“Oh!” I squirmed to get down, excited at the size of his teeth. He grudgingly released me. “Please can we get rid of the beard?” Yes, I hopped from foot to foot like a kid begging for cotton candy. I wanted to see him just once without facial hair. If he wanted to grow it back, I wouldn’t mind. I’d fallen in love with him as he was, after all.
He nodded, laughing at me.
“And I still want to get my degree. Can we stay where we are until then?”
Before he could say anything, his eyes shifted to the door. My joy-filled smile faded. I still needed to figure out what made Elder Joshua different from other werewolves. No doubt, it related to me in some way. Why else would I be able to see the colors? For a moment, I thought about my mom and all the questions I would ask her if she still lived.
I stepped closer to Clay and laid my head against his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Everyone I’ve ever loved this way I’ve lost,” I said, recalling my earliest memories of my mom and grandma. I hugged him close. “Don’t let me down.”
“I won’t. You’re stuck with me forever,” he whispered as he held me close.
I pulled back enough to meet his eyes and knew without a doubt I’d found the perfect man. He would stand by me. Always.
I kissed his lips, wishing we had time to be just Gabby and Clay, the newly engaged couple. Then, I smiled. We would have time. Eventually. Like he said, he wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was I.
Something chirped behind me. It took a second chirp for me to recognize the sound of my own phone. I groaned at the interruption, but pulled back from Clay’s warm embrace, not quite leaving it, to pluck the phone from my back pocket. Luke’s number flashed on the screen.
As soon as I hit “talk,” Luke spoke in a rush without waiting for my greeting.
“Gabby, I have a problem,” he shouted over the roar of an engine. Something popped loudly in the background. Luke swore. The phone went dead.
The three-second conversation left me speechless. I pulled the phone away from my ear to look at it. What the hell was going on? Safe in Clay’s arms, I stretched my senses and searched for Luke. I found a yellow-violet spark and a lone blue-green spark—Luke...and the other spark like me—swarmed by blue-grey sparks.
“Clay, I don’t think I have a choice anymore. Something’s happening to Luke. The other werewolves are all around him. We need to get Sam.” I turned to look at the door. “I don’t know who to trust.”
Clay nodded and leaned his forehead against mine. “I’ll stand with you, always.”
Author’s Note
I hope you enjoyed the first book in the six book Judgement series. If you fell in love with Clay and Gabby, don’t worry...this isn’t the last you’ll hear from them. The cast will continue to grow, with more couples for you to love, as the series progresses.
Continue reading for a sneak peek of Michelle’s story, the second book in the Judgement Series.
For more information regarding other titles, to sign up for my newsletter, or to read exclusive content, please visit my website http://melissahaag.com.
I’d love to hear from you!
Sneak peek of (Mis)fortune
Judgment of the Six: Book 2
By Melissa Haag
Now Available!
Clotted potatoes stuck in my throat when I tried to swallow. I tried again, and they went down. The overladen plate of food mocked me. I didn’t want to eat. I wanted to go hide in my room, away from our dinner guests. I almost blanched just thinking the word guest. It didn’t at all describe the men sitting at the table with us.
Blake asked my stepfather, Richard, a question about their latest stock investment, and I looked up dutifully. Just as quickly, I looked back down at my plate like the meek, little mouse Blake wanted me to be. I didn’t mind playing a meek part when sitting with these men. Blake didn’t give me trouble, but the other ten men with him often did. Dinners went smoother if I kept my eyes on my plate.
Blake sat at one end of the table, with my stepfather at the opposite end. I, unfortunately, always took the middle seat on the side with five chairs. It gave me more room than if I sat on the other side. If given a real choice, I would have rather sat next to Richard.
The six men stared at me through the entire meal. At every dinner different men stared at me. How many business associates did Blake really have? These dinners had been happening since my mother died four years ago. Once a month, every month. I hated them. I felt like a freak on display. Hey, come on in! Have dinner with the freaky girl who predicts the market and makes us all rich. Don’t worry, she doesn’t bite. She’ll do exactly as I say.
I thought of my brothers, who slept in their beds, and forked another bite of potatoes into my mouth. Yep, I would do as Blake said. He’d made it painfully clear who he would punish if I didn’t.
One of the men across from me nudged my foot under the table. I didn’t look up. It would just play into whatever he planned. Probably some lewd gesture. For business associates, as Blake usually introduced them, they dressed more like mill workers, wearing torn, stained jeans and ragged shirts. They were sometimes unwashed, too. I didn’t judge them by their appearances, though. Their actions told me what I needed to know about them.
The man kicked me again, harder. I tucked my feet under my chair in an effort to avoid his long reach as Blake asked me a direct question.
“Are you trying to withhold your latest premonition, dear?” He sipped his wine and watched me.
“You know I haven’t,” I said in a quiet, biddable voice as I met his gaze. If I tried keeping a premonition to myself, I got sick. First it was just a niggling headache. However, the longer I held the information inside, the worse the ache grew until, finally, I broke down and started babbling the information with pain-filled tears.
“Sorry, Blake,” Richard said from down the table. “She gave me the information yesterday. When I went in today, I just invested what we discussed last night. I didn’t think you wanted me to bother you with it.”
I lowered my gaze to my plate again. A puppet, that’s all I was. Just then, the man across the table kicked me again. I looked up, eyes blazing with hate and whispered two words—they rhymed with “pluck you”—that sealed my fate.
In a blur, Blake shot from his chair, sailing toward me over the table. His hand curled around my throat and the momentum of his move carried me backward, lifting me up. My long skirt tore when it caught briefly on my tipping chair. Before I could blink, Blake slammed me against the wall, pinning me by my throat. My feet no longer touched the ground.
My stunned mind couldn’t comprehend what just happened. No one should be able to move that fast.
Barely breathing, I panicked, and fought to pry away his hands, forgetting to be meek. He laughed and squeezed a little harder. Behind him, Richard stood, but said nothing.
The calculated look in Blake’s eyes reminded me of his expectation. Swearing at his “associate” hadn’t been a bright move. Still trying to wheeze in air, I stopped clawing at his hands and instead wrapped my hands around his forearm for support. His hold loosened, and I gasped. The air burned, but I didn’t stop pulling it in.
All the men at the dinner table watched us, and the one who had kicked me, smirked.
“The time for niceties is at an end. We’ve amassed our fortune. It’s time for the next step. You will choose one of us and evolve your abilities as you were born to do.”
I barely heard his words. His teeth claimed my attention. As he spoke, they grew. Elongating. Already panicked because of the hand at my throat, my racing heart kicked into overdrive at the sight of his canines. His face changed slightly as his jaws expanded to accommodate his teeth.