Her Guardian's Heart Read Online Free Page A

to it, but I wasn’t strong enough. I was completely drained. I needed him and he needed me now. “Don’t do this. Please. You’re my mate. We need to do this together. To grieve together.”
    “No! This is your fault. I can’t make you leave. This is your home. But don’t expect us to speak. We will be as ghosts passing in the night living our lives. If you are in dire need, I’ll do what I can. Don’t expect anything else.” He got up. “I’ll take care of the bodies. Make sure you do something about your family so they don’t return for a repeat performance. If they do, I’ll make sure to give you to them.” He strolled past me and went outside.
    I crumpled to the floor and let the pain wash over me. His words sunk in. What he meant was true. The only way I could take care of my family was to let the darkness out and embrace it. I had to use its power to mask my presence. The locks on it were slipping. I gripped the amulet. I touched the crystal in the center of the garden. The darkness was engulfing me in its wings. I was sinking fast as the power of it swept over me, but before conscious thought slipped away, I had one goal in mind.

 
    Chapter Two
     
    I stared at the flowers around me. Arrays of color that would have been a beautiful rainbow. Most of the days I enjoyed being surrounded by the wondrous smells and the perfumes of the blooms. The life of the flowers vibrated around me. The earth called to me. I glanced at the plant closest to me and touched the stem of it. With a little bit of power, the flower perked up. I smiled, but it only did me a little good to see it come back to life. The reputation of my flower shop was one of the best in the city. All because the flowers lasted the longest. The blooms were larger than my competitors. All because of my power. Today the shelves were bare and the refrigerators where I kept the bouquets were running low. I had ordered more flowers, but they hadn’t come in yet from the greenhouse. The others back at the house were growing right along.
    I shivered to think about home. All that was there was a life I wasn’t sure I fit into anymore. My love for Landon hadn’t wavered, even though his had cooled for me.
    “Melina, hey. You sure you don’t need me to hang out?”
    I glanced up and gave my friend a small smile. Melissa had been working for me now for three years. We had become fast friends. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t think I would have survived the last two years.
    “Yeah. Go ahead. It’s been slow all day, and it’s almost closing time. You’ll still be in tomorrow?”
    She brushed her brown hair over her shoulder. Her light blue eyes scrunched up whenever she smiled. Melissa had come in to the flower shop one day and asked me if I needed some help. I hadn’t thought about it until she asked. She was a ray of sunshine in the gray days that had hung over me. “Of course. The professor extended the deadline for my paper, so I’m good.”
    “Great. I’ll see you then.”
    I raised my hand in goodbye and watched her leave the store. When she was out of sight, my mind drifted back to that awful night. I tried to erase it from my mind. Even when I unleashed the darkness inside of me, it still came up in my nightmares. Nick’s scream. Landon holding his body. Him melting into the earth. I wished nothing more than to have them both in my arms again. Landon. I yearned to have his mind wrapped around mine and feel his wolf rubbing against my thoughts with my magic racing between us. That was all that I wanted.
    He had kept his word and withdrawn into his own world, running with a pack again. They came and went at all hours of the night in the house. When I saw them, they spurned me. I’d hear laughing and partying from his side of the house, now that he had moved to the other wing. I was lonely, delved into my dark side, and learning more about it and my magic than I ever had. Sometimes it was so consuming that I didn’t remember what