Ford's Fate: Paranormals of Avynwood, #2

Ford’s Fate

As a young vampire, Ford had experienced more than those much older than him.

The love of his life left him. He fell for his best friend. People he considered friends were killed. Blood was on his hands.

Through it all, he never forgot his first love. The one who stole his heart then shattered it when he least expected.

When Sienna left Ford and mated with another, she thought she’d found her companion for eternity. Except, her life didn’t play out that way. Her mate was killed, leaving Sienna a shell of the shifter she once was.

Ford wanted Sienna back, but the choice had to be hers.

Then her life was in danger, and his plans changed in an instant. All that mattered was keeping her safe.

Reaching a crossroad, they were helpless to fate’s plan.

Ford was left standing before Sienna, wearing his heart on his sleeve, waiting to see what she’d do next.

PROLOGUE

Dear Ford,

I’ve started this letter many times, but every time I sat down to write it, the words on the page seemed inadequate.

I know you’re out there every night. Not because I hear you or see you. No, you’ve mastered the art of being invisible. It’s because I feel you. Don’t ask me how. I’m not entirely sure. And if I start to think about why, it brings tears to my eyes at the notion that Eli wasn’t my true mate.

You might not want to hear this, but I loved him with everything I had. When his life was taken right in front of me, a piece of me died with him. I’m not sure I’ll ever heal from his death.

There’s no doubt in my mind you hear me cry sometimes. When I do, it’s partly because I miss my mate. But the other part is because of the realization of who you are to me. I can’t explain it, Ford. Every time you appear outside my home, I’m acutely aware of your presence. I feel you in my very soul. Not your feelings or your location any other time. Just your presence when you’re near. But this can’t go on.

You have to stop visiting me, Ford. You have to let me go. I’m going to be okay. I’ll heal the best I can and try to move on with my life. You need to do the same. We can never be anything other than acquaintances. For being with you again would mean betraying my deceased mate, and I won’t do that. Please don’t ask me to.

Find love and happiness, Ford. There’s someone out there for you. However, it isn’t me. I only want the best for you. Being with me would bring you nothing but heartache. I’m sure of it.

Go. Please don’t come back once you read this. The pain is too great every time you’re near.

I’m sorry, Ford.

With love,

Sienna

1

FORD

You need to burn that, Solomon states, pointing to what I’m holding in my hand.

I can’t. I fold the paper up and place it back in its safe spot.

The letter Sienna wrote has been in the inside pocket of my leather trench coat since I carefully took it from the front door of her house in Portland. I waited until she was asleep so she didn’t hear me approach the house. My name was across the front of the crisp white envelope. Written in the most elegant handwriting.

My heart seized in my chest when I read it. I knew it wouldn’t be good. No one leaves a letter for good news. They deliver that kind of stuff in person. No, the letter had me teleporting to my house in Duck, North Carolina and immediately pitched over the toilet as I emptied the contents of my stomach, which wasn’t much. Mostly blood. That does not look good coming up, by the way.

Four weeks have passed since I opened the letter. Twenty-eight torturous days. If it weren’t for my brother, Solomon, I’d have lost my mind already. He’s taken pity on me and teleports to Sienna’s home, the one she shared with her deceased mate, and checks in on her for me. He’s been doing it every night since she left me the letter.

Solomon doesn’t have a connection to her. In fact, he can’t stand her. After all she did to me, put me through, he never wanted to lay eyes on her again. But he goes to her house every night so I can rest easier. Without him making sure she is okay, I wouldn’t sleep. No matter how safe it is now that Travis and Benedict are gone, there are still other predators out there. They were some of the worst, though.

Sienna is a fox shifter. Not a big cat or even a wolf. She’s a fox who doesn’t have the brute strength other shifters do. She has speed on her side. Her size as a fox is smaller than a medium-sized dog, which makes her harder to catch. Plus, she can fit through places bigger shifters can’t. But she’d never stand a chance against most paranormals. Maybe if she lived with a pack she could; although, her family didn’t want to. Her parents moved to Portland to be near the pack and ultimately the fox shifter Sienna was destined to mate with.

Her parents were old-school and arranged the mating. She didn’t have a say in any of it. That way of thinking is gone for the most part, though there are some packs out there that still believe in it. I’m not sure how they know which shifters will have the mate bond with another, but they do. The spark is there, letting them know they’ve found their destined mate. And Sienna had that perfect bond with Eli.

Ford, Sol’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. I glance over at him where he stands near me on the deck, overlooking the sand dunes and the ocean. Give it to me.

I take a step back as my body stiffens, bracing for the attack. No.

It’s destroying you.

It’s all I have left of her.

He shakes his head, concern evident in his eyes. I know my brother loves me. Sure, we’ve had our problems and haven’t always gotten along, but since Ariane came into my life, Sol has become more of a constant presence. He’s traveled with me after the pack war ended. He’s stayed with me in the Outer Banks, especially when Wake was here. He’s become the brother I always wished I had when I was younger.

Sol runs his fingers through his hair. I hate seeing you like this. The last month has been horrible. I want you to be happy, brother. Not this shell of a vampire who is merely existing every day.

You don’t understand.

No, I don’t. I’ve never been in love. Not in all my fifteen hundred years. And you know what? I’m happy about that. Freaking ecstatic, because if this is what I have to look forward to, he motions up and down my body, I don’t want it. I glance down at my jeans and long-sleeved Henley. My leather trench is on point, as always. I’m not sure what he’s talking about. Even depressed I look good.

Was there supposed to be a compliment somewhere in there?

His features harden. You know what? Then he snaps and is gone from the deck, teleporting away. I have no idea where he went, but it gives me time to think. He’ll be back. No matter how upset he is, he always comes back.

It’s a new year. Isn’t that supposed to mean new things? A fresh start? What if I don’t want that? What if all I want to do is go back to the time when Sienna was mine and I could be with her? This isn’t how I saw my life playing out.

Solomon appears on the deck again with a half-naked wolf shifter.

Do you ever wear a shirt? I ask Wake. All he has on are his dark-rimmed glasses and a pair of basketball shorts. His brown hair mussed. It’s January, you know. You could put on pants.

Paige likes me in shorts and no shirt, he replies.

Paige likes you in less than that, Sol quips from his side.

Yeah, she does. Wake grins.

On that note... I turn and open the sliding door, entering my living room so I can get away from the paranormals on the deck. Sure, it’s my brother and one of my best friends, but I’m not in the mood for an intervention. Of course, I’m not lucky enough for them to stay outside. They follow me through the door.

If this were an intervention I would have brought Ari, Orion, and Paige as well, Sol states, reading my mind. This is me trying to get you to remove your head from your butt and get on with your life.

My hands ball into fists at my sides as I turn toward the two men. This is my life to live, I seethe. No one has a right to tell me what to do or how to live it.

Solomon doesn’t care about my anger or how deadly I can be when I’m this way. His power matches mine in every way, but he has age and experience on me. I’m only one hundred and nine. Your life has everything to do with me! he roars. I can’t stand this anymore! You need to snap out of it!

I move forward, going toe to toe with him. My fangs descend to drive my point home further. Get out of my business, brother. I hiss the last word.

He shrugs. Fine. But don’t you dare come to me tonight and ask me to check on her. I’m done! He snaps and is gone.

His words settle on me and a cold dread fills my veins. I stumble backward until my legs hit one of the chairs around the dining table. Someone has to check on Sienna tonight. Someone has to make sure she’s okay. If anything were to happen to her, I wouldn’t forgive myself. She’s already been through so much at the hands of Benedict and Travis. She’s alone. No mate to look after her. She doesn’t live with her mom.

Ford, Wake says, but I don’t acknowledge him. My brain is too busy going over scenario after scenario of what could happen to Sienna. Horrible things. Terrible, torturous things.

Wake drops down to a crouch in front of me so he’s in my line of sight. Look at me. I do, but my mind is still spinning. You have to let her go.

My hand instinctively goes to the letter in my pocket, pulling it free to run my fingers across its worn edges. Without this letter, I have nothing of Sienna except the memories of her choosing another over me. The memories of her being nearly drained of blood at the hands of another vampire. Even if I could somehow get her back, she’d never trust me. Not when another of my kind made her suffer. Benedict could have killed her, but he never drained her to the point of death.

Her parents always hated me. They thought different paranormal species shouldn’t be together. Foxes should only mate with foxes. But we were in love. I had planned to spend my life with her. It would never have worked. Not when her parents also thought that vampires were an abomination among paranormals.

Come to the cabin with me, Wake suggests. Let me get your mind off of things for a bit. We can go over to the pack house and pin a picture of your brother on the dartboard. You can use him as target practice to get out some of your frustration. That has me smiling. Wake stands and holds out his hand for me.

You’re my bestie, wolf, but I’m not dating you. I stand beside him. I’ve gotten accustomed to using the word bestie, thanks to hanging around my other best friend so much. Ariane loves to use that word. So does Paige, Wake’s mate, for that matter. Ari and Paige have been best friends for a long time.

Wake rolls his eyes. You know I have a thing for redheads. Your honey brown hair doesn’t do it for me. He ruffles my hair.

Hey! I yell as I swat him away. I had that perfect this morning.

He cocks an eyebrow at me. Since when did disheveled become perfect?

For your information, the ladies seem to like it that way.

And he’s back, Wake states as I comb my fingers through my hair. I do love my attitude. It’s one of my best traits, if I do say so myself.

I glance around the house and peer out the tall windows. It’s a gorgeous day, even if it’s cold. The sun is out, no clouds in the sky. But I’m not about to go hang out on the beach. I do need to get out of this house, though. Sitting around wishing for things that are never going to happen isn’t helping anything. Maybe the Avynwood Pack can distract me for a bit. Or point me to someone who is causing them trouble so I can take out my aggression on an awful paranormal. Delivering justice always makes me feel better.

All right, let’s go, I tell him. No hand-holding, though. We have to have some limits. No friends with benefits.

We’ve slept in the same bed, Ford. More than once. There are no boundaries here.

I think this is your way of coming on to me. It’s my rugged good looks, isn’t it? Or maybe the coat? Running my hands along the inside of it, I fluff out the back, punctuating how sexy I look.

I still think it looks like a cape.

I’ll have you know, this is some of the finest Italian leather you can buy. Mom had it made for me when I turned seventy-five. It’s my favorite.

Wake studies me for a moment. I think you use it like I did my glasses—to hide from others.

Yet you’re still wearing said glasses. What’cha hiding? Got some deep dark secrets I don’t know about?

That’s because Paige thinks I’m hot in them. He winks.

Okay, I don’t want to hear about your escapades with your mate. Let’s get going so I can throw darts at you... or my brother, rather.

You can try to hit me with them. But if you do, my wolf will come out, and he won’t take the gesture lightly. I love having shifters for friends. They’re so temperamental. So easy to rile up.

I scoff. Like your wolf scares me.

He should, Wake growls as his eyes flash green, letting me know his wolf rose to the surface.

Oh, please. Put it away.

Wake nods as his eyes settle back down to their regular brown. Mission accomplished.

Huh?

I agreed to come here with Solomon, in the hopes of lifting your mood, and I did just that. You’re back to the cocky vampire I’m used to. Well, maybe not all the way but close. Now let’s go play some games and see who in the pack house you can anger. I’m sure there are plenty who would be irritated just by the sight of me. They can’t handle this kind of fun.

Then Wake’s thoughts drift to me. Not on purpose I’m sure. But they’re there nonetheless. He feels sorry for me and hurt. He wishes he could take the pain away. Most of all, he just wants me to be happy.

I swallow thickly as my mind drifts back to Sienna. I glance down at the letter Sienna wrote on the dining room table. My name scrawled across the envelope calls to me. I snatch it back up and put it in my pocket. I don’t go anywhere without it. Yes, it’s unhealthy, but I’m a vampire. It’s not like I have a short life and need to live it to the fullest. My life is infinite as long as I can maintain my attachment to my head and keep silver knives from my chest. So for now, I’ll carry the last piece of Sienna I have and hope that someday I’ll truly be able to let go of her.

When I glance over at Wake, he’s watching me again. Those knowing eyes of his assessing my every move. If he could read minds, I’d be in serious trouble. He’d see all the sorrow in my head and probably never let me leave the pack house again.

I know that pain, he says quietly. I know what it’s like to want the one thing you can’t have. It took Wake a while to get his head on straight and tell the female he loved they were mates. He was scared. Benedict bit him and screwed with his mind in the past. It shaped his claiming of Paige. But he eventually took the leap and now they’re happy.

Your situation was different than mine, I tell him.

That doesn’t mean the pain was. I felt like my world was being torn apart.

Try living like that for years.

You think I didn’t? You think it was easy for me to be kicked out of the only home I knew and leave behind everyone I ever cared about? To have my head messed with and second-guess my mate bond with Paige? Wake’s past is full of awful memories; ones which I’m sure still haunt him.

I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. I really didn’t. I’d never want to hurt Wake. I might joke around and like to tease him, but he doesn’t deserve to be in pain.

I know you didn’t. Just remember, there are a lot of us who are here for you. Your brother included.

Do you two have something going on I should know about? He shoved me out of the way as your number one bestie, but I thought I meant more to you. Ever since Wake came to stay with me, to put distance between Paige and him before they were mated, he and Sol became very close. I think they both saw something in each other: another lost soul looking for friendship. Maybe that’s why I fit in so well with the two of them. Because I know full well that just because Sol is my brother doesn’t mean we always get along well.

Wake rolls his eyes. Let’s get out of here already. Gladly. That’s enough thinking. Enough wallowing. Time to channel this anger into the massive ballroom turned game room at the pack house.

2

SIENNA

I did the right thing. I know I did. It was for the best. Had to be done. Then why does my stomach clench in a knot every time I think about the letter I wrote Ford? I shouldn’t have done it. I shouldn’t have let him know there was a connection between us, no matter how small. It was stupid on my part. I thought I could let him go if I acknowledged the fact that there was still something between us. How can there not be? Ford has always held a part of my heart.

But