Tessa, Vampire/Werewolf Romance, (Standalone) (Shadow Creek Shifters Book 3) by Maddie Foxx Page B

heart as it throbbed against her chest. She was shocked that Raphael hadn’t told her about what happened and she didn’t want to overreact, but all she was consumed with were thoughts of paying Jason back for what he did to Carrie. She hopped on, firing up the ATV, and driving off. All she wanted to do was to see Carrie and just how badly she was injured.
    Tessa wound through the trails with ease, missing the deer that glided past her. Soon she was on the main road, heading to Shadow Creek, which was only a few miles ahead. She squinted her eyes as the traffic was heavy going into Creeksboro. That part of Wyoming wasn’t populated with ranchers for the most part, and it was strange that so many cars would be headed to town.
    She turned at the Shadow Creek Ranch sign overhead and skidded up the drive, which led to the main house. Tessa hopped off and silenced the engine just as Angus strode up.
    “Shouldn’t you be guarding the cattle tonight? It’s a full moon; can’t you see?” She smiled.
    “I was just heading that way. If you’re here to see Seth, he already left, but Melody is upstairs with her mother. That’s why you’re here, right, to see Carrie?”
    “Yes, but where did Seth go?”
    “He wouldn’t say, but he was in a hurry. Kept muttering about he had to go before it got dark.”
    Tessa thought that strange. Why would he leave Melody with her abused mother? It didn’t make any sense to her, but she didn’t know what she’d encounter inside. She imagined that Melody would be upset even though she hadn’t seen her mother in some time. She was still her mother, after all.
    She hadn’t quite made it to the door when Brendan came barreling out. “Whoa, where’s the fire?”
    “At home if I don’t get there to take my turn with watching the twins. Katlyn is really exhausted and Chase and I have been taking turns.”
    “Can’t blame her. She’s nursing two babies and that can’t be a treat.”
    Brendan nodded and strode toward his cabin while Tessa knocked and the maid opened the door. She didn’t say a word, just quickly backed up. Paige was sitting near the fireplace.
    “Is it true that Carrie was hurt by that bastard, Jason?”
    Paige sighed. “We don’t know for sure. Brendan and Seth have agreed to wait it out until Carrie is conscious to tell them who the guilty party is. If she ever wakes up.”
    Tessa’s brows drew together. “What do you mean if ?”
    “You’ll see when you go upstairs, but it’s not pretty. I’ve never seen a woman beaten so badly and recover fully.”
    Tessa began to pace. “And they want to wait? We all know who did this. Of course it was Jason. He was just over to Silver Creek asking Melody where her mother was. It all adds up. I can’t believe Brendan is just waiting for her to wake up.”
    Paige stood and finished the last of her wine. “Would you like a swig before you go upstairs? You look a little pale.”
    “No…sure, I’m starved, but I’ll take care of that later.”
    “And by that, I hope you don’t mean you plan to hunt tonight.”
    Tessa frowned. There was no way Paige would cut her some slack on her hunting animals. “That’s the furthest thing from my mind at the moment.”
    Paige led the way up the stairs instead of answering, and Tessa was glad for that. She had no plans to hunt anyway since the woods would be alive with shifters. Surely even Raphael had a hard time stopping himself from shifting on the full moon.
    She followed Paige up the long hallway, which was dark except for a red night light every ten feet. It made for an eerie stroll up the hall if one was not a vampire. Luckily, Paige and Tessa were the only ones she knew of. The possibility of more didn’t sit well with Tessa. Food was already hard to come by since the blood bank on occasion didn’t have the supplies, like that one time when she was sent a blood substitute. If it hadn’t been for Paige, she wouldn’t still be here to even walk these halls. Tessa had