Tempest

Tempest

Copyright ©
June
2012 Dahlia Rose

Cover Art by
Mina Carter

ISBN
978-1-936668-76-2

All rights are reserved. No part of this may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Chapter
One

Outside, t
he wind howled and whipped the tr
ees around
frantically
deep in the Louisi
ana bayou
, but in her
little house
,
the air was humid
and stuffy
. Tempest Bo
liene lived alone and at the farthest
end of the swamp.
This was f
or two specific reasons
;
one
,
becaus
e she wanted her privacy
,
and two
,
because the people in
Co
r
mina Parish viewed her as something of a witch. She didn’t mind it much
;
it was a cross her family bore. Her mother had the sight and her grandmother as well.
In Louisiana
,
when you had a gift
,
it could be viewed in many different ways. When she predicted three deaths in a row
that came true
and the residents found out about her predictions, they deemed her a witch
. A
nd right now
,
as the wind buffeted her little house that
sat so
close to
the
banks of the swamp that it was
practically
her backyard
, s
he was steeped in a vision that was unlike any that she
’d
had before. It was her future, her destiny. It was mystifying, thrilling and downright scary
. In this vision
she was mated to the two men who lived in the Marigold Plantation house.
Two men
who
kept to the
mselves just as much as she did and
, not surprisingly,
the
y
were
much
more than just men.

In her mind’s eye
,
she saw them.

Al
ex Wakefield had
pitch black hair and green eyes that held hints of yellow flecks in the irises. He wore his hair long
in dark waves
and
he was tall
. He was w
ide across the shoulder
s
and
lean
at the
hips. He had a few days worth of stubble
and he was shirtless. He turned
suddenly
as if he could see her watching him
, and then t
here was
a flash of lightning and his face changed to
that
of
a
wolf.

Dominic Cross was a few inches shorter
than Alex but
not by much
. He had s
andy brown hair cut low in military style. In fact
,
the word around town was that he was in the army before being discharged four years ago.
And i
t was four years ago
that
they came into town and bought the Marigold plantation and began fixing it up.

Now
,
through wide
,
unseeing eyes
,
she
,
Tempest
,
could see his face
. He wore a
crooked grin
a
cross his
rugged
face
and strong jaw
;
his eyes were gray and held laughter. He was a lighter soul tha
n
his counterpart
,
but both men were dangerous.
Dominic as a
wolf was silver
—like his eyes—
and beautiful
.
Alex was black as midnight.

S
he saw them shift in her vision and run towards a low hanging moon. She longed to follow them and the word
mate
echoed through her head.

The vision released her from its grasp and she fell back against the sheets damp with her sweat.
Was
it
possible?
She asked herself the question as she slipped from the bed
and made her way to the bathroom
.
Go!
The words ricocheted through her head and the pain
of it
made her drop to her knees in the bathroom. She braced herself against the
sink and pulled herself up.
This was d
efinitely not
like
her usual visions
; she had never had v
oices yelling at her
or
felt
a
power so fierce it
pulled
her to the floor.

Thunder cracked outside a
nd
the wind howled
louder
. It almost sounded as if
even the elements
were
chanting her name
,
urging
her
outside into the hellish weather. Instinct and an almost wild sensation course
d
through her and
, without thought,
she pulled her beat up sneakers from under the bed. Nothing would keep her dry in this weather
, but she could hardly care.
S
he pushed her way out into the stormy night and moved across the rain
-
soaked earth towards
her destiny
at Marigold Plantation.
Lord Jesus
,
protect me,
she thought as branches tore at her thin shirt. She
hadn’t
change
d
from the cotton shorts and tank top she slept in. The
pounding
raindrops stung her skin as she moved through the d
ark
woods that separated her house from theirs. It was only the three of them that lived on the outskirts of Cormina and it seemed they were destined to be together.

She finally broke th
r
ough the trees and bushes
that lined their property. T
hrough the rain and whipping leaves she could see the plantation house and
a
dim light
illuminating
the
downstairs
windows
. Tempest climbed the old
, rickety
fence
that they had obviously not
thought to fix up
and
she sl
i
pp
ed
on the wet wood before she finally
made her way
over. It was a fight against the elements and nature’s fury as she moved
across
the pastures to the front door. Using her fist,
she pounded hard
,
hoping that someone inside
would
hear
. Tempest repeated the action twice before the door was flung open. Since she
was
leaning again
st
the door
while pounding with all her might,
she fell
inside and landed
flat
on the braided rug. She was nose to nose with the hardwood floor it covered.

“What do we have here?
” Dominic
said,
a deep timber
resonat
ed
in
his voice and held a hint of humor.

“Whatever it is, it
’
s dripping all over my new h
ardwood floors,” snarled Alex.

Tempest rolled over on her back to look
up
at them
.
She’d seen them every once
in
a
while in the small grocery store in Cormina. Or
,
sometimes
,
in the neighboring towns
,
when she really didn’t
want to deal with the small-minded residents closer to home,
she’d go out to eat and happen to see them there too
.
Outcasts form one pack
. H
er vision blurred and she saw a glimpse into the future once again.
Quit it
,
will you
? J
ust for tonight
, she pleaded wit
h
her gift and closed her eyes tiredly.

“I think she may be falling asleep on our floor,” Dominic said.

“Well
,
by all means,
let
’
s just get her a blanket
. And how about a pillow while we’re at it?
” Alex snapped.

“
I’m not asleep
; I’m j
ust very tired
. Y
ou try running through a damn
ed
storm
,
plus seeing visions all night,” Tempest snapped
right back
.

“Oh
,
so you believe your own myth?” Alex drawled.

She open
ed
her eyes and glared at him. “You believe what you want
,
Alex Wakefield, dark wolf,
A
lpha to a pack with only two members.”

He dragged her
to her feet and shook her.
“
Ha
ve you been spying on us
? D
amn y
ou
,
answer me!”

“Alex
,
you’ll hurt her
.
” Dominic put his hand on his friend
’
s shoulder to restrain him.

Tempest didn’t
make a sound
,
and
she refused to show weakness. If
she was meant for them
,
so be it
,
but she refused to be anything she was not. She was strong enough to live alone and take the ridicule.
And, b
y
G
od
,
she could handle
two men
.

“
Let me ask you a question
. I
f I was spying
on you would
n’t
at least one
of you have smelled me in the wind, even a hint?” Tempest said. “You know I live
just
through woods from you. When you run in your second skin I’m sure you’ve watched me.
We know each other even though we’ve never really met.
Have I ever
,
and I mean ever
,
seemed to be the gossipy type
?
I live alone for a reason
—as do you—
and I
keep my
nose out of other people’s business.
So how would I know
,
huh
?
U
nless I saw
it in my head or are you just
really bad at being a wolf?”

Dominic laughed out loud while Alex growled low in his throat
. T
he
sound
terrified her
,
but she refused to look away.

“Right now I smell fear,” he whispered. He was so close she could smell brandy on his breath.

“
That you may
,
but you’ll never see me show it,” Tempest replied.

He let go of her and she slumped against the w
all and rubbed her shoulders. “
So you see visions. You may think we’re wolves
,
but we can
always
just call you crazy or a witch like everyone else does.”

Now that stung
!
Tempest lifted her chin. “You’re right
;
I should’ve n
ever come here. I’ll be leaving
now
.”