you understood that we are connected to you,” she said, shifting again, “And to your parents.”
“I understand,” I said as the lump in my throat grew larger. Her bottom lip trembled as she reached forward and grasped my hand.
My breathing quickened as panic slid through me, “Please,” I whispered as I searched her face. The panic was evident in my voice, “Where are my parents?”
Sophia closed her eyes, causing the tears to break free and slide down her face in wet jagged paths, “I’m sorry, Mary Jane,” she whispered as she finally met my eyes, “We tried to help them but your parents were killed before we reached them.”
I frowned believing I had misunderstood. My parents couldn’t be dead. My heart ached as I searched Sophia’s face hoping to find something that denied it but instead, I only found the truth of it there. My parents were dead.
I shook my head back and forth as a scream broke from me. I saw Luc hesitate for only a moment before he put his arms around me and rocked me back and forth. Even though I didn’t know him, his embrace was the only comfort I had. Sadly, comfort from a stranger was the only kind I would have now because I had only known my parents and they were gone.