“Is this you asking me to marry you?” I whisper.
“Nope, I’m telling you, baby. You are marrying me before Chase comes and then you’re gonna be my wife until I take my last breath. I’m not gonna live another day without you in my life as my wife,” Coyote says, lifting his free hand to my cheek and wiping the tears that have rolled down it.
My throat is clogged with so many emotions, I nod my head and move to hug him only my descended stomach stops me from doing so. Laughing, I lift my hands to his face and smile at him. “Then I except, because I want you as my husband until beyond my last breath.”
Grinning at me once more, he peeks down at Cody, seeing him staring at us he looks back at me. “I think we can put him down for a nap and at least have a make out session until he wakes up,” he says.
Giggling, I shake my head as I go to stand up. Only when I do, I immediately wish I hadn’t because my water broke.
“Umm, Coyote. Don’t think we’ll be having that make out session and if you want me as your wife, I guess we’ll be doing that at the hospital,” I murmur as I look down at the puddle on the floor.
A look of panic starts to come over his face, but Coyote immediately loses the look. He quickly moves into action and calls everyone. Victoria said when it was time, she’d come take care of Cody for us, but I want him at the hospital with us. I mean it’s not only his little brother’s birthday, it’s the day his daddy and I become one.
Taming the beast within the man was a fight I never expected to have, but I’ll do it again every day if need be. Coyote is mine as I’m his.
Luna’s Shadow
Devil’s Riot MC Book 5
To those who must fight for what they want.
Between the good, the bad, and the in between.
You’re never not worth fighting for.
Never give up.
And never not let your light shine through.
Acknowledgments
My Family – As much as I want to be thankful for all of them, the four who I have to thank are the ones closest to me. My husband and our children. They keep inspiring and pushing me to keep going. My husband for sure, considering he puts up with my rambling and lets me be me no matter how much I annoy him. Even sends me music when I need encouragement. My kids, who find what I do, as they put it, cool and want to know how many words I was able to get in each day. They also like to try and help me come up with plot ideas. Some are just as wicked as my own.
My Betas – You guys rock! Thank you all for being the first to read the stories as they come alive. It means the world to me. Especially when you all start to get mad. That’s when I know I’m doing something right. And in doing so pushing me to keep going with all the different plots that form in my head. I’m thankful to you all for being ready and willing to read and give your input.
My Knox Publishing People – If it wasn’t for you all being helpful and encouraging when I need it, I don’t know what I’d do without you all. You’re all wonderful in your own right and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The biggest thing I’ve got to say I’m thankful for most, is the fact I’m able to be around those who understand the way my mind works. Each and every one of you have earned a special place in my life, one way or another.
Liz – My sister from another mister, my best friend and Publisher/Boss. You’re my go to when I need it. If not for you, I don’t know if I’d ever be where I am today with my writing. Thank you for always pushing me and encouraging me.
Diane – Without you taking everything on for me, I wouldn’t be able to focus the way I do on my writing. Thank you for everything you do. You’re not just my PA, you’re my friend and I couldn’t ask for a better friend than you.
Kim and Jackie – I know I’m a pain in the rear; however, you both put up with me. Thank you both for taking on all of my work. I love the fact I work with you both on each of them. Also, the fact when it comes to something I miss, you help me understand how to correct it, so it doesn’t happen again.
Playlist
Let’s Get Lost – Jelly Roll
Lost and Lonely – Aaron Lewis
I’ll Be Your Man – Zac Brown Band
Grave of the Fireflies – The Raven Age
Neverland – Zendaya
I Fell In Love With The Devil – Avril Lavigne
Moonlight – Hard Target
Gone Away – Whiskey Myers
Solence – Direction
Somewhere with You – Kenny Chesney
In the Shadows
Darkness surrounds me everywhere
Doesn’t matter if the sun is shining
Nor that people are around
There’s no one around who cares
There’s only darkness in the shadows
If there was only one way to escape
I would break through
Leaving it all behind
Only in the shadows I’m safe
No one can get to me from here
I can be me without the hate
Or the looks
Darkness may surround me
I may jerk at each sound
But in the shadows of the dark
I’m invisible to those around
I can be me without the hate
Without the look
In the shadows is all I need.
~ E.C. Land
Prologue
Shadow
Standing in the dark of night watching the scene unfold in front of me is sickening. Being at Victoria’s back on this has been different that’s for sure. I’ve never known a woman like my VP’s ol’ lady. Rather than sobbing constantly at the hospital, she had shut down her emotions and went hunting.
Not hunting for animals but for a different sort of prey.
Now the two of us are staking out her old home down in Louisiana. Hell, we’d been out here for hours and this is the shit part of missions, I’ve always hated the waiting game.
I’ve never been one to sit on the sidelines, in the back waiting to get told what to do. Unless it came directly from my Prez. Only for Vi will I do something like that, it was her ol’ man who was shot and she feels the need to seek her vengeance. Sure, I’d wanted to pull her ass back several times, but she has the fire in her eyes that you don’t fuck with. No one was going to sway her to abort this shit. Not when Tracker was involved.
I’d been surprised when I’d gotten into Vi’s Jeep and she’d started humming a Christmas song. I didn’t understand at first but having been around the Inferno’s Clutch MC, I learned quite a bit about her as well as Raven and another chick I don’t know. Each of these three women, if I were still into the shit I used to do would be required for jobs. The specialties they all carry are some that not even some of the best men I’ve worked with had.
After the night I killed a man for hitting my brother and taking his life, mine changed. I became who I am today.
A shadow.
I ended up with an organization that dealt with situations that you might as well compare them to suicide missions. Nothing you did when handling the problem was off limits. All that mattered was that the job got done. Sometimes it would be a job like this one where we’re going after well-known members of society who are some of the worse people. Others were about extracting and execution, those were the ones that were the hardest.