Winter Eve
Ashwood Falls - 0.5
by
Lia Davis
To the love of my life, for putting up with my craziness.
Acknowledgment
Winter Eve is the prequel to a new series and world of shapeshifters. I hope you enjoy Ashwood Falls as much as I do.
I want to thank my writing partner, business partner, and BFF, Carrie Ann Ryan, for all the encouragement and for breaking out the whip from time-to-time. Thanks for keeping me sane, mostly.
Thanks to the editing team at Fated Desires. Devin and Donna are great!
And a Huge thanks to my readers. Love you guys!
Chapter 1
The winding, slick roads of the Smoky Mountains seemed creepier than the last time Nevan Matthews had traveled them. Then again, at the time, he’d been seven, it was daylight, and there wasn’t snow on the ground.
Why was he even going? Oh, right. His extended family would bug the shit out of him if he didn’t show up, just like they had bugged him about every aspect of his life since his father's death five years ago. And, again, when his fiancee, Becca, died a year later. The only family he had left in the world had demanded he spend the holiday season with them.
'You need your family now more than ever,' Sarah, his stepmother, had said. 'You spend too much time alone.'
Her soft, pleading voice had tugged at his heart, and he’d finally given in. He loved his stepmother. She’d always cared for him as if he was her own son. It was impossible to say ‘no’ to the only mother he had ever known. Besides, he hadn’t been back home since his father’s death. So he took his first vacation in five years to spend the holidays in a place he didn’t belong. With people far different from him.
A blur of brown fur zipped in front of his headlights, and he jerked the rental car to the left. His heart hammered in his chest as the car swerved on the icy road and slammed into the rock wall of the mountainside.
Steam rolled from under the smashed hood and mingled with the frigid winter night as Nevan emerged from the car. He cursed under his breath and raked a hand through his light brown hair.
'Now what?'
He scanned the area for signs of life. He figured Sarah's cabin was a good twenty miles away. He'd freeze to death on top of this mountain on a night like this before reaching the cabin on foot.
Movement to his right caught his attention, and he narrowed his eyes for a better look. A large leopard crouched, staring at him from the roadside. With eyes that reflected the full moon's light, the creature blinked and let out a soft growl before it turned to walk up a gravel driveway.
The animal was beautiful, scary, and its eyes held a hint of humanity. Could it be a were? Sarah hadn’t said anything about others living this far up the mountain. When the beast turned to look at him, he swore it wanted him to follow. He took a step forward, and the cat started walking again.
'Oh, great, Nev. You're being lead away by a cat, like Alice and that damn rabbit,' he muttered to himself. No one would ever believe him. In fact, it was probably leading him to the den to share with the rest of the pack. Shaking his head at the ridiculous thought, he walked up the driveway. The cat sped up, running ahead much too fast for him. Then it darted into the woods a few feet from a single-story log cabin nestled into the surrounding trees. Another step caused a blinding light to click on, illuminating the front of the yard and the cabin. A few moments later, the door opened, revealing the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She stepped out onto the large wide porch. Her straight silk-like strawberry blond hair cascaded over her shoulders and stopped at her waist. The light of the full moon cast against her pale skin made her look like a goddess.
'What can I do to help you?'
Her velvety smooth voice warmed his body and awoke a very specific part of his anatomy. It was several seconds before he found his voice and shook out of the trance she’d cast upon him. 'I crashed my car and wondered if you have a phone. My cell doesn't get service up here.'
'I don’t have a phone.' Her gaze left him to search their surroundings and stopped as she glanced toward the dark sky as though she saw something he didn't, or couldn't, see. 'But, come inside. You’ll freeze to death in the storm.' She turned and walked back inside.
A single snowflake drifted in front of his face, landing on his nose.
Danica crossed the living room to the fireplace, feeling the man’s stare like tiny caresses over her skin. After grabbing the poker, she stirred the fire and added another log. Keegan would freaking flip if he knew she’d taken in a stranger, especially a human stranger, but there was something about this human. “What’s your name?”
There was a pause, and then he let out a husky reply, as if startled by the question. “Nevan”
“I’m Danica.” She stood and held out her left hand to him. Not because this stranger had uncovered long- buried desires, and she’d been much too long without a male’s touch. Nope, that wasn’t it at all. She simply wanted to see if he could be trusted. Sniffing out a lie or even the barest hint of dishonesty was like a shifter’s sixth sense. Other shifters didn’t have troubles detecting a lie from across the room, but Danica’s sense of smell had been damaged along with most of the right side of her body in a fire a couple of years before. It was one reason she lived on the edge of town, away from the others’ pity.
“Nice to meet you.” There was a hesitation in his voice and leeriness in his gaze.
“What brings you up the mountain this late in the season?”
“I was on my way to my stepmother’s for the holidays.” A frown creased his forehead. “Do you know where there’s a phone? I should call before she sends out the cavalry.”
“Cavalry?”
“My stepbrothers.”
“How many do you have?”
“Four. Three of them are older, and one is a year younger than me.”
She hid her smile by turning toward the kitchen. “That’s a big family.” In this day and age, humans didn’t usually have large families. The ones that did held more family values than those who didn’t. They were more likely to protect each other.
She walked into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. When she turned around, she was startled by the sight of Nevan standing just a few feet away. She reached out to balance herself only to find Nevan beside her faster than she’d expected a human to move. He took her elbow and she gasped at the heat of his body so close to hers. Her body warmed, and her pulse increased. With only a few inches separating them, she could smell his natural male scent mixed with his aftershave. Spicy and good enough to lick all over…
She took a few steps back. He was a stranger, for God’s sake. She wasn’t the seducing type.
Besides, who would want to make love to a scarred, half-powered leopard?
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I didn’t hear you move.” Which was crazy considering there was nothing wrong with her supernatural
