Dedrick's Taming

Shifter - Book Three

by Jaden Sinclair

Dedrick Draeger is on edge. He has been the rock of the family, bearing the brunt of all responsibility. But now the rock is starting to crumble and Dedrick is afraid, for the first time in his life; afraid of what fate has in store for him. Dedrick has been Jaclyn Davis' fantasy come true and, ignoring the warnings, she gives into her desire. One night in his arms was all it took; one night to realize they'd started something. Dedrick has his mate, but is Jaclyn ready for the big bad wolf?

Excerpt

Chapter One

Jaclyn Davis stood outside the airport terminal, her foot tapping as she waited for her ride to show up. Several times now, she had looked down the road with the hopes that her ride was coming. After calling the Draeger house to check on Sidney again, she had been told that Adrian was coming to get her, not Dedrick. Which sucked! She wanted him to be the one picking her up. Wanted to see him again.

Jaclyn knew that she shouldn’t chase after a man like that, or in this case a wolf. She had always been attracted to him. For whatever crazy reason, the moment she found out he was a wolf, it only made her attraction to him much more fierce.

Yes, she should stay away from him. She tried like hell to keep it in mind. But Sidney always had a reason for her to come for a visit here. Now, Jaclyn was in town while her best friend had her first baby or children as it was. She was expecting twins.

Jaclyn wasn’t the kind of woman to ever stay in one place too long. When she saw how fatal an attraction could become, she tended to run as far away as she could. Yet, here she was once again, about to walk into the lion’s den, while hoping to fight the desire she had for Dedrick Draeger.

It was a mistake. Her gut was screaming for her to run. If she stayed here too long this time, Jaclyn had no way of knowing if she could ever get out again, at least not whole. As much as she loved her best friend, this family was slowly wrapping around her heart. Jaclyn didn’t know how to tell Sidney things were finally changing for her. She was afraid to face Dedrick or his family again. Afraid they would see what she had been hiding for so long.

“Come on, Adrian,” she mumbled to herself. “Where the hell are you?”

She hated having to stand here waiting. It gave her too much time to think. She hated having to think. When her mind wandered, memories of how screwed up her own family had been or the crap her mother pulled on her for so many years, came rushing back.

To this day, Jaclyn still hadn’t told Sidney the real reason why she went back to see her mother months ago. Sure, she shrugged it off, made everyone think it wasn’t anything important. Just her mother mooching some money out of her, kind of thing. The real story was that Lucy Davis had been dying. Her mother had cancer. She was being eaten up inside. Because Lucy was dying, she had felt all guilty over the life she had given her only daughter. Jaclyn wasn’t very forgiving, but she had stayed with her mother until the end.

Her cell phone went off in her pocket, which snapped Jaclyn from her memories. “Hello!”

“Sidney wanted me to call you again. Where are you?”

Jaclyn rolled her eyes looking once more down the road. “I’m still at the airport waiting, Sky. Your man hasn’t shown up yet.”

Skyler Draeger, or Laswell now, was the baby of the family. About nine months ago, she had mated with Adrian Laswell, which started real rocky. After the night he placed his claim on her, Skyler had caught him bumping uglies with her best friend. It didn’t go over very well at the beginning, but it ended great.

“Now explain to me again why she isn’t in a hospital?” Jaclyn demanded, her patience slipping away quickly. Sidney was like a sister to her. She didn’t like the idea of her giving birth to the twins at the house.

“It’s not safe.” Skyler sighed on the other line. “Stefan feels like her father might try something.”

Jaclyn snorted. “Please. He isn’t going to come out of the woodwork now, if he hasn’t already.”

“You may be right, Jaclyn. But we still need to keep her safe. Twin births rarely happen with full shifter females. For Sidney, a human, to be doing it is like a borderline miracle.”

Jaclyn could hear the worry in Skyler’s voice. It scared the shit out of her. If something happened to Sidney, she didn’t think she would ever be able to forgive Stefan, or any of them for that matter.

“What kind of car am I looking for again?”

“Four door, black Ford truck,” Skyler answered. “He had to have it after the transmission went out in his other one.

Jaclyn strained her neck over a small crowd of people who were trying to get the attention of a cabbie. She saw what she thought was a black truck, but in the dark, it was hard to say. “I think he might be here, finally.”

Sure enough, a black Ford truck skidded to a stop right in front of her. The passenger window rolled down. A smiling Adrian was leaning across the seat. “Hey, gorgeous, need a lift?”

“He’s here, Sky.” Jaclyn gave Adrian her I’m-bored expression. “Tell Sid we’re on our way.” She hung the phone up, went over to the truck, and leaned against the door. “You’re late.”

“No, you’re early,” he stated, his cheerful grin in place as always. “I was told your plane didn’t land until six, to be here by ten after.” He looked at his wristwatch. “Ten after on the dot.”

Jaclyn rolled her eyes while opening the door. “Whatever.” She shoved her backpack over the seat into the back and grabbed his wrist as she did. “It’s six thirty!”

Adrian glanced at his watch, then back at her with his mouth agape. “Well, how about that.”

     Jaclyn started to see red, yanked the thing right off his wrist, and tossed it out the window. “Now it’s gone.”

“Hey! Dedrick gave me that for my birthday,” he complained.

Jaclyn crossed her arms over her chest and stared straight ahead. “Well he needs better taste. It sucked. Now drive.”

“Boy, we are testy tonight.”

They drove in silence. When the airport was far behind them, she spoke again. “So how is she really?”

The she Jaclyn was referring to was Sidney. From the frown on Adrian’s face, she knew he was just as worried as she was.

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