Vegas Is Burning Read online

  Bella named at least 16 reasons this had to take place as she pulled into the drive of her old home. They wouldn’t even hear her coming, she knew. Getting out of the car, Bella shivered as she glanced around.

  This was her home, but now, looking at it, she realized it was never a home. It was a place where she was safe from the environment, had clothes and food most of the time, but that was it.

  The closer she got to the house, the more the sense that something was off hit her. She felt pressured to turn around and leave, as if she didn’t belong there. Pushing past the feeling, Bella entered the house and went to the basement where her family would be.

  Her mother’s hateful words stopped her progress.

  “Daisy, there’s no reason to bring that person into this conversation. We made a mistake adopting her, but once we gave our word, we had no choice but to make sure she was provided for. But she’s out of our home now, and she’s not the destined one; you are. You’re of our blood; she’s not.”

  Bella knew she was adopted, but hearing her mother say such hurtful things still hurt. But that didn’t matter; words would not stop this long-overdue confrontation.

  Bella stepped into the room that had always been locked to her. What she saw sent a shiver up her spine. Daisy glanced over her shoulder as she plunged a knife into a rabbit’s neck. Blood gushed out and ran down the table the rabbit was on into a container.

  “Care to join us, bitch?” Daisy asked.

  “Get the hell out of here!” her father yelled, coming out of the shadows dressed in a dark robe. “Unless you want to...” He grabbed his cock. “I mean, a sexual sacrifice would work just as well as blood.”

  “Over my dead body,” Hazel, her so-called mom, screamed and threw the knife she’d been holding at Bella, but it fell to the floor six inches before it could sink into her chest. Everyone was too shocked to speak, but Bella was smart enough to know she had to get out of the house.

  Her heart pounded and her stomach rolled and threatened to erupt as Bella ran to her car. She wasn’t safe there anymore. Hell, she was lucky she’d survived until she was 16 when she moved out. What used to be her family had been a lie. The thought of her so-called father wanting her sexually sent a shiver up her spine.

  The ground shook under her as it always did when she got angry. Behind her, the driveway split in half as she pulled out of it. Her hands were sweaty as she gripped the steering wheel tight. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she drove.

  “Not my family... They’re not my family,” she kept whispering, so furious she hadn’t seen the hate long ago. Things were starting to make sense now. The nasty looks, Hazel’s glares, her sister’s jealousy. “God, I was such a freaking fool,” she said and turned onto Route 18.

  Headlights came out of nowhere, blinding her for a second. The realization that the vehicle was coming right at her had her wishing for more time. But she could do nothing except cover her face and hope she would survive. The one time Bella hadn’t listened to her gut, she was now paying for, mentally and physically.

  Horns blared and glass and metal crunched, and her little bug rolled and rolled. That she should have put on her seatbelt was her last thought as pain like no other engulfed her, and darkness was her friend.

  * * *

  Raul stopped running. Fierce pain hit him, making him stumble over his own feet. He growled, furious. In his heart, he knew the one meant to be with him had been hurt. There could be no other reason for this unknown pain, and there was not a damn thing he could do to help her. Raul didn’t even know who she was, but that wasn’t his only problem now.

  The ground shook and fierce explosions lit up the skies over and over. Raul swore he could even hear screams.

  He shifted, looking back at his guards. “Gather the pack; looks like we’re going to be needed. Hector, make sure my family is accounted for,” he ordered, rubbing his chest before shifting and running toward his car.

  There was no way this could be related to his destiny. The fire inside him was nothing but a dim light now. Raul glanced at the sky and howled upon seeing the light that shouldn’t be there, and his heart was heavy as the earth rolled again under his feet.

  Chapter Two

  Bella stared at what appeared as an older couple. The woman stepped forward and hugged her.

  “You are not alone, Bella; we are here for you and always will be, but you must leave Ohio.” She kissed Bella’s cheeks and stepped back toward what Bella had thought was an old man, only now he was young, healthy and handsome.

