Fate, Love & Loyalty: (A Havenwood Falls Novella) Read online

  “Understood, and thank you for your fairness. I can make payment arrangements immediately.” Gage bowed to the Court before returning to his seat.

  “You have fifty grand lying around to pay that fine?” Aster asked. Her eyebrows rose in surprise.

  “I’ve done all right for myself,” he answered, giving her a coy smile that revealed the adorable dimple in his left cheek she had grown to love. “Let’s just say that the fight nights at my gym do really well.”

  The past couple of days had been days of discovery, and there was still a lot she didn’t know about her mate. Since he didn’t get sentenced to death, they had their whole lives to learn about each other.

  Next, Reeve was called to the front. Aster pulled her attention away from Gage and his dimple. Her sister had dressed demurely for the occasion in a simple gray suit with a white shirt underneath. From where Aster sat, she could see Reeve shaking with nervousness, and Aster knew why. Reeve took full responsibility for bringing Damian Stone to Havenwood Falls. After sharing a bottle of wine and several crying jags following Braden’s funeral, Reeve had revealed to Aster that she blamed herself for their brother’s death. If she hadn’t been followed, Braden would still be alive.

  “Reeve McCabe, you know your crimes. Are you ready to accept your punishment without complaint?” Mayor Stuart asked.

  “Yes. I will honor your decision,” Reeve said, her voice so soft that Aster could barely hear it.

  “Good. We will proceed. You are being charged with shifting and fighting in public as well as bringing a stranger—a dangerous stranger at that—to Havenwood Falls without seeking prior approval from the Court. You took an oath of secrecy before you left, and you broke that oath. For these crimes, you and your mate, Patrick O’Shea, will be sentenced to banishment.”

  “No!” Aster yelled, jumping up out of her seat and launching herself across the table. She shook off both her dad and Gage when they attempted to pull her back. She came to a stop next to her sister and reached for her hand. “Reeve never told that psycho about Havenwood Falls, and she was running for her life. How was she supposed to know that he would track her here? Plus, Patrick was acting in self-defense. You can’t banish them!”

  “While I admire you being loyal to your sister, she agreed to accept. Our decision is final.”

  “No,” Aster whispered, more to herself than in protest, and she turned to Reeve who remained stoic in front of the Court with her head held high, but the glimmer of tears in her green eyes told another story.

  Barbie rapped the gavel and told them to take a seat, then their father was called up. He faced the Court with his back straight, hands joined behind his back and his legs hip-width apart.

  “Michael,” Barbie began. “When you approached us six years ago to call in the favor we owed you, you do recall we were hesitant to honor your request because of something like this happening, correct?”

  “Yes, Mayor, I know you all took a risk, and it was greatly appreciated.”

  Aster didn’t like seeing her dad so acquiescent. He usually commanded the room and demanded respect.

  “Clearly we all failed when we allowed the memory spell lifted from Reeve, but you called in your favor, so we had to honor it.”

  Gage leaned over and whispered in Aster’s ear, “What did your dad do to earn a favor?”

  “I have no idea, but I’m determined to find out,” she replied and hoped the adage “curiosity killed the cat” didn’t hold true.

  “The Court has decided that having both of your daughters banished, on top of losing Braden, is punishment enough. Court adjourned.” With a crack of the gavel, all members of the Court stood and silently filed out of the room through a side door that appeared in the middle of a mural depicting a dragon shifter melting down gold from the mines. The door disappeared once all of the members had passed through.

  No one else moved. Mike McCabe had sunk back down in his chair and now stared off into the distance, his expression once again unreadable.

  “Dad? What was this favor you had called in? It must have been pretty big.”

  “Not now, Aster,” he said and pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “Come on, Dad. I think we deserve to know, since all of our lives have been impacted. Besides, we’re all adults now,” Reeve pried.

  “Fine!” he snapped and threw his hands up in the air. “I can’t give specifics, but I will say that the Court has a lot of secrets and a lot of power. In order to protect our town, and our own kind, sometimes we have to make sacrifices and do things we don’t want to do, but must. Anyway, because of things I’ve done for the Court, they bestowed one favor for me to use.”

  “They sound like the mafia,” Aster said.

  “Be careful what you say, baby girl. You’re in enough trouble already, and you never know who is listening.”

  “Why did you risk telling us anything?” Reeve asked.

  “Because you’re all going to be leaving and will forget this information as well as everything else.” At this admission, her dad’s emotionless façade broke. He pulled Aster and Reeve into a hug, and they all sobbed. When they regained their composure, Aster wiped her eyes and had a thought.

  “Dad, why do you assume I’ll be leaving? I haven’t given the court my decision yet.”

  He smiled at her and reached out to brush an errant tear from her cheek. “Baby girl, I know because you won’t be able to leave your mate. As much as I know you want to be loyal to your family, you’ll be miserable. Gage is your fate and your love. As Patrick is yours, Reeve,” he said as he patted Reeve’s knee. “I am going to miss you both so much, but I know you will be happy.”

  Aster turned to look at Gage, who stood off to the side watching her. Wordlessly he walked over and took her hand in his.

  The next day, Aster delivered her decision to the Court.

  Gage drove Aster’s Sentra through downtown Denver, pointing out landmarks along the way. Night had fallen by the time they hit the city limits, and the skyline was lit up like Christmas. Aster marveled at the height of the skyscrapers that had been built around older buildings like Union Station, its bright orange sign visible for miles.

  “Oh, there’s my work!” Reeve announced from the backseat. Aster looked in the direction her sister pointed and saw a sleek three-story building. A giant monitor in the front glass window displayed images of fancy events. “I’ll talk to the owner about hiring you, Aster. Your scones will be a huge hit.”

  While the Court had banished them from Havenwood Falls, they didn’t put any restrictions on where they had to go. Maybe the loophole was intentional or an oversight, but Aster and Reeve saw it as a gift. At least they could be banished together. After a tearful farewell, Aster, Gage, Reeve, and Patrick were on their way. When they left Havenwood Falls, Aster had looked in the side view mirror at her parents. They had stood in the middle of the street waving goodbye, and Aster watched until they faded from view, then she focused her attention on the journey ahead.

  Gage had Damian’s mess to clean up, and he needed to assert himself as the new alpha quickly. How deep the faction of species purists ran in the den remained to be seen. When Reeve described her time as a captive and mentioned that other women were being held prisoner, too, it chilled Aster to the bone. Historically, species purists went to great lengths to achieve their goals, and Damian wasn’t an exception.

  As if she was thinking the same thing, Reeve asked Gage why Damian had never told him about his breed purity project.

  “I don’t know,” Gage answered. Aster noticed he made eye contact with Reeve using the rearview mirror. “But, I think he knew I’d object to his plans and challenge him. He also knew that he stood a good chance of losing to me.”

  They dropped Reeve and Patrick off at Reeve’s apartment. Her sister’s landlord had made arrangements with the doorman to let her in since she’d lost her keys. With a promise to meet up for dinner the next day, Aster and Gage continued on to his house. She looked over at
her mate as he concentrated on the road and navigated through traffic. She examined his profile—the straight nose and long lashes, how his lower lip stuck out a little bit in a permanent pout that she loved to nibble on. His big hands were loose and didn’t grip the steering wheel tightly, indicating his confidence with driving. She had only known Gage for a little more than a week, but she already knew him to be a strong leader and fierce protector.

  Whatever lay ahead, they would face it together.

  We hope you enjoyed this story in the Havenwood Falls series of novellas featuring a variety of supernatural creatures. The series is a collaborative effort by multiple authors. Each book is generally a stand-alone, so you can read them in any order, although some authors will be writing sequels to their own stories. Please be aware when you choose your next read.

  Other books in the main Havenwood Falls series:

  Forget You Not by Kristie Cook

  Old Wounds by Susan Burdorf

  Covetousness by Randi Cooley Wilson

  Coming soon are books by Lila Felix, R.K. Ryals, Belinda Boring, Heather Hildenbrand, Stacey Rourke, and more.

  Watch for Havenwood Falls High, a Young Adult series launching in October 2017.

  Immerse yourself in the world of Havenwood Falls and stay up to date on news and announcements at www.HavenwoodFalls.com. Join our reader group, Havenwood Falls Book Club, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/HavenwoodFallsBookClub/

  About the Author

  E.J. Fechenda has lived in Philadelphia and Phoenix, and now calls Portland, Maine home. She is the Amazon bestselling author of The New Mafia Trilogy and is currently working on the Ghost Stories Trilogy. She has a degree in Journalism from Temple University and her short stories have been published in Suspense Magazine and several anthologies. E.J. is a member of the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance and co-founder of the fiction reading series, “Lit: Readings & Libations”, which is held semi-quarterly in Portland.

  You can find her on the internet here:

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EJFechendaAuthor

  Twitter @ebusjaneus (https://twitter.com/ebusjaneus)

  Tumblr: http://ejfechenda.tumblr.com/

  Acknowledgments

  I need to give a huge shout out to Kristie Cook for coming up with the incredible concept of Havenwood Falls and for keeping the crazy train on the tracks. Keeping all the stories and elements straight, plus herding multiple authors, is serious work, and she makes it seem so easy. This is a tremendous opportunity, and I’m excited to be included. It’s been a blast collaborating with the other authors on this project such as Kallie Ross, Kristen Yard, Randi Cooley Wilson, Belinda Boring, and so many more. Some of their characters and businesses are mentioned in Fate, Loyalty & Love. I’d like to thank Liz Ferry for working her proofreading magic. My husband deserves huge props because I basically ignored him on his birthday to work on revisions. He always helps to keep me on task, and at one point said, “Go pursue your passion!” So, yeah, he earned this acknowledgment. To all of my family, friends, and fans, thank you for your support and enthusiasm. When my tank is running on empty, you help fill it back up. Much love!