Chapter One
Charlize Newman pushed her sunglasses back up the bridge of her nose and studied the people walking into Milly’s Coffee Spot. They didn’t look unusual, but she couldn’t forget what she’d seen the last time she’d come to Forever, Texas. Who knew what they were underneath the disguise of their human forms?
The image of her sister Shannon standing in front of two large wolves hadn’t faded in the months since she’d had to leave her sister behind. Yet the term “wolves” wasn’t an accurate description. The beasts she’d seen were too large, and their limbs were longer than a regular wolf’s legs. But the real difference between them and the wolves mankind knew was the intelligence she’d seen in their amber eyes. Their eyes had sparkled with a strange mix of animal and human knowledge.
Even now, she had a hard time believing what they really were. They were werewolves. She’d seen them when she’d rescued—or rather, tried to rescue—her sister from the vampire Deacon Slater’s house. Her mind was still playing catch up with what her eyes had told her was real. But when Shannon had refused to go with her, had even vowed that she loved the men who had changed into werewolves, Charlie hadn’t had any option except to leave her sister behind. At least until she could figure out how to get Shannon to come home with her.
She’d called Shannon every week since that horrible day, and Shannon had always sounded happy, thrilled to be living with the two men she loved. Yet, although her sister sounded sincere, Charlie made it clear that she could always come home. Did she want to leave Forever if only for a visit? All Shannon had to do was say the word, and she’d get there as soon as possible.
But Shannon had always refused. Instead, she’d kept the conversation light and easy with questions about their parents’ activities and Charlie’s work.
Although confused at Shannon’s readiness to accept werewolves as lovers, she wouldn’t give up on her sister. After all, it wasn’t because Shannon was staying with two men. She could live with as many men as she wanted, as far as Charlie was concerned. But with werewolves?
What would life be like sharing a home with werewolves? Exciting, maybe, but dangerous, too. She’d already lost one sister to drugs, and she’d be damned if she’d lose her other sister to the supernatural men that had somehow captured her sister’s heart and mind.
She should’ve acted sooner, but Charlie hadn’t wanted to force her sister to come home with her. Had, in fact, given her five months to make that choice on her own. With each passing month, however, the knot in Charlie’s stomach grew tighter. What if she’d already waited too long? What if her sister wound up pregnant? Was that even possible? Who knew what could happen between a human and her werewolf lovers?
When Shannon called her and invited her back to Forever, asking her to put aside her objections about the Holms men long enough to really get to know them, Charlie was thrown. At first she couldn’t believe her sister, and she’d refused. What did she think she’d do? Sit down and make chitchat at the dinner table with a couple of werewolves? But then Charlie had started wondering. Was the invitation sincere? Or was it Shannon’s way of letting her sister know she was in trouble and needed help? Or worse, could they be setting a trap for the one person—as far as she knew—who knew what they really were?
Possible trap or not, she couldn’t wait any longer. If Shannon still refused to leave, she might have to drag her home kicking and screaming as she wished she’d done with Christine. If she had, maybe her youngest sister would still be alive.
Three days later, she’d packed her bag and flown to Dallas. In Dallas, she’d rented a pickup, bought a rifle and ammo, then headed to Forever. Too bad she hadn’t been able to find silver bullets.
She hadn’t told Shannon that she was coming to Forever. If she did, Shannon’s men might guess what she had planned, and she’d lose the element of surprise. She wanted to fly under the radar for a day or so and gather as much information as she could before they realized she was in town. If they found out too soon, she could always say she was there to accept Shannon’s invitation then come up with another plan.
Charlie grabbed the water bottle in the cup holder, twisted the lid off, and took a big gulp. Why did she have such a difficult time accepting that they were werewolves? Was it so much harder to believe in werewolves than in the vampire they’d thought had murdered her youngest sister, Christine?
Shannon had come to Forever determined to put a stake deep in Deacon Slater’s undead body. Instead, she’d found out that Slater wasn’t the vampire who’d drained their sister dry. Slater was, in fact, the one who’d exterminated the killer vampire. Shannon had explained during one of their first phone conversations how she and Charlie had been misled by the killer vampire’s family into believing Slater was guilty. Thankfully, their attempt to frame Slater had failed.