  “Who are you?” she asked and looked at her surroundings. Bella swore the ground under her was burning, but her feet weren’t hot.

  “You are destined to be our son’s mate. You are the daughter of the Earth, and soon, all will be exposed to you. But I’m afraid our son is a stubborn one, much like I was at his age. Head south, Bella. Nevada and your people need you.” The man looked up and sighed. “I hate to do this to you, but you must go back. Just never give up, dear. Your true parents will make themselves known soon enough.”

  * * *

  The last echoes of his words and pain greeted her at the same time. Her head, back and legs hurt, and that beeping of the machines around her was annoying as hell. Charley’s cussing drew her attention and she looked at her. She did not look happy.

  “I’m not leaving, and you can’t make me. I’m the only family she has. That piece of shit out there is not her sister,” Charley yelled.

  “You know my head is throbbing here; could you keep it down, sister?” she choked out against the pain in her throat. “God, what the hell happened?” she moaned, and Charley was there with a spoonful of ice.

  “Some crazy nut job hit your car. Sorry; it was totaled. You’re lucky to be alive,” Charley said as tears rolled down her dark cheeks.

  “Hey, none of that.” Bella squeezed Charley’s arm before turning to look at the nurse Charley had been yelling at. “She’s the only one I want in my room; no one else. Not the lady who claims to be my mom or the guy who claims to be my father,” she got out before taking another spoonful of ice, which eased the ache in her throat. “This is my sister, not that bitch outside,” Bella said, shaking the machine hooked to her, which set it off.

  “Miss Ozter, you have to claim down. As for your family, I’ll inform security if that helps, but there is an officer here; he’d like to see you.” The woman fidgeted with Bella’s IV before turning once more to look at her. “The doctor will be in this afternoon.” She looked up at Charley. “You may stay. I’ll inform everyone on the floor and security about the woman outside.”

  As soon as the nurse was gone, Charley pulled up the chair to the bed. “What happened?”

  “Well, we were right; they’re not my parents. I’m adopted. He wanted to have sex with me, Daisy killed a rabbit, and my so-called mom threw a knife at me.” Tears poured down her cheeks, and she shivered. “Don’t let them in here, Charley, and watch your back. Daisy is insane,” she whispered, closing her eyes, all of a sudden just so tired and hurting. “Going to move soon,” she mumbled.

  “Hush, no one is going to hurt you on my shift, and fuck those scumbags. Let them try and touch you. I should call Mom; you know they’re going to flip out when they hear what happened.” Charley bent down to her ear. “I’ve called in some bigwigs, and they will be here in an hour. Believe me, your little bitch sister will not get past my friends. Now rest. We’ll talk more tomorrow.” Charley squeezed her arm, and Bella smiled, not even bothering to open her eyes.

  Charley was her one true friend and the only person Bella could trust. “Where are you, my destiny man? Where?” Bella mumbled and tried to roll over, but a stabbing pain shot through her.

  For the second time in less than an hour, someone was trying to kill her.

  * * *

  Raul was restless. Something was very wrong, not to mention the city of Metropolis was now gone. Only burning rubble remained of what used to be a small, thriving city about 30 miles from Vegas.


  He looked over at his stepmother, Sunshine, who stood next to his father

  “When will he accept destiny?” she asked.

  “Enough!” Raul snapped. “We have plenty here to do without you spouting that shit and getting everyone worked up.”

  His father stepped in front of his mate and crossed his arms, glaring at him. “You will never raise your voice to her again; is that understood? I was the alpha of this pack long ago, and I will have the respect due my mate and me. Just because you don’t want to hear about the truth is no reason to take your anger out on us.”

  “Truth? That is no truth. It was written on the walls of some old cave, what, over two million years ago? Does it have my name on it? Just because the four of us are different doesn’t mean we were born for this destiny.” Raul ran his hand through his hair and turned to look at ground zero before him.

  “I’m sorry, Sunshine. I had no right to yell at you like that.” He rubbed his chest. “Something is off, and I can feel it.” He looked at his father. “Last night, while I was running, I felt something. It was so strange. There was so much pain, and then a sense of loss so bad that I was on my knees. Have you ever felt that before?”

  His father closed his eyes, but not before Raul had seen the hurt there.

  “Mom.” Raul swallowed. “I’m sorry. But I don’t understand how I could be hurting when I haven’t even met my mate. Then there was this empty spot like a hole was left there.”

  His stepmom moved to his side and placed her hand on his arm. It was the first time she’d touched him in a long time. “When your father had that so-called accident last summer—”

  “Sunshine, you promised,” his father growled.

  “This will help your son, so knock it off.” She rolled her eyes and turned back to Raul. He couldn’t help but laugh at his father’s expression. “Anyway, your father died that day. I knew the minute he did, too. It’s as you said, like a hole was in my chest. But then, when he came back, it was as if he never left me. Does that make sense?”

  “It does and thank you, but you and Father are already joined; this woman and I haven’t even met. This shouldn’t be happening yet, and what did you mean about a so-called accident? Why wasn’t I told about my father dying?” He glared over at his dad, who snorted and pulled Sunshine back into his arms.

  “Because we couldn’t prove anything, and we didn’t need to stir up trouble last summer. If you remember, we had enough trouble with the rival pack. And I didn’t know I’d died until she told me and the doctor confirmed it. There was no sense in telling you when it was in the past.” His father glanced behind them and nodded. “The pack is ready. Let’s do this.”

  Part of the pack, in their wolf forms, moved up toward him. “Thank you, my brothers and sisters,” Raul said. In a time of a great tragedy, we must all come together to help each other. But, please, be careful. The ground is still not steady, and aftershocks have been numerous. Mac and my brother, Mario, have set up a makeshift gathering place where we can bring those we find. We’ll have ambulances there, along with some of the human police. Are we all accounted for? Were any of our members here in the city when it blew up?”

  A couple stepped forward.

  “My son and their daughter were with their children at the fair,” the man said, and Raul swore his heart twisted inside his chest.

  He glanced to the east. “Frankie, you and your team head over there now, and be careful. Donald,” he said to the man who’d spoken, “you or your mate will need to shift. You’ll have a better chance of finding them since you know their scents. Let’s do this, people. I’ll be at the tent coordinating with the humans if anyone needs me.” Raul glanced back at Donald. “We’ll find them,” he said, hoping his words would be true.

  Raul shifted and ran toward the temporary shelter, his father and Sunshine following him. Even though both were retired, they would lend a hand with the healing; his father was a doctor and Sunshine a registered nurse.

  He glanced at them. His father had taken on much, being the alpha and a doctor. But he’d always made sure his family got time together.

  As soon as he shifted and moved into the tent, his younger brother came up to him, furious. “We have looters already, and, Raul, Rafael is among the gang of thugs, Desert Bums or whatever they call themselves; they’re in the city.”

  “That little brat! Don’t tell Father. I’ll go myself. We need him here.” Raul turned to see Sunshine nearby holding a bag of supplies, tears in her eyes.

  “Why would he do this? He knows right from wrong! Maybe I should go with you?” she asked, and he shook his head.

  “No, you’re needed here. I’ll find him; I promise. But I might kick his scrawny ass, though. Just warning you,” Raul said.

  “He deserves what he gets. I never raised a child to take advantage of others’ sorrows; just the opposite.” She looked out toward the burning city.

  “I know you didn’t. He’s just mixed up with the wrong kids. Maybe now he’ll see what assholes they really are.” Raul looked behind him at Mario. “Get me two men; we leave now.”

  Mario shouted orders and took his place next to Sunshine, wrapping his arm around her. “Raul will find him and bring him back.”

  “But how do I deal with this?” She looked over to where their father was taking care of a patient, and he looked up at Raul.

  “I’ll find him.”

  His father nodded and glanced once at the city, as if hearing everything they’d talked about.

  “Mario, tell the governor I’ll be back. Show him our plans. That will keep him busy while I’m gone,” Raul stated and let the wolf-gargoyle lose. In this form, Raul’s body was bigger than a wolf and his skin hard as stone, which protected him from the elements. As if Raul didn’t have enough to worry about, he now had to add a teenage punk who didn’t seem to care about his life or others. This was not written into the destiny, that was for sure.

  “Be safe, my mate, wherever you are,” he whispered and took off running, searching for his runaway brother. The ground under him shook as another aftershock rattled the area. Raul glanced next to him, and both guards nodded. They carefully moved through the parts of the street that remained.

  He stopped and sniffed the air, searching for Rafael’s scent, which wasn’t easy considering all the smoke and chemicals in the air from the earthquake. But finally, he got a whiff of his brother and took off toward the sound of the city, where half the city was still burning.

  Raul was so bent on getting to his brother, he didn’t see the building falling in front of them until one of his guards, Maverick, threw him backward, which was impressive considering how much heavier he was than they were. Raul looked around, but Maverick had disappeared, risking his own life to save him.

  “No!” He tried to get to the man, but his other guard stepped in front of him.

  “It’s too late. Let’s get your brother and get out of here. It’s not safe, and we need you alive,” Thomas sent to him on their common path.

  As soon as Thomas said that, Maverick jumped onto what was left of the road and shook himself off. “Let’s go; I see lava down there and sure don’t want to be around if it starts to come up,” Maverick said and nodded to the other side of the road where they would have to jump to.

  Not wasting time, Raul took the plunge first, followed by his men. “Thank you, Maverick,” he sent before glancing at the man again. Raul made a note to have a personal report done up on the man next week. If Raul’s mate was going to join him soon, Maverick might be the one to head her security team.

  The wind shifted, and Raul stopped, scanning his surroundings. Rafael’s scent was stronger. A cry from the right drew his attention, and when he looked, he saw his brother standing there alone.

  Rafael didn’t even look up. “There is a little girl under here. She’s still alive; I can hear her.” Rafael looked up at Raul with tears in his eyes. “They wouldn’t help me get to her. Why? I know Teddy has problems, but I j
ust don’t understand.”

  Raul shifted back to human form placed his hand on his little brother’s shoulder. “I have no idea, but I’m proud that you stayed and tried to help. However, that is no excuse for coming here. Now let’s get this little girl out of here and back to the compound we’ve set up.”

  Raul and his men moved the debris from what looked like a staircase that went into an underground garage.

  “Look over there.” Raul pointed to a small group of people, most of them children, who were huddled inside the garage. He looked around and sighed. “We’re going to have to carry the little ones out. They won’t be able to walk to where we have to go. The others will have to follow, and we’ll help them over the rough spots.”

  Thomas jumped down into the hole and moved over to the group. He was gone for a few minutes before he called out, “We have over 50 children in here, Alpha. They were on their way to the fair when the earth started to shake.” over a few minutes later.

  “Shit! Okay, they have to get out of there now. It’s not safe, and we can’t chance waiting for others. Start handing them up. Rafael, I want you to watch out for any of our men and wave them down if you see anyone.”

  Rafael nodded.

  “Let’s go now.” Raul leaned down, took the first child, and handed her to Maverick. “Put them over there on that flat platform for now until we get everyone up,” Raul ordered, taking the shirt from his guard and putting it on the little boy who was shivering when he lifted him up.

  For the next 20 minutes, they worked on pulling the children and adults out of the underground tunnel. By the time they finished, Rafael had waved over three more men, who had started leading the group back to the compound.

  Raul grabbed the little boy wearing the guard’s shirt and lifted him up while his brother picked up the little girl who stood next to him.

  “Tell me something: why the gang? What happened to, damn what was his name? Greg and all the rest of your friends?” Raul asked, watching every step they made, making sure not one of the children was left behind